Hitter-turned-pitcher shines for Hoppers
April 20, 2018
Taylor Braley readily admits he misses hitting, but he’s settling nicely into being a full-time pitcher.
Friday night, the right-hander gave the sharpest performance of his brief career, allowing just one run over seven innings with nine strikeouts as the Hoppers edged Charleston 2–1. He picked up his first win of the season.
“I’m not a big stats guy,” Braley said. “I want to do whatever it takes to give the offense a chance to win the game.”
He achieved that with excellent command of his fastball and then using his slider and changeup to keep the RiverDogs off-balance.
“He followed the game plan by keeping his fastball down and throwing his secondary pitches for strikes,” said pitching coach Mark DiFelice. “He’s got an idea of pitch sequence and he has good stuff. He’s got a future (as a pitcher).”
Braley was drafted in the sixth round last summer out of Southern Mississippi, where he pitched and played third base. He thought he would likely be chosen as a position player.
“The Marlins’ scout said they were interested in me as a hitter, but they thought I had a faster path to the majors as a pitcher,” Braley said. “I enjoy hitting a lot and this is the first time I haven’t played every day. It’s tough because I know I can hit.”
Braley pitched some in high school but when he got to college he was plugged into the lineup as a third baseman. He made only a couple of brief appearances on the mound his first two seasons.
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In his junior year, his coaches asked him to help out as a starter in the second half of the season and Braley posted a 7–2 record in 13 starts. But he kept slugging and bashed 17 home runs with 61 RBIs. He only pitched once a week and didn’t even throw bullpen sessions between starts.
So he’s really just beginning to learn the nuances of pitching. After he signed with the Marlins, Braley pitched at short-season Batavia (he threw one scoreless inning in the Gulf Coast League), where he had a 1–2 record and 2.79 ERA in 19 innings. He only gave up 12 hits and struck out 21 while walking just five.
The RiverDogs couldn’t do much with Braley. They managed seven hits but there were only a couple of hard-hit balls, including a homer by Chris Hess, his fifth of the young season.
“The home run was on a pitch on the inside corner, and it wasn’t a terrible pitch,” Braley said.
After his stint, the Hoppers used Dustin Beggs to close out the game. It was the first career save for Beggs, who started 26 games for the Hoppers last year and had 10 wins. He hurt his back late in spring training and was just activated earlier this week.
Beggs ran into trouble when he entered the game in the eighth, giving up singles to the first two hitters, putting runners on first and third. But he struck out Steven Sensley and on the play catcher B.J. Lopez threw out Oswaldo Cabrera trying to steal second base. Beggs then fanned Hess to end the inning. In the ninth, he gave up a single, got a strikeout and induced Dalton Blaser to hit into a game-ending double play.
“He made a great pitch on that 3-and-2 count and it was a great throw by Lopez,” said manager Todd Pratt. “That play probably won the game.”
The Hoppers lifted their record to 9–5, posting their sixth win in eight games, five of them by one run. They will face the RiverDogs at 7 o’clock Saturday night. Greensboro’s starter will be Eduardo Cabrera, the 20-year-old right-hander who pitched six no-hit innings against Lakewood in his last start.
“He only threw 68 pitches in six innings,” DiFelice said. “He was efficient around the plate. They really didn’t have anything close to a hit.”
NOTES: Lopez picked a runner off first base in the third inning … Jose Devers got an RBI single for the Hoppers after Aaron Knapp singled in the sixth inning … Devers went to third base on a double steal and scored on a wild pitch … Charleston’s hitting coach is Scott Seabol, who was the South Atlantic League’s MVP for the Greensboro Bats in 1999 … In the stands was Mark Blaser, who played for the Hornets in 1982 ,,, His son Dalton is the first baseman for the RiverDogs.
