NC State’s Brock Deatherage Explodes in Pro Debut

Former NC State outfielder Brock Deatherage absolutely exploded in his professional debut for the GCL Tigers on Monday, launching three home runs. It was the first three-homer performance in the Gulf Coast League since 2011.

“I hit 14 [home runs] my senior year, and that was a grind,” Deatherage said. “My junior year, I hit three the whole year. Coming in hitting three in my debut is huge. … We played two games, but I still hit two home runs on my Opening Day senior year. So that was kind of funny. If that becomes a routine, I’ll be OK with it.”

“It was something new for me, especially going into that last at-bat,” he said. “A lot of guys in the dugout were saying, ‘You only hit three.’ And I never really thought about it. And I was just thinking to myself, ‘No way I hit three, I’ve never done that in my life. That’s unheard of.’ But sure enough, I hit a first-pitch fastball. I didn’t think I got it. It was a low pitch and didn’t have much launch angle on it, but sure enough, I saw it skip on their batting cages beyond right field. And I was like, ‘Shoot, I hit three.’ I was speechless and I didn’t know what was going through my mind, to be honest.” (MILB)

Last night, Deatherage decided to continue to do big things in his second game, hitting a grand slam.

#Tigers OF Brock Deatherage 🚀 grand slam; his fourth homer in two days. Can’t imagine he’s in the GCL much longer. #OnFiyaaa 🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/Jdq0cEjb6D

— James Chipman (@_jchipman) June 19, 2018

Through his first two professional games, the 10th round 2018 draft pick (Detroit Tigers), is 5-9 with 4 HR’s, 6 Runs, and 7 RBI’s.