GARY | It was 5 a.m. when P.J. Bevis pitched his first inning in a RailCats uniform.
Well, his body thought it was 5 a.m. It was closer to 1 p.m. Region time, as the Australia native is in a week of jet lag recovery necessary to return to his usual self.
Thanks to work visa issues and a canceled flight, Bevis didn't arrive in Chicago until late last Saturday. The RailCats open their season at 7 tonight against Joliet, and Bevis is on the list as one of the team's relief pitchers.
Manager Greg Tagert relied on Bevis' pedigree as a pitcher and his potential when adding Bevis to the 22-man opening day roster.
After a rainout on Sunday and a day of catch to erase the body fatigue on Monday, Bevis didn't pitch until Tuesday's final preseason game, when he allowed two runs, gave up hits to the first three batters he faced and committed an error before completing the inning.
"They asked me if I thought I was ready to pitch and I told them I would rather get out there now," said Bevis, who added that he's still waking up at 5 a.m. in the United States, which is afternoon in Australia. "I gave up two runs. I'd rather do that now when the game doesn't count than when the season starts."
"If anything, although his control was off, he threw the ball as advertised," Tagert said. "That's the one thing you look for in some players: Is this the guy that was advertised and is this who we expect him to be? At least as far as 'stuff' goes, he certainly was the guy we expected."
Bevis is part of a nearly new RailCats pitching staff. The team lost starters Willie Glen, Josh Habel, Travis Kerber and Jason Shelley to upward baseball movement and retirement. Relievers left as well, leaving former closer Tony Cogan, who will start on the mound today, and Matt Brinkmann.
As the RailCats departed last Saturday for a road trip to the St. Louis area, their newest pitcher was stuck in Los Angeles waiting for a plane that was delayed. The 6-foot-3 right-hander's flight was eventually canceled. When he arrived in Chicago, front office personnel met him there and took him to the team hotel in Missouri early Sunday morning.
His luggage, though, was still in Los Angeles.
"It was a lot of standing in line," Bevis said. "When they canceled the flight, the entire airplane had to stand in line to find another flight. Then, they left our baggage and I stood in that line. Probably about five hours of just standing in line."
A reliever, Bevis is coming off of an Australian short season in a league filled mostly with professional players preparing for the seasons in the United States. He pitched last Wednesday before preparing for his trip west.
"You have to sometimes trust track record," Tagert said. "It's up to P.J. to at least in the next week (to show us) that we made the right decision. ... If he hadn't had the track record he had, that's the biggest difference and that's the reason we signed him."
Last year was Bevis' first in independent baseball, finishing with a 4.62 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 39 innings in Worcester of the Can-Am League. He has a career 4.16 ERA with 519 strikeouts. He went to Worcester after three seasons of Triple-A ball.
