All players from each team\u2019s 40-man roster are missing from spring training camps. They won\u2019t return until the lockout is resolved. The minor leaguers, however, are not locked out, so they\u2019re currently in camp. Right now, across Arizona and Florida, hundreds of young players are vying for their first call-up to The Show. Others are veterans who are trying to fight their way back. Some, including Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> reliever Brett de Geus<\/a><\/strong>, fit into both categories.<\/p>\n Brett de Geus entered professional baseball in 2017 as a draft pick from Cabrillo College in Aptos, California. The Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> selected the right-hander in the 33rd round that summer, but he did not begin his minor league journey until 2018. He played rookie ball that season with the Ogden Raptors of what was then the Pioneer League. While there, he was a starter. In 2019, he switched to relief upon promotion to the Class-A Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League. de Geus did not allow an earned run in 17 of his 19 appearances with the Loons. So after three months, he joined the High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League. In Rancho Cucamonga, 16 of his 20 outings were scoreless.<\/p>\n de Geus was a victim of the 2020 minor league cancellation, so he lost a year of playing time and experience. He pitched at the alternate site, but we all know that\u2019s not the same as playing in games for a full year. Despite showing strong potential in 2019, the Dodgers \u2014 who had an abundance of pitching talent in their farm system \u2014 left de Geus unprotected in the Rule Five Draft. Enter the Texas Rangers<\/a>.<\/p>\n By selecting Brett de Geus in the Rule Five Draft, the Rangers committed to keeping him on their big-league roster. If they sent him down to the minors, he would instead be returned to the Dodgers. This was a huge commitment to make on someone who had not even advanced to Double-A yet.<\/p>\n Hearing that he had been selected in the draft by the Rangers was exciting for de Geus. “It was a trip,\u201d he recalled. But there was another complication. \u201cThe day before the Rule Five draft, I’d actually got my first positive test too. So I was super excited, but I still had nine more days of quarantining to do. I thought, \u2018I can’t wait to go work hard and make a team, but I\u2019ve still got to sit on my butt for the next nine days.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Heading straight to the majors from High-A could be overwhelming for many 23-year-olds, but it was a different feeling for de Geus. \u201cIt’s the culmination of a lot of things,\u201d he said. \u201cOne spring training, if you can go out and perform, you can go out and win a big-league job. That was definitely the first thing on my mind. Go out there and win a job. You basically made your dreams come true, to a point. Obviously, now that you’re there, there are a lot more milestones to go. You realize that it’s, in a way, more the beginning than the end of your journey.\u201d<\/p>\n His time with the Rangers lasted until late June. He had 10 scoreless outings but gave multiple runs in eight of the other nine. \u201c(I had) a lot of inconsistent outings,\u201d he said, \u201cwhich was, at the end the day, (my) own fault. The guys who are going out there and actually competing on the mountain are the ones who will get more appearances. At that point in time, I was not the best person to help our team win.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rangers designated him for assignment, and on June 25, the Diamondbacks selected him off waivers. This meant the Diamondbacks took on the Rule Five conditions placed on de Geus. If they didn\u2019t keep him on their major league roster, they would have to send him back to the Dodgers.<\/p>\n His first two appearances \u2014 at San Diego on June 27 and at St. Louis on June 28 \u2014 saw him pitch scoreless eighth innings. The first appearance he made at Chase Field on July 2, facing the first-place San Francisco Giants, did not go so well. A Jaylin Davis double and LaMonte Wade Jr. home run saddled de Geus with two earned runs, but he rebounded the next day by pitching a scoreless ninth. He did not give up another earned run over the next three weeks.