Marshall University Athletics
Blair Hoping for Engagement in MLB
4/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
By STEVE COTTON
Herd Insider Columnist
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- No one could fault Aaron Blair if things were spinning a little too fast in his head these days.
A month in the Arizona Diamondbacks big league spring training camp as he begins just his third pro season, a listing as the D-backs No. 3 prospect, a win as the Opening Night starter for the Double-A Mobile BayBears -- it's a lot to take in.
Then there was the day amidst all that -- March 28 -- when former Herd star pitcher Blair, an avid golfer himself, proposed to former Marshall golfer Caitlyn Morrone on the 18th green at The Phonecian in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The event was trumpeted immediately by the @A_Blair19 twitter account with a photo of the ring and: SHE SAID YES!!!
"Exciting to say the least," is the way the Marshall alumnus describes his last two months. "There's been a lot going on."
An understatement indeed, but that's the way top level athletes succeed -- by maintaining a singular focus in the thick of surrounding chaos. For Blair, that philosophy is beneficial not only when he toes the rubber with two on and two out, but also in the long term view of his upcoming season.
"My approach is to just go out and do everything I can to get better and show that I'm a good option whenever opportunities become available somewhere above me," Blair said.
Blair received the invitation to spend part of spring training at the Diamondbacks' big league camp in Scottsdale after being named the organization's 2014 Minor League Pitcher of the year, logging a 9-5 record and 171 strikeouts over 154 innings spread across three levels of competition.
It's a notably quick ascent since Blair made only eleven pro starts the previous season after being taken in the first round (36th overall pick) of the 2013 MLB draft. Blair's stature -- he's 6 feet 5 and 230 pounds -- and a mid-90s fastball combined with a "plus" change-up and good control have D-backs' brass already thinking about his big league future.'
Blair made four spring training appearances on the big league side, including one start, allowing eight hits and six runs in 10 innings of work. He made his best and most lasting impression against the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants on March 14, with three innings of one-hit, shutout work in a 5-2 Arizona win before a raucous Salt River Fields record crowd of 13,032.
"The coolest moment was when I faced Buster Posey and I got a former MVP to fly out," Blair said. "That's just a great feeling. But even bigger than that in the long run was just being around Major League players all day long, every day.
"That's a tremendous opportunity for a younger player, to talk with them and even just to watch and observe them, to see how they handle themselves. I tried to take advantage of all that time and use it to make myself better."
Eventually the time came when the big league starters needed to throw more innings, Blair needed to throw more innings and there weren't enough opportunities for everyone in the Major League games. Blair was reassigned to the minor league camp March 15, but not before he'd made sure he'd be remembered.
"I got sent down the morning after I'd pitched the three scoreless innings against the Giants, so I'd had that high note and then got sent down," Blair said. But I knew it was coming because it was just the time those moves are made.
"When I had my exit meeting, the manager and general manager and pitching coach said I left a `lasting impression' with them.
"They told me to just keep on doing what I have been and that they now know what I can do and if the situation arises that from now on they wouldn't hesitate to call me all the way up. But I just needed to go back down to the minors right now to get innings and keep developing."
Ultimately, Blair was sent back to Mobile, starting this season at the same place he made his final eight starts last season, going 4-1 with a 1.94 ERA. He sees a methodology as to why the Diamondbacks sent him back to a level at which he's already had success.
"Two years ago I finished the season with a few games in South Bend, then that's where they sent me to start last season," Blair said. "The first time I was there it was all new, then when I returned last spring there was familiarity and a comfort level right from the start.
"That's the same now. Mobile isn't new to me and hopefully I pitch as well here to start this season as I did in South Bend last year."
So far, so good as Blair tossed six innings, allowing three hits, and picked up the win as Mobile beat Birmingham in last week's Southern League season opener. As if he needed more motivation, those few weeks of life at the big league camp simply whet Blair's desire to get back there for good.
"It was very exciting both to spend time with the Diamondbacks' big league guys and also to pitch against Major League hitters for the other teams," he said. "It's really an unusual feeling to go out on the mound and pitch against guys you've been watching on TV for years. For me personally it was important to go out there and pitch well and I'm excited for what's ahead."
He's resisting the urge, however, to set any timetable for getting a promotion to Arizona or even the organization's Class AAA affiliate, the Reno Aces.
"Of course, I want to make it to the big leagues, but I haven't specifically set that as a goal for this year because that's not something I can control all by myself," Blair said. "All I can control is how I pitch and how I prepare myself every day, so that's my focus."
At some point, Blair and his fiancé also will start making wedding plans -- they've not yet set a date -- but a big question remains:
Does Marshall have dibs on any future children from the Herd couple, the baseball star and the golfer, whose twin sister, Kristyn, also played at Marshall?
"Maybe," Blair said, laughing, "but we don't have any scholarship offers yet."
Veteran Marshall play-by-play broadcaster Steve Cotton -- a record 10-time West Virginia Sportscaster of the Year -- is a Herd Insider columnist and is finishing his 22nd year on the Thundering Herd/IMG Sports Network.
