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SUCCESS FOR BLAZEK

Michael Blazek made a substantial contribution to his trophy case earlier this week.

After recording his first major-league victory after pitching two scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park, he kept a couple of game balls, and teammate Francisco Rodriguez presented him with the ball he used to record his third save. He also was given the lineup card.

But Blazek hopes there will be a lot more mementos to come.

"Just keep trying to build up the cases," he said with a smile. "You get those out of the way and now you try and see what you can get down the line, I guess."

After an impressive spring that earned him his first opening-day roster spot, the 26-year-old right-hander has settled in nicely as one of the Milwaukee Brewers' long relievers.

Blazek has made eight consecutive scoreless appearances while limiting opposing batters to a .036 average (1 for 28). He also walked four while striking out nine over 91/3 innings.

Overall, Blazek sported a 0.82 earned run average and WHIP of 0.91 in nine appearances (11 innings) and was named the team's pitcher of the month.

"His stuff, we all know, is good," manager Ron Roenicke said. "It was good last year, too. Moving to a starter last year allowed him, I think, to command all of his pitches better. Right now, he's got a quicker tempo in his windup and it really looks good.

"All that stuff is playing really well. He's got a 94-95 fastball, a good slider and a good curveball."

It's a far cry from where the quiet but affable Blazek was a year ago, splitting time between starting and relieving at Class AAA Nashville after failing to make the Brewers in the spring.

He wound up going 4-4 with a 4.15 ERA and WHIP of 1.43 in 37 appearances (17 starts), eventually getting over the profound disappointment of once again toiling in the minor leagues by turning his focus to what he needed to do to return to the majors.

"I always knew my stuff was good enough to get guys out," he said. "Mentally is what I need to work on. The biggest thing for me was just telling myself to take one pitch at a time, one day at a time, and not worry about tomorrow or yesterday.

"Just go out there today and get better at something today."

Blazek struck out 20 batters in 20 innings over nine appearances (two starts) in the spring, second most in both categories behind Matt Garza. That solidified his bid to become a long man with the Brewers, a role he now shares with Rob Wooten.

What's been especially impressive is how Blazek has suddenly begun commanding his pitches after years of control issues. He credits teammates Garza and Kyle Lohse, in particular, with helping him make a couple of key adjustments.

"Something as small as keeping my head still as possible in the entire delivery and keeping my eyes on the target," he said. "Usually when I throw — especially from the windup — it's harder because I go over my head. I tend to look down, then toward third and pick up the plate and by that time you don't know where you're really throwing it.

"But it felt comfortable doing it so I just started changing it up when they noticed it, and I saw a big difference in command with all my pitches. I felt like I was able to put the ball more consistently where I wanted it to go.

"That's what I work on every day when I go out there and play long toss, is keep my head still and look at where I'm throwing instead of hoping it goes there."

For a guy who'd spent most of his career trying to harness an arsenal that includes a mid-90s fastball and diving slider, it was something of a revelation.

"It could totally not even be that, but it's just me telling myself in my head, 'Hey, look at where you're throwing the ball.' That might be a key for me in keeping the ball where I want it to go," he said.

"It could make no difference, I don't know. But it feels right. It feels like me doing that, I'm putting the ball consistently where I want it to go. And my misses are better, too. I can actually tell when I'm trying to put a ball on the outside corner and I miss it, it's not over the plate.

"And that's important."

Originally a 35th-round draft pick of the Cardinals in 2007, the Las Vegas native was acquired by the Brewers late in 2013 in exchange for John Axford. Blazek pitched a combined 18 games for the two teams that season, but he now appears to factor much more significantly into the Brewers' plans moving forward.

His ability to start could be valuable to a team without much depth in that area at the higher levels of the organization. His arm also is live enough that he could move into a late-inning, high-leverage role down the line.

But first things first, Blazek said.

"It would be pretty cool to do that, but I think for me right now it's just going out there and continuing to get confidence and get comfortable," he said.

"Throwing in the bullpen, I still get a little nervous because I still don't have many innings up here, and I'm trying to get familiar with the whole routine and going out there and pitching against guys that are the best in the game.

"It's important for me just to be able to go out there in whatever situation it is and face these guys and have success."