Larkin alum Sienko lands dream job with Dodgers

Former Larkin baseball great Ryan Sienko has his dream job.

Sienko, who went on from Larkin to enjoy a baseball career at the University of Iowa and professionally with the White Sox and Texas Rangers organizations, recently was named the assistant catching coordinator for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

One of Sienko's main tasks will be to help Dodgers catchers throughout the organization improve on the number of called strikes they receive.

"The statistics show 53 percent of everything started or ended with the pitcher pitching it and the catcher catching it," he said. "That's over half the game. The Dodgers did not fare well in that category last year. Fifty percent of outs go to at least 2 strikes. It's still subjective because of the umpire. The only objective thing is how he calls it. The ability to keep more balls in the strike zone keeps the defense on its toes and limits the number of pitches a pitcher throws, so there is the potential injury prevention component."

Most recently Sienko, a 1993 Larkin graduate and a 1997 alum of Iowa, has been coaching baseball at well-known Torrey Pines High School in San Diego. Sienko, his wife and children live in nearby Poway. Sienko, who also enjoyed a five-year head coaching stint at Canyon Crest Academy High School, is the assistant varsity coach under former Angels and White Sox pitcher Kirk McCaskill. Sienko will be able to continue his role as McCaskill's assistant at Torrey Pines and also will continue to run his Catch & Throw Professional Catching and Conditioning Instruction business.

"I have a great situation at Torrey Pines," said Sienko, a one-time Baltimore Orioles associate scout. "We have great kids, great facilities and Kirk and I work very well with each other."

Sienko, who also had an offer to manage in the Padres minor league system, said he had a conversation with Dodgers executive and former MLB player Gabe Kapler during the recent winter meetings in San Diego. Sienko was introduced to Kapler by former White Sox pitcher and good friend Jack McDowell.

"Jack had mentioned there was a possible opportunity to manage the Dodgers Rookie League team in Arizona," said Sienko, who played eight years of professional baseball. "That didn't end up working out, but Gabe said 'Let's get creative.' He asked me what I thought about pitch framing. He asked me to put something together. He really wanted to dig into that and learn more about it. I sent some things back and forth. I ended up presenting to their prospects in their winter development program. There were players, front office people and scouts there. After doing that, I got the offer."

Sienko, an Elgin Sports Hall of Fame inductee, said he will head to Dodgers spring training in Arizona for three weeks to work with the organization's catchers and then will go on the road once the minor league regular seasons begin and spend time with each of the Dodgers' minor league affiliates.

"I can't even begin to tell you what this means to me," he said. "It's been a dream for me since I got done playing. I always knew I wanted to get back in. I knew I had good information and have been mentored by so many great guys from Matt Nokes (former Tigers catcher), Rick Wilkins (former Cubs catcher) and the late Ed Herrmann. There were a lot of people who were very instrumental in teaching me. I've spent some time with Bob Boone (longtime MLB catcher) and learned a lot from him as well."

Sienko also has been plenty busy helping a variety of current major leaguers prepare for the upcoming season. Numerous players who live in the San Diego area in the off-season use Torrey Pines' facilities for workouts.

"There probably are seven or eight major league pitchers who work out here," he said. "They will stick around afterward and talk to the kids. There are some real cool guys that interact with the kids with not only pointers, but advice on the mental side of the game. We take a real prostyle approach to the program here."

Sienko is looking forward to getting this next phase of his career up and running.

"My goal like everybody else's was to play in the big leagues," he said. "I don't know how many major league guys I played with over the years but you can tell the distinct differences with them and how they accept things such as failure. I tried as hard as I could and worked very hard to be as marginal as I was. But all that work I put in has taken me to where I am now. I wouldn't trade any of this. I'm counting my blessings for this opportunity and plan to make the most of it."