Matt Yourkin can’t explain what happened exactly, other than to say something finally clicked late in the 2008 season when he was pitching for Jupiter, a high Class A team in the Florida Marlins organization.

“They say you’re trying to figure it out — at that point I figured it out,” said Yourkin, a left-handed reliever. “I just got back to the attitude, ‘Give me the ball and let’s go.’ ”

He was throwing harder than he ever had in his career. He touched 94 mph for the first time on the radar gun. He was throwing with very good control and confidence.

“The last month and a half of the season was one of the better ones I’ve had,” said Yourkin, a 1999 Napa High School graduate, who also played baseball at St. Mary’s College in Moraga. “I finished strong.”

The San Francisco Giants noticed, making him the fifth overall pick in the Triple-A phase of the 2008 Rule 5 Draft in December. The day he was taken in the draft he heard from a Marlins representative.

“They thanked me for all the hard work that I’ve done and that they were just happy that I had the opportunity to move on,” he said from his home in Simi Valley, Calif., last week. “The Marlins always respected me for my hard work and never being a distraction in the clubhouse or off the field or anything like that.”

Yourkin said he was actually hoping for a fresh start with another organization, as from a statistical standpoint, he endured a rough stretch over a two-month period last year with Double-A Carolina in Zebulon, N.C. The Giants are giving him that chance.

He will report to spring training early, arriving this week and taking part in his first workout Wednesday as part of a mini-camp in Scottsdale, Ariz. He is listed on the Fresno Grizzlies roster. The Grizzlies play in the Pacific Coast League.

“I’ll be out there a couple of weeks early,” he said. “It’s a new organization. I want them to see how dedicated I’ve been over these few years — even this offseason, just to be ready for the season and to make the big-league team.

“Hopefully in a couple of months I can put up some good numbers and put the pressure on them to call me up.”

Last year, Yourkin was 1-0 with a 2.93 ERA for the Jupiter Hammerheads in the Florida State League, but was 2-5 with a 6.08 ERA with the Double-A Carolina Mudcats of the Southern League. He threw a combined 622⁄3 innings in 48 games, striking out 59 and walking 30 during that time.

“The first half of the season was very good, but something in the middle just wasn’t going for me,” he said. “It was the worst stretch of 40, 50 days of my baseball career of pitching with the numbers being horrible and everything.”

Yourkin is starting his sixth year in professional baseball.

“I’ve always pitched with aggressiveness and I’ve always pitched with never backing down to anybody — I don’t care who is in the box. My edge when I pitch is that I think I can get that guy out no matter what. I think my best stuff is better than his best stuff. I’m not going to pitch around his strengths — I’m going to pitch to my strengths.”

Yourkin said he’s prepared to pitch in all kinds of relief situations.

“I feel I’m in the right place right now at the right time with a baseball club that could use bullpen help. I feel like I’m in a good situation.”

Yourkin works as a substitute school teacher in the offseason, but he’s in the gym regularly, keeping in shape. “I get in the gym and get all the conditioning in and all the throwing, just to make sure I’m in shape.”

E-mail Executive Sports Editor Marty James at mjames@napanews.com or call 256-2223.