Tuatara signing a step towards MLB return

If there’s one name that stands out above all the others on the Auckland Tuatara roster it’s Josh Collmenter.

For those who’ve seen the superb baseball movie Bull Durham, Collmenter will be Kevin Costner’s ‘‘Crash’’ Davis figure at the Tuatara, although a far better player than Davis was in the film.

Most of the Tuatara’s roster is made up of players who are on their way up, hoping to one day make it to ‘‘the show’’. But 32-year-old right-handed pitcher Collmenter has been there and done that. He’s spent seven years pitching in the Majors, for the Diamondbacks and Braves and has an impressive career ERA of 3.64 and wants to get back.

At the beginning of last year he signed a NZ$1.77 million deal with the Braves, but had a poor start to the season and was sent to the minors. He pitched well for the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves, but became a free agent at the end of the season.

Playing for the Tuatara is a long way removed from being with an MLB team, but Collmenter sees this as a crucial step in getting back to the majors.

‘‘I wanted to continue to play and I didn’t really have the opportunity to do that this past year,’’ Collmenter said of his motivation to join the Tuatara. ‘‘I didn’t work out for any teams to offer me spring training. So I started looking internationally and got in touch with a guy who set me up with Ryan (Flynn, Tuatara general manager), who was talking about starting an ABL team in New Zealand.

‘‘This was the perfect opportunity, especially as it’s a short season, to come over here and pitch a bit, then use that top hopefully springboard back into the US. But this was a unique opportunity to come to New Zealand and experience that, but then get to see a brand new team being built from the ground.’’

Tuatara manager Steve Mintz is expecting big things from Collmenter over the season and not only on the mound. ‘‘He’ll be one of our older guys, but he’ll be able to pass on his knowledge to these younger Kiwi players,’’ Mintz said. ‘‘They can watch him work and how he goes about his business as a big leaguer.’’

Collmenter will be one of the starting pitchers for the Tuatara, even though he was mainly used as a reliever most recently in the MLB. He doesn’t have blistering pace with his fast ball by major league standards, but his cutter and change up are sure to get him plenty of strikeouts in the ABL.

‘‘It’s been going well,’’ he said of his pitching leading into the season. ‘‘I’ve had a lot of time to prepare to get into this, which was nice.

‘‘So I was able to rest my arm for most of the summer back in the US and get myself into a good position to come in here.’’

While this will be Collmenter’s first ABL season, he has pitched in Australia before. In 2014 the MLB started the regular season in Sydney, when the Diamondbacks played the Dodgers.

‘‘This was the perfect opportunity.’’ Josh Collmenter