Brandon Beachy: The Day I Struck Out Ichiro Suzuki Twice

Editor’s Note: Brandon Beachy had a relatively brief but highly memorable career, rising from undrafted free agent to a key — at times overpowering — member of the Braves’ rotation. Injuries derailed Beachy’s career, but he retired with a 14-12 record and 275 2/3 innings of 3.36 ERA ball under his belt. Beachy was at his best from 2010-12, when he made 41 starts with a pristine 3.07 ERA and plus strikeout/walk rates alike. Nearly two years ago to the day, Brandon was kind enough to take some time to host a chat with MLBTR readers. We’ve asked him about contributing some occasional writing for the site, and we’re thrilled that he’s taken us up on the offer.

A couple of years ago, I did a Q&A with readers that MLBTR owner Tim Dierkes said was well received. He asked if I’d be interested in doing some writing, and after a little consideration, I figured I’d give it a shot. We’ll see how it goes.

For my first piece, I want to talk about what it was like to face one of baseball’s greatest hitters: Ichiro Suzuki. As an undrafted free agent signing with the Atlanta Braves in 2008, I worked my way through the minors and made my Major League debut in September 2010. I had some success but unfortunately dealt with multiple elbow injuries that ultimately ended my career sooner than I’d hoped. Still, I had some incredible experiences, and facing Ichiro on June 27, 2011, is one of the most memorable.

Preparation

I want to set the scene by briefly describing my process and preparation. The day after my starts I would come in early, get my flush running in, and get into the gym. I’d then go through yesterday’s start pitch by pitch. Roger McDowell was very influential on me. The results mattered of course, but some of my toughest self-scouting days came after quality starts or even scoreless outings. I had days where I felt I had just gotten lucky after executing rather poorly. I would track all my fastballs and how often I hit my spot. I believed in the long run that process-oriented approach would yield the results I wanted in the long run.

Day 2 is when I started looking ahead at my next opponent. I’d look over their roster, see who was hot at the time, and dive into their numbers a little bit. I wanted to know two things on each hitter:

1. What and where (i.e. pitch type, location) did they struggle that could be a putaway opportunity for me?
2. Against which pitch type and where within the zone did they do their damage?

Balancing this…