In 15 appearances last season between Kingsport and Brooklyn, Brant Rustich was a combined 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA. With a fastball clocking in at 97 miles per hour and a plus-slider, Rustich is the #6 pitching prospect in the Mets minor league system, according to Baseball America. Chatting over the phone while on his way up to Savannah on Friday, Rustich talks about his time in Brooklyn last year, his rehab this offseason and what to expect from him this season.

DemBrooklynBums.com: You were just called up to Savannah yesterday. How are you feeling?

Brant Rustich: I’m happy; I think Savannah is going to be a good place for me to get my feet wet. I’ve played for Donovan Mitchell before in Kingsport last year and in Hawaii. There’s a great coaching staff down there and I’m looking forward to being a part of a team. I haven’t had a chance yet because I’ve been hurt. I’m excited too because it’s a place I’ve never been before and I’m ready to get going.

DBB: What was Hawaii like?

Rustich: I was facing Double-A hitters there and I quickly realized that these guys were very good hitters. I probably tried to over do it a little bit and it made me throw a little harder than I should have. I thought I tried to do too much.

DBB: It’s hard to know everything about minor league players because the information is so scarce. When did you get injured?

Rustich: I kind of had dead arm. I was experiencing just an all around soreness in my arm throughout spring training. That’s why I didn’t play much with the team. I was pretty much set on making St. Lucie’s roster, but because of the injury I was working with the extended group and throwing innings because they wanted to make me a starter. Right now, I’m in the bullpen, but starting isn’t out of the question. The idea is to basically get my innings up and see what happens.

DBB: Do you attribute any of that arm soreness to playing college and pro ball last season? It was a pretty long season for you.

Rustich: I went to Hawaii and I just felt that somewhere down the line, my mechanics were acting up. It just felt like I was putting too much stress on my arm. I don’t know if I was overthrowing, but it was probably a combination of things. I went to big league camp and I was trying to impress, maybe I was trying too hard. I wasn’t thinking too much about my mechanics and that’s why they were a little bit off. My arm and my body weren’t quite in sync. Lately, we’ve just been working it out and trying to get my body and arm back in sync and get both back into shape. Hopefully, I can start to get more innings and keep getting better, so I can get where I want to be.

DBB: Speaking of your first spring training, what was that like?

Rustich: It was awesome. I’ve admired so many of those guys growing up. It was great showing up everyday and getting a chance to play with those guys. It’s a shame that I was hurt and didn’t get a chance to pitch in any spring training games, but I was scared to pitch. They wanted me to, but I couldn’t do it. It was disappointing that I didn’t get to show them what I’m capable of doing, but I think I made a smart decision in letting them know that my arm was sore. We kind of worked it out and worked on my mechanics during that time, to get me to where I want to be. I’m a little behind at this point, so I really am anxious to get to Savannah and get back to where I want to be as soon as possible.

DBB: Speaking of where you want to be, where do you want to be?

Rustich: I want to be healthy and continue to work hard. This year, I want to be as consistent as possible. It’s all about repeating your delivery and working on your mechanics. Those are the things that are going to keep me healthy. I don’t want to overthrow the ball. There where times where maybe I was scared of overthrowing the ball and now I understand that it’s not all about the velocity, there’s a lot more to this. At the big league level, those guys don’t go out there and throw the ball as hard as they can. They throw it at a level where they are at their most comfortable, which is where they can throw strikes and be healthy all season long.

DBB: Given that, do you think you’ve matured as a player because of the injury? Your philosophy sounds much different from most minor leaguers.

Rustich: I think so. I think it was Tony Bernazard or one of the area scouts that told me that everyone has to make adjustments. I had to make some too because obviously, I didn’t want to keep getting hurt. I want to pitch. I guess it got to point where I said to myself that I had to make a few adjustments. I can’t try and throw the ball as hard as I can every single time. I also used to grip the ball really firm. Lately, I’ve been loosening the grip a little bit and working on my feel of the ball, rather than just ripping it and letting it go. When you do that, you’re not going to do things you shouldn’t be doing. If you’re a little out of synch, you’re not going to pay as big a price. Also, I’ve been trying to keep my head down because in the past, it’s moved around a little bit too violently.

DBB: When you were in Brooklyn, you were throwing incredibly hard. What was your approach then?

