Broshuis hones his writing and baseball skills

~ The former Advance star contributes to The Sporting News blog when not pitching for the Giants' Class AA team.

When Advance native Garrett Broshuis packs for a road trip as a member of the Class AA Connecticut Defenders, he brings along his baseball glove, shoes ... and his laptop computer. When he's not pitching, he's blogging for The Sporting News.

Broshuis met one of the editors of the St. Louis-based Sporting News over the winter. The right-hander later sent him some writing samples, and the editor liked what he saw. Since March, the thoughts of the 24-year-old Broshuis have appeared in the online edition of the magazine.

"I like it so far," Broshuis said. "It gives me a chance to take away a little time away from baseball. Even though I'm writing about baseball, it's giving me a chance to do something not directly baseball oriented."

Broshuis said he has received positive feedback from editors at The Sporting News.

Broshuis, a 2000 graduate of Advance High School, was valedictorian of his class and played both basketball and baseball.

The summer before his senior year, Missouri's baseball coaches began recruiting him.

"I really liked what they had to offer," Broshuis remembers. "I wanted to stay in-state. I liked that it wasn't too far from home but it was still a little bit away, also. I liked the coaches there and I liked the town of Columbia."

After a red-shirt season and three years of pitching for the Tigers, the fourth-year junior was taken by the San Francisco Giants in the fifth round of the 2004 draft.

Following the June draft, he spent the shortened season in Salem, Ore., before being promoted to the Giants' Class-A affiliate in San Jose, Calif. The next year, Broshuis was 12-10 with San Jose and Fresno, the Giants' Class AAA team where he spent the last few weeks of the season.

"It was great," Broshuis said. "I got two starts there and really got to see what I need to work on. Got to see more experienced hitters, guys that are a little older than me and have seen a lot of pitchers in their lifetime."

His current team is located in Norwich, Conn., and plays in the Eastern League.

"It's nice now to go to a different part of the country and see some of the Northeast," Broshuis said. "The accents are a little different; people's mannerisms are a little different. It's definitely one of the pluses of minor league baseball, getting to travel around the country quite a bit. Not just travel around the country but actually live in those places for a little bit and really experience life in a different part of the country."

Broshuis has a reputation as a pitcher with pinpoint control. Baseball America recently rated him as having the best control of any pitcher in the Giants organization. While he's yet to record a decision this year in three starts, Broshuis has 14 strikeouts and only one walk.

"I pride myself on my command and my control," he said. "So far, it's gone pretty good."

Despite living and playing a few thousand miles away from home, Broshuis gets the opportunity to see a few familiar faces from Southeast Missouri.

"On our team right now is Matt Palmer, who's from Caruthersville. He went to Southwest Missouri State," Broshuis said. "Also in my league right now is Talley Haines from Cape Girardeau. He's playing with the Reading Phillies."

Broshuis was scheduled to pitch Friday against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Does he hope for a quick return to Class AAA?

"All I want to do is go out there and have a good season," he said. "That's all I can control. "

For a pitcher who has walked only one batter all season, control is a good word choice. For the rest of this baseball season, expect a lot of words from Broshuis on the blog and few walks on the mound.

Mike Mitchell's sportsblog appears on www.semissour-ian.com, the Web site of the Southeast Missourian.