Braden Shipley competing for D-backs fifth rotation spot

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — While playing for the Mobile BayBears in Double-A last year, Diamondbacks pitcher Braden Shipley faced some of the game’s best prospects.

Preparing to face elite hitting requires time watching film and analyzing their tendencies.

To Shipley, that preparation was a lot easier than what he had to prepare for during the offseason: His wedding.

“We had been engaged for two years and it’s just funny how two years can go by so fast,” he said. “You are doing little things here and there for the wedding and before you know it, it’s right on you and you still need to do a bunch of different stuff. It was a little stressful and we just had fun with it, my wife (Dana) and I.”

The wedding was a success, according to Shipley — much like his baseball career so far.

Shipley is one of the pitchers battling for the fifth starting spot in the rotation. He knows he needs to bring his A game every day.

“I think the Diamondbacks as an organization do a great job of bringing in talent so you always have to bring your best, that’s what is fun about it. We come in every day and we know we have to show what you have. It’s been a tough competition.”

In his second major league spring training camp with the team, Shipley has focused on learning from two of the star pitchers on the D-backs.

“I have talked to (Zack) Greinke and Shelby (Miller). Those are two good guys to really watch and learn from so I have done a good job at getting to know those guys and learning a little bit from them each day and I am going to continue to do that.”

From an early age, Shipley knew he was more advanced than other players.

“When I was five years old, I started playing tee ball and at that time you are kind of just running around but I was a little bit different than the rest of the kids. I was throwing the ball and catching the ball and showed a good skill set from an early age.”

Growing up in Medford, Oregon, Shipley consistently had the same coach: his father. Michael Shipley coached his son from tee ball all the way through high school, creating a different relationship from most fathers and sons, which, Shipley said, is the big reason why he is the player he is today.

“Our relationship was more coach and player as opposed to father and son, which is a hard thing to balance and I commended him for the job that he did. He was really hard on me and he knew the type of player that I could be and he really pushed me.”

After a successful career at North Medford High School, Shipley had multiple offers to play baseball in college, in particular two in-state schools: Oregon and Oregon State.

But Shipley wanted to play shortstop as well as pitch in college and both Oregon and Oregon State wanted him to pitch only so he attended the University of Nevada.

“I chose to pass on those schools because I wanted to play both positions and ended up going to Nevada and it was the best choice I ever made.”

The choice paid off: Shipley hit .287 his freshman year with a home run and 19 RBI before becoming more of a pitcher during his sophomore year. In his second year with the Wolf Pack, he went 9-4 with a 2.20 earned run average and was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Shipley had another fantastic junior year before entering the 2013 MLB Draft.

Since being taken by the D-backs with the 13^th pick in the 2013 draft, Shipley has improved each year and is coming off his best season statistically as a pro even though the 2015 season didn’t start off the way he wanted.

“It started off a little rough. I had a one-month stretch where I kind of struggled a little bit. But it was an easy fix. It was nothing that was like crazy and I didn’t know what was going on, it was just a little mechanical issue and I got it fixed up right before All-Star break. When I came back from All-Star break, I was just feeling more like myself and just really attacked hitters and the numbers showed.”

So far, so good this spring. He’s pitched one scoreless inning for the D-backs.

Related

Arizona’s secondary looks to continue elite status despite lots of NFL departureWin a Kenny Dillingham signed footballDiamondbacks’ slump is hurting their postseason chancesDiamondbacks prospect goes on award-winning home run spreeDiamondbacks release spring training schedule ahead of potential MLB lockout3 newcomers to ASU’s defense you should know entering the season