Arkansas, Tulsa, Arkansas

The Texas League has eight teams in it. That means you play your division opponents around 30 times a season. In the first half the Spring Birds played Northwest Arkansas a majority of the games and when I was called up again we finished our 31 game series against them. It is now time for the Arkansas and Tulsa portion of our season.

The second half of the schedule features all four Texas teams and the rest of the games are against Arkansas or Tulsa. At one point 19 of our 60 games to finish the season are against Arkansas. The first step was our road trip in Arkansas.

The Travs are the minor league affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. In my travels with different teams I have never played against a Mariners affiliate and it is always exciting to face new teams and players. There are two guys on their team from my Atlanta days which is always a nice surprise to see a familiar face. My action came a few days after my birthday appearance. I threw on the same day as my guy Parsons and we combined for a shutout. His seven innings were more impressive than my two innings but I am glad my two went well. I worked around a leadoff double to start my outing with a nice play by the short stop to get the lead runner on a ground ball. With a runner on first it was less of working around a runner on second to preserve the shutout. My ninth inning went well and besides a two out flare single the outing was a success. It was the one game we won in Arkansas on the trip and from there it was on to Tulsa.

The Drillers are the Dodgers affiliate and before playing them in Springfield it was a new team for me. I threw my two innings against Arkansas and I didn’t get a chance to pitch against Tulsa on the three game trip. There was an opportunity briefly because we needed to get the final out but our outfielder robbed a home run to preserve the win. If that would have gone over I would have been in the game. There are plenty of games left against Tulsa for me to make a mark against them. The Tulsa clubhouse was legit and the food they served has been great. The Dodgers invest in their minor leagues and eat well. They get Whole Foods for home games and the rumor is they get a chef from Springfield to cook their meals when they play us. It beats cold cuts every game. The starter for the Drillers one game is a knuckleballer. His first year in the minors was 2001 which means I will still be playing in 2032. When I turned 28 some of the younger guys were saying how their bodies are already sore and can’t imagine at 28. It is a learned skill.

I ran into the scout who signed me with Boston and little did I know that he was our hitting coaches manager back in A ball. Small world baseball is. There aren’t any weird or awkward feelings there. It’s his job to identify talent and then it’s the talents job to perform when given the chance. With Boston I wasn’t my best self and the results on the field suffered. He’s happy for me being in AA and who knows down the line of a reunion tour would happen.

The next game at home against Arkansas I thought I’d be in for sure but I didn’t even warm up. The reasoning I was given was if I warmed up and didn’t go in then that was two “ups” in the bullpen and I would be down for a day. The coaches have been working with me to give me rest but at the same time I think I do better the more frequently I get out there and throw. I get into a good rhythm and my arm feels better because it doesn’t get too much rest. I’m listening to my body though and since I haven’t had rest since October I’m taking what I can get.

Oh hey Brock

After the Tulsa trip we came home to Springfield to play the Travelers again. I repeated what I did last time against them with two scoreless innings before turning it over to our closer. It was a wild game that they ended up scoring four in the top of the 11th and we walked it off with five in the bottom of the 11th. It was wild and it had been a while since a walkoff homer that I witnessed.

The big boy trip is the one we are currently on. This is the farthest trip we have during the season and I was fortunate to dodge it the last time we played in Corpus Christi. The day I left to head back to Palm Beach they were leaving post game and now I had the pleasure of being on the bus after a 6:10 home games that would arrive in Amarillo around 9:00 am. We were given the option to stay the night in Springfield and then drive all day on Monday but the team voted for the post game ride. The offday certainly helps make that decision easier. The series in Amarillo is a quick three game guy then we head down to Corpus. My action came in the second game of the Amarillo series.

I came into a 5-2 game in the 7th inning and the expectation is that I go to the 9th then we turn it over to the closer for the 9th. There aren’t any many one inning minor league relievers. One thing I do during batting practice at a new field is go as close to the mound as I can so I get a feel for what the field looks like. This time the sight lines were a little weird but I made it work. Sort of.

My first inning was great. I think it was 11 pitches with a strikeout in there. From there I struggled in my 8th inning with a pair of walks and the longest single I’ve ever seen. My buddy Ronnie bailed me out with a double play to get out the jam and preserve our lead. From there the closer came in and shut the game down and we won 5-2.

