• Kyle Gibson (huge lead in 1st place)At the time that poll was begun, Aaron Crow had not yet signed with the Royals, so we left him off the list. Now that he has signed, and has made his professional debut in the Arizona Fall League, it's time for
• Brock Bond
• Evan Frey
You Make the Call: The Final Round
Aaron Crow (06-08) walked the first batter he faced, Lance Zawadzki, before settling in to retire eight straight. Zawadzki ended the streak with a solo homer with two outs in the third.
"I need to work on getting the ball down and my command of the strike zone," the Kansas native said. "I only walked one guy, but I went to a lot of three ball counts. I just need to work on those things and I think I will be all right."
Hitting has been a key point thus far. Former Coppell Copperhead (holla!) Nick Popescu has continued the strong glovework from this summer, and is hitting .500 on the series. Freshman Barrett Barnes has done a great job putting balls done the left field line in route to a .455 average with three doubles. Fellow freshman Bo Altobelli has also shown flashes with his bat. Duke Von Schamann, another freshman, has great power potential, but needs to work on his defense at 1B if he wants to maximize his playing time.■ Nebraska's Cooper home-run threat in football, too (nola.com)
Cooper appeared in 35 of Nebraska's 54 baseball games last spring and started 20 in the outfield. He batted .229 with two home runs in 70 at-bats. He said he
won't second-guess his decision.
. . .
Cooper was a surprise starter in the 31-10 loss to Texas Tech on Oct. 17. He caught three balls for 23 yards, including a 13-yarder from Cody Green for his first touchdown. He sat out last week's 9-7 loss to Iowa State with an undisclosed injury.
• Detailed stats at MLB.com
• According to KFRU's Jet Roberts (on Tigerboard.com):Crow walked the first batter of the game, then proceeded to retire the next eight in order before serving up a solo homerun on a line drive to right field. He was a little wild in his debut, but managed to minimize the damage. Crow's pitch count was held below 60 pitches, and his final line reads: 4 IP2 runs3 hits1 walk2 strikeouts. Fastball topped out at 94 in the 2nd inning.
"I'll tell you what I would do against them," Smoltz said, "and I know nobody would ever do this. I would treat it like a spring training game with my pitchers. I would keep bringing in a fresh arm to pitch to them, rather than asking my starting pitcher to go deep into the game trying to get them out two, three, four times. They just wear out a pitcher. (read more)
Tanner Scheppers and Aaron Crow had very similar experiences after ending their college careers in 2008.
The two pitchers are now Arizona Fall League teammates with the Surprise Rafters after spending the early part of the fall with their respective organizations' instructional league teams—Scheppers with the Rangers and Crow with the Royals.
. . .
Crow was added to the Rafters roster just this weekend and is expected to make his AFL debut later in the week.
. . .
Crow believes that the experience was beneficial in that he essentially became his own pitching coach during that year after college.
The strength of the 2010 team will be the deep pitching staff featuring proven arms like Chance Ruffin, Taylor Jungmann, Cole Green, and Brandon Workman, as well as newcomers like Keifer Nuncio, Josh Urban, Hoby Milner, and Paul Montalbano.
. . .
Offensively, the team should be much improved with the murderer's row of Keyes, Moldenhauer, and Rupp in the middle of the lineup. The question is how well Loy fits at the top, but he should be fine there as long as he can swing the bat consistently and draw some walks. However, the Longhorns won't be improved offensively if Maitland, Rowe, and Lusson all play together, but that shouldn't be the case, though finding an outfield rotation will remain a priority. . .
Max Scherzer (Age 25): 30 G, 30 GS, 11-9 W/L, 3.80 ERA, 180 IP, 163 H, 16 HR, 194 K, 74 BB
I will move onto another pitcher whose peripherals scream that he could come cheap in 2010 drafts. That name is Max Scherzer, and he is an intriguing name, as he struck out more than 9 batters per 9 innings, and induced ground balls at a 42% clip in 2009. His LOB% was pretty low in 2009, so I expect a very solid season from Scherzer in 2010.
Wednesday, October 28th
Time: 7 p.m. CST
To register for this FREE teleseminar, go to National Letter of Intent
The Lake County Fielders, a Northern League expansion club that will begin play next June in Zion, completed its selections in the league's dispersal draft.
"We feel we selected 12 players that have the ability to make an immediate impact on our ballclub," says field manager Fran Riordan said Thursday in a statement released by the club.
