ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- When troubled pitcher Dewon Brazelton was called into the manager's office at Double-A Montgomery, the last thing he expected was a promotion back to the big leagues.
But the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are desperate for help in their bullpen and they recalled their demoted Opening Day starter Friday with hopes he will be able to jump-start his faltering career as a reliever.
"I wasn't expecting to be called up, so I thought I was in trouble for something," Brazelton said before the start of a three-game series against the Florida Marlins at Tropicana Field.
The Devil Rays sent reliever Lee Gardner to Triple-A Durham.
Brazelton lost his spot in the rotation after a rocky outing against the Chicago White Sox on May 11 dropped him to 1-7 with a 6.43 ERA in eight starts. Five days later, he was placed on the restricted list for failing to report to Durham.
The 24-year-old right-hander has yet to provide a public explanation for why he declined to his assignment to Durham, where the Devil Rays were hoping he could work on his mechanics and regain some confidence after a stretch in which he lost 11 of 12 decisions.
"I'm going to try to let the past be the past. Whatever happened, happened. I'm not really concerned about that," Brazelton
said. "That was a month ago. I'm concerned about helping the Devil
Rays win, being here for my teammates and helping them win, moving
forward with my career and my life."
Brazelton was reinstated from the restricted list on June 2 and
worked out at the Devil Rays' minor-league complex until he was sent
to Montgomery earlier this week. He made one start there with three
shutout innings.
The pitcher is appealing a five-game suspension he received in
April for his role in two bench-clearing brawls with the Boston Red
Sox and was available to pitch against the Marlins on Friday night.
"We needed pitching in the bullpen, and he's the most
competitive pitcher ... we had available," Devil Rays general
manager Chuck LaMar said. "He's in very good physical condition.
Whether he's destined to be in the bullpen or wind up staring again
remains to be seen."
LaMar and manager Lou Piniella both shrugged off questions about
why the third pick in the 2001 draft went into hiding for more than
three weeks before beginning workouts with the club's extended
spring training players.
"Mistakes are made. You forgive and forget," Piniella said.
LaMar is also looking forward.
"Over the course of the next week or two, he's got to show us
that he's a major league pitcher or we're going to send him back
down," LaMar said.
Gardner worked 7 1/3 innings in five relief appearances and has
a 4.91 ERA.