As the MSU baseball team enters the second half of the Big Ten season, one of its most productive weapons is battling an injury.
Junior catcher Brady Burrill, who leads the Spartans with a .444 batting average, took a foul ball off his left hand in Friday’s 11-0 win against Michigan.
Burrill was forced to watch the remaining three games of the series from the bench, with his catching hand wrapped in ice.
“We’re definitely better with Brady catching, from a leadership and experience standpoint,” Spartan manager Ted Mahan said. “But we’re confident the other two guys can do a great job.”
As Burrill sat out to nurse his swollen hand, freshman Jim Duffy and sophomore Randy Ortiz filled in nicely, helping the Spartans win two of the three games en route to a 3-1 series win.
Burrill planned to have an X-ray on the hand Monday, but canceled it when the swelling and pain went down. Burrill said he was able to grip and throw a baseball Monday.
With Central Michigan on tap for Wednesday, Mahan said he plans to let Burrill continue to heal during the nonconference matchup. But Burrill could start Friday against Iowa.
“With those two in, I don’t think there’s much of a drop off,” Burrill said. “Jim and Randy played a lot before the spring, when I was out three weeks with mono. That was probably one of the best things that could have happened to this team.
Mahan agreed Burrill’s absence helped Duffy and Ortiz develop.
“Fortunately for us, he had mono earlier in the year and those guys got a lot of playing time,” Mahan said. “I think that helped them considerably.
“If we happen not to have Brady for a four-game series, we’d use both the other catchers. I’m confident they’ll get the job done no matter what happens.”
Duffy started all three games against U-M when Burrill was out, and has started 13 games this year. On the year, Duffy is hitting .273 with four home runs, including the home run that broke the 18-year-old MSU single-season home-run mark.
“I think I’m improving every day behind the plate and with my hitting,” Duffy said. “I’ve just got to prepare myself every day to be ready and I’m just gonna do the best I can and try and get the job done so we can continue winning.”
Ortiz played in two games during the weekend and has started three games for MSU, but has played in 13 overall, hitting 3-for-16 on the year.
Despite being on the bench for the last three games against archrival U-M, Burrill was everything but silent in the dugout. Mahan described him as coachlike on the bench.
Mahan said Burrill’s injury highlights MSU best attribute - depth.
“When you get injuries, you have to have someone play when they are hurt and luckily, we’ve got a lot of depth,” Mahan said. “There’s no question about it. We plan on winning whether he’s in the lineup or not.”
Big Ten Honors: Sophomore right-hander Bryan Gale was named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week on Monday. Gale (5-2, 4.20 ERA) shared the honor with Illinois’ Dave Mazurek.
Gale was given the honor following a dominating performance Friday against U-M. Gale threw his first complete game shutout in an 11-0 MSU victory. He struck out six Wolverine batters and scattered six hits along the way.
