Muenster’s Logan Hofmann said his first professional baseball league season has been a lot of fun so far.
The son of Tara and Chad Hofmann is a rookie right-handed pitcher with the Bradenton Marauders. The Florida-based squad is a Low A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the club that nabbed Hofmann in the fifth round of the 2020 Major League Baseball Draft.
“I have enjoyed just showing up to the field six days a week knowing that I either get to pitch or watch a good baseball game that day,” Hofmann said. “The atmosphere of playing in actual games again has been great as well.”
In the first couple months of his pro career, Hofmann has impressed. As of June 25, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound hurler has made 10 appearances with two starts. In 29 innings, he has stuck out 41. Hofmann had a 3-1 record with a 1.86 earned run average.
“Being able to throw four pitches for strikes has helped me a lot so far,” he said. “I am still working on some things out there because I feel like there are still some things that I can get better at which will improve my game. One of the biggest things for me so far is being confident in my pitches and throwing them in any count, not just certain pitches when I am ahead or behind in the count.”
Hofmann’s arsenal includes a fastball, changeup, slider and curveball. In his debut, Hofmann came on in relief to throw three scoreless innings and strike out seven. He continued to be used in relief early on. Another highlight for Hofmann was a June 3 outing when he did not allow a hit in four innings of scoreless relief to earn his second win of the season. In his first start, on June 18, the righty allowed one run and struck out three in 4 2/3 innings of work.
At Colby (Kansas) Community College and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, Hofmann starred as a starting pitcher. However, he said during summer ball he was used out of the bullpen, which allowed him to adapt to a reliever role early this season.
“Same as being a starter, you need to attack hitters with all pitches, throw strikes, and trust what has got you to this point,” Hofmann said. “If you have a good mindset out there no matter the situation, good things can happen.”
A big difference in moving from the college and university ranks to the minor leagues has been the number of games the teams play.
“Obviously, it is a lot more than any college team plays and since we are playing six games a week, there is very little time for practice compared to a college season where there are half as many games each week,” Hofmann said. “So, during the season we have been having some very light practices in the afternoons just to stay on top of defence and other things that may happen outside of actually pitching in the game.”
The 21-year-old said he has had incredible support from his family and everyone back home.
“The constant texts and support mean more than they know and I can't thank them enough,” Hofmanan said. “My family has done a lot to help me get to this point so I definitely would not be here if it wasn't for them.”
