Brayden Randle is on a four-game streak in the playoffs with a hit and run batted in. His timely hitting in the past week prompted head coach Mike Bianco to put him in the outfield to keep his bat in the lineup.
Randle was the starting shortstop to begin the season, but after batting .200, Owen Paino took the everyday job in late April. Since then, Randle has been a designated hitter. Now, he is back in the everyday lineup as an outfielder, where he had not played since he was 14.
“I just wanted to stay ready when my name was going to be called again,” Randle said in the postgame press conference on Friday, June 5. “I wanted to be ready so I could get in there and do the best for the team and keep winning. It was hard for sure. Playing everyday and then having to sit, but I just kept the mindset that when I get in there again, I’m gonna show them how it’s done.”
He drove in two runs with two singles in the Rebels’ 6-4 win over Auburn Friday night. He also drew an important two-out walk, leading to the game-winning run on a Collin Reuter home run.
“I just go up there with the approach do it for the team. No moments too big and just try to think like there’s no outs in the game,” Randle said. “I think tonight there were two outs on both my hits. (I) went up there like there were no outs and just put the ball in play and let good things happen.”
Randle has been clutch this month in big situations, but his mindset has stayed simple throughout the postseason.
“It’s just another game. You win, you play tomorrow. That’s the mindset that I go into. I’m just proud of the guys around me that have kept that same mindset,” Randle said.
Bianco spoke in the postgame press conference about Randle’s selflessness and ability to not let the moment get too big.
“It’s tough on anybody — that you’re a starter and then all of a sudden you’re not,” Bianco said. “We ask that of everyone — to be selfless, to put the team first, to accept the role … He’s done it in a lot of different ways. Either as a back up, then when (Hayden Federico) got hurt we moved Paino to third and moved (Randle) to short. He’s done that a lot, but I’m proud of him because in the biggest moments, I don’t know if he sees it but we see it, the pulse is slow.”
Randle certainly has a flair for dramatic moments. He walked Arizona State off last weekend in the Lincoln Regional and has five RBIs in the postseason. He has a .538 batting average in the playoffs so far.
Left field has been a revolving door all season, with several players not being able to secure meaningful time in the lineup. Moving Randle to the outfield solved that issue.
“I really don’t know how they thought about it, but for some reason all the infielders in our last round of (batting practice) would go out and take fly balls in the outfield,” Randle said. “I just caught the balls. I guess they noticed that and put me out there one day for practice. (I) kept doing, kept doing, kept doing, and I started to feel comfortable out there.”
The lefty started game one of the super regional against Auburn in right field before moving to left. Bianco explained he did not want the sun to be in Randle’s face the first time he played in the outfield.
Everyday right fielder Tristan Bissetta, who is used to playing with the sun in his face, started in left, where the sun is more of a factor late in the day at Plainsmark Park.
“I think tomorrow it’ll (the sun) be a bigger factor. We weren’t sure at 7 o’clock at the stadium how much that would be a factor,” Bianco said. “I really don’t think it was a factor at the beginning, but that was the plan all along. Maybe an inning, two, three. Once Bissetta said the sun’s fine (he and Randle would swap).”
While Randle had not played in the outfield in college, he remarked about his last time playing the position.
“You know, I did hose somebody in my last game,” Randle said.