Rustich: In Brooklyn, I was throwing the ball as close to as hard as I’ve ever thrown it, but my mechanics were good enough. They were good in sense that I wasn’t falling apart and I was capable of maintaining a high velocity without putting much strain on my arm. Now, by maintaining good mechanics, I’m trying to let the velocity come naturally, rather than try to force it. That’s what I was trying to do then. Now I’m taking a step back and thinking about what I have to do to get hitters out. When I was throwing the ball in the spring, I wasn’t throwing that hard. I wasn’t feeling good. My arm was sore and my velocity was down. It seemed the harder I wanted to throw, the harder it was for me to do what I needed to. In the past few weeks though, I’ve been working with the coaches and they have a great approach. They’ve been working with me and I feel healthy and good. I threw three innings a few days ago and my velocity is good. I’m still throwing 93-94 miles per hour. It’s plenty hard enough and eventually my velocity will increase and I’ll maintain my mechanics.

DBB: Fans in Brooklyn last year saw a heck of a lot of your fastball and your slider. Is there anything else in your arsenal that we should know about or is there anything else that you are working on?

Rustich: I’ve been working on my changeup and I think it’s come a long way. It’s one of those pitches though that you have to really trust. I’m so confident in my slider, so it’s hard to rely on another pitch, especially one that’s your third best pitch. It’s just a matter of me developing confidence in it. I know I have a good fastball and a good slider, so it’s a little bit more difficult to develop that third pitch. I have a pitch to throw when I need a strikeout or a groundball, so my changeup is definitely something I need to continue to work on. It’s an important pitch for me though, especially if I’m starting. I really have to develop it. I’m going to continue throwing it more and getting more confident with it. I’m also fooling around with a curveball as well, so that’s a fourth pitch, but it’s more in the works. It’s far from something I’d use in a game right now.

DBB: Lastly, looking back at your time in Brooklyn, what was your overall experience like?

Rustich: I loved Brooklyn. I think one time in the Cape Cod championship I played in front of a bigger crowd. But on any everyday basis, I’ve never played in front of that many people. The environment was great, everyday I pitched there I felt like I was in the big leagues. It was so much fun to play there to show up to work early every day and see all the people there. It was always like you never wanted to leave because it was so much fun. I had so much fun there too with that group of guys. What made it better was that we were winning too and getting along so well. Going to the playoffs was great too.

Photo by Jim Dolan

I got an e-mail a few days ago from the Cyclones stating that they will indeed have another 24-hour long charity game. If last year’s game [or games] were any indication, it’ll be another great time.

I still remember talking to all the writers last year and hearing about how they were preparing was great. I myself was going to batting cages and throwing the ball around with my girlfriend, who used to play a ton of competitive softball on Staten Island and can hit and throw better than most of the men I know. Plus, she’s a million times cuter than anyone I’ve ever played with. Nevertheless, despite playing pretty much everyday throughout my childhood and playing in High School I was a bit worried. I’ve put on some weight after High School, due to a serious car accident I was in and didn’t know if I could still do what I used to. After a month of preparing, my girlfriend too wasn’t too confident either.

Nonetheless, once the game started, I felt invigorated and had a blast. The guys from the Cyclones staff are great people to talk to and they were a lot of fun to play against. Sure, there were a few moments where the game got a little out of hand, such as when former Brooklyn Paper’s intern Nick Pauly was throwing what had to be 75 mph fastballs to the women on the team [I know, I was playing catcher], which of course resulted in a few unfriendly words being thrown out, but overall, it was still great fun.

Aside from that though, there were so many entertaining things that happened during the game that made it really enjoyable. Watching photographer Pete Borriello, who’s not an athlete by any means, bit the bullet and play a great third base was amazing. Seeing Brooklyn Papers columnist Ed Shakespeare behind the bench was pretty cool too. Like I said, it was like all us nerds got a moment to understand why we love our jobs and for that I’ll always be thankful to the Clones for putting the event together.

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In the end, people got the help they needed via our donations and yours truly went 2 for 2 with two doubles and a walk [Enjoy the video by the way of my first double]. I also made a few good plays on defense and felt like a kid again. Calling a game is something I used to love to do when I was younger and I can tell you that hitting is something that I’ve always been good at. Hitting a few one-hoppers to the wall was definitely a great moment that I will remember the rest of my life.

I hope this season the media gets another shot out there.

By the way guys, the interview with Brant Rustich went great, as we spoke on the phone while he was on his way to Savannah, where he was just assigned. The article should be up during the week.

