(Oakland) Under normal circumstances Simpson’s regular season in baseball would have come to an end this weekend. One of the bullpen arms for the Storm is Riverside grad Brent Pendgraft.
The DIII college baseball season was only a couple of weeks in when coronavirus prompted the cancellation of remaining games. For Pendgraft, who was recovery from a torn labrum on his glove hand, that means he missed his entire junior year. “It was an injury from the weight room back in the fall and we weren’t able to figure out what it was until early spring when our season was starting. It caused nerve damage in my whole left arm. I wasn’t able to properly use my glove and even catch or field a ground ball, so I was going through physical therapy to mend that.”
Pendgraft became a sidearmer in order to carve out a bigger role on the team. “I felt things were getting a little stale. My stuff was very average from my natural arm slot so I decided to become the least average as possible. Our pitching coach and I talked about it in the fall and I worked in the offseason to lower my arm slot and become a sinker/slider type of guy.”
He describes it as being a good transition and wishes he would have made the move sooner in his career. “I like how the ball moved out of my hand and how you can induce ground balls more easily.”
Pendgraft will be a senior next year and it will be his final year of college baseball. He says his main goal is to help the team win in any way he can.