. . .
Cody Ehlers (01-04), first baseman: Ehlers spent five seasons in the New York Yankees system. He helped lead Trenton to consecutive league titles and earned league MVP honors in 2006 after leading the circuit in five offensive categories, including runs batted in, and extra base hits. He led all first basemen with a .994 fielding percentage. He hit .245 with 6 homers last year for the Goldeyes.
• Recruited class "anchored by live athletes [Dane] Opel and [Blake] Brown" . . . "both should be everyday players immediately for the Tigers"
• Eric Anderson: "a diamond in the rough" ... attacks hitters with a 90-92 mph fastball and a hard slider"
• Brannon Champagne: "could lead off and play CF for the Tigers, flanked by Open and Brown"
• Jesse Santo and Eric Garcia: "strong defenders on the infield"
• Brett Nicholas: "middle of the order hitter"
• Zach Hardoin and Jeff Scardino: "mid-to-upper-80s fastballs and solid curves"
Before the Royals were ready to let Crow get that stuff going, they wanted to be certain that he was physically ready. Crow was asked to go through a series of assessments before being allowed to pitch in instructional league games. While Crow was excited to be doing anything with a team again, it was a slow couple of weeks full of shoulder exercises and workouts.
"From their perspective, they wanted to make sure I was 100 percent sound," Crow said. "I could say that had stayed in shape, but they wouldn't know for sure. It's probably for the best in the long run. I'm throwing now, that's all that matters and I'm ready to keep going."
. . .
He wasn't just ready to throw, he was ready to pitch. Showing virtually no rust, Crow kicked things off with a pair of 1-2-3 innings in his first two outings. Building his stamina gradually, he pitched two innings in his final appearance.
He's been impressive on the mound, throwing his fastball in the 91-95 mph range and showing his slider and changeup. Even more impressive was his efficiency and his ability to keep the ball down in the zone.
"I think I did a good job of staying in shape," Crow said of his down time. "I wasn't facing hitters, but I was simulating. In my bullpens, I made sure I had a purpose for every pitch. I wasn't too surprised I've been able to do well so far. I'm really enjoying it, and I'm learning a lot of new things from coaches and other players."
Crow appears to be so far ahead of the Royals' expectations that they may not shut him down when instructs end on Friday. Instead, they may send the No. 12 overall pick to the Arizona Fall League to pitch more innings and see how he responds to the challenge of that advanced circuit.
"We want to make sure he feels good, his arm feels good, then maybe make four or five appearances there," Picollo said. "Nothing's been decided yet. "He goes about his business. He's a good kid, you wouldn't know if he was a first-rounder or a 45th-rounder. There's a lot of humility there. It's very refreshing and it's the attitude we're looking for."
"If I get that opportunity, it's going to be great," said Crow, who would join fellow
2009 pitching draftees Stephen Strasburg, Mike Minor, Mike Leake, Drew Storen, Tanner Scheppers and Andy Oliver in the AFL.
"Seeing all those other pitchers who are really talented, facing those hitters. It should be exciting, I'd love that opportunity."
Now I'm not saying that the affiliated teams should be on the hook for all of players' salaries. I'm not even completely convinced they should pay any of them. But they could afford to take small steps.
One step that has been suggested by players is to pay for housing. Currently, players pay for housing, and many can't afford it. This leads to the types of living situations described in my previous post. Additionally, it makes for a headache when a player moves from team to team on a moment's notice, and suddenly they have to worry about paying rent here, there, and everywhere.
• Catching - Large group here. New Juco player looks solid. Probably best arm and can swing it from the left side. A lot of combinations back there as well in terms of left, right, and many DH candidates.
• To me, the emerging starters seem to be; Tepesch, Fick, Clark, and Anderson. A lot of guys have done a good job of getting folks out and "wholestaff approach" gave a lot of kids mound time last year, so any number of kids can come out of the bullpen. We don't have a lot of flame-throwers, but kids that throw strikes, compete, etc.• More HERE
The hardest part about being a college baseball coach is that you work so hard to recruit a player and in a spur of the moment a team drafts him, throws a bunch of money at him and they sign. And they’re gone. That’s just the way the system is and you have to accept it. If major league baseball really cared about college baseball, they should change that rule. It’s ludicrous. This year I had a kid actually sitting in freshman orientation who had told me earlier that day that he was 100% coming to LSU. Then he got a text message, got up, walked out of orientation and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.
