CLEARWATER, Fla. – The breaking pitches aren't there yet and neither is his fastball velocity, but Braves pitcher Brandon Beachy believes that stuff will come. For now, he's pleased with progress made from his first to second starts of spring training.
After allowing two runs and as many hits (five) as he recorded outs in his spring debut, Beachy came back Wednesday to pitch three hitless, scoreless innings against the Phillies in a game that ended in a 2-2 tie. He had one strikeout, one walk, and hit one batter with a pitch.
“I felt better, more comfortable out there,” Beachy said. “While working on stuff, I was able to make some better pitches than last time out.”
He got knocked around some by the Astros on Friday in his first start since having arthroscopic surgery Sept. 26 to remove a bone chip from his pitching elbow. It was his second surgery in 15 months, following a Tommy John ligament-reconstruction procedure in June 2012.
Beachy’s fastball velocity in his first two starts has been mostly in the 87-90 mph range, several ticks below his pre-surgery norm. And so far, his curveball and slider lack the nasty bite they had back when he had a 2.00 ERA and majors-leading .171 opponents’ average in 13 starts before tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in 2012.
But Beachy said before spring training that he would stick to his plan of easing back into things this spring, regardless of results in his first few starts.
“He looked confident in what he was doing, confident in throwing his pitches,” Braves third baseman Chris Johnson said. “He was bouncing around out there. And then talking to him afterward, he said he felt good. He’s headed in the right direction.”
He got good results Wednesday despite not letting it all hang out. Beachy threw some good change-ups and a majority of fastballs including sinkers (two-seamers).
“Threw a couple of good (change-ups),” he said. “Mostly a lot of fastballs. Four- and two-seam, a lot more two-seam than usual; I was kind of working on that. I threw some curveballs – not very good ones, at all. That’s something I’m going to work on. I think I threw one slider. As spring training progresses I’ll get to those, focus on those a little more.
“Right now I’m working on throwing the fastball. There were times where I was missing. I was able to make some pitches other times.”
Most of all, he’s pleased that his soreness so far has been the “normal” kind of soreness that any pitcher gets after his return to the mound, not the alarming kind he felt last year after coming back from elbow surgery.
Pitching coach Roger McDowell said it’s only natural for Beachy to be a little tentative in the early going, after what he went through last year. Beachy came back from a 13-month Tommy John rehab only to be shut down due to lingering soreness after making only five starts.
“I think each and every time out he’s going to get a little more confidence, a little bit more stability and mindset that he can go after it,” McDowell said. “But he’s OK.”
