Levine: Mat Latos Baffles Hitters, Confounds Critics

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- After another impressive start Tuesday night, White Sox right-hander Mat Latos is 3-0 with a 0.49 ERA.

Repeating, for emphasis: Mat Latos is 3-0 with a 0.49 ERA.

After spending most of his career save for a few weeks in the National League, Latos is making American League hitters look silly. His latest gem came when he twirled 6 1/3 shutout innings and allowed just two hits in Chicago's 5-0 win against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

Latos got early run support from solo home runs hit by Todd Frazier in the second inning  and Jose Abreu in the fourth inning. The White Sox added three more runs in an eighth-inning rally..

The 28-year-old Latos' hot start came after he looked lost in spring training, leading some observers to believe he hasn't ready for the start of the season and his No. 4 spot in Chicago's rotation.

"Spring training is totally different," Latos said. "It is tough going to the back fields and not really pitching with adrenaline and facing your own hitters. My game plan -- and it has not been a secret -- is I like to throw inside. The last thing I want to do in spring training is pitch against my own guys and run a two-seamer in on somebody's hands. (After) going against your guys and (then) coming into a real ball game where, I know its crappy to say, but I don't care if I hit somebody, it's a part of the game."

Latos emphasized he never tries to hit a batter, but going inside will always be a point of emphasis. In the White Sox's 9-5 start, he's been a revelation. He was one of the last free-agent starting to sign this offseason, inking a one-year, $3-million deal with Chicago just 10 days before the start of spring training.

Latos isn't your conventional right-hander either, as he surprises his own teammates with his quirks.

"It's hard to understand Matty," said catcher Dioner Navarro, who also caught him in Cincinnati. "He is a complex dude, but he has been around a little bit. He knows what he thinks, he knows what he wants to do. He knew what he needed to work on in spring training. He obviously did a great job."

Latos has allowed just one earned run in 18 1/3 innings and has a 0.60 WHIP over his three starts.

"In a sense, I sucked in spring training," Latos said. "Since then, I've pitched a little better."

How does a hitter approach Latos?

"He pitches up in the zone and down in the zone," said White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton, whose strong throw in the sixth inning cut down a would-be run at the plate. "He really mixes pitches in well. Hitters seem off balance. He is very deceptive. He is all butts and elbows when you face him."

Added Abreu: "I don't know what my approach would be. I am just happy he is on my team right now because he is very good."

Navarro summed what it's like facing Latos as an opponent.

"I have had the opportunity to catch him and face him," Navarro said. "He is a lot easier to catch than to hit against him. He is getting to the point where he gets it. He doesn't try to be that fine. He tries to get ahead and go to work after that."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.