Diamondbacks Bullpen

[shoewizard]

NY Times Story


Bruney Shakes Past a Pitch at a Time

By TYLER KEPNER
Published: September 7, 2006

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Sept. 6 — Brian Bruney knows the pattern from experience. When a pitcher loses confidence in himself, he nibbles around the strike zone. Then he gets behind in the count, throws a ball down the middle, and gets hit. The confidence takes a hit, too.

“It’s just a tornado effect,” Bruney said. “You get in a bad cycle. Now I have the confidence to trust my stuff.”

In his brief time with the Yankees, that stuff has looked devastating. In his first eight games, Bruney has allowed one run in eight and a third innings, striking out 13 with a fastball that has reached 97 miles an hour.

He is quickly becoming a new version of the injured Tanyon Sturtze, a hard-throwing right-hander who impressed Manager Joe Torre down the stretch in 2004 and became a vital member of the bullpen.

“I’m just glad he’s proud of his stuff,” Torre said. “He should be. He’s pretty imposing with his fastball. It’s just basically: here, I dare you.”

Bruney pitched 77 games for Arizona over the 2004 and 2005 seasons, with a 4-7 record and a 6.17 earned run average. He strained his elbow pitching for Class AAA Tucson in April, and the Diamondbacks released him because they needed space on the 40-man roster for Kevin Jarvis, a journeyman now pitching for Boston.

It seems hard to believe that the Diamondbacks would give up on a pitcher who throws as hard as Bruney, who is 24 years old. But Bruney faults himself as much as his former team, saying that he stopped believing in himself when he sensed Arizona was losing faith in him.

“I had multiple chances with nothing to show for it,” Bruney said. “I’m very grateful for my time there and I enjoyed every moment. But I was very disappointed in my performance, and when they gave up on me, I gave up on myself. It was just a bad situation for me, mentally, to be in.”

Bruney said he drew interest from several teams but chose the Yankees because he wanted a chance to win the World Series. He essentially bet on himself, believing he could make a quick impression in the minors.

He did, holding right-handers to a .121 average in 11 games for Class AAA Columbus. Bruney said his personal goal was to reach the Yankees by Aug. 15, and he made it on Aug. 17.

On Tuesday in Kansas City, Torre limited Bruney to one batter specifically so he could use him Wednesday if needed. If Bruney keeps pitching this well, he will likely make the postseason roster. It would be a rapid turnaround for a pitcher whose confidence is back.

“I’ve got nothing to lose, I really don’t,” Bruney said. “I’ve been released, I’ve been cast aside, I’ve been passed over by people. It’s time for me to wake up.”

OUTFIELD OFF LIMITS FOR MATSUI Hideki Matsui batted cleanup for Class AA Trenton in the opening game of an Eastern League playoff series Wednesday. Matsui was the designated hitter, and the Yankees have no plans to let him play in the outfield when he returns.

Joe Torre said it would make no sense to take a risk with Matsui, who broke his left wrist May 11.

“It’s tough to put a guy in a championship situation and tell him to be cautious out there, he’s not going to do it,” Torre said. “Then he has a chance of reinjuring something you spent all year trying to heal.”

[matt]

You'd think they would wait until he actually has a few innings under his belt before they claim that he's undergone some magical transition. He's walked 5 in those 8.1 innings (however 3 were in the same appearance). Good for him if he puts it together. I wonder what the roster looked like when they dropped him. Unless there was a need for his spot they had no reason to release him. Still, he was given multiple chances to ge things right. I won't worry about the loss of him at all.

[McCray]

he's the new tanyon sturtz. i give his arm under a season like that.
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Hank, you're dead to me.

[EvilJuan]