LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Steven Brault is in an interesting spot this spring.
Class AAA cannot teach him much, yet he seemingly ranks behind the five starters. The intersection of those two realities mean he could begin the year in the bullpen despite starting for nearly his entire professional career.
“We did not tell him he’s on the team,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We told him what the opportunity was. Prepare to start. We’ll see how it all plays out.”
Brault pitched two scoreless innings Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves in his spring training debut. He focused on staying on top of the ball and on commanding his change-up.
By posting a 1.94 ERA in 120⅓ innings with Class AAA Indianapolis last season and winning the organization’s pitcher of the year award, Brault proved his mastery of the level.
“I feel that I would be able to learn some things in Triple-A, but I wouldn’t be able to learn how to face big-league hitters,” Brault said. “To do that I need to be in the big leagues.”
Brault got a lesson in big-league behavior Tuesday. He yelled at home-plate umpire Laz Diaz when he disagreed with a call.
“First time I’d ever been yelled at by two umpires at the same time and I deserved it because you can’t do that kind of stuff,” said Brault, who apologized to the umpires while speaking to the media.
“Body language on the mound like that is never going to do you any good moving forward,” Hurdle said.
Bill Brink: bbrink@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrinkPG.
First Published: February 27, 2018, 10:43 p.m.
