O'Grady making the most of chance to start

Thanks to a relationship with a former coach, Chris O'Grady has gone from being without a job at the end of spring training, to perhaps the most reliable pitcher in the New Orleans Baby Cakes' starting rotation.
O'Grady opened the 2017 season with the Los Angeles Angels, firing 5 1/3 scoreless innings and securing a save in seven spring appearances, as opponents batted .167. He was assigned to Double-A Mobile, but never reached the Bay Bears as he was released on Opening Day.
In search of a job, O'Grady made a call to his old pitching coach Scott Budner, now on the staff in New Orleans. The two had worked together the previous season when he spent 15 games with Double-A Arkansas in the Angels organization. Within 48 hours, O'Grady had a new contract and a new team.
"Every team we called looking for a contract said that they were full because it was Opening Day and everyone had just set their roster, so it was kind of hard to find a job," O'Grady said. "I owe him a lot and he has been very helpful. He was able to fill (manager) Arnie Beyeler and the Marlins in on what kind of pitcher I am and he is huge reason for my success right now."
He made his Marlins organizational debut on May 6 and spun three scoreless innings of one-hit ball to earn the win at Tacoma.
Upon moving into the Baby Cakes' starting rotation on May 17, O'Grady did not register a victory through his first four outings. Facing his former club, Salt Lake forced O'Grady to make 65 pitches in only two innings, nicking him for two runs. He allowed a season-high five runs and two homers in a June 2 defeat at Round Rock.
But the southpaw turned things around on June 7 against Memphis, allowing just two unearned runs and striking out seven. He then limited Round Rock to two hits in six innings in his next start to pick up the victory.
"I've transitioned into the rotation pretty easily," O'Grady said. "I was actually expecting to be a starter coming into the season, which didn't happen, but quickly turned into the starting role so that was nice."
Despite suffering a hard-luck loss to the Iowa Cubs on Monday, when he struck out a season-high nine batters, O'Grady registered his fourth consecutive quality start. He has surrendered two earned runs in 24 innings for a 0.75 ERA and opponents are hitting .179 during that stretch.
"I'm feeling good right now throwing the ball well. I definitely want to keep this going and see what happens," O'Grady said. "There is a lot of opportunity within the organization right now so if I can keep stringing together some good starts, you never know."