
Braves call up hard-throwing AussiePosted: Monday Apr 10, 2006 11:50 PM
ATLANTA (AP) - The Atlanta Braves shuffled their bullpen again Monday night, farming out Joey Devine and calling up hard-throwing Australian Peter Moylan. Devine, promoted just last week from Triple-A Richmond, had two awful appearances for the Braves. The 2005 first-round pick allowed seven runs while getting only three outs for an ERA of 63.00. He walked five, had three wild pitches - including one that went behind San Francisco's Barry Bonds - and gave up a homer.
The 27-year-old Moylan was signed in spring training by the Braves after an intriguing performance for his native country in the World Baseball Classic. He raised plenty of eyebrows when he struck out four - including All-Stars Bobby Abreu, Magglio Ordonez and Ramon Hernandez - and walked five in 1 2-3 innings against Venezuela. Moylan got his first chance at the majors after high school, signing with the Minnesota Twins. He spent two seasons in the rookie leagues but couldn't throw harder than the high-80s and irritated the organization with his immaturity. "I didn't know what it was like to work,'' he admitted after signing with the Braves. "I wasn't into getting up and going to work.'' After the 1997 season, Moylan was released by the Twins. He returned to Australia, endured a couple of back operations and worked as a pharmaceutical salesman while playing a couple of days a week with a club team, the Blackburn Orioles. Moylan began throwing with a sidearm motion last year, which gave him a lot more pop on his pitches. His fastball has been in the low to mid-90s. "I think I've got the stuff to make it,'' Moylan said. "I want to (show) all those guys who said I was done in 1997.'' Moylan started the season at Richmond, going 0-1 in two appearances. He allowed four runs in two innings - which is apparently good enough for the Braves' shaky bullpen. The team already called up 31-year-old Kenny Ray, who pitched a scoreless inning in a 5-3 win over Philadelphia on Monday. He had not pitched in the majors since 1999 and has been with 16 teams in 14 leagues over the course of his vagabond career. |
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