PHILADELPHIA — Three years ago, Brandon Beachy was mowing grass at a Virginia vineyard in the morning and pitching for the Woodstock (Va.) River Bandits of the Valley Baseball League at night. He had gone undrafted out of Indiana Wesleyan.
Now he leads National League rookies in strikeouts and has carved a spot in the Braves’ starting rotation for the first of what could be many seasons to come.
Beachy, who is 7-2 with a 3.37 ERA entering his start in Wednesday’s series finale against the Phillies, was asked if he ever thought about how quickly he has ascended from facing the New Market Rebels and Luray Wranglers of the Valley League, to facing the likes of the Phillies.
“Yeah, every now and then,” said Beachy, who turned 25 on Saturday. “It’s pretty crazy when you put it like that. I’m a different person, different pitcher than I was then. It’s kind of cool to think about it like that.”
Beachy has 135 strikeouts in 120 1/3 innings, a rate (10.10 per nine innings) that would rank as one of the top five in major league history for a rookie, if he keeps it up. He shows no signs of slowing.
The right-hander is 4-0 with a 2.79 ERA and .211 opponents’ average in his past eight starts, with 54 strikeouts and 15 walks in 48 1/3 innings. He missed more than a month with a strained oblique early in the season, but Beachy came back strong and has struggled in only a handful of his 21 starts this season.
Beachy has held opponents to three earned runs or fewer in 15 starts.
“Him going down hurt with that oblique — we’ve got guys that stepped up, but that was a big blow for us,” veteran Braves catcher David Ross said. “I feel like he’ll be a 15- to 20-game winner every year with the way his fastball is, and four pitches he can get over for strikes.
“He really developed a slider in spring training. Last year he was fastball, big curveball and change-up. Now he’s added a slider to that mix. And he’s even throwing a sinker now, which makes him better. He’s constantly trying to get better. He’s not complacent.”
Beachy beat out Mike Minor for the Braves’ fifth-starter job during spring training. It didn’t take long for him to convince Braves officials he could become more than a No. 5. General manager Frank Wren says he thinks Beachy can develop into a No. 3 or even a No. 2 starter in a strong rotation.
“He’s got an interesting mix now, where he can spot the fastball and he can also elevate it,” Wren said. “He gets a lot of strikeouts on fastballs he elevates. ... I don’t know that you ever know what to expect.
“We thought because of his command, that he could be a good major league pitcher. Doing it this fast was probably not expected.”
