How about that? Three major league ball players from New Braunfels rank among AL leaders, including Bryce Miller (Seattle, 1.85 ERA, 7th), James McArthur (Kansas City, 5 saves, T5th) and Jordan Westburg (Baltimore, .595 slug, 974 OPS, both 4th). https://t.co/hyCDEtJ4sq
— Jerry Briggs (@JerryBriggs) April 24, 2024
Notable: Former New Braunfels High School and Texas A&M pitcher Bryce Miller is scheduled to start tonight in Arlington for the Seattle Mariners against the World Series champion Texas Rangers.
Miller is off to a fast start in his second season in the major leagues.
The 6-foot-2 righthander has been nearly untouchable in April. This month, he’s 3-0 in three starts, winning on the road at Milwaukee and at home against the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds. In his three April outings, Miller has yielded only one earned run in 19 and 1/3 innings.
Elsewhere:
Two former University of Texas players, Kody Clemens and Bryce Elder, took full advantage of promotions to the major leagues recently.
Clemens belted a three-run homer for the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night in his first MLB game of the season. He was called up from Triple A in the wake of Phillies’ star Bryce Harper’s absence on paternity leave. Clemens, 27, started fast this spring, hitting .270 with three home runs and 11 RBI at Lehigh Valley.
Elder started and pitched the Atlanta Braves to a 3-0 victory against Miami. He yielded eight hits in 6 and 2/3 scoreless innings his first MLB start this season. The right-hander struck out four and walked none. Elder pitched in 41 games for the Braves over the past two seasons but didn’t make the squad out of spring training. Last season, he was 12-4.
Getting another chance, he made a statement about his professionalism.
“It says a lot about him,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said in an Associated Press story. “The dedication, the focus — everything. When we sent him down, he said, ‘I’ll be ready when you need me.’ And he was. He had really good command of all of his pitches. We’ve seen him do that before.”