Eye-opening wake-up call for Braves rookie
Devine flies to Atlanta on 45 minutes of sleep only to give up grand slam
Tami Chappell / ReutersPitcher Joey Devine was called up to the Braves on Saturday after being in the organization for only two months. In his first outing, he gave up a game-winning grand slam.
updated 7:08 p.m. ET Aug. 20, 2005
ATLANTA - Joey Devine didn’t waste any time getting to the big leagues.
And his first loss came quicker than he hoped.
The Atlanta Braves called up the right-handed reliever on Saturday — just two months after he was selected in the first round of the amateur draft.
Devine pitched a scoreless 12th inning against San Diego, but couldn’t escape a bases-loaded jam in the 13th. Xavier Nady hit a two-out grand slam on a 1-2 pitch to lead the Padres past the Braves 7-2.
Welcome to the big leagues, kid.
“I can’t let one bad pitch affect me for the rest of the season,” Devine said. “I’ll think about all the positives and learn from the negatives.”
The Braves haven’t decided what role Devine will play in their shaky bullpen. He was stifling minor league hitters, and he probably will get a tryout as the closer as soon as he gets adjusted to the big leagues.
“Devine’s been shooting lights out down there,” manager Bobby Cox said. “The past week or so I kept hearing reports. We were trying to wait until September 1 (when rosters expand) and then bring him up.”
The first-place Braves, trying to maintain their lead in the competitive NL East, couldn’t afford to wait.
Dan Kolb, an All-Star last season with Milwaukee, held the job as closer for less than two months before he was demoted to middle relief. His successor, Chris Reitsma, has three straight blown saves, though he did pitch a scoreless inning Saturday.
Devine had a school-record 36 saves at North Carolina State and was closing games at Double-A Mississippi, where he was 1-1 with five saves and a 2.70 ERA in 18 appearances. In 19 innings, he struck out 28, walked 12 and gave up 13 hits.
Those numbers helped him become the first member of his first-round draft class to reach the majors.
“I’m ready to watch these guys in the clubhouse and learn how they go about it and learn how they’ve been so successful,” Devine said. “There’s still a lot of development that I need to do in order to be a very successful pitcher.”
Devine was told of his call-up the previous night and got 45 minutes of sleep before catching an early morning flight to Atlanta.
“It kind of caught me off guard a little bit,” he said.
Devine is the 16th rookie used by the Braves this season, and the ninth currently on the 25-man roster.
To make room for him, reliever Jim Brower was designated for assignment. He signed with the Braves in June after being released by the San Francisco Giants.
Brower had decent numbers with Atlanta (1-2, 3.57 ERA in 28 games) but gave up a three-run homer to Joe Randa in Friday night’s 12-7 loss to the Padres. The Braves hope the right-hander will accept an assignment with Triple-A Richmond.
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Unlike most college pitchers, Devine believes in throwing his fastball over the inside half of the plate. That should serve him well in the big leagues.
“That’s one thing I’ve noticed in college baseball — a lot of guys don’t pitch in,” he said. “That’s the toughest ball to hit, a fastball in.”
The Braves hope Devine will have the same immediate success as Huston Street, who entered Saturday with 16 saves as Oakland’s closer just a year after leaving the University of Texas.
Devine has a unique windup, twisting his torso and dipping his right shoulder so it appears he is throwing sidearm even though his arm is actually at a three-quarters angle. His fastball was clocked as high as 96 mph in his debut.
“I don’t know how I came up with the whole arm angle,” he said. “I just think it hides the ball a little better.”
As Devine checked out his locker before the game, fellow rookie Blaine Boyer walked by.
“Took you long enough,” Boyer quipped.
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