Durbin handles nerves, batters

BATAVIA, N.Y. -- Seconds after Chad Durbin unleashed his first pitch since coming back from elbow surgery, he was turning around and looking up.
And frowning.
This wasn't the start he envisioned when the Cleveland Indians assigned him to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers and selected him to pitch the New York-Penn League season opener Tuesday.
The ball, which Batavia's Marc Tugwell rocketed off Durbin's right arm, seemed destined to sail out of Dwyer Stadium. But it rocked hard off the Subway sign at the wall's peak and stayed in the park.
Double. You could almost hear Durbin breath a sigh of relief.
Promoted quickly
The 25-year-old pitcher reached the big leagues as a young sensation with the Kansas City Royals in 1996.
But he endured arm trouble that required surgery, which he underwent last September. He endured rejection as he ran out of options in Kansas City and became a free agent.
Enter the Cleveland Indians, who wanted to give Durbin, who hadn't felt strong as a pitcher since 2001, another chance.
That's what brought him to Batavia, N.Y., where he punctuated the Scrappers' season opener by tossing seven shutout innings, in which he allowed just one hit, in a 5-1 victory.
Remember the double Durbin surrendered on his first pitch of the game? He tried to forget.
"There's nothing you can do about that. That's over with, so you go get the next guy and the next guy," said Durbin, standing in the visitors' clubhouse with an ice pack wrapped around his entire right arm.
Emotional night
Durbin admitted to being nervous. He wanted to corral his emotions while walking out to the mound and find a rhythm in the Class A short-season game.
"It was exciting, but there was nervousness about the unknown," said Durbin, of Baton Rouge, La. "I hadn't done this in so long, it was unfamiliar to me.
"I tried to go out there and be as low key as I could the first couple of innings."
That wasn't the case early. After allowing the double on his first pitch, Durbin hit Omar Bramasco with the third pitch of Batavia's next at-bat.
A fielder's choice had Muckdogs on second and third with one out. That's when the Scrappers' Kevin Kouzmanoff, a first-year player from the University of Nevada, made the first of his numerous key plays at third base.
Kouzmanoff scooped up a hard grounder, tagged the Batavia baserunner heading to third and threw to first for a double play, ending the inning.
"I started to actually pitch," said Durbin, appreciating the defense behind him. "I got out of that funk and got going."
Baseball tools
Throughout his seven innings, Durbin showed signs of his leadership skills, which he developed in 58 career starts with the Royals.
In the fourth inning, Durbin called Scrappers catcher Javier Herrera to the mound for a brief meeting.
After one of Durbin's pitches near the strike zone, Herrera began to run toward the Scrappers' dugout, assuming the umpire would call a third strike and end the inning.
The pitch was ruled a ball, upon which Durbin motioned for Herrera and began shaking his head, telling the young catcher not to predict an umpire's call.
Helping the Scrappers' first-year players is only part of his duty as he works his way back up baseball's ladder.
"Every pitch is like a bonus," Durbin said. "It's just very enjoyable to go out there. I couldn't stop smiling."
XBrian Richesson is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write to him at richesson@vindy.com.