Former Pitching Coach Thrives in Minors
May 29, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
NORMAL, Illinois - Former CornBelter pitching coach Brian Lawrence continues his success beyond Normal as he aids the South Bend Cubs, the single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, in his third season with the team. Lawrence was the pitching coach for the CornBelters in 2012.
Lawrence, who played professional baseball for 6 seasons with the San Diego Padres and New York Mets, brings his previous experience to South Bend. While in the majors, he started in 168 games and ended with a record of 50 wins and 63 losses.
During his professional career, Lawrence is one of the only pitchers in MLB history to complete the 'immaculate inning'- striking out three consecutive batters with only nine pitches. Lawrence accomplished this stellar performance in 2012 in which he struck out Brook Fordyce, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Melvin Mora. Such an achievement has only been completed 85 times in the history of major league baseball.
Lawrence travels across the border to South Bend, a former affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, now home to the Chicago Cubs. Currently, with Lawrence's coaching development, South Bend is a top-five pitching team in holds, WHIP, saves, shutouts, and overall ERA. Additionally, they are a top-five team in allowing the fewest home runs and walks in the entire league. Lawrence has coached two of the team's starting pitchers--Javier Assad and Cory Abbott--to stellar ERA's, reaching top-ten best in the Midwest League.
Lawrence took over as the pitching coach for the CornBelters after former pitching coach, Brooks Carey, became the team manager in 2012. As a pitching coach for the CornBelters, Lawrence coached long-time Belters such as Tyler Lavigne, Drew Provence, and Tyler Stovall.
His coaching career began with the CornBelters before moving on. Although he only coached for one season, Lawrence greatly improved the philosophy of pitching and structured the emphasis around the strike zone. He continues that mindset in South Bend:
"You know the Cubs philosophy, we believe in the strike zone. Strikes early, quality strikes, pitching down the zone changes thieves and ultimately going after the hitters from pitch one"
The South Bend Cubs are two months into their 2018 season. And with Lawrence at the realm of their pitching successes, CornBelter fans now have another team to cheer for.
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