After 12-year odyssey, Matt Bush becomes 30-year-old rookie

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I happened to be at the game late in spring training when Matt Bush made his spring debut for the Texas Rangers in a major league game. The Rangers were rewarding him for following all the rules and conditions they had given the troubled former No. 1 overall pick before agreeing to give him one final chance at reaching the majors, after Bush spent 39 months in prison.

His first three pitches that day: 96, 97 and 97 mph. He retired the side on 10 pitches, nine for strikes, and then pitched a second scoreless inning, also showing off a sharp-breaking, swing-and-miss breaking ball.

Just like that, Bush went from long shot to prospect, if a 30-year-old former shortstop drafted 12 years ago can still be called a prospect. After that outing, Rangers manager Jeff Banister admitted it was the best stuff he’d seen in camp all spring. “He’s had one outing,” Banister cautioned. “He’s been on the back fields. He knows how far he’s come and how far he has to go.”

After the Rangers called him up to the majors, troubled former No. 1 pick Matt Bush became a 30-year-old rookie. Darren Carroll for ESPN

Now Bush has completed a 12-year odyssey to the majors, with the Rangers calling him up when they sent Delino DeShields Jr. to the minors. Quite the story for a guy who the Rangers gave a tryout to in the parking lot of a Golden Corral, where Bush was working after his release from prison. As ESPN The Magazine’s Eli Saslow wrote last month:

When he was released to a Jacksonville halfway house in February of last year, there were no scouts, no phone calls, no sign of acknowledgment whatsoever from the world of professional baseball. There was only one interested employer, so Bush went for the interview. He won the job, signed the paperwork, changed into his uniform and started …

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