He was a Cowboy for three years and his favorite athlete will now be playing in the city whose baseball team just drafted him. Could pitcher Peyton Battenfield‘s pro career begin any more perfectly?

The Houston Astros chose the Oklahoma State right-hander in the ninth round of the June 2019 draft. Five weeks later, Russell Westbrook was dealt to the Houston Rockets by his childhood heroes, the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 6’4″, 224-pound Battenfield pitched a scoreless inning in the Big 12 Championship title game against the Texas Longhorns in 2017 and was an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection the following year.

Part Cherokee and an ardent fan of The Eagles rock band, Battenfield aspires to be a major league manager, but he realizes he’s got to start his playing career first.

He’s doing that for Houston’s short season Class A New York-Penn League’s Tri-City ValleyCats.

From Cardinal to Cowboy

Peyton Cole Battenfield was born and raised in Claremore, Oklahoma about a half-hour northeast of Tulsa. He attended Verdigris High School following his older brother by three years, Blake, a 6’3″, 220 lb starting pitcher, currently a prospect on the Chicago White Sox’ AA Birmingham Barons affiliate.

Throwing 63 innings for the Verdigris Cardinals in his 2016 senior year, Peyton racked up totals that included a 0.22 ERA, yielding 10 walks and 15 hits, and a batting average against of .071 while striking out 118. Clearly a man among boys, Peyton helped lead Verdigris to three state championships in four years and even pitched four no-hitters as a senior.

Peyton trailed big brother Blake to the Cowboys of Stillwater’s Oklahoma State in 2017, the year the elder Battenfield was drafted in the 17th round by the White Sox. In fact, the Battenfields represent several generations of Cowboys, as the boys’ parents and grandfather all attended OSU.

“The story of the game was Peyton Battenfield,” OSU coach Josh Holliday told The Tulsa World about the sophomore after a game in 2018. But, a similar quote may have been heard by reporters several times during Peyton’s three OSU years. “He came in when they were punching us right back in the gut and gets out of a jam, and then continues on with two more excellent innings.”

In his three years at OSU, Battenfield, an avid plastic and aluminum recycling proponent set to be married soon, appeared in 60 games, all but one out of the bullpen. In amassing 122.1 innings, he yielded 121 hits and 48 walks while whiffing 140.

If the walk total didn’t necessarily point toward a need to work on control, his 10 hit batters and seven wild pitches hint at pinpointing it a bit more. A 0.5 home run per nine inning mark gives pitching coaches something positive to work on, though.

Battenfield and Chad Qualls: Separated at Birth?

Peyton and former Astros’ reliever Chad Qualls seem to bear more than a passing resemblance, not just in looks, but in build and, to a degree, repertoire. “Quallsy” was a bullpen stalwart for Houston from 2004 to 2007, and again from 2014 through 2015. Qualls, not the gun-building hobbyist like Peyton, was released by the Colorado Rockies two years ago.

These two stints made Qualls the first Astro to play for both the National League iteration of the ‘Stros as well as the American League team, with Houston jumping to the Junior Circuit in 2013. Drafted out of Nevada in the second round in 2000, Qualls has about 10 pounds on Peyton at 6’4″, 235.

In his career, Qualls relied on a hard sinking fastball 64% of the time, usually in the low 90 mph range, and a slider 35% of the time, averaging around 86 mph. This tended to be his strikeout pitch after getting ahead with the sinker. While Qualls’ repertoire shaded away from curve or change usage (except against the occasional left-handed hitter), Battenfield is leaning toward a more complete pallet of pitches.

The Scouting Report

Jayne Hansen of What The Heck, Bobby caught up with Peyton at Tri-City in mid-July 2019 and gave this scouting report: “Battenfield throws a low 90’s fastball that tops out at 94 or 95, a curveball, changeup and a cutter/slider that is a work in progress. Of that last pitch, Battenfield said, ‘We haven’t really figured out a name for it yet because that’s the pitch I’m working on right now the most, just trying to get consistent movement with that pitch.’

“He’s also working on the curveball to generate a harder pitch with more movement, and he cites his changeup as his best offspeed pitch currently due to the consistency and movement of that pitch. His fastball doesn’t have downward movement on it as is often the case with taller pitchers like the 6’4″ Battenfield. ‘My fastball fights gravity. Most of the time if a ball has a low spin rate, it will drop. Mine actually fights gravity and will stay up,’ said Battenfield.”

Tri-City pitching coach John Kovalik had high praise for Battenfield, as well, telling Hansen, “The great thing about Peyton is that we’ve seen a lot of growth in him as a pitcher since he’s been here, but also [he’s] just an extremely high character player. Extremely professional. Handles his business the right way. He’s got some really, really good stuff already, so with him it’s more just refining how he uses it. But overall, he’s been really receptive to everything I’ve thrown at him.”

Tri-City manager Ozney Guillen echoed that scouting report in his assessment of Battenfield, “He’s more polished. He went to a good college, a big time D1 so he’s used to the pressure. The good thing is that he’s not scared to pitch. A lot of times, you see guys that get drafted and they come here, and that’s kind of the problem is that they’re a little scared of the environment or just suddenly out of their comfort zone, but he’s done very well and I think he’ll keep moving on up very quickly.”

A Look at Just How Quickly

For the ValleyCats, through July 2019, Battenfield has pitched just 24 innings in eight appearances (three starts) but has come out of the gate strong, with a 1.13 ERA, .157 BAA, 0.83 WHIP, striking out 26, walking just seven, and giving up 13 hits.

A possible peek at the full season Class A Quad Cities River Bandits shouldn’t be a surprise by mid-August, with a design to begin Battenfield’s 2020 there before a June bump to the Advanced-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers.

That MLB manager’s job is getting closer, Peyton!

With a flash of Chad Qualls, Houston Astros’ Peyton Battenfield has touched down but is clear for near immediate takeoff.