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FL New Jersey Jackals

Dylan Brammer Returns

April 14, 2021 - Frontier League (FL)
New Jersey Jackals News Release


No matter what league and no matter what era in baseball history, you would think that a pitcher with an ERA of 1.29 would be content. Extremely content. Totally content.

Nope. Not true.

First of all, Jackals closer Dylan Brammer believes that his incredible number from the 2019 championship season could have been even better.

"Just a few batters here and there, just a handful of pitches, a handful of mistakes, and I remember every one of them" he said.

He remembers each batter, each at-bat, each count and each pitch.

"I remember the expression on a guy's face, how he looked at me," he said.

And, he certainly remembers one odd moment from that year:

"I went my first 21 innings without a run and I had my ERA under 1.0," he said. "I'll never forget it, an ump called a balk on me with a man on third to let a run in and I was yelling at him 'do you know what that does to my ERA?'"

Does that sound like a content pitcher?

"I'll never be content," Brammer said by phone from Boynton Beach, FL, where he's working out daily with other minor leaguers and big-league prospects, preparing to come north for the Jackals road opener on May 27.

"I want to get every guy out," he said. "Even then, I'd probably say I should have gotten him out quicker."

A native of Mishawaka, IN, five miles from South Bend and Notre Dame, Brammer's path to Yogi Berra Stadium - and to the role of closer - has not been a straight line at all.

He grew up as a shortstop who only dabbled in occasional pitching in high school, then in college, then as a 22-year old with his first pro team, the Frontier League's Rockford RiverHawks, in 2012.

His first full-time pitching gig came in 2014 with the Pittsburgh (CA) Mettle in the Pacific Association, where he started 10 games and relieved in 12 more, playing that dual role again in 2015.

He was giving up too many hits and too many walks back then, but he was also striking out a ton of batters. In 2014, he had 89 strikeouts in 81 innings; in 2015, it was 53 whiffs in 56 innings.

"I still thought of myself as a position player," he said. "I was a thrower, not a pitcher. I was just letting it fly."

His potential - and all those Ks - landed him back in the Frontier League with the River City Rascals in 2016, followed by an adventure down under to play for Adelaide in the Australian Baseball League, before Brammer landed in Little Falls for the 2018 season.

He started 19 games that year, going 9-8 with a 4.99 ERA in his first season playing for Jackals manager Brooks Carey. Again, the numbers weren't great, but he was near the top of the league with 93 strikeouts.

Things were about to change.

"With his personality, a fired-up personality, I felt he should be in the bullpen," said Carey, a pitcher, himself, in his playing days. "He had too much emotion to be a starter. He came at you full speed, with everything he's got. That's a reliever in my book."

And, it was a great move.

"I loved it," Brammer said. "It freed me up to know I wouldn't be starting any more."

When he got the chance to become the team's closer, that was even better.

"I wouldn't have wanted it as a rookie, but now it feels right," he said. "I enjoy coming in with a do-or-die battle, just me against you. I feel more pure competitiveness as a closer than I ever felt before."

He stepped into 31 games in 2019, delivering that glowing 1.29 ERA before coming up big in the league playoffs, as well.

Brammer's proud of that 1.29, but, like all pitchers, he's proud of another number, too - his .278 batting average.

Even there, he's not content.

"I had it up over .300," he said. "This year, I want to be more of a hitter when I get the opportunities."

He's looking forward to returning north. For starters, he's discovered two foods more associated with New Jersey than Indiana - pizza and bagels.

He also loves the Little Falls and Montclair area.

"It's great," he said. "You've got your own identity, your own neighborhoods, but you're so close to New York."

The 31-year old has enjoyed regular trips to Manhattan the past two seasons, sometimes going in on days off with other pitchers, since, he said, the position players are usually too tired.

What's he do in New York?

"Just walking around is a lot of fun," he said. "There's all the food, all the restaurants, all the girls. There are some very cool girls in New York."

And, they probably don't even care about his ERA.

By Carl Barbati, former sports editor of the New Jersey Herald, Daily Record and The Trentonian.

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