Logan Henderson has made a habit of turning in quality starts for the Milwaukee Brewers, something he did for the fourth straight outing Aug. 22 in a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves.
That’s not the only thing that’s become routine for him on the mound, though.
Roughly three hours before he delivered six more innings of one-run ball, Henderson was out doing his pregame ritual. Barefoot, he walked through the outfield grass along right field for a few minutes, then made his way to the American Family Field mound, climbed to the rubber, familiarized himself with the surroundings and feigned a pitch.
Henderson’s career is off to a roaring start that, in some ways, has been as consistently strong as any pitcher in baseball history. In 18 career starts now, he has yet to allow more than three runs – the second-longest streak by a true starter to begin a career in MLB history – and has a 2.38 earned run average with 112 strikeouts to 22 walks.
And his pregame ritual deserves some credit.
“It grounds me,” Henderson said. “There’s a lot of emotions you feel before a game. Going out and touching the mound, I’m like, ‘OK, this is where I’m going to be in a little bit.’ It’s kind of comforting. It’s freeing.”
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It’s not the same as Jacob Misiorowski’s joyful exuberance or Kyle Harrison’s sweaty-forearmed feistyness, but the third piece of the Brewers’ young ace triumvirate has his own demeanor on the mound that sets him up.
Henderson operates on the mound with a quiet confidence, one that Jake Bauers says you can “feel” from afar when he’s on the mound, but, like many big-leaguers, he’s also battling an inner anxiety every time his name is called upon.
“[It’s] because I want it bad, man,” Henderson said. “I want to try and win for the boys. If I thought that the outings dictate how the next one would go, maybe I wouldn’t feel the way I would going into an outing.
“I certainly feel confident, but there’s a certain anxiety that comes with it, or nerves. I’m sure most guys feel that. It’s a feeling I love and hate at the same time.”
Henderson has clearly found a way to channel that nervousness into something positive, and his pregame mound visits have become part of the process to help calm those fears before every start.
“It gets me in the moment before the moment,” he said.
Henderson does it in each new road stadium he visits, as well as before some home starts, such as the most recent one. It’s something he began doing in his first full season in the minor leagues.
“The more I started pitching in a new stadium, I realized I liked getting familiar with the backdrop, the mound,” he said. “I’ll even do it at home.”
During his most recent outing before facing the Braves, in Los Angeles on Aug. 16, Henderson admits he even stepped off the back of the mound at one point and stared up into the vast expanse that is Dodger Stadium, where the blue seats in the reserve sections seem to ascend into the heavens. He also says he’s been taking time between outings to appreciate where his feet are – in his case, both metaphorically and literally.
“I try to remind myself between starts and I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently,” Henderson said. “I’m in the big leagues. It’s kind of a ‘pinch me’ moment.”
As for a favorite mound, the answer is easy for Henderson: American Family Field. He repeats a common refrain from pitchers who often feel that pitching in Milwaukee they feel like they’re right on top of the hitter.
“I love the backdrop here,” he said. “I’ve thrown there the most out of any stadium. I just love the visual. Here, the plate feels really close. It’s a really good feeling.”
Henderson also loves the dirt in Milwaukee.
“What stands out about this one specifically is your cleats just stick in it,” he said. “I don’t really know how to describe it other than that. It feels like my feet are rooted on the mound, especially whenI’m engaged with the rubber because I’ve had issues keeping my right foot grounded on the rubber.”
The numbers back up that sentiment; in eight career starts at American Family Field, Henderson is now 6-0 with a 1.88 ERA. And yet, with each and every time he takes the ball, that feeling of unease that reminds him of his major-league debut last April pops up.
And that, his manager says, is what he loves about Henderson.
“The impression I get being with the kid last year and this year is he’s such a wonderful person and he cares so much about the team that he feels so responsible to his teammates that he competes that way,” Pat Murphy said. “And it’s so evident. Guys want to play behind him. It’s so evident. He never makes an excuse. He never blames anyone else.
“That’s why I love this kid.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why Logan Henderson goes barefoot in the park before every start
Reporting by Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
