Alex Yarbrough had an apartment picked out and arrangements already made for his car to meet him in Salt Lake City as he readied to start his second season at Class AAA earlier this month.
He was making new plans less than a week later, when he received the first demotion of his professional career.
Today’s game
ARKANSAS VS. SPRINGFIELD
WHEN 7:10 p.m.
WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas
WEBSITE travs.com
PITCHERS Travelers: Blayne Weller (RHP, 0-1, 1.50 ERA); Cardinals: Corey Baker (RHP, 0-0, 3.00)
TICKETS Gates open one hour before first pitch. $13 box, $9 reserved ($6 children), $7 general admission ($5 children)
PROMOTIONS The first 1,000 fans will receive a free T-shirt.
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY Springfield, 7:10 p.m.
SUNDAY Springfield, 2 p.m.
MONDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
TUESDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
WEDNESDAY at Tulsa, 11:05 a.m.
THURSDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
FRIDAY at Springfield, 7:10 p.m.
"I don't think anybody is ever happy to be sent down," he said. "But, I'm just going to do as well as I can while I'm here."
So far so good for Yarbrough, the 2014 Texas League Player of the Year, who drove in all of the Travelers' runs in a 3-1 victory over the Springfield Cardinals in front of an announced crowd of 7,565 on Friday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
The infielder's looping single into right field scored Angelo Amendolare and Chad Hinshaw in the third, and his single to right scored Hinshaw in the eighth as he raised his average to .357 in eight games with the Travs. Since being handed a surprise plane ticket to rejoin the Travs and free him of a crowded infield in Salt Lake, Yarbrough is 10-for-28 with 8 RBI, which ranks second on the team.
It's a good start, but Yarbrough said he's not trying to get too far ahead of himself as he tries to get back to the player he was two years ago. He hit .285 for the Travs in 2014 and led the Texas League in hits (155) and doubles (38), a season that led to a No. 8 ranking among Los Angeles Angles prospects by Baseball America.
A positive 2014 led to Yarbrough's starting spot at Class AAA Salt Lake last year, but he struggled with pitch recognition. His average dipped to .236 last year, a career-low, and he struck out 136 times, a career-high. He was sent back to Salt Lake to start the season but hit .214 through four games and his chances of regular at-bats dwindled while on a Bees roster that includes four players with major league experience.
"It's just a chance to clear my head," Yarbrough said. "The goal is to just come out here and help the team as much as I can, and hopefully, at some point, move up, wherever that is."
Travs Manager Mark Parent said he spent a lot of time working with Yarbrough in the spring. They worked on defensive mechanics, but Parent also noted Yarbrough's proficiency to chase pitches. Even with the Travs in 2014, Yarbrough struck out 124 times.
"In the spring, he had some times where I didn't think he could hit a lick," Parent said. "He was drifting and doing whatnot. But he's found something that works for him and he's going to be consistent. He just keeps working at it."
The consistent at-bats that Yarbrough will get with the Travs might help him more than anything else, but Parent said the new assignment could provide a mental boost, too.
"It lets you know that 'Hey, I'm never safe. I've got to keep working,'" Parent said. "That's what gets people to the Major Leagues, is they're consistent."
Yarbrough's three RBI led the Travs to their fourth consecutive victory thanks to Alex Blackford's third positive start. The right-hander started just one game at Class A Inland Empire last season and entered this season with just seven starts among his 76 career appearances.
But he held Springfield to 1 hit and struck out 8 while pitching 52/3 scoreless innings. He's given up only one earned run in three starts this season to post a Texas League-best 0.57 ERA.
"He threw the ball really well tonight," Parent said. "He got in a lot of deep counts, but he battled. He got to his pitch count, so we had to go get him, which I think was a good thing because he was getting tired. He only gave up one hit and he just kept competing."
sp'field AB R H BI arkansas AB R H BI
Bader, cf 4 0 0 0 Way, lf 4 0 0 0
Valera, ss 3 0 0 0 Hinshaw, cf 4 2 2 0
Caldwell, 2b 3 0 1 0 Yarbrough, 3b 4 0 2 3
Wshngtn, 1b 4 0 0 0 Aguilera, 1b 4 0 0 0
Radack, rf 4 1 2 0 Towey, rf 3 0 0 0
DeJong, 3b 3 0 0 0 Wass, c 3 0 0 0
Jacobs, dh 4 0 0 0 Bemboom, dh 3 0 1 0
Kelly, c 3 0 1 1 Amdrlare, 2b 3 1 1 0
McElroy, lf 3 0 1 0 Phillips, ss 3 0 1 0
TOTALS 31 1 5 1 totals 31 3 7 3
Springfield 000 000 100 -- 1 5 2
Arkansas 002 000 01x -- 3 7 0
E -- Valera, Kelly. LOB -- Springfield 6, Arkansas 4. 2B -- Bemboom. SB -- Hinshaw 2. CS -- Caldwell, Phillips.
springfield IP H R ER BB SO
Morales L, 2-1 7 4 2 0 0 6
Donofrio 1 3 1 0 0 1
arkansas IP H R ER BB SO
Blackford W, 2-0 52/3 1 0 0 2 8
DeLoach 2/3 1 0 0 0 0
Busenitz 2/3 2 1 1 1 0
Broussard 1 0 0 0 0 2
Wood S, 2 1 1 0 0 0 2
WP -- Blackford 2. Umpires -- Home: Tomlinson; First: Gorman; Third: Meyers. Time -- 2:39. Attendance -- 7,565.
NATURALS 10, DRILLERS 5
Northwest Arkansas pounded out 11 hits Friday to win its fifth consecutive home game and second consecutive over Tulsa in front of 5,855 fans at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.
Tulsa's Lars Anderson hit a two-run home run in the second inning, but Northwest Arkansas responded in the bottom of the third. Cameron Gallagher and Logan Moon hit consecutive singles to start the inning against Drillers starter Scott Barlow, who took the loss to fall to 0-2. After a sacrifice bunt from Ramon Torres, Raul Mondesi's RBI single scored Gallagher. Hunter Dozier hit a two-out double to the wall in left-center field, scoring Torres and Mondesi to give the Naturals a 3-2 lead.
Alex Verdugo tied the game at 3-3 for Tulsa when he hit the first pitch he saw from Naturals starter Jake Junis in the fifth inning for a home run. Junis (1-1) went 6 innings, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits with 5 strikeouts to earn his first Class AA victory.
The Naturals regained the lead in the sixth inning behind an RBI force out from Mauricio Ramos, which scored Bubba Starling, who led off the inning with a single. Northwest Arkansas broke the game open in the seventh inning, scoring six runs on three singles, two doubles, an error, a walk and a batter hit by a pitch. Tulsa got a two-run home run from Willie Calhoun in the eighth inning to complete the scoring.
Moon was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI to lead Northwest Arkansas, while Mondesi and Starling were both 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored. Verduco and Jacob Scavuzzo were both 2 for 4 with 1 run scored to lead Tulsa, which fell three games behind division leaders Arkansas and Springfield with the loss.
Sports on 04/23/2016