A Royal homecoming for Bubba Blau
Bubba Blau, a native of Roy, pitched for the Helena Brewers as they took on the Ogden Raptors at Lindquist Field on Tuesday, August 18, 2015.
Bubba Blau, a native of Roy, pitched for the Helena Brewers as they took on the Ogden Raptors at Lindquist Field on Tuesday, August 18, 2015.
Bubba Blau, a native of Roy, pitched for the Helena Brewers as they took on the Ogden Raptors at Lindquist Field on Tuesday, August 18, 2015.
OGDEN — Five miles from the dusty diamonds of Roy West Park, where some of his first competitive pitches were thrown, Roy High alumnus Bubba Blau took the mound as a professional Tuesday at Lindquist Field.
Blau, a 24th-round draft pick in 2014 by the Milwaukee Brewers, threw two scoreless innings for the Helena Brewers, who visited Ogden for a four-game series against the Raptors.
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“I grew up watching the Raptors,” Blau said. “It’s pretty cool I get the opportunity to play here.”
Family members and friends from the Roy community squeezed into seats close to home plate to see Blau’s young baseball career continue.
For Blau, it was an opportunity that nearly got derailed in college.
After two seasons at Cochise Community College in Arizona, Blau transferred to Dixie State. A strong spring season gave Blau the feeling he was prepared to start turning heads, but a collision at home plate led to a neck injury in his first outing of the regular season.
Blau only pitched five innings as a junior at Dixie, and despite his recovery, only managed to throw 12 1/3 innings as a senior.
Still, Blau struck out 17 batters and posted an earned run average of 2.92 in his limited role as a senior — but Blau said it was the attention of Dixie’s pitching coach Dave Martinez that helped him get on the professional draft radar.
“(Martinez) did a lot of work with me and had faith in me,” Blau said. “He got me comfortable on the mound again.
“My junior year I was topping out at 94 (miles per hour), and working in the offseason I jumped up to 96 or 97, so that really helped me a lot.”
Upon being drafted by the Brewers, Blau’s father Maurie, quickly pointed out their rookie-advanced affiliate in Helena played in the same league as the Raptors.
His return to Weber County as a player would not come in 2014, however.
“I got to the AZL (Arizona League) and thought I’d move up last year, I thought I pitched well,” Blau explained. “But I didn’t get many innings in college, so they took time to develop me and kept me there the whole season.”
After turning in 26 2/3 innings for the AZL Brewers and holding opponents to a batting average of .231, Blau was assigned to Helena out of spring training in 2015.
Opponents were not kind to Blau in his first two outings for Helena. In 2 2/3 innings, Blau issued 10 walks and was beat up for 10 earned runs. He had an early-season ERA of 33.75.
“It was all physical,” Blau explained of his struggles. “I was pulling off the mound instead of driving toward the catcher so everything was up and away.”
Blau took in a few film sessions with Helena’s pitching coach, Rolando Valles, and the Roy native was back on track.
Since that time, Blau has turned in a 3.52 ERA. When Ogden traveled to Helena on Aug. 12, Blau pitched three scoreless innings against the Raptors, allowing just one hit in the appearance.
Despite his steady improvement, Blau says he doesn’t think about being promoted during the season.
“If you’re really trying to get to the next level, it might make you overthink things. You just go out and play,” Blau said. “I need to do well here. Then if the opportunity comes and they want me to move up, that’s great. You move on to the next level and you do the same thing.”
Valles was positive about Blau’s potential to progress.
“There were some delivery points we wanted to work on with him,” Valles said, “but if things go his way, he could be a good middle relief pitcher or even a starter in the long run.”
“There is room for development still,” Valles continued. “His work has really paid off for him in his last few outings. So with more opportunities and repetition, we’ll see where he can go in the future.”
Valles said his first impression of Blau was as a hard worker. He later came to view him as a great teammate as well.
“He’s always looking to cheer up his teammates whether things are going his way or not,” Valles said. “Even when things are not going his way he’s still the same Bubba, which is a pretty good attribute to have.”
After waiting 16 innings, Blau’s support contingent erupted when he took the mound Tuesday at Lindquist Field. Blau delivered on the occasion.
With Helena leading 10-7, Blau pitched two scoreless innings and gave up only one hit. He induced two double plays to nail down the Brewers’ win.
“I’m still shaking” said Maurie, reacting emotionally to watching his son pitch. “To have my 92-year-old dad get to watch him, about 20 family members and at least 15-20 teammates and schoolmates here, and he had two former coaches here …
“It’s very satisfying to know not only is he a good ballplayer, but he was a good enough teammate and friend that these people would come out and support him,” Maurie said. “To me, that is just as satisfying as him being a good ballplayer and pitching like that.”