Joe Blanton isn't at all like you probably think he is

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - If you've followed baseball over the last decade and you have some knowledge of Joe Blanton, you probably have an image in your mind of the right-hander.

There's a good chance the image you have of him, however, is inaccurate.

You probably think of Blanton as something less than a physical specimen, a pitcher with an everyman's body that does anything but scream professional athlete. You probably think of him as a country boy from Kentucky who doesn't have much affinity for the finer things in life. And you probably still think of him as a back-of-the-rotation starter, maybe a long reliever.

And you're probably wrong about all of that.

The Joe Blanton who officially joined the Nationals on Thursday is trim and appears to be in great physical shape. He spends his offseason in Napa Valley cultivating wine. And after a career spent mostly as a dime-a-dozen starting pitcher, he has refashioned himself as one of the most successful setup men in baseball.

And his new teammates couldn't be happier to have him on board.

"I think it's a steal that we were able to get him at this point as we're trying to piece things together for the season," fellow right-handed reliever Shawn Kelley said. "Great guy, veteran guy. Been getting to know him a little bit the last few days. He's going to play a huge role for us."

The Nationals certainly hope so, and str bsnking that their modest $4 million investment in the 36-year-old pays big dividends by season's end.

And Blanton hopes to prove his impressive 2016 with the Dodgers - he went 7-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 28 holds in 75 appearances - was no fluke but rather the start to this new phase of a career he sensed could be possible for some time.

"I feel like there was always a part of me that had a reliever mentality when I was starting," he said.

During his decade as a big league starter with the Athletics, Phillies and Angels, Blanton never got comfortable with the notion of holding back, of saving up some of his pitches for his second or third encounters with opposing batters. He liked to throw everything he had at every hitter he faced, the kind of approach more typical of a late-inning reliever.

Now that he's pitching in that role, he sees how the approach can be quite successful.

"The attack of the hitters is a little bit different," he said. "Starter: a little more chess game and a little more 'I've got to throw this pitch to set up that pitch, maybe for the second at-bat. Save that one.' Reliever: You're just coming in, here's all my best stuff. Or I'm coming right at your weakness. ... There ain't no next at-bat."

Late-inning relief creates workload demands Blanton had never before experienced as a starter or long man. He ranked among the league leaders in appearances last season, and learned how to pitch not only on back-to-back days, but sometimes on back-to-back-to-back days.

This is where Blanton's recent efforts to slim down helped make a positive difference. The 6-foot-3 pitcher used to weigh in excess of 250 lbs. These days, he's down to 225 lbs., with a physique not at all like the image you might have in your head from the past.

"You hit a certain age, you can't (have) late-night pizza and burgers and all the stuff that's delicious that we want to," he said. "You've got to be real regimented: hydration and sleep and all the things you're cooking. And that's the good thing about being here. They're really on top of their game as far as that goes. That's nice to be a part of. So you realize that at a certain age, you realize you can't do the same things you did when you were 22, 23 years old."

Blanton, suffice it to say, has grown up a bit during the course of his career. In addition to the physical changes, he also has made some lifestyle changes. He moved his offseason home from Nashville to Northern California, where he has opened a vineyard. He plans to release his first bottle sometime this fall.

"I'm all-in with the wine culture and everything," he said. "It's my retreat when baseball is done. I dove into that pretty hard."

And how is he enjoying life in Napa Valley?

"It's a very cool thing," he said. "A lot of people, they're into everything organic, take care of your body. But they're into good food, good wine. It's a very cool culture to be in, and a lot of fun. A lot of nice people. It's farming, but it's kind of fancy farming, if you will."

Joe Blanton, the slimmed-down, vineyard-owning, Napa Valley-living elite setup man.

Didn't see that one coming, did you?