MWL notes: Bedrosian sees big picture

Cam Bedrosian grew up with baseball in his blood, which is why the son of 1987 Cy Young winner Steve Bedrosian is a big-picture guy when it comes to his baseball career, and more specifically, his comeback from Tommy John surgery.

Bedrosian lit up the radar gun at 96 mph at East Coweta High School in Georgia and attracted crowds of scouts. He was a first-round pick by the Angels in 2010 (29th overall) and went 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA with the Arizona Angels that year before he was shelved with elbow soreness. It turned out to be a year-and-a-half ordeal.

"I talked to some guys who had Tommy John surgery," said Bedrosian, a six-foot, 205-pound right-hander. "The thing is, even after you come back, your body is still healing. I know I have a long way to go to get back to where I was. Sometimes, there can be pressure to make up lost time, but I'm trying to chug along and develop the best that I can. When I get back to 100 percent, I'll be ready to go."

So when Bedrosian pitched 4 1/3 innings of no-hit ball in his first game back May 1, he knew not to get too high.

Since Bedrosian's 2012 debut with Cedar Rapids, he has been working to regain his magic on the mound. In the three games since his dominant full-season debut, he is 0-3. He has allowed eight runs in 12 innings, striking out four and walking seven.

"It's been such a long year, year and a half, since I first hurt my elbow, going through Tommy John surgery and rehabbing," Bedrosian said.

Chris Gissell said Bedrosian is handling the comeback in stride.

"It's only human nature to be overly anxious," Gissell said. "Cam is a priority in the organization. We're going to do what's right to help him develop."

Bedrosian said he still tried to develop even though he was out of action.

"When [the injury] happened, I had a lot of downtime to think about what was going on, to evolve as a pitcher mentally," Bedrosian said. "I wanted to learn more about the game from the mental aspect. Going through that year ... that whole time, I was thinking about pitch counts, what batters to throw what pitches, things like that. I think I've really evolved into a kid who knows a lot more about the mental part of the game.

"I think I've always been a student of the game. My dad taught me so much about the game and about pitching. The thing is, when you go through an injury, you can't get stagnant. You have to keep moving and keep getting better. You can't wait to get better until you start throwing again. If you can't throw, you have to work on something. That's why I decided to start working on the mental part of the game."

Bedrosian said he embraces the challenges of high expectations.

"When you're a prospect, they expect a lot out of you," Bedrosian said. "I like that. I like to thrive in the pressure. People expect certain things of you. There's a certain pressure added when you're a prospect. I always enjoy that."

One for the books: Great Lakes gutted out a 6-5 victory in 16 innings against West Michigan that was one for the record books. It was the longest game in Loons history, topping the previous record of 14. The marathon contest took a franchise-record five hours and 22 minutes to complete, and the Loons struck out a record 21 times. Other interesting notes from the contest -- West Michigan stranded 21 runners, and the top two batters in the West Michigan line-up, Chad Wright and Jason King, were a combined 0-for-16. James Baldwin snapped a 0-for-23 streak with his game-winning hit.

Streak ends: Fort Wayne's Adys Portillo had his streak of 21 consecutive scoreless innings come to an end against Bowling Green on Saturday thanks to a two-out RBI double in the first. Portillo, who had a 1.22 ERA that led the Midwest League and hadn't given up a run since April 27, ended up allowing three runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings against the Hot Rods.

Wrong time: Peoria pitchers had not allowed a home run in 332 at-bats, but when the streak ended May 21, it turned out to be costly. Gary Mitchell of Cedar Rapids blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally the Kernels to a 5-4 victory.