Patient Kubat Battling, Eager For Baseball's Return

Kyle Kubat has another story to add to his list of spring training tales.
 
The former Nebraska pitcher, entering his sixth season of professional baseball, loves to tell stories, from the time he was 9 years old and came within inches of Derek Jeter's autograph, but settled for one from Roger Clemens, to his lunch a couple of years ago with Jim Thome.
 
Kubat was eating when Thome pulled up a chair and began a conversation. Kubat remembers the moment vividly because, well, he's having lunch with Jim Thome, but also because it was during spring training, only a couple of months after the announcement Thome would enter the Baseball Hall of Fame.
 
"He just started talking," Kubat said. "I was sitting there, kind of shaking my knees a little bit. I'm like, 'Holy cow, I'm sitting down with a Hall of Famer right now.' "
 
Not all of Kubat's spring training stories are baseball-related. Every year, Kubat arrives in Arizona a few days before he needs to report and brings his mother, for some quality mother-son time. Last year, Kubat asked how she felt about attending a UFC event.
 
"She looks at me and says, 'Let go!' "
 
Kubat is a die-hard UFC fan but had never attended a live fight. The second-level seats, four or five rows back, suited him just fine.
 
"You could still hear the skin-on-skin contact with the punch. It was probably one of the most exhilarating events I've ever been to," Kubat said. "It's all quiet, and then you hear that one punch, and the entire crowd goes absolutely nuts."
 
Now, Kubat tells a new spring training story, one much less exhilarating, but memorable all the same.
 
Rain fell for three straight days, with Kubat and his teammates in the locker room, waiting for any break in the weather. Finally, on a Thursday, they took advantage of a window, about 45 minutes, to get outside and play catch.
 
For a while, anyway.
 
"Our field coordinator starts yelling at us across the complex, he's like, 'Get off the field!' " Kubat said. "Obviously, we're like, 'OK, we know what's happening.' "
 
First the NBA, then the NHL and MLS, and finally, Major League Baseball. All ceasing activities indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic.
 
Players had a short meeting, then left, and were told to take the next day off.
 
"We're laying around Friday, watching President Trump's press conference," Kubat said, "and then about an hour later we get a text, 'Come to the field at this time, grab your things and we're going to send you guys back home."
 
By Saturday morning, Kubat was on the road, back to his home in Omaha.
 
"That week was just a blur," Kubat said. "Physically I felt there, but mentally I was like, 'What is going on?' It was just a weird feeling for that whole week."
 
Obviously there's never a good time, for anyone, for any reason, for a global pandemic. Yet the timing for Kubat was truly rotten. He finished last season playing for the Charlotte Knights, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, and entered spring training ready to prove himself.
 
"I felt great. Physically, mentally I was ready to roll," Kubat said. "I was in the best shape I've ever been in. It's just unfortunate this had to happen, but it is what it is. We just have to stay prepared and wait it out and hopefully we can get some baseball – or any type of sports – this year."
 
Kubat is doing what he can to say in shape and be creative with his workouts. The organizations sends him a throwing program, but without knowing an end date, even that can be challenging.
 
"Just waiting for the nod to hear from everyone," Kubat said.
 
In his short time in Arizona in minor league spring training, Kubat worked two bullpen sessions and one controlled scrimmage. He's not certain of his position, whether starter or bullpen, but says he's a "Swiss Army Knife," ready and suited for any role.
 
"We have a bunch of those guys in the organization," Kubat said. "We have some top prospects coming off injury, Tommy John surgery, just getting back in the swing of the things. They're going to be healthy this year.
 
"I expect to be a starter, so I over-prepare, physically, mentally, keep my body shape to go 5, 6, 7 innings, then if I only go 2 or 3 it's not that big of a deal. If I prepare for 1-2 innings but have to go 4, 5, 6, then I feel like I'm behind the eight ball and have to play catch-up for the rest of the season."
 


To that end, Kubat is very keen on taking care of his body, from what he puts in it to how he works out. He's learned to be disciplined, especially in the offseason. He's even joined a winter volleyball league.
 
"Being able to put on 25 pounds, I still wanted to feel athletic," Kubat said. "What better way to be athletic and get some cardio in than play some volleyball?"
 
Bottom line, self-accountability is critical. Pitching once a week while enjoying the structure and amenities of Nebraska, professional ball is not.
 
"You see those guys that throw 200 innings a season. Those guys are warriors," Kubat said. "Those guys take care of their body, obviously, when you're not watching. Those guys are the best role models to follow because they take care of their body. They know what they need to be able to succeed at a high level."
 
Kubat has played every level throughout the minor leagues, with a career 32-16 record and 3.06 ERA. He finished 5-3 with a 5.63 ERA last season at Charlotte – a park known for its beautiful backdrop and hitter-friendly dimensions.
 
"It's absolutely gorgeous on a Friday, Saturday night, with 10,000, 12,000 people," Kubat said. "There's still 5,000 people on a Tuesday night."
 
But pitchers best keep the ball down. Of the 17 home runs Kubat has allowed in five years, nine came last season, all with Charlotte.
 
"So many home runs I've seen, 'How the heck did that get out?' One-handed, opposite home runs that have barely left," Kubat said. "Broken bat home runs. It's crazy."
 
Kubat, who didn't become Nebraska's ace until his senior season, finished with 50 career appearances, with a 19-8 record and a 3.03 ERA. A good college pitcher who knew how to pitch and how to compete.
 
Yet that wasn't enough to get Kubat drafted. The Kansas City Royals signed him as a free agent and traded him two years later to the White Sox, for cash. Yet here's Kubat, still battling, knocking on the big league's front door.
 
"Being undrafted and still going into season number six, I don't think a lot of guys get this far," Kubat said. "It's funny. A lot of guys ask me, 'What round did you get drafted?' I'm like, 'Uh, I wasn't.' They kind of look at me like, 'Are you serious?' " 
 
Nope. He just tells them he's a 'lil ole lefty who's pitched his rear off and will do whatever he's asked.
 
"It's been a rough patch to get to this point," Kubat said. "Obviously, not seeing my name come up on the board being drafted, having to go through a couple of organizations, having to compete at a couple of levels I've already succeeded at."
 
That's the business-side of baseball, something Kubat has understood more firsthand and has learned to accept.
 
"I really learned once I got to the Royals a little more about myself, and then kind of hit a road block there mentally," Kubat said. "But once I got to the White Sox, I cleared up those things, cleared up my mental focus."
 
A second chance. A clean start.  
 
"It's baseball, it could turn at any moment," Kubat said. "But I've been fortunate to stick to the path of working hard, staying humble, doing the right things day-in and day-out. Being able to control the things I can control, my attitude, my effort, all those things I'm able to control.
 
"Sky's the limit. I'm very fortunate to be in the position I'm at."
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.