‘Never had a Plan B’: Sears signing with Atlanta Braves
LINCOLN, Neb. (KSNB) – Brett Sears had his mind set on becoming a professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher admits he didn’t have a back-up career option.
“I guess I never had a Plan B,” Sears said. “I said ‘I’m just going to do that.”
Sears’ single-track focus has resulted in a major payoff. The Big Ten Pitcher of the Year signed with the Atlanta Braves this week after being drafted by the club in the 7th Round. Sears said he didn’t watch the MLB Draft and expected to be a Day 2 or 3 selection. He, in fact, was swimming with friends near his hometown when the 221st pick was made by the Braves.
“Its really a dream come true,” Sears said. “(Its) a goal of mine that I can check off.”
Sears plans to travel to Florida this weekend to begin training with the Braves. He joins three other Nebraska starting pitchers in the Braves organization (Spencer Schwellenbach, Aaron Bummer, and Shay Schanaman). During the 2024 season, Sears recorded more than 100 strikeouts while helping the Huskers reach the NCAA Tournament. His 2.16 ERA ranked fifth nationally.
Braves Minor League Recap: Jose Perdomo makes second appearance
Perdomo went 0-2, while the rookie levels were the only two in action
It’s the final day of the minor league all star break, and starting tomorrow we are going to get a great look at a ton of Atlanta Braves prospects that are being promoted out of the FCL. For now though, the rookie leagues are the only levels in action, and all of those promotions have left the FCL team a bit short on intrigue with even the top prospects on the roster struggling to find footing.
The FCL season is just a week away from closing, and with the top prospects from this team already on a trip up to Augusta it is probably going to be a rough week for the team. Mario Baez is the best of the remaining prospects in the FCL, but it has been a major struggle for him down there as he hasn’t quite adjusted to the pitching stateside. Of course, Baez is still 17 and won’t turn 18 until late in August, so there is time for him plenty, but after an incredibly promising season in the DSL he has failed to live up to that performance. Angel Nieblas had the best game in both halves of the double header, reaching base three times in game one and being the only Brave with a hit in the second. The 18 year old Nieblas was terrible through the first two months of the season and has struggled for playing time, but has made the most of limited opportunities in July with seven hits including three doubles. Douglas Glod had his first hit in nearly two weeks, and really the only
thing buoying his numbers at this point are his walk rates. Glod’s power production, strikeout rate, and overall numbers have regressed significantly this season and at this point I don’t consider him among the tier of prospects I would even consider in my personal top 40. Glod is still 19 and we’ve seen guys made pretty dramatic turnarounds, but a 37% strikeout rate in complex ball is not encouraging and neither are the reports I’ve seen on his form in Florida.
