McGowin realizes dream of pitching in big leagues with call to Nats

The Nationals announced the right-handed starter Kyle McGowin has had his contract selected as part of September roster expansion. McGowin was actually in the midst of his most recent start with Triple-A Syracuse when the wheels were set in motion for him to join the Nats in D.C.

"Well, I was pitching yesterday, started for Syracuse," McGowin said. "It was the fifth inning - they took me out and I was pretty upset. A couple of guys came up to me and were like, 'You're going to the show!' You don't want to take their word for it until you are told. But after the game, a couple of guys we were all sitting there and cracking up and Randy (Knorr, Syracuse manager) called me in and sat me down and told me I was driving home, but not to New York but to D.C."

McGowin has bounced back this season, going 3-2 with a 1.20 ERA in eight starts for Syracuse after two starts for high Single-A Potomac and 13 starts at Double-A Harrisburg. Last year, he struggled to a 1-6 record in nine games with a 6.31 ERA for the Chiefs.

McGowin said it is pretty obvious to him what the difference is for his game that changed the numbers so significantly.

"My mental game is night and day difference from last year," McGowin said. "I was dwelling on the negatives last year and this year I took the negatives and turned them into positives. And then my training this year was a lot different. I went and trained at a couple of facilities and I'd say that turned out and did wonders for me."

McGowin said he focused on a few books, one called "The Mind Gym" by Gary Mack, which describes the book as a "An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence."

"I read a couple books, couple guys recommended the book to me," McGowin said. "I read 'The Mind Gym' and I think that was one of the best things I could have done for my career. And then I was just talking to other guys, talking to past teammates, coaches and everything, and just getting reassurance that what I was doing was working and I just needed to keep focusing on what I was doing."

He is now confident in all of his pitches. That has helped him elevate his game because he is not shying away from throwing a certain pitch, when in the past he maybe wouldn't go in that direction.

"All of my pitches are working," McGowin said. "Just keeping the ball down. My sinker was working, my changeup was go-to this year and my slider was back to where it was a couple of years ago. Last year, I had lost my feel for it and I had lost confidence with that pitch, so I wasn't able to go to it like I usually could have."

Manager Davey Martinez has heard glowing reviews about McGowin, but cautioned that the Nationals would wait a bit before employing him in a game because he just pitched on Monday.

"He's got a smile from ear to ear," Martinez said. "I talked to him a little bit. He's excited about it. Well-deserved. He had a great year. I'm looking forward to him pitching and helping us try to win some games here. I know he can't pitch for a couple days cause he just threw. So I told him, just get his work in, meet everybody and just have fun. You deserve to be here, so have fun. I look forward to watching him."

"It still hasn't set it in honestly," McGowin said. "It's been a long journey. A lot of ups and downs. I'm just very thankful and happy to be here."

The 26-year-old said he joked a bit with his family when he told them the news that he was finally going to the big leagues.

"Well, I messed with my mom first," he said. "I texted her, 'What's the quickest route home?' Then I called her and told her I had no service. She started telling me and I said it doesn't really matter because I'm going to D.C. And she broke down hysterically. My father was there and then called my college coach, couple friends, my agent, everybody."

McGowin said the books that he read and his offseason review of what went wrong in 2017 helped him to realize that self-deprecation was not helping him get better as a pitcher. He realized after he was traded from the Angels to the Nationals in December 2016 that he felt like he had to prove something to his new team.

"It was a fresh start, but I also put a lot of pressure on myself wanting to show them what I was capable of and I think that's the worst thing I could have done for myself," McGowin said. "This year, I went in and just said I was just going to be myself and turned out."

He also worked on getting stronger and refining his changeup. Former major league starter Tim Lincecum coached him on how to perfect the pitch.

"I trained at Drive Line this winter with fellow big leaguer Tim Lincecum. He was my teammate with the Angels. I learned a lot from him," McGowin said. "I picked his brain a lot, especially with my changeup. I think that's what helped me so much this year. Helped my arm especially. Like my arm's never felt so strong."

McGowin was not highly sought after coming out of high school in Southampton, N.Y. He felt it was mainly because he didn't have killer velocity on his fastball. His father helped him find an offer from a school in Georgia to pitch on scholarship.

"I didn't really have many options out of high school," McGowin said. "I didn't throw very hard, topped 87 mph my senior year, I think. A couple Division II walk-on scholarships. One Division I walk-on, but I wanted to go down south, I wanted to play Division I. Coach Hardy, my father reached out to him and he told me to come down within that week and I threw a bullpen for him and he gave me a spot right there."

From high school days all the way to present day, McGowin has been told he wasn't good enough. So this day is pretty special moment for him in his quest to make a career in the major leagues.

"I'm not going to lie and say it never crept in my mind that I wouldn't be here," McGowin said. "But just getting that confidence back this year, that changed everything. I was told I wasn't going to be here from Day One. So I took that as a challenge. I'm very happy that people said that about me."