Former Chaffee standout adjusting to new role with Catfish

There is no shortage of unknowns early in the 2023 Cape Catfish summer season.

The club is on a scorching start, in which it is annihilating the rest of the Prospect League on a nightly basis.

“We pepper you to death,” first-year Catfish manager Scott Little said recently. “We get good at-bats. Guys have been getting on base and getting clutch hits.”

While the offense, which has scored 12 more runs than any other team in the Prospect League, despite having just one team (O’Fallon) that has played fewer games than the Catfish, is getting a lot of attention, the fact is, when the ‘Fish 10-run another team (which they have done in four of their initial six games), a lot of that also has to do with very solid pitching.

Another unknown heading into this summer was just how former Chaffee Red Devil pitcher Breven Yarboro would perform with his first run with the team.

“Breven is kind of a thinker out there,” Little said. “He’s got a plan and he is sticking with that plan.”

Yarboro has made a couple of starts with Cape so far, which that in itself, was an unknown entity.

The right-hander hasn’t started a game since he was dominating hitters in Southeast Missouri at the high school level, so this summer, he is learning how to adjust to that new role.

“My whole college career,” Yarboro explained, “I have been a bullpen arm. This (summer), the Catfish are letting me try a starting position.”

Yarboro has had an up-and-down post-Chaffee journey.

He spent one season at Jefferson College before a coaching change had him make a switch to Crowder College.

“That was the best decision that I have ever made,” Yarboro said.

He helped Crowder win 55 games and finish third in the Junior College World Series, which caught the attention of NCAA Division I Charlotte.

He signed with the 49ers but had arm surgery (UCL tear) and had to medical redshirt in his first season.

This spring, he was limited to just four total innings over six appearances, all in relief.

“I probably haven’t thrown over 20 pitches (in an outing) in four or five years,” Yarboro said.

He is doing that now.

In his first outing of this summer season, he threw 57 pitches over three innings.

Yarboro allowed Jackson (Tenn.) to get four hits and a couple of earned runs while walking one and striking out one.

“Breven is trying to execute his pitches,” Little said, “and he has good stuff. That is what I saw from him is a guy, who is going to be in the middle of our rotation as the season progresses.”

Yarboro said the biggest adjustment was his pregame routine, where he needed to begin delving into “two or three hours before the game.”

“It is definitely a different approach to the game,” Yarboro said. “You’ve got to get your mindset ready. I was a little early on my pregame bullpen (work).”

In his second start, Yarboro threw 73 pitches (45 for strikes), and held O’Fallon to two hits and a pair of earned runs over four innings, while walking three and striking out seven.

“I was trying to sit down and get back up, then sit down and get back up,” Yarboro said of his pregame on his first night. “I think that I’ve really got it timed out now, where I know what I am going to do.

“I’ll have my mindset ready, and I’ll be working on my pitches the whole time in the bullpen. I’ll have everything set to where I need it to be, and I’ll be good to go.”

Following this spring, Yarboro entered the NCAA Transfer Portal and said he is currently looking for a new college program for his final two years of eligibility.

“I want (a good) culture at my next school,” Yarboro said. “I want a pretty good pitching coach and a good weightlifting program.”

The Catfish improved to 7-0 on Wednesday with a 6-1 win over Danville.

Cape will host Rex Baseball tonight at 6:35 p.m. at Capaha Field.