Frank Cairone’s first professional outing ended with a run on the board, but the bigger story was simply getting him there.
The Brewers’ 18-year-old left-hander, a second-round pick in last year’s Draft and Milwaukee’s No. 26 prospect on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 list, made his pro debut Thursday morning in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League after a frightening car crash in early January near his New Jersey home left him hospitalized with a serious head injury.
Milwaukee never revealed the exact nature of those injuries, pointing to privacy concerns, but the concern around Cairone went far beyond baseball. Club officials were worried about his life away from the field as much as his future on it.
His return to the mound came after a gradual buildup. Brewers players had already shown support in the opening days of Spring Training by wearing “FC United” T-shirts, and Cairone was eventually cleared to report to camp and start working his way back. Last week, he received full clearance to begin appearing in games.
“I’m just so thankful that he’s OK,” said Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold after Cairone had his pro debut in the books. “It’s been such a scary journey that he’s been on, so for him to come back and do just what he did today, I’m incredibly thankful that he’s on the mound and back after it.”
On Thursday in Phoenix, Cairone started a Brewers-Giants ACL game and allowed a run in his first professional inning. The sequence included a single, a stolen base, a wild pitch and a run-scoring groundout.
The Brewers will handle his workload carefully, as they do with pitchers just getting started in pro ball.
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