The last time right-hander Brandon Beachy threw a pitch in an actual game was on August 20, 2013 – 14 months after his first Tommy John surgery and seven months before his second. So when he took the mound at LoanMart Field for the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Tuesday night for his first rehabilitation assignment game, he was pumped.

“It’s exciting, it’s fun. It gets the blood flowing,” Beachy said after his 1.2 inning – 35-pitch outing. “Somebody in a different uniform in the box. It’s exciting.”

Beachy, who was signed by the Dodgers this past February to a one-year / $2.75 million deal with an option for 2016, allowed no runs, no hits, struck out one and walked one while inducing two fly ball outs and two ground outs. His strikeout came on a 71-MPH curveball that Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully would have called “public enemy number one” – just one of several breaking balls that he threw.

“I threw some good ones, I was really happy with that,” he said.

Beachy pitched a scoreless, hitless 1.2 innings in his first actual game in almost two years. He faced six batters with only one of them reaching base on a walk. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Although Beachy’s fastballs were in the 89 to 91-MPH range, he isn’t concerned with his velocity at all.

“I don’t even care about the numbers, none of that matters,” Beachy said.

What is important to the 28-year-old  Kokomo, Indiana native is re-developing all of his pitches.

“At this point I’m working on everything. I’m throwing a lot of sliders, a lot of change-ups, everything, to see what I’ve got,” Beachy said. “I’ve got to get to the point before pitching big league games where I know what to expect every time I throw the pitch and just get that consistency with all of them, and then I’ll be able to make adjustments on the fly. I just haven’t thrown enough of those pitches yet to be at that level.”

Although Beachy said that he could have gone longer, he fully understands that he has to build up his arm strength and stamina.

“This is my spring training, I’m going to work up an inning each time – hopefully – if all goes well,” said Beachy. “I’ll be on a five-day rotation as much as we can. But again, if I need an extra day, we’re going to take it. It depends on what the elbow says at this point.”