Through most of his minor league career, a similar thought would cross Cardinals prospect Adam Kloffenstein’s mind when a left-handed hitter would step to the plate against him.
“For so long in my career when I see a lefty walking up, I’m like, ‘Oh, here’s a lefty. We’ll see how this goes,’†Kloffenstein, a right-hander, told the Post-Dispatch during a recent interview in Memphis, Tennessee.
In each of his last three seasons before 2024, Kloffenstein, 23, allowed a batting average above .260 to lefties and could not contain them to an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) below .820. Just a season ago, 12 of the 14 home runs Kloffenstein allowed were against left-handers, who hit him for a .498 slugging percentage.
But 13 starts into his first full season with Class AAA Memphis, the 6-foot-5 righty has begun to see progress in an area he feels he’s struggled with thanks to an improved ability to command pitches inside to left-handers.
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While with Memphis, Kloffenstain has seen lefties more often than righties. He’s limited them to a .169 batting average and a .577 OPS while surrendering three homers in 130 at-bats.
“Them being able to keyhole me into one or two pitches is why they’ve done well against me in the past and now I’m throwing them everything I’ve got,†Kloffenstein said. “Just keeping them off balance, trying to treat them the same as a righty. I’d like to pitch in on everybody. I mean pitching in is the name of the game, in my opinion.â€
Kloffenstein, a trade deadline acquisition last July, owns a 4.18 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) across 71 innings in his first full season in the Cardinals system.
The 23-year-old, who was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2018 and was shipped to ºüÀêÊÓƵ as a part of the Jordan Hicks trade, possesses a six-pitch mix highlighted by a low 80s sweeper with a 41.7% whiff rate. He’s struck out 61 batters while walking 28. Including the .244 average and .806 OPS he’s allowed to righties, opposing hitters have combined for a .204 batting average and .686 OPS against Kloffenstein.
“I’ve just been working a lot on commanding all my pitches to both hitters,†Kloffenstein said. “To be real honest with you, I’ve just worked hard on it and just really tried to make lefties not a negative in my mind.â€
Solving left-handed bats has been a part of Kloffenstein’s process of challenging the opposition to beat him. It’s been a process that begins with ensuring he’s ahead.
Through his first eight starts, Kloffenstein walked 13.8% of the batters he faced. Kloffenstein described the early issues with walks as one that came naturally with a progression of “getting back into the swing†of the regular season.
The high walk rate came as the right-hander went 0-4 and posted a 5.31 ERA in his first 42 1/3 innings. The command issues coincided with eight home runs over the eight starts as he often fell into hitter-friendly counts.
“I would like to do away with that and that’s just more of kind of what we touched on (with) execution stuff,†Kloffenstein said of the home runs he surrendered. “When you get behind in the count and you have to come in, and this Triple-A zone it’s like throwing into a box, when you’ve got to come into a guy and down the middle, it’s kind of like (you) cross your fingers. I’d like to get that down.â€
As the 23-year-old looked for an answer, he found a simple solution.
“The main thing has just been focus for me. I know it sounds simple, and I wasn’t trying to walk guys before, but just refusing to walk guys,†Kloffenstein explained.
Across five starts heading into his Sunday start against Norfolk, Kloffenstein cut his walk rate to 6.5%. He’s gone 3-0 and maintained a 2.83 ERA with two quality starts over that stretch. One of the two quality starts in that span includes an outing on May 30 during which Kloffenstein pitched a career-high eight innings and matched a season-high in strikeouts with seven as he kept Nashville to one run and no walks.
“I’ve really just been focusing more on forcing guys to beat me,†he said that night while standing outside of the Redbirds clubhouse at AutoZone Park. “When you put a bunch of different pitches in the zone it can keep guys off balance. When you’re walking guys, it’s not keeping anybody off balance.â€
The mental adjustments have helped Kloffenstein find one of his most consistent stretches since the Cardinals acquired him and immediately promoted him to Triple-A. Kloffenstein described himself as settled in “pretty well†with his new organization and noted that the 40-man status he gained last winter has not been on his mind once he takes the field.
Though it can provide “a little extra push†when needed.
“My moment could come at any time, so I’ve got to keep working and I got to work hard and I got to be healthy,†he said of the feeling that comes with 40-man status. “... I think that’s the biggest thing for me is it’s pushed me to work even a little bit harder and focus a little bit more because (for) some guys you may only get that opportunity once, and if you’re not healthy, you may never get that opportunity again.â€