Raftery glad to get another chance
ThunderBolts’ reliever rebounds after release by Astros
ThunderBolts closer Devin Raftery’s career in the Houston Astros organization was progressing well.
Then a short-term complication turned into a long-term blow for the 25-year-old.
An injury sidelined Raftery for most of the 2017 season, and the Astros released him last winter.
“I ended up on the back burner because I got hurt trying to do some new things that they wanted me to do,” he said. “It was just a minor setback, but it ended up costing me my career with the Astros.
“I look at it as just another hump I’ve got to get over.”
Raftery said he suffered a pinched ulnar nerve in his right throwing arm during extended spring training in 2017.
“I was trying some things that were a bit out of my comfort zone, but when they’re the ones paying you, you’ve got to do it,” Raftery said. “I was trying to develop a new pitch, a splitter, that I’d never thrown in my life, and rushing into that.
“It kind of messed up my mechanics and then I got hurt after that.”
Raftery came back late last season and pitched well with the Gulf Coast League Astros, recording a 1.15 ERA in 10 games.
Overall, in 27 appearances in the organization over parts of two seasons, he went 5-1 with a 2.93 ERA and three saves. It wasn’t enough to stick with the Astros.
“I came back, I put up good numbers, but there just wasn’t room to move up,” he said. “That’s the business.”
Raftery, a DeLand, Fla., native who was college teammates with fellow T-Bolts pitcher Zac Westcott for a season at Nova Southeastern, has certainly bounced back in the Frontier League.
Through Saturday, he ranked fourth in the league with 12 saves and had a 1.48 ERA over 29 appearances.
“We’re always confident when we give the ball to Devin,” T-Bolts manager Ron Biga said. “If we can get him a lead in the ninth, we feel like he’s going to go out there, get the job done and finish off the win.”
Raftery was a closer for two seasons in junior college at the State College of Florida and two more at Nova Southeastern. He recorded 17 saves in 2016 as his team won the NCAA Division II national championship.
After years pitching in the ninth inning, Raftery knows it takes a special kind of personality to do his job.
“Being a closer takes a little more insanity,” he said. “You’ve got to be cold-blooded. I love having the pressure. I love coming in with the bases loaded and no outs, those types of situations.
“I love hushing the crowd when we’re on the road. It gets my blood flowing. That’s just my mentality.”
Raftery is hoping to prove
himself enough to get another shot at affiliated ball.
“I got my foot in the door, and if I didn’t get hurt, who knows where I’d be now?” he said. “I’ve showed I belong at a high level. I’m trying to work my way back there, but until then I’m going to keep doing my job wherever I am.”
When Raftery was released by the Astros, he briefly considered giving up baseball. He and the T-Bolts are glad he didn’t.
“I decided that’s not how I wanted to go out,” he said. “I knew I still had a lot left in the tank and I didn’t want them to tell me when I’m done. I wanted to tell myself when I’m done.”