Cory Rasmus, 25, is one of four baseball-playing brothers and the second to make the major leagues. His older brother Colby, the starting center fielder for the Toronto Blue Jays, might have been just as excited as Cory when the Braves gave him his first major league promotion Saturday.
The Braves recalled Rasmus from Triple-A Gwinnett when they placed Eric O’Flaherty on the disabled list.
“He sent me a couple text messages,” Rasmus said of Colby Sunday morning. “He called me 10 minutes ago like ‘Hey man, how was it yesterday?’ He watched the game.”
The timing is pretty good for the Rasmus family. The Braves play four games against Toronto on May 27-30, with two games in Toronto and then two in Atlanta.
Cory Rasmus was born in Columbus and grew up in Phenix City, Ala. so it’s a short trip up for his parents. Rasmus has two younger brothers as well, Casey who’s playing in low-A for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cyle, who played for Columbus State.
Colby’s advice for his younger brother?
“He just told me it’s the same game,” Rasmus said. “Just go out there and pitch to your strengths and don’t change anything you’ve been doing.”
Rasmus was 1-1 with a 0.93 ERA in 19 appearances for Gwinnett. He was 7-for-7 in save opportunities with 21 strikeouts and nine walks in 19 1/3 innings, with a .123 opponents’ batting average.
A supplemental round pick in 2006, Rasmus missed the 2007 season with a shoulder injury. He was a starter up until last season when the Braves moved him to the bullpen in Double-A Mississippi. He still throws four pitches: fastball, curveball, slider and change-up.
“I don’t really throw hard or have the best stuff, but I feel like I mix it up pretty well and throw some strikes,” Rasmus said.
He grew up a Braves fan and said he can remember sitting with his travel baseball team in the second row of a game and yelling at Chipper Jones when he was standing on deck. He got a thrill Saturday night when Jones passed through the Braves clubhouse before the game.
“That’s pretty awesome,” Rasmus said.
