Scrappers' Hockin working his way back

The start of Grant Hockin's promising career came to a halt in the spring of 2015.
A torn ligament in his pitching elbow forced the 2014 second-round pick to undergo Tommy John surgery and Hockin spent the following two seasons rehabbing in Arizona while his peers took the next steps in their respective careers.
"I had to bring the same mindset every day, just because it's such a grind," he said. "Sitting there in Goodyear while your teammates and buddies are moving up in the system, I just had to keep the same mindset of getting better and getting back on the field every day."
Making his sixth start since returning to action, the Indians prospect allowed one hit and one walk over five scoreless innings in Class A Short Season Mahoning Valley's 8-3 win over Batavia on Tuesday at Eastwood Field.

Gameday box score
"I feel like I'm pretty close to being back to where I was," the 21-year-old right-hander said. "I just have to keep doing the same thing and it's going to happen sooner or later. I just need to keep the same routine, the same work ethic and just keep my nose clean and do my business."
Against the Muckdogs, Hockin retired the first seven batters he faced.
"I was just going in and out and adjusting speeds," he said. "Just getting out in front and kind of catch them off-guard. I thought me and [catcher] Gian Paul Gonzalez did a pretty good job of establishing the fastball for strikes, so we worked well together to get outs."
The California native yielded his lone hit to David Gauntt, who reached on an infield single with one out in the third, and walked Marcos Rivera with two outs in the fifth. He threw a season-high 77 pitches, 49 for strikes.
"While I was pitching, the arm felt pretty good," Hockin said. "I'll need ice tomorrow, but I'm feeling good. The arm is feeling good and the body is feeling good."
The journey back to the mound for Hockin -- the grandson of Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew -- began last October when he was cleared for action again.
"That was a big load off my chest, I kind of felt like a normal ballplayer again," he said. "I just had to bring it every day, working hard in the weight room and the training room and just keeping that positive mindset. Because once you get negative in rehab, things kind of fall from there."

Beginning the season with Mahoning Valley, Hockin surrendered 11 earned runs over 19 1/3 innings in his first five starts. But he said he's ready for the challenge of his first action above the complex level.
"We are ready to go," he said. "We are ready to grab the bull by the horn and ride it."
Kirk McCarty allowed two runs on four hits and struck out four over 2 2/3 innings in relief of Hockin and Ping-Hsueh Chen yielded one run over the final 1 1/3 frames.
The Scrappers provided Hockin with an early lead as Oscar Gonzalez doubled home Austen Wade in the bottom of the first. Wade added a solo homer in the fith and Jonathan Laureano drove in two runs.