I then approached the TPX baseball bag. It sat at an angle in the bedroom. One strap dangled from its side and displayed a nametag: "Garrett Broshuis, Pitcher." It hypnotized me.
"Garrett Broshuis, Pitcher."
There are 68 former Division I players among the 200 major leaguers listed on
postseason rosters.
• Ryan Howard, Southwest Missouri State (Phillies)Another great reason to follow college baseball!!
• Matt Palmer, Southwest Missouri State (Angels)
• Joba Chamberlain, Nebraska (Yankees)
• Brian Duensing, Nebraska (Twins)
• Greg Dobbs, Oklahoma (Phillies)
• Reggie Willits, Oklahoma (Angels)
• Scott Baker, Oklahoma State (Twins)
• Huston Street, Texas (Rockies)
In some ways, the NCAA and conferences have done a nice job of promoting the sport the past few seasons. In other ways such as television contracts and scheduling, both entities haven’t done a good job of putting the sport in a great situation.
It’s my turn to play commissioner in sparking college baseball’s utopia.
We have a completed scoreboard in LF. Pretty impressive. Thank you Mr. Alden. Game 2 was sloppy and ended with a big margin for the black
Take out the mouthpiece, Mike Anderson. Your Nebraska baseball program just went 5-for-6 against the Major League Draft — a batting average that will undoubtedly make the Huskers a bigger threat to produce some more impressive
streaks next season.“The last two years we have just been kicked in the teeth by the draft,” NU’s coach said Tuesday, referring to the fact that 14 of 19 Husker recruits or underclassmen chosen in 2007 and ’08 had opted for the pros.
Less than a week after this year’s early-June talent search, that number went to 15
of 20, when Geoff Baldwin, a first baseman recruit out of Grand Junction, Colo., signed with Kansas City following his 10th-round selection.But when the deadline for MLB teams to sign their picks arrived at 11 p.m.
Monday, Baldwin stood as the lone wolf, with five others deciding Nebraska was
their best option.
Coaches: Travis Wendte (02-06) & Danny Hill (03-04)
3 OF Brannon Champagne
4 C Ryan Ampleman
5 INF Michael Liberto
14 INF Jack Dudenhoeffer
17 INF Jesse Santo
18 C/INF Ben Turner
19 OF Blake Brown20 OF Dane Opel
25 OF Jonah Schmidt
28 INF Conner Mach
29 LHP Jake Walsh
37 LHP Kenny Burton
38 RHP Jeff Emens
39 RHP Andy Heifner
42 LHP Zach Hardoin
46 RHP Nick Tepesch
47 RHP Kevin Mahler
55 C Andreas Plackis
Coaches: Dan Pietroburgo (05-07) & Brock Bond (06-07)
00 OF Rex Meyr
2 OF Russell LaFleur
3 INF Andrew Thigpen
6 C/OF Kale Gaden
7 INF Eric Garcia
11 C/1B Brett Nicholas
16 RHP Tyler Clark
17 OF/1B Aaron Senne
19 INF TJ Scheiber
21 LHP Kelly Fick
27 LHP Phil McCormick
29 RHP Ryan Clubb
35 OF Andre Rodriguez
36 1B Garrison McLAgan
40 RHP Brad Buehler
42 RHP Cody King
44 RHP Eric Anderson
45 LHP Jeff Scardino
• Blake Brown: speedy guy . . .
• Dane Opel: This kid looks like a stud . . .
• Russel LaFleur: hit the homer that sent the game into extras . . .
Michael Liberto 2B/SS
Jesse Santo SS/3B
Brannon Champagne CF
Jonah Schmidt DH
Ryan Ampleman C
Blake Brown LF
Dane Opel RF
Conner Mach DH/2B
Andreas Plackis DH
Jack Dudenhoeffer DH
Ben Turner 1B
Nick Tepesch Starting Pitcher
Zach Hardoin P
Jeff Emens P
Neil P
Jake Walsh P
Kale Gaden RF
Russel LaFleur CF
Aaron Senne 1B
Brett Nicholas C
Andrew Thigpen 3B
Eric Garcia SS
Rex Meyr DH
TJ Schieber 2B
Andre Rodriguez LF
Garrison McLagan DH
Eric Anderson DHTyler Clark Starting Pitcher
Ryan Clubb P
Cody King P
Brad Buehler P
Phill McCormick P
Jeff Scardino P
Right-hander Jason Adam (Blue Valley NW HS, Overland Park, Kan.) showed promise to go with his power 6-4, 225 frame. His fastball reached 90 and 91 and he pitched at 89-91 with a curveball at 74. He jammed Wilson (Harvard-Westlake, North Hollywood, Calif.) in the first inning, though Wilson was strong enough to get the ball to the warning track
August 7: Adam (Blue Valley NW HS, Overland Park Kan.), at 6-4, 225, has the frame to develop more power, but must develop his body and improve command and control. He does have good arm speed, so he’s got the basic tools. He was the only White Sox pitcher to touch 90 in this game.
