Former Niceville star DeVall starts solid for Braves

By ADAM PRUIETT

Northwest Florida Daily News
315-4421 | adamp@nwfdailynews.com

The start to Brett DeVall's minor league career is suggesting that he's on the right track to a promotion.

Even though the former Niceville standout isn't pitching at full strength, he's still showing the commanding form that led the Atlanta Braves to choose him with their first pick in the 2008 draft.

Pitching for the Rome Braves, a Class A affiliate of the big club, DeVall has built a 4-4 record after 10 starts with a 3.52 ERA and 41 strikeouts against only 14 walks in 53 2/3 innings. His ERA was below 3.00 until Sunday, when he allowed six earned runs in five innings in his worst start of the season.

But the 6-foot-3, 215-pound southpaw has mostly been solid to exceptional in the early stage of his pro career. In six of his 10 starts, he's gone at least five innings without allowing more than two earned runs, including a stretch of five straight outings.

His best performance came on June 5, when he had a perfect game going against Augusta into the sixth inning before it was broken up by an infield single. DeVall ended up firing a two-hitter in a complete-game shutout that was shortened to seven innings because it was a makeup game and led off a doubleheader.

DeVall's early promise is even more notable considering that he hasn't fully recovered his arm strength after suffering a bone spur during rookie ball. He said his fastball is regularly clocked in the 87 to 89 mile per hour range when it's normally around 90 to 92. Right now, that's as fast as he can throw while normally he can top out at 94.

But seeing a few ticks less on the radar gun isn't frustrating him.

"I can feel I'm starting to get my strength up and getting back to where I used to be," said DeVall, who estimated his arm strength at 80 to 85 percent. "I think it will take another three to four weeks."

The Braves eased DeVall back into pitching. During a month of spring training, he only pitched about five innings and threw roughly once a week.

"I was kind of antsy, but I knew it was best for myself and for my arm at the time," DeVall said.

The 2008 Daily News big school Baseball Player of the Year has been long tossing to reclaim his arm strength. A few starts back he was taken off a pitch count, which has also helped.

DeVall said his change-up in particular has been an effective pitch. With his velocity down, he's focused even more on keeping the ball down and mixing up his pitches. That's an approach he'll want to maintain.

"The thing here is everybody's a fastball hitter, no matter how fast or slow you pitch," said DeVall, who went 13-2 his senior year with 152 strikeouts. "They're getting paid to hit fastballs."

DeVall's goal is to reach the big leagues in three to four years. He's hoping for a promotion to Myrtle Beach, where the Braves have a higher Class A affiliate.

"I think it's a reasonable goal to be in Myrtle toward the end of this month or the end of the season," DeVall said.