Butler's Breakthrough Year Ends With Call-Up
Date Posted: 10/16/2009

by Tom Haudricourt, Baseball America

MILWAUKEE—His season was done at Double-A Huntsville, so righthander Josh Butler packed his car and prepared for the cross-country drive to his home in San Diego.

He quickly abandoned that plan.

The Brewers unexpectedly summoned Butler to Milwaukee on Sept. 15. They decided that with a rash of late-season injuries, it was a good time to take a look at the 24-year-old Butler, who enjoyed a breakthrough year.

"I don't think it'll hit me until after the season," Butler said. "It definitely has been surreal. You're not expecting anything like this."

The promotion continued a nomadic season for Butler, who began the year with high Class A Brevard County. He then served as an injury fill-in for Triple-A Nashville for three starts in late May and early June, after which he settled in with Huntsville for the balance of the season. An oblique injury briefly interrupted his time with the Stars.

Despite all the bouncing around, Butler kept his focus, finishing 9-3, 2.97 with 96 strikeouts and 43 walks in 118 innings. It was a heady experience for Butler, who pitched poorly for the Manatees, going 2-8, 5.36 in 2008 after coming from the Rays in a trade for outfielder Gabe Gross.

"After last year, this has been great," Butler said. "It just seemed like when one thing went wrong (last year), everything went wrong.

"It was a snowball effect. I don't think I was as mentally strong as I needed to be. I let things get to me."

Butler did not get a starting assignment with Milwaukee, settling for three rather shaky relief outings—seven hits, six walks, four runs in four innings.

"I was hoping to get on the 40-man this winter," he said. "Now, that's happened. That's a pretty big deal."

His whirlwind season wasn't done, however. The Brewers already had assigned Butler to the Arizona Fall League before calling him up.

Thus, with a week left in the season, Butler returned to Huntsville to retrieve his car and finally make that long drive home.

Related Links:
 • Josh Butler Statistics