<\/p>\n During that time span, he had an important appearance \u2014 one that brought redemption. The Diamondbacks ended their first half with a three-game weekend series at Dodger Stadium against the very team that left de Geus unprotected in the Rule Five Draft. His first appearance at Dodger Stadium came with the Rangers on June 11. He entered the game in the bottom of the fifth with the Rangers already trailing, 10\u20130. The second pitch he threw drilled Mookie Betts. The rest of the inning did not get any better. Single by Albert Pujols. Lineout to left by Justin Turner. Wild pitch that advanced both Betts and Pujols. RBI single by Bellinger. Plunking Will Smith to load the bases. Sacrifice fly by Chris Taylor\u2026and finally a grounded comebacker by Gavin Lux to end the inning. He rebounded with a scoreless sixth, but still\u2026the damage had been done.<\/p>\n Now he was back in Dodger Stadium, this time wearing a Diamondbacks uniform. When Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo brought him in to relieve starter Taylor Widener, he inherited a 2\u20131 lead, but he also inherited a mess. There were runners on first and second with one out. The batter was \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 Mookie Betts. He grounded the third pitch into a force play at second. Max Muncy lined the next one straight at first baseman Christian Walker, who made the routine catch to end the inning and put out the fire. The Diamondbacks later added to their lead. They ultimately won, 5\u20132, and the win went to\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026Brett de Geus.<\/p>\n He smiled as he recalled that night. \u201cIt definitely felt like a moment of redemption in Dodger Stadium. That was the team I came up with \u2014 the team that let me pass through the Rule Five process. Whenever I go play there, there’s always a little extra something behind all those pitches. (There\u2019s) a lot of extra conviction, like, \u2018I\u2019m gonna show you guys.\u2019 But there’s no bad blood at all.\u201d He continued, \u201cGoing into that atmosphere against that team\u2026. It’s one of the best lineups in the league, one of the best crowds and stadiums by far. The energy there is just insane. I really couldn’t think of a better place to get my first major league win, either, given the history and everything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n As an added bonus, his parents were in the stands. Because of the restrictions still in place at the time, his parents could not attend his debut in Kansas City. Most who played in their youth could locate their parents in the stands immediately during the game. It is no different for major leaguers, de Geus explained. \u201cThe fact that you get to see them at a baseball game, whether it’s the first win or at any point, it’s always special.\u201d Finding one\u2019s parents in a crowd of tens of thousands can be difficult, but de Geus has a method that works well. \u201cMy mom has a helluva whistle. If she\u2019s there \u2014 it’s like calling a bird dog or something \u2014 I could immediately snap to know exactly where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n His 15th appearance for the Diamondbacks came on August 5 in a 10-inning loss to the Giants at Chase Field, when he pitched the last out of the top of the 10th. Twelve of his fifteen outings were scoreless. This gave him an 80% scoreless outing percentage (ScOtg%), 11 points better than the league average. In the other three outings, he gave up a combined four runs, so his ERA over that span was 2.84. As far as inherited runners go, he allowed 31% to score, which put him in line with the league average. His Win Probability Added (WPA) was a sparkling 0.404. This meant that his pitching performances had added 40.4 percentage points to the team\u2019s chances to win. Six of his outings were Shutdowns, meaning that they had 0.060 WPA or higher. His WHIP was 1.263, better than the league average. He was in good shape.<\/p>\n But his next twelve appearances were a different story. He gave up earned runs in eight of the twelve, a 33% ScOtg%. His ERA over that span was 10.97, driving his season-long ERA as a Diamondback \u2014 not as a Ranger and not as the two combined\u2026as a Diamondback<\/em> \u2014 to 6.56. What was once a 1.263 WHIP became 1.843. His overall ScOtg% fell to 60.7%. Only one more outing was a Shutdown, and that was out of a total of three that even had a positive WPA. Two of the outings were Meltdowns, meaning his WPA was -0.060 or lower. At season\u2019s end, his WPA as a Diamondback was -0.610. de Geus needed more time to develop, so the Diamondbacks outrighted him to the minors after the season ended.<\/p>\n Despite the way the season ended for Brett de Geus, there were positives to focus on while moving forward. Since the Diamondbacks kept de Geus on the major league roster despite his struggles, that meant they wanted to keep him. That made de Geus feel good. \u201cIt was a huge show of faith and support,\u201d he said. \u201cI like to joke now that I will never, you know, I already know what my worst-ever season of Major League Baseball looks like. Because if it’s any worse than that, (I\u2019m) probably not gonna be playing in the big leagues. It’s a huge confidence boost going into this year.