• 2009 East Kansas League All-Star
• 2009 All Sun Baseball Team honorable mention
James Hudelson, RHPAfter a successful season pitching for Jefferson College in Hillsboro, James Hudelson (Hickman ’08) plans to sign a baseball scholarship with Missouri in November.■ Rumor is Hudelson has been known to hit 96 mph on the radar gun. Has worked mostly as a reliever in his JuCo career.
Hudelson, who consistently throws in the lower 90-mph range, took an official visit to MU last weekend and gave a verbal commitment to the Tigers on Tuesday.
The right-handed reliever was 1-2 with a 3.22 ERA in 221/3 innings for Jefferson. During the summer, Hudelson played for the Hannibal Cavemen of the Prospect League and compiled four saves with a 2.66 ERA in 22 appearances.
Hudelson had interest from 11 Division I programs, including Missouri State, Saint Louis University, Austin Peay, Alabama-Birmingham, Murray State and Arkansas State. He was a member of two district-winning teams at Hickman in 2006 and ’08.
During his high school career at Hickman High School in Columbia, Hudelson was a three-time all-district 3rd baseman. As a pitcher his senior year, he pitched 43 innings, striking out 54 with a 2.75 ERA. Opponents hit just .187 against him.■ Honors:
• All-District 06, 07, 08
• All Area 07, 08
• MHSBCA Senior All-Star Team 2008
We are compiling a list of 2010 Recruits, If you hear of any additions to our list, let us know at simmonsfield@hotmail.com.
See our list of 2010 recruits HERE.
The Mizzou Baseball team has finalized its schedule for the 2009 Fall World Series. The annual best-of-five intersquad scrimmage will get underway on Monday, Oct. 12 at 3 p.m. The complete schedule is below.
Rosters for the series will be announced later.
All games are open to the public and free of charge.
2009 FALL WORLD SERIES
Game 1: Monday, Oct. 12, 3 p.m.
Game 2: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 6 p.m.
Game 3: Friday, Oct. 16, 6 p.m.
Game 4: Saturday, Oct. 17, 2 p.m.
Game 5: Sunday, Oct. 18, 1 p.m.
Grady Fuson, the Padres' vice president of scouting and player development, listed 10 top minor leaguers who will be considered for protection. The list includes outfielders Chad Huffman, Mike Baxter and Cedric Hunter, first baseman Craig Cooper, right-handed pitchers Aaron Breit, Matt Buschmann, Nathan Culp (04-06), Stephen Faris, Will Inman and Craig Italiano, and left-hander Steve Garrison.
• I have spoken to bat company representatives who are willing to go on record to state that ash and even maple bats can be made affordable to college programs, which is contrary to popular belief. It has even been mentioned that sponsorships (by bat companies) would grow because of the regional popularity of college baseball in certain parts of the United States.
• By having aluminum bats, the game is quite distinct from pro. Going to wood means college is behind MiLB in talent, playing the same game. If TV isn't picking up MiLB games, what would be the draw to college?I know I put that in ultra-simplistic terms, and I know also that the college athletics have a puritan feel that's compelling. But making the college game more resemble the pro game is a net negative from what I can see.
• . . . we went from burning the enlightened at Salem, to walking on the moon. You have to start somewhere.
• Blue Valley NW HS (Overland Park, KS)■ Ian Ekery, LHP/1B
• SimmonsField.com profile
• El Paso Franklin HS (TX)■ Dillon Everett, SS
• Videos of Ekery pitching
• SimmonsField.com profile
• Horizon, AZ■ Michael Franco, 3B/RHP
• SimmonsField.com profile
• Moody HS, Corpus Christi, TX
• Jefferson College (StL); Hickman HS (Columbia, MO)
• SimmonsField.com profile
• Bishop Debourg HS (StL)
• SimmonsField.com profile
• Blue Springs South HS / Arizona State
• SimmonsField.com profile
• Dearborn Divine Child HS (MI)
• SimmonsField.com profile
• Jefferson College; Festus HS (MO)
• SimmonsField.com profile
• Calallen HS, Corpus Christi, TX
• SimmonsField.com profile
The N.C.A.A. has agreed to pay $750,000 to Andrew Oliver, the former Oklahoma State pitcher who sued over his right to be represented by a lawyer in negotiations with professional teams, under the terms of a settlement approved Thursday by an Ohio judge.
