To say Brandon Brosher has had a run of bad luck in his professional baseball career might put it mildly. Over his first two seasons, the 2013 Springstead grad has endured a pair of freakish injuries.
But now in his third year, playing for the Class A Short Season Brooklyn Cyclones, a New York Mets affiliate, the 21-year-old is attempting to get himself back on track – while meeting up with a familiar face.
This weekend, the Cyclones host the Hudson Valley Renegades, a team that now features Hernando alum Brandon Lawson on its pitching staff.
The former teammates as freshmen at Springstead, and later rivals in the prep ranks, already faced when Brooklyn visited Hudson Valley June 25-27. In one at-bat versus Lawson, Brosher hit a foul pop-up caught by the shortstop on the first pitch.
Lawson had just joined the Renegades after getting drafted out of USF by the Tampa Bay Rays last month.
“It was pretty cool. Two guys from Hernando County back on the same field again in pro ball,” Brosher said. “It definitely brought back a lot of memories in high school.”
Only a few years ago, Brosher was the big bat in the Eagles’ lineup that Lawson and other opposing pitchers had to worry about. As a senior, he hit .451 with four doubles, two triples, four home runs, 27 runs scored and 29 runs batted in, leading Springstead to a regional final.
Even before that campaign, he had earned a Division I scholarship to Oral Roberts University. He never made it there, instead opting to join the Mets when they selected him in the 36th round of the 2013 draft.
That year he played 22 games in Rookie ball with the Gulf Coast League Mets, then went to another Rookie affiliate, the Kingsport Mets, in 2014.
Through seven contests, Brosher was hitting .387 with four homers and eight RBI. But prior to a game in which he wasn’t even starting, Brosher ran out of the dugout to stretch. He ended up slipping on a warped rubber mat meant to cushion cleats against the concrete.
Before that accident, he had never so much as broken a bone. As a result of that fall, he broke his right fibula in two places and ruptured almost every ligament in his ankle, requiring season-ending surgery.
“It was difficult,” Brosher said. “The head trainer for the Mets said it was the worst leg injury he had seen in 20 years. Honestly, he said he didn’t think I’d recover from it. But I did.”
He was told he wouldn’t be able to put weight on the leg for five months. Yet he was walking in three weeks, and was cleared in early January, a little more than six months after sustaining the injury.
However, another bizarre medical issue cropped up during extended spring training. An ordinary cut on his hand became infected, once again forcing him under the knife. Doctors told him had he come to the hospital 12 hours later, he may have died from blood poisoning, and he ended up missing the first 20 games of the season.
When he finally got on the field, he played the majority of the year with Brooklyn, appearing in 53 games for the Cyclones and hitting .188 with three home runs and 22 RBI.
“It’s unfortunate. But everything happens for a reason,” Brosher said. “The biggest thing now is trying to find the consistency I had before the injuries. I haven’t had a real full go without getting stopped. It’s hard to get a feel for what you’re trying to do when it’s stop and go.”
Additionally, Brosher has had to adjust to a relatively new position of catcher. Though he was often in that spot in Dixie ball, he only played one game there on the prep level.
“At first it was the most humbling thing I’ve ever done,” Brosher said. “My first day of pro ball they handed me catcher’s gear. I was catching a guy throwing 93-94 miles per hour and was dropping balls left and right.
“The last few years I’ve learned a lot. I’m definitely a full-time catcher now, but I’m still learning a lot every game. This is the first year I feel comfortable in my ability to get the job done behind the plate. I’m excited to see how I progress.”
In 12 games this season, he’s only hitting .224 but the rest of his numbers are solid: one double, two homers, seven runs and nine RBI.
“It’s a grind, mentally and physically. There’s long bus rides, sleepless nights when you have a bad game,” Brosher said. “It’s a character-builder. You’re mentally weak after playing a game, it doesn’t matter how talented you are.
“It’s nothing like I’ve ever gone through before, but I’m learning more and more. It’s a grind to train, but I’ve got to stay steady.”
For the rest of the season he hopes to keep building on his work both at and behind the plate. In the meantime, he figures to come up against that Lawson guy again real soon.
“He got me the first time,” Brosher said. “I’ll try to get him the second.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.