\u201d<\/p>\n de Geus also learned some valuable lessons in 2021. \u201cI\u2019ve got to be consistent, be the same guy every day,\u201d he explained. \u201cDo whatever I can to slow the game down. Because when you go into other places and you have big crowds, it’s definitely easy to zoom out a little bit instead of focusing on your target and making pitches.\u201d He added that \u201cit\u2019s a lot easier to feel confident\u201d in the minors on days where he might not be at his best. On those days, if he has only one pitch working, because that one pitch might be all he needs to get through it. But when facing major league lineups, one pitch typically isn\u2019t enough. The doubt \u201chas a lot easier time creeping in\u201d when pitchers are \u201cnot 100% prepared on mental or maturity side.\u201d<\/p>\n Several big-league teammates taught him valuable lessons. One of the most memorable for de Geus came from then-Rangers teammate Kyle Gibson, who is now with the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a>. de Geus had just had another in a string of rough outings. He had come out of the game early. de Geus recalled, \u201c(I was) kicking myself, and Kyle was in the training room getting his work done. We started talking and ended up going to the end of the game. So we’re just in there talking baseball, and, a lot more specifically, managing being a big leaguer. One of the things he said was whenever you\u2019re feeling anxious \u2014really anywhere in life, but especially on a mound or in a clubhouse \u2014 try to be appreciative. You can’t be anxious and appreciative at the same time. So I took that to heart.\u201d<\/p>\n The Diamondbacks told Brett de Geus what exactly to work on as he went into his offseason training. \u201cMake sure all the pitches are a little bit more consistent. The cutter definitely needed some work at the end there. It was not really getting as much (movement) glove side \u2014 wasn’t cutting a lot, (so it was) like a bad fastball. I didn’t really have a lot of trust in my curveball, which is a really good pitch.\u201d de Geus wants his pitch movement to be \u201csharp\u201d and \u201cbig.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of the struggles came from his feeling that he was \u201cfighting mechanics all last year.\u201d Going to Push Performance in Tempe helped him get back on the right track. de Geus said that they \u201cdo movement assessment,\u201d and Push told him \u201cthere’s a lot of room for us to kind of make up the just pure movement and stability side. Working on that has kind of opened up a lot on the pitching end and brought me back to where I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n If facing a situation like Brett de Geus faced in 2021, many people would feel they were over their heads. For de Geus, the feelings were mixed. \u201cTalentwise, there\u2019s never been a question. (I) always knew that when the day came, I could get outs in the major leagues. But definitely over the course of the season, you realize that there are some places in some aspects of baseball that you can definitely be improving, specifically off-the-field-type stuff. It’s a lot different holding yourself as a major leaguer than it is a minor leaguer, and in a lot of different aspects. But at the same time, I had a year in The Show. Not a lot of people can say that. No matter how it went, it just ended up being a steppingstone to whatever the future holds. Suffering through some parts of that year will only help going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n de Geus does not yet know whether he will go to Double-A Amarillo or Triple-A Reno. One thing he does know, however, is that there is \u201cno doubt that\u2019s carried over from last season at all.\u201d He continued, \u201cThere’s still a lot more room to grow. Whether you’re a rookie or have 15 years, there’s always room to grow. But there’s no doubt that carried over last year. That’s all in the past. I\u2019ve lived through it. I grew a lot from it, and I have a lot to take with me into this season. I’m just excited to go out there and put my best foot forward this year.\u201d<\/p>\nBrett de Geus Heads to Texas<\/h3>\n
Brett de Geus Makes the Majors\u2026and Faces Trial by Fire<\/h3>\n
Brett de Geus Has a Shot at Redemption<\/h3>\n
A Special Night<\/h4>\n
The Rest of 2021<\/h3>\n
Overall Assessment of 2021<\/h3>\n
Appreciative Instead of Anxious<\/h4>\n
What Brett de Geus Worked on in the Offseason<\/h3>\n
\u201cNo Doubt\u201d Has Carried Over<\/h3>\n
Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>