Triumphant return

Despite tough outing, Miracle's Rainville glad to be back on mound

By David Dorsey
Fort Myers News Press

The pitching line and performance Monday night did not reveal the depth of the story — how hard Jay Rainville had worked, how far he had come since missing all of last season with a rare injury.

Monday night, in front of an announced crowd of 1,527 fans at Hammond Stadium, Rainville finally made his first start since the end of the 2005 season as the Miracle lost to the Sarasota Reds 4-3 in a Florida State League game.

Mike Griffin and Jay Bruce each went 2-for-5, with an RBI, in leading the Reds as the Miracle fell to 0-4.

"It wasn't what I was looking for," said Rainville, 21, who is scheduled to start again at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Hammond against the Dunedin Blue Jays. "I have to let it go and look for the next one."

Rainville, a first-round draft pick by the Minnesota Twins in the 2004 draft, lost all of last season because of a pinched nerve in his upper right back. The ailment began slowly, robbing him of several miles per hour on his deadly fastball, one that ranged between 94 and 96 miles an hour during his senior year at Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick, R.I.

Monday, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound Rainville did not display the form that convinced the Twins to take him with the 39th overall pick of that 2004 draft.

To Miracle manager Kevin Boles, that didn't matter. Having Rainville healthy did.

"It was good to see him out there," Boles said. "He's a little disappointed, but he shouldn't be. His velocity will come back.

"He's a fierce competitor. When he's out on the mound, he's all business-like. It's fun to see, because he has a major-league approach that way."

As a senior at Hendricken, Rainville compiled an 8-0 record and 0.00 ERA in 54 innings, striking out 88 and giving up five walks in 10 starts. He also tallied six shutouts and two no-hitters,

Some experts crowned Rainville as the best pitching prospect ever to come out of Rhode Island, although the right-hander said he took little notice of those accolades.

"I don't really pay much attention to that," Rainville said of media predictions.

Monday, Rainville did not strike anyone out, and his fastball flew between 87 and 91 mph. He gave up seven hits and four runs, two of them earned. He also surrendered two walks, picking up the loss.

The Miracle were down 3-0 but came back in the bottom of the ninth to pull to within one run at 4-3. Second baseman Juan Portes struck out with the bases loaded, ending the game.

"I just have to work on getting the ball down (in the strike zone), regardless of how hard I'm throwing," Rainville said of what he needs to work on next time.

After completing two stellar seasons in the minor leagues in 2004-05, the injury forced Rainville to watch and learn instead of pitch and learn last year.

"I had no control over it," Rainville said of the pinched nerve, which he pitched through for much of 2005 before undergoing surgery March 31 of last year. "It just progressively got worse. They took a ligament out that was pinned against the nerve."

Rainville clearly made the most out of not playing last season, Boles said.

"The guys, they gravitated to him," Boles said. "He's always upbeat. He always says something that picks the guys up. We just want him to stay healthy and see what he can do."

At the end of the 2005 season, Rainville went 4-3, with a 2.67 ERA, for the Miracle.

"He was throwing a little harder then, but he was getting into that problem then," said Miracle pitching coach Eric Rasmussen. "It was starting to affect him. I've never seen him when he's 100 percent right."

Rasmussen hopes to see Rainville that way sometime this season.

"The guy knows how to pitch," Rasmussen said. "He can spin that curveball. He knows how to change speeds. Jay's a command guy. Everybody's looking forward to seeing that velocity come back.

"If he can get that velocity back and keep his command, you're looking at a pretty good pitcher."

Rainville said that enduring the injury actually helped him in some ways.

"It was actually kind of a blessing in disguise," he said. "I learned how to pitch. When I went to Beloit (in 2005), I was throwing 85 to 87 (mph). I had to start learning to throw my curveball and change-up better.

"Right around the middle of this season, I'm hoping to get back up to where I was before."

A die-hard Boston Red Sox fan from birth, Rainville grew up trying to emulate power pitchers such as Roger Clemens. Rainville admitted to still rooting for the Red Sox, but said, "When the Twins play the Red Sox, I like to see the Twins win."

Perhaps one day Rainville will get to pitch against what has become his second-favorite major-league team.

Said Rainville: "My main goal is just to pitch in the big leagues."