In the summer of 2005, I took over as the Editor-In-Chief of my first College Newspaper, Scepter. During that time, I was preoccupied trying to revamp a paper that no one on that campus read. In the process, I snagged an interview with David Wright and slowly began to get readership back. Nonetheless, It was during that time that I was hearing so much about another baseball player every time I turned on the local news in Brooklyn, one Joe Holden. It seemed that this kid had the goods, particularly the speed [22 stolen bases in short season ball will give you that type of reputation] to be the next youngster to one day make the show. However, because of my busy schedule, I never got a chance to watch him in person that year.

Luckily for me and perhaps unlucky for Holden, the Cyclones got off to a horrible start in 2006 and after a while it was obvious that they needed help scoring runs., prompting him to be called down from Hagerstown, where he would spend the rest of the season. However, the Joe Holden the Clones got back, was almost a completely different player. After hitting .291 with no homers and 15 RBI in over 60 games with Brooklyn in 2005, Holden developed some pop in his bat and was hitting .300 with six homers and 25 RBI in only 38 games.

Many reporters expected Holden to be quite teed off that the team would send him down after he started off so strong, but he never voiced his opinion on the subject. Rather, he just went out there and did his job. I’m sure a few of the writers knew that he was obviously frustrated at times, but like I said, he was always the consummate professional. That above everything else was something I think he teammates learned from and rallied around.

But back to Super Joe…I remember asking him where he got all that power from that season and he told me that it was due to the fact that he was finally starting to get comfortable with wooden bats. At any rate, it looked like he was going to be the savior for what was looking to be a dismal season.

While it didn’t particularly turn out that way, Holden did marvel the crowd with amazing defense and smacked an additional six homers and 24 RBI in 65 games with Brooklyn, in addition to being completely adored by the fans there. The next season in Savannah, he hit .260 with another six homers, 19 steals and 29 RBI, which hurt his stock as a prospect a tad. Nevertheless, while some are quick to suggest his star isn’t as bright as it was before, chances are this will probably be the last season Holden will play in Single-A before moving on to tougher competition.

Just a quick side note, I have an interview set up with former Cyclone Brant Rustich on Friday and will have an interview with author Ross Bernstein, author of “The Code: Baseball’s Unwritten Rules and It’s Ignore-at-Your-Own-Risk Code of Conduct,” which should be an interesting read for all of you guys.

Photos by Conroy Walker

The 2006 Clones weren’t a team known for their offensive prowess, so a guy like Jon Schemmel, who hit consistently over .270 for most of his lone season in Brooklyn isn’t someone that would necessarily stand out as a solid ball player. Nonetheless, Schemmel was a fun guy to watch and formed a very solid double play combination with Luis Rivera.

Over the course of that season, Schemmel proved that he should be in High-A or Double-A with the consistency and maturity he showed at the plate and with the glove. Not possessing blazing speed, Schemmel had a strong arm and hustled his way to balls that most people would never think he’d get to. On a team as mediocre offensively as the ‘Clones were in ’06, defense played a vital role in their overall success. Without a doubt, Schemmel was one of the best defensive players on the team and played a crucial role in their turnaround after a miserable start.

Hitting .257 with 18 RBI for the Mets Single-A affiliate in 2006, Schemmel was ironically one of the team’s best hitters. He moved runners over a bunch and had 56 hits in 57 games. Again, not mind-shattering numbers by any means, but he was one of the only players on that team that was on the basepaths on a consistent basis.

Despite his consistency at both the plate and on defense, Schemmel just played smart baseball. He did so many little things on the field, like looking runners back and hitting opposite field that go totally unnoticed by the casual baseball fan. Especially in the minor leagues, things like that are impossible to teach. A player can have all the talent in the world, but playing a smart game is a horse of another color.

While the Mets too didn’t appreciate his exploits, as they allowed him to sign with the San Diego Padres after the season was over, it seems that they do. In one season in the organization, Schemmel made his way to Triple-A, where he hit .256 with two homers and eight RBI in 13 games. Fr the season, he hit a combined .271 with two homers, 29 RBI and a rock solid .391 on-base percentage. He also had 71 hits and drew 39 walks, all in 78 games mind you.

Back in Single-A this season for some reason, Schemmel was another talented player on a resilient and entertaining 2006 Clones team that may find himself on a big league roster one day.

Photos by Conroy Walker