I could feel myself rushing and not being as relaxed as I was in my first inning of work. I mentioned to my manager how I was ready for an at bat today since I threw yesterday and he mentioned how we should work on my second inning instead of at bats. I get it. I messed up the plan of going 7-8 and turning it to the closer for the 9th. I had my struggles in Palm Beach with second innings and now I’ve had my first in Springfield. My first outing where it was tough. I’ve had outings like Lakeland where I’m 12-12 on fastball strikes and others where I am closer to 50-50. It is all part of my process and being realistic with myself on where I am 14 months out physically and more importantly mentally. The game tonight was a wild one where we used four relievers and we have a bullpen day coming up Saturday. That means I’ll be in there soon and ready to roll.

We are currently on the bus to Corpus Christi to play the Hooks. The team I made my AA debut against all those days ago. We are here for four games before heading back to Springfield for the same games against the same teams but on our turf.

I’ve got my mattress pad to sleep on the bus. Headphones on and ready to conquer my first trip into Texas as a member of the Spring Birds.

The AA Return – 2019

The changes and movement keep coming for the Cardinals.

When Jordan Hicks left the game with an undisclosed injury I knew that someone from Springfield would have to move to Memphis. Then the domino effect happens and a Palm Beacher goes to Springfield unless they bring in a new player.

We were on the road in Dunedin when the Hicks injury happened and Springfield was on their All Star break. We had an off day Monday for Palm Beach, and then went on our three game series to Kissimmee. I didn’t want to get caught off guard this time with my equipment so I packed up the apartment and all my clothes into my travel bag. When I saw that the Springfield guys sent up two pitchers to Memphis I was hoping that I would be the guy to replace them in Springfield. I hadn’t been pitching incredible or anything in Palm Beach but because I was the most recent guy I figured hey why not I am available. After the game in Kissimmee on Thursday I was told I’d be heading back to Springfield on Friday.

I was not called upon to pitch on Friday like the last time I came up here and pitched right away. There was certainly a chance because the game went into extra innings. A funny part of extra innings was that it was almost 11 when the 11th inning was going to start unless we won. The team had a firework display ready for the crowd and the city on that day says that the fireworks have to launch before 11:00 pm. They were preparing to turn the lights off and shoot the fireworks between innings. I have never heard of anything like it and in the end we won in the bottom of the 10th. Crisis averted.

The next night was my time to shine. We almost went full Palm Beach on them with Fagalde starting, my inning of relief, Patterson snuck in there, and Whitley closing it out. I came into the game with a runner on first and got my first two AA strikeouts. I saw Patterson warming up for the lefties that were coming up and when I went back out I thought that the leadoff hitter would be my last guy. He went one pitch one out and then I lost my focus. I stayed in for one more hitter and walked him. As we know walks always score and he ended up scoring after Patterson came in. There goes the 0.00 ERA but overall I learned a good lesson not to assume anything with the bullpen. Pitch until they tell you that you aren’t pitching anymore. This was after we scored three in the bottom of the 7th and I snaked my first AA win.

The first series since I returned we played Northwest Arkansas. This was also our last series against Northwest which is weird because they are in our division but apparently we have played them around 30 times already. The new “play them everyday” is Arkansas who we play 19 of the 60 remaining games.

After the Northwest series it was the Tulsa Drillers. We play them a lot to start the second half and flip flop with them and Arkansas for the first two weeks of July. It was my first time seeing the Drillers and the scheduling worked out that I got to pitch on my birthday. I am fortunate to make it to 28 years and especially 28 years old and still playing professionally. I had the birthday magic working that night and came out of the inning with no hits, a walk, and three strikeouts.

I learned a lot about the intricacies of national league baseball watching the pinch hitting and double switching. I was technically up third in the inning after I pitched but was pinch hit for. I thought that I might get a chance and the only way I would have hit was if I was going back out for another inning. In this league when two National League teams play they do not use the designated hitter. That means the series against Tulsa and Amarillo are my time to sneak at bats.

We are on the bus to Arkansas right now for four then a three game set in Tulsa, OK. When we get back to Springfield we play Arkansas again. I’d reckon to say I’ll have 2-3 outings on this road trip now that we have an 8th bullpen guy. It puts less stress on the bullpen if a starter can’t make it deep into a game and keeps our arms fresh with that extra day of rest when you can get it. A part of my three week meeting is managing my workload after surgery and right now I am approaching the 14 month mark. A fellow TJ guy in our bullpen said that it usually takes 100 post surgery innings to feel normal. At my pace that won’t be until next year sometime but I am doing my best to compete with what I have.

I’m looking forward to the next two months up here or anywhere and finishing up the 2019 season.