BISCUITS SERIES OPENER: Driscoll off to hot start in Montgomery offense
A newcomer to the Biscuits, catcher Logan Driscoll has been a big part of the early-season success in 2023. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
After enduring several nagging injuries over the first three years of his professional baseball career, a healthy Logan Driscoll spent the offseason working on his swing.
“I was actually working with the Reds’ big-league hitting coach, Joel McKeithan, this offseason and we made some major changes, mostly just with path,” Driscoll said. “It’s already proven itself. I’m getting to carry fastballs, fastballs that I wouldn’t have even had a chance on last year.
“I would say one of my strengths as a hitter is recognizing pitches, so getting a swing that helps you use that to the best of your ability is key.”
The Biscuits, currently in first place in the SL South Division, opens what is the first of two six-game series or a 12-game home stand on Tuesday against Pensacola. First pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m. at Riverwalk Stadium.
One of the newest additions to the Montgomery Biscuits is taking the Southern League by storm in the first two weeks of the season, ranking second in batting average at .381 and second in home runs with three.
“Driscoll’s been amazing,” Montgomery manager Morgan Ensberg said. “He’s done a really good job of receiving, has a really strong arm and the bat has just been really good. It’s a short path to the ball with a lot of power. He gets on plane and he’s definitely dangerous at the plate.”
The product of a military family, Driscoll was born in Colorado Springs, Colo., but moved to North Dakota early in his life before finally settling in the Washington suburb of Burke, Va. He followed his brother and sister to George Mason University, where he was a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award (given to the nation’s top collegiate catcher) and was drafted in the second round of the 2019 draft by the San Diego Padres.
While in the Padres’ organization, he developed a friendship with fellow catcher Blake Hunt, not knowing the pair would be involved in two separate 2020 trades that would eventually reunite them as teammates with the Biscuits.
“He actually was the last person that I hung out with before I left,” Driscoll said. “We went and got lunch, then I got on my plane and headed to Florida.”
He was traded to the Rays in February, 2020, along with outfielder Manuel Margot, for Tampa closer Emilio Pagan.
“It’s always hard switching teams,” Driscoll said. “There’s mixed emotions there. The Padres handled it the best they could. They were up front about the trade. Obviously, if I’m coming over to the Rays, they see something special in me.
“During the trade, I actually had a torn labrum. The trade still went through and I got over to the Rays and we tried to rehab it. But with the season being shut down, I ended up getting surgery, so COVID actually bailed me out because I didn’t miss any time with the shoulder surgery.”
He returned in 2021 and climbed up the minor-league ladder, playing at Bowling Green in 2021 and all of 2022 while dealing with nagging injuries that put him on the DL on three occasions. Promoted to Double-A to open the 2023 season, he faced a new challenge as he played first base in two of his first five games with the Biscuits.
“There’s definitely a lot more workload than if I was playing one position,” he said. “I’m fortunate enough to be able to move around the field. With the Padres, I ended up playing more outfield than I did catcher. Then when I moved over here, they said I would be catching a lot more.
“Then, last year, I played a few games at first and it looks like I’m going to get some more opportunities at playing first base, which is my newest position.
Driscoll had occasionally played center field at Georgia Mason on days he wasn’t catching -- an opportunity to keep his bat in the lineup -- but didn’t play first base until 2022 at Bowling Green.
“This is another way to be versatile, another way to get into the lineup and something that can help him get to the big leagues,” Ensberg said.
He hit solo home runs in his first two games, one at catcher and one at first base, and added a walkoff, three-run homer in the final game of the Biscuits’ most recent homestand. He’s a little more effective at the plate when he’s catching, but adds he doesn’t mind the opportunity to play first base.
“I’m more comfortable in the outfield, but I enjoy first base a lot more because it’s the closest thing to catching,” he said. “Playing first base, you can always turn into a catcher. I wore a ball 110 (miles per hour) off the chest because it was a little hard for me, so I was like, all right, do what I do best and just block it up. It’s definitely an adjustment. The balls move a little differently off of each bat.”
Of course, playing first base also allows Hunt to play catcher and the two former catchers in the Padres’ organization have the same dreams of reaching the Major League level.
“We have a relationship where we’re always helpful with each other,” Driscoll said. “We also realize we can both be in the big leagues at the same time -- a lefty bat (Driscoll) and a righty bat (Hunt). Every guy here wants each other to succeed. I think another person’s success doesn’t dictate your own success, so why not move up together.”
Tuesday is Autism Awareness Night, supporting Easter Seals of Central Alabama. Wednesday is a Grand Slam School Day at 11 a.m. followed by Kimchi T-Shirt Giveaway on Thursday. Friday is “2000s Night” followed by “Star Wars Night” featuring specialty jerseys and a team poster giveaway plus fireworks on Saturday. Bark in the Park will be on Sunday.
Tickets are available at www.biscuitsbaseball.com.