Dominant Honeywell finds missing piece

Brent Honeywell had two strong starts to begin the season, but there was something off. On Sunday, he rediscovered the missing piece.

Back in command of his fastball, the Rays' second-ranked prospect gave up three hits and struck out eight over six scoreless innings as Class A Advanced Charlotte topped Tampa, 4-1, at Charlotte Sports Park.

"I felt good," Honeywell said. "In the third, I got my fastball command back and really emphasized if I'm going away, miss away, don't miss across the plate, and that's what I've been battling the past couple starts. So fastball command was good and I just executed my pitches after that."

After a 1-2-3 opening inning, Honeywell ran into some trouble in the second. Mike Ford and Billy Fleming started the frame with singles and Zack Zehner worked a one-out walk. That's when Honeywell knew he had to make a change. MLB.com's No. 41 overall prospect got Wes Wilson to fly out and fanned Michael O'Neill to leave the bases loaded.

"I just put myself in fastball counts, which is not good for us [pitchers] because we have to maneuver around the fastball count," he explained. "[In the jam,] I put myself in pitcher's counts where it was 1-2, 0-2 and make them have to swing, put them in swing mode, and I went off of that."

Honeywell also said that while he was throwing his fastball for strikes in his first two starts, he wasn't placing it exactly where he wanted. But it all came together before the third inning against the Yankees. 

"I was in warmups when that happened. I felt myself creeping across myself, so I was having to yank the ball to get it to the outer part of the plate," he said. "And once I straightened up my line and just went from there, I'm hitting the outside part of the plate and making a pitch inside if I have to. So that's my fastball command."

The adjustment solidified Honeywell's impressive arsenal. The 21-year-old right-hander faced the minimum over his final four innings.

"I used my environment -- it was windy. You have to let guys put the ball in play, especially when it's windy. Nobody's going to hit them out of the yard," he said. "So pitch up in the zone, pitch to contact, don't try to go after strikeouts. Strikeouts will happen, just like you saw today.

"When I can get ahead, that puts me in a better situation because I have five different pitches that I can come at you with."

While Honeywell wasn't trying to get strikeouts, his eight -- plus three from relievers Yonny Chirinos (2-0) and Mike Franco -- meant free Frosty's from Wendy's for all in attendance. And that could include one resourceful Stone Crabs starting pitcher.

"I was hoping I could get a ticket to get my free Frosty," Honeywell said. "[I like] the chocolate ones, traditional."

There have been plenty of treats for the Georgia native, who's held opponents to 12 hits and two walks while fanning 19 over 18 innings in three starts. He hasn't given up a run since the first inning on Opening Day.

"Wherever they put me, whatever happens this year, I cannot control that, but what I do know personally is that I'm ready for any level they throw at me. And I think that everybody knows that, but I got to wait my turn," Honeywell said. "Jake Faria, Taylor Guerrieri, Blake Snell and Austin Pruitt [are ahead of me]. Austin Pruitt has 22 punchouts in his last two starts [in Triple-A], so it's not my time yet. When it is my time, I'll go up and, hopefully, I'll have success."

Honeywell left with a 1-0 lead, but Tampa tied it in the seventh. Charlotte regained the lead for good in the bottom of the inning as Mac James led off with a double and scored on an error and Cade Gotta delivered an RBI single.