denver broncosIt’s up to Hawkins, at the age of 41, to draw on the experience of a big league career that is in its 20th season and reach out to help Brothers deal with moments like his struggles in back-to-back games starting last Sunday.

In the first of those back-to-back outings, Brothers came on in the bottom of the 10th at San Francisco, and Brandon Crawford greeted him with a walk-off home run.

The next night, in San Diego, Brothers came on in the eighth inning with a 4-3 lead. After walking the first two batters he faced, the lefty issued a two-out walk to load the bases, then saw the Padres score the tying run on a wild pitch and what would be the winning run on an ensuing errant throw back to the plate by catcher Wilin Rosario.

And that, as much as anything, is what Hawkins is trying to help Brothers understand.

“There are things other than what is on the field,” Hawkins said.

It’s about the mental challenges, more than the physical. It’s about helping Brothers learn to forget yesterday and focus on today.

It’s about watching Brothers respond to those back-to-back disappointments by working a 1-2-3 seventh inning — in which he struck out two Padres batters — in last Thursday’s 3-1 win, which closed a road trip.

And it’s about Brothers responding to the challenge by setting up for Hawkins on Tuesday.

 

Source: MLB