Baseball in Fort Wayne

Nearly three years after they drafted him first overall as a shortstop, the San Diego Padres and Matt Bush are trying a different position: Pitcher.
The 21-year-old Bush is “ecstatic” to return to the mound. He last pitched competitively in 2004 while at Mission Bay High. Bush went 9-1 with a 0.42 ERA. He struck out 91 over 66 innings and his fastball regulary hit in excess of 90 mph.

After working with pitching coach Steve Webber, Bush saw his first action as a pitcher in the Arizona Summer League. From SignOnSanDiego:

Making his pitching debut in the Arizona Summer League yesterday, converted shortstop Matt Bush threw 94-98 mph, striking out two in a scoreless, 12-pitch inning. “He’s been the talk of minicamp,” said Mike Wickham, assistant to Vice President Grady Fuson.

This will be an interesting storyline to follow and could produce a third stint with the Wizards.

While this adjustment may seem drastic and perhaps questionable, it is not without precident. In 1990, another struggling young shortstop made a transition to pitcher. At the time, the 22-year-old was hitting in the low .200′s and hadn’t pitched since little league. He also struggled defensively.

That was seventeen years ago. Today, Trevor Hoffman has more saves than any other pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball. [Read More About Hoffman's Transition Here] Not a bad more at all.

Best of luck Matt!

[tags]Matt Bush, Trevor Hoffman, Infielder to Pitcher[/tags]