Tyler Thornburg Article

Bob Brainerd of Sports 32 has an article on Rattlers Pitcher Tyler Thornburg:

There was a choice to be made at one point in Thornburg’s college career…Hitting or Pitching…

“There was, early on in college when I played both and I was doing a little bit better hitting than pitching,” said Thornburg.  “But when I started getting into my sophomore and junior years, started getting a lot of attention as far as pitching, my college coach kind of maneuvered me to pitch more, get my bullpens in rather than take some extra hacks in the cage, so I could get geared more toward a future in pitching.”

Even though the upside was brighter, it was a gut twisting tussle for Thornburg to retire the bat along with chasing down balls in the outfield.  Not easy for a player with legit power (24 career home runs at Charleston Southern, fourth most in Buccaneers history) who became a YouTube sensation making full throttle, on the run circus catches.

“It was fun playing the outfield,” said Thornburg with a grin.  “That was my freshman year, and I loved playing in the outfield, getting a chance to throw guys out trying to take extra bases…that was the most fun.

“As hard as it is to stop hitting, because hitting is a lot more fun than pitching because you get to play every day, but I know it’s what I needed to do.  And I’m willing to give it all I’ve got to make that next step in pitching.”

Go over and read it all.