Bruihl shines in first Major League game with Dodgers

Former Casa Grande High School pitcher Justin Bruihl not only made his Major League debut Sunday, he made history as well.

When the Casa Grande graduate entered the game against the Los Angeles Angels he became the 32nd pitcher used by the Dodgers this season, establishing a new club record.

Bruihl was more interested in doing his job than his line of pitching succession, and he was impressive in his first Major League game. After being called up from the Oklahoma City Dodgers Triple A team just 24 hours earlier, he entered the game in the eighth inning and struck out the first batter he faced. Next in line was Shohei Ohtani, one of the most heralded players in all of baseball. The Petaluman walked him, but got the next batter out. He retired three in a row in the ninth to secure an 8-2 Dodger win,

Petaluma High baseball coach Jim Selvitella coached Bruihl on the Casa Grande junior varsity team when Bruihl was a sophomore, and Selvitella said he remembers Bruihl as a promising prospect.

“I could see he had talent,” the coach said. “He threw hard, but a lot of guys throw hard. I could see that he knew how to pitch.”

The Gauchos never had a chance to get the full benefit from Bruihl’s talent. During his junior year he felt a twinge in his arm that intensified into full-fledged pain. The solution if he wanted to pitch again was Tommy John Surgery.

His mother, Kelly, recalled that the surgeon told him that the surgery by itself wouldn’t fix problem, that he had to be accompanied by hard work on his part.

“He worked his butt off,” she said. “He has always been very determined. He worked very hard at rehab and he got bigger and stronger.”

Bruihl missed his entire junior year and almost two thirds of his senior season as Gaucho varsity coach Paul Maytorena used caution with his left hander. When Bruihl did pitch, he showed the talent that would later take him to the Major Leagues.

Maytorena remembers a game against Maria Carrillo.

“They had never seen him or even heard of him, and he just mowed them down. He always wanted to get better,” the coach said.

Maytorena said Bruihl was an inspiration to others.

“It’s not about getting knocked down, it is about how fast you get up,” he said.

Bruihl’s mother pointed out that more than rehabilitating his arm was involved in Bruihl’s recovery.

“It wasn’t just physical, but he had to come back mentally as well,” she said. “It was difficult.”

With Anthony Bender pitching for the Marlins, Bruihl for the Dodgers and Spencer Torkelson moving up the Tiger chain, two Maytorena-coached players are now in the Major League and one appears to be on the way.

“It shows it is not coaching that makes success, but having good players,” he said.

Bruihl got into seven games and pitched 17.1 innings in his senior Gaucho season, striking out 27 and walking 10 and not allowing an earned run.

Despite his limited high school experience, the pitcher began to attract attention, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo offered him a baseball scholarship.

In one season at Cal Poly, Bruihl led the team with 25 appearances, compiled a 1-3 record with a 4.88 earned run average, and struck out 27 in 31 innings.

Things just weren’t the right fit at Cal Poly, and Bruihl returned to play for Santa Rosa Junior College. Things were definitely a right fit in Bear Cub country, where he was 7-0 with a 2.12 earned run average with 59 strikeouts in 51 innings.

After his big season, Cal Berkeley offered him a scholarship, but he opted to sign with the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent in June 2017.

Then came the travels through the Minor Leagues, starting with the Ogden Raptors. In three minor league seasons he had a combined 14-2 record with a 3.73 earned run average and 145 strikeouts in 72 games.

This season he had a 4-0 record with a 2.63 earned run average in 26 games split between Triple A Oklahoma City and Double A Tulsa.

Kelly Bruihl said her son’s Major League debut was more than a dream come true – it was a fulfillment of a prophecy.

“When he was at Sonoma Mountain Elementary School he was asked to write where he would be in 20 years. He wrote, ‘I see myself as a Major League baseball player playing for the New York Yankees,’” she said.

Los Angeles is a long way from New York, but it is the Major Leagues.

Bruihl’s parents, Kelly and Gene, are more than excited. The day they received the news their son was headed for the Dodgers, they were on the road to Los Angeles at 4 in the morning and were on hand to see their son in a Major League uniform.

“This is surreal. It is over the moon,” Kelly Bruihl said.