Getting to Know Astros/Buies Creek RHP Peter Solomon

Drafted in the 4th round by the Astros out of Notre Dame in 2017, RHP Peter Solomon anchored the Low A Quad Cities rotation until his late July promotion to High A Buies Creek. In 19 games (10 starts) for the River Bandits, he was 8-1 with a 2.43 ERA, 1.159 WHIP and 28 walks to 88 strikeouts in 77.2 innings of work. He has not allowed a run, earned or otherwise, in his first two appearances at the higher level.

Peter Solomon - July 2018

Photo by Jayne Hansen

I caught up with Solomon last month in Quad Cities before his promotion and came away with the impression of a pitcher who very much buys in to the Astros process, and one who is less worried about his own ego than he is in being a good teammate. But the first thing you might notice is that there is a pretty constant flow of chatter coming from his corner of the dugout.

"I'm pretty talkative. Some guys like it more than others. I try to keep the life in the dugout a little bit, just being a more talkative guy, cheer a little bit more than some other dudes. It's tough, especially a long season, you're playing 20 games in a row at some points and you get tired. Everyone does. You don't want to yell even if it's your buddy out there, but I try to keep it pretty positive and keep it light even when things aren't going so well. You've got to have someone cheering," said Solomon.

Solomon continued, "I always give them high fives, fist bumps. If something doesn't go their way, let them know that you've got their back, that I'm here to support (them). I'm pretty big into positive touches, into giving them high fives and what not. I do a pretty good job with that."

We spent a lot of time talking about Solomon's teammates from former Notre Dame teammate and current Astro farmhand RHP Brandon Bielak to a few players he's had fun watching during the 2018 season. Of Bielak, he told me, "He's great. He's one of the best guys to be around. Extremely hard worker. Makes you take your game to the next level. Can't say enough good things about him. He's a guy that you want to have on your team for sure."

Solomon also enjoyed watching RHP Cristian Javier ply his craft with the River Bandits prior to his promotion to Buies Creek. "Every time he went out, whether he struggled early or not, he always seemed to get back to even keel. And he just throws strikes with all three pitches, four pitches, whatever he has and every time out there he's extremely impressive. You'd see him dominate teams night in and night out when he went out," said Solomon of Javier. Likewise, he enjoyed watching one of the Astros top prospects, OF J.J. Matijevic, in action when he was with the team earlier this season. "It was a real treat to watch him from BP to how he held himself in a game with composure. (It) was really nice just kind of watching him be a pro in the box with a really good approach."

But Solomon reserved his highest words of praise for OF Jake Meyers of whom he declared, "He plays baseball well." In response to a question regarding who, in particular, he liked having behind him in the field when he was pitching, Solomon said, "Jake Meyers, when he was in centerfield, you had no worries. Nothing bad against anybody else, but with Jake Meyers in the outfield, you had no worries whatsoever. He made, hands down, the most amazing play I've seen in my life at this field, the most amazing catch. And when he's out there, you have no worries. You know he's going to set the other outfielders up right if there's a miscue, tell them where the ball is. He's going to make every play that comes in. He's giving a hundred percent every single play, 110% going to lay out if it's anywhere close."

Once the conversation centered on Solomon himself rather than his talented teammates, he filled me in on his pitch repertoire which includes a 4-seam fastball that sits low 90's and will hit mid-90's "depending on the day" to go with four other pitches. "I throw a changeup which is still a big work in progress. It's been a huge progression for me. In college I didn't throw much of a changeup at all really. Starting here, it's become a pitch that I've become way more comfortable with, throwing for strikes, throwing to righties and lefties. And I throw both a curveball and a slider. Curveball is more of a straight up and down break, more of a 12-6 and the slider's more of a slurvy hybrid that I'm still working on, trying to find the perfect shape that I want for it. And I've incorporated a kind of a cutter this year, a new pitch for me. It's not a huge pitch that I rely on but I want to work on in the games and get the reps with and become more comfortable because I think it's something that will help me down the road, just being able to have that as another option, a weapon to use against hitters. Those are the pitches I'm working with right now. Still all works in progress. You're never really happy with where you're at."

Solomon considers his curveball to be his best offspeed pitch, an assessment with which Quad Cities Pitching Coach Graham Johnson concurs, "He can use it to both bat sides. It plays a little better to lefties with him and with his fastball, the way he uses it, but he can definitely use it to both sides and it's a power breaking ball. Pete's got a really good kind of arsenal to go with. It's really a true 5-pitch mix. It's got power stuff as well as some finesse. The big things that he's working on are fastball location, which you can say that for anybody, changeup development and then really the big thing for him is the slider against righties, when to be in the zone, when to lure them out of the zone. Those are the big things he's working on."

Solomon is also working on creating more deception for the hitters through his delivery. "(The goal) is having every pitch look the same from your wind up and release point. Same leg lift, arm action. The big thing is just making every pitch look out of hand the same." He wants to avoid tipping his pitches by something as simple as how he holds his glove, forcing the hitter to "react when the ball's in mid-air."

Solomon considers his biggest accomplishment in the 2018 season, however, to be upping his mental game. "I think I've got a better mental part of the game. I've become more relaxed on the mound. I (don't) let things affect me as much when I'm on the mound," said Solomon. But he also sees the mental side of the game as an offensive weapon, seeing it as "mental warfare against the hitter in imposing my will on them rather than trying to pitch around them, attacking the zone with my best stuff and just thinking my best is going to beat your best." Solomon continued, "I'm going to go out there and continue to work hard and make sure my best is at its best when I go out there. I think that's the two main things, just being mentally sound and also attacking with my best stuff and not being afraid."

Off field, you can find Solomon relaxing, watching "The Office," playing a little golf when time permits and in search of the best sushi spot wherever he is. Although his home is in Maryland, he will be headed back to Notre Dame this offseason, along with Bielak and a couple of other former Notre Dame teammates, working on his degree in Business IT as well as working on his offseason conditioning. "That will be fun to be back with them, be able to work out with them, do throwing programs and stuff. So it will be good  to have other guys push you, you push them. It's a good environment to get better," said Solomon.

Time will tell whether or not Solomon will have the opportunity to watch the Astros in the postseason again in 2018, but he did enjoy the 2017 postseason, "It was definitely cool. Watching the World Series, you definitely have some pride because you know that the guys on the field, they're getting taught the same things. They did the journey that I was about to go on. That's how you do it and that's what your reward can be if you work hard and make it to that level. It was awesome watching, but also gives you the perspective, 'you know what, I can be there in a couple of years,' so it's really cool to see."

The flip side of that is that the MLB talent and sheer depth of the Astros system could be daunting to some players, but Solomon chooses to focus on what he can learn from the other pitchers in the system and to use the success of others as motivation to better his own game. "Throughout the year, this team has had really good starting pitching. And I think what we've done is build off each other. One guy goes out one night and throws really well and I want to follow up and really pitch well the next night as well. I think everybody knows within the system that everyone is pitching extremely well this year and everyone is having great years. It's not like anyone's jealous of anyone else. You're happy for everybody. They're pitching their best, you're pitching your best. It's really fun, honestly, to watch, every night to go out and see some guy pitch really well and give up no runs, give up one run and have 10 strikeouts. You feed off of it. You get good energy from somebody else. You see them dominate and you (think) I can do the same thing the next night."

Thank you for your time, Peter, and best of luck as the season winds towards its conclusion.