By Steve Parkhurst

Life comes full circle sometimes; we all know that.

Baseball life often sees those circles form a lot sooner, just by the nature of the sport.

Just over three years ago, March 5, 2021, to be exact, I watched in person from the press box, what I consider to be the finest pitcher’s duel I have ever seen in person in all my baseball days at any level of baseball.

Power versus power, lefty versus righty, experienced veteran versus relative newcomer.

I was there on the campus of the University of Houston on that Friday night when the Texas Longhorns came to town sporting a No. 19 national ranking on their way to a College World Series appearance in Omaha.

Texas ace Ty Madden was on the mound that night and he was opposed by Houston left-hander Robert Gasser in his only full season with the Cougars, he was on the 2020 roster when the season was brought to an end in early March because of the pandemic.

Madden pitched a complete game two-hit shutout and Texas won the game 1-0. Madden also added 14 strikeouts. Gasser pitched seven scoreless innings for Houston and struck out five batters. The game was lost the inning after Gasser departed, the sole run in the game scored on a bases loaded walk in the eighth inning.

That summer, Madden was drafted by the Detroit Tigers at the end of the first round with the 32nd overall pick. Gasser was drafted the next day by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the draft with the 71st overall pick.

On August 1, 2022, Gasser was traded to Milwaukee as part of the deal that sent All-Star pitcher Josh Hader to the Padres. Gasser fundamentally did nothing but impress in the Brewers minor league system and his promotion to the big club seemed imminent. An injury sidelined Gasser for the beginning of the 2024 season, but he started in three games with the first coming on April 24.

Friday night in Milwaukee, nearly three years since he threw his last pitch for Houston on May 25, 2021, Gasser made his Major League Baseball debut for the Brewers against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The memories came flooding back last night. Not just of that Friday night in 2021, but of that season overall with all the challenges of the pandemic precautions and the long season that was the 2021 season.

Gasser pitched six scoreless innings and allowed just two hits and struck out four Cardinals batters while not allowing any walks. Gasser threw 79 pitches, 55 of them for strikes. And perhaps the best stat of all, Gasser is 1-0 on the year as a result of the Brewers 11-2 victory.

After the game, Gasser was asked about preparing for his debut and how he handled the day leading up to the game. His response was as cool as six innings of work on the mound.

“Early in the day it was tough. A lot of sitting around, not doing a whole lot, just thinking, but once I was in my routine and finding the flow it came natural, Gasser said. “I don’t want to say it was another game, but that was the mindset I was trying to have: get the first couple of pitches out of the way and just get going from there.”

“That was pretty impressive how he just went out there and executed what he wanted to do. Seemed like he had his emotions and everything under control,” Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said after the game. “It was six really big innings for us.”

“He’s a big strike thrower, he goes right after every batter,” Brewers teammate Sal Frelick said after the game when asked about Gasser’s makeup as a pitcher. “When he was out there he didn’t see names on the back of jerseys as maybe a lot of guys would. It was just another game for him, I think, and that’s just how he goes about his business. So to see him execute out there was really cool.”

Madden has not appeared in a MLB game as of yet, and this is not a fair comparison of these two pitchers as different teams have different needs and whatnot.

This whole event has me wondering about the status of the Houston players drafted in the last couple of years, or what players might I be watching play their final games with Houston this weekend and next that might be making their own MLB debut in three years, or maybe four or five.

I cannot stop and think about that right now though, the next full circle is taking shape.

. . .