Now that he trusts fastball, Bourque must focus on commanding it

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - James Bourque's epiphany came in fall instructional league when the Nationals devised a plan to force him to learn to trust his fastball.

"They took the breaking ball away from me," he said. "They said they wanted to see just fastball/changeup."

When minor league pitching coordinator Paul Menhart delivered the news, Bourque wasn't sure what to make of it.

"The pitching coordinator called it my 'Linus blanket' and took that away from me," Bourque said. "For me, it was a pitch I could kind of lean on if I was struggling that day or if I had guys on. So coming to instructs, having that taken away, I had to rethink how to pitch. It was a good experience for me. It was definitely not as much fun as pitching with a breaking ball, but I learned a lot."

Trusting in himself, and pitching exclusively in relief for the first time as a pro, Bourque last year turned in the best season of his career. He posted a 3-2 record, 2.16 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and five saves in 26 games with high Single-A Potomac, earning a July promotion to Double-A Harrisburg, where he went 1-0 with a 0.92 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and a save in 15 outings.

The Nationals rewarded him by promoting him to the 40-man roster for the first time, and he's in big league camp at spring training, trying to learn as much as he can and work as hard as possible.

"The biggest thing for me is getting in front of some of the coaches," said Bourque, a 14th-round pick out of Michigan in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. "I don't think they've seen me throw before. Be in front of them, kind of earn their trust. Make them know I can be someone they can call up and call upon in the bullpen. The other important thing is to stay healthy - not try to do too much, not try to do anything crazy. Just be myself."

Now that he's learned to trust his fastball, all Bourque has to do is master the art of commanding it.

"He's got great stuff, he really does," manager Davey Martinez said. "I love his attitude. He gets fired up when he comes in the game. His biggest thing right now is locating his fastball, and I think that will come. He's got electric stuff."

So far in spring training, Bourque's numbers have been less than impressive. In three innings, he's yielded six runs on four hits and three walks. His ERA stands at 18.00 and his WHIP is 2.33, numbers that are sure to catch him in an early round of cuts out of camp.

To hear Bourque tell it, riding out the rough patches is just a part of the educational process.

"You really find out who you are when you go out there and give up a big number in one inning, and all of a sudden, your stats don't look so good," he said. "That happened last year to me and it wasn't a lot of fun when I was going through it. But now, looking back on it, it was a good experience to have. The best pitchers in baseball are going to have an outing here and there where things don't go their way. So you have to learn from that."

Like most relievers, he's learned to shake off the struggles that are inevitably part of the job description.

"When I do the things I'm working on, and I do them well, I have clean innings," Bourque said. "There's definitely always a competitive nature there - you want to impress people, and this is my first time throwing in front of a lot of these coaches. So I want to go out there and impress, but at the same time, it's still spring training and you can't beat yourself up over a bad outing and freak out when things don't go your way. You kind of look for that balance."

And as long as he's in camp, the 25-year-old wants to glean whatever he can from the veterans.

"I think it's learning from every guy," Bourque said. "You've got guys like Stras (Stephen Strasburg) and (Max) Scherzer who are some of the best pitchers in the game - they're starters, so they have a different routine than I would have as a reliever. So you pick up maybe one little thing from every guy. Some of the older relievers - (Sean) Doolittle and (Trevor) Rosenthal - you try to pick up as much as you can. So when you're number's called, you're not freaking out. You have confidence you're going to do it."

Bourque may possess electric stuff and be animated on the mound, but in the clubhouse, he's a quiet sort, more likely to be buried into his cell phone than cutting up with his teammates.

"I'm not trying to make too big of a splash the first camp, especially in the locker room," he said. "I like coming in, getting my work done, and making sure I'm doing everything right on the field."