CHANGE IS GOOD FOR SHIELDS NEW PITCHES HELPS FORMER HART STAR.

Byline: GIDEON RUBIN Special to the Daily News

ANAHEIM - From one year to the next, life peppered Jamie Shields with a steady barrage of curveballs.

The former Hart High of Newhall pitching sensation countered by developing a pitch of his own -- a devastating changeup that, after a setback-filled journey through the minors, has catapulted him to the major leagues.

Shields, a 24-year-old rookie for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, was 4-2 with a 4.89 ERA heading into Saturday night's start against the Angels. He was projected to be selected in the first three rounds of the 2000 draft, but saw his draft stock plummet after suffering a back injury that caused him to fall to 16th round.

He missed his entire 2002 season after having a benign cyst surgically removed from his right (pitching) shoulder, and spent much of last season rehabbing from a shoulder injury doctors never definitively diagnosed.

Shields, who made his major-league debut May 31, became the first Devil Rays pitcher to win his first four decisions. He did so in successive starts from June 5-21, striking out 22 batters and allowing five runs on 23 hits and seven walks in 25 innings. He had a 1.80 ERA over that stretch.

Shields hadn't been to Angels Stadium since 1999, when he was the winning pitcher for Hart in the Southern Section Div. II championship game.

``It has been a journey, it's been an up-and-down journey,'' said Shields, sitting in front of what he thinks was the same locker in the visiting clubhouse at Angels Stadium he had as a Hart junior in 1999.

``I had to battle through a lot of stuff, a lot of adversity,'' he said. ``I got through it, and here I am.''

That he is in the major leagues is largely a product of his own resourcefulness. After sitting out the 2002 season, Shields reinvented himself, a process that included reworking his pitching mechanics and teaching himself a new way to grip his changeup, a pitch the Devil Rays emphasize heavily in their minor-league pitching development.

Shields never threw a changeup at Hart. He didn't have to, with a fastball in the 89-92 mph range, along with a curveball and cut fastball.

``While I was out, I just decided I needed a pitch to take me to the next level and I developed (the changeup) in 2003,'' Shields said. ``Being a pitcher in pro ball, you've got to kind of be a self-teacher sometimes, because not everybody's going to be correcting you all the time.''

Shields throws two changeups, a ``get-me-over'' he throws to get ahead of hitters, and a ``put-away'' change with late downward movement similar to a split-finger fastball that his agent, Page Odle calls a ``Bugs Bunny pitch'' because of the cartoon-like swings it typically produces.

Shields attributes the effectiveness of both pitches to the grip he developed and the violent arm action that throws hitters off. His grip is a carefully guarded secret he won't discus.

Shields is confident enough in his changeup to throw it at any time.

``It's an effective pitch and he'll throw it in any count in any situation,'' Devil Rays catcher Dioner Navarro said. ``He's got guts.''

Shields also credits a grueling offseason conditioning program he did with his cousin, Aaron Rowand, the Philadelphia Phillies' center fielder.

Shields doesn't take his success for granted.

``I really feel that I've earned my way up here,'' Shields said. ``Nothing was handed to me. Even when I was healthy, I had a lot of setbacks. I wasn't getting moved up when I thought I should, even though I was putting up some pretty good numbers in the minors. I had to push the envelope a little bit to get here, and now I'm just really happy that I'm here.''

[e-mail]

818-713-3607

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

Hart High of Newhall alum Jamie Shields had a 4-2 record with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays heading into Saturday's start.

Steve Nesius/Associated Press

Box:

(1) LOCALS IN THE MAJORS

(2) LOCALS IN THE MINORS