Coming off a rare season of missing the NCAA Tournament, Nebraska has added a 21-member class of newcomers that Collegiate Baseball ranked 13th-best in the nation. That’s the highest the publication has ever listed a Nebraska group of recruits.
The Huskers also return Tyler Farst, an all-Big 12 first baseman; Adam Bailey, the team’s leading home-run hitter and run producer; six other position players who made at least 20 starts; and five of the top six starting pitchers from 2009.
Forget about last season . . . Perhaps last season has left a sour taste, but it's time for the Tigers to move on.
Photo galleryMU in the Minors
At the entrance, the rules of the clubhouse were clearly displayed. (Well, not exactly clearly. Only the "Reglas del Clubhouse" remained, as someone had misplaced the English version.) None of us had ever read these rules, but we all assumed that it clearly stated "No Girls Allowed" under 4.1.1, just below the section on gambling and cheating. The Berenstain Bears had this clubhouse rule. Why wouldn't we?
The East Texas Pump Jacks announced on Wednesday that second baseman Greg Fontenot and outfielder Russell LaFleur have agreed to return to East Texas for the 2010 season. Both players were named to the 2009 TCL All-League team and helped lead the Jacks to a second place finish this summer.
Making his unofficial Twins debut for an instructional league game against the Red Sox, he donned the Minnesota jersey for the first time. His performance -- two innings, eight batters, 29 pitches -- was seen by about 7,000 fewer people than that late May outing.Fall Practice
"I've been out of the game almost three months," Gibson said after his outing. "It was nice to be back out there. It was real easy to have that good energy out there. When you can't do things, you realize taking it for granted just doesn't work."
• tigereye: Schmidt hit a HR each day. Seems to be connecting well each time. Hit it just right of the new score board as they were putting up the final portion of the video screen. Garcia I saw had a good day as well getting a hit each time at bat but one. Scheiber hit it hard with a HR as well.
■ Doug Mathis (05), middle relief RHP, Texas Rangers• Became the 3rd 2nd baseman in history to reach the 30/30 mark , finishing with 31 HR, 31 SB. There hae been 52 30/30 seasons by 32 players in MLB history.
• Kinsler was edged out of being selected to the American League All-Star team no less than three times this season.
• Good as he is, Rangers' Kinsler can be better (StarTelegram.com)
This is why watching Kinsler frustrates me sometimes. He’s so good, it’s almost shocking — and disappointing — when he actually fails.
Failure is relative, naturally. Kinsler has 31 homers, 31 stolen bases, 99 runs and 86 RBI this season. You’d have to be pretty nit-picky to focus on his.254 batting average and find much fault with any of that.
Or you’d have to believe, as Rangers manager Ron Washington does, that Kinsler’s upside as a player hasn’t even been sniffed.
"The numbers say he had a great year, and he did, but we all know that Ian Kinsler has more to offer than even that," Washington pointed out. "For us, seeing him every day and knowing he’s better than the numbers say, way better than the numbers say — though they’re good — man, that’s scary."• .253 BA; 144 G; 566 AB; 143 H; 276 TB; 32 2B; 4 3B; 31 HR; 86 RBI; 59 BB; 77 SO; 31 SB; 5 CS; .327 OBP; .488 SLG
■ Max Scherzer (04-06), starting RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks• Called up to the Rangers on June 30th after starting the season at AAA Oklahoma City follOwing late-season surgery in 2008
• Briefly optioned back to Oklahoma City on July 29, only to be recalled to the Rangers on August 2nd for the final time in 2009.
• Mathis latches onto role with Rangers (MLB.com, 8/12/09)
There are 98 relievers in the American League who have thrown at least 20 innings in relief this season, an average of seven relievers per team.
The one who has the lowest ERA among those 98 pitchers? That would be the Rangers' Doug Mathis, who entered Wednesday with an 0.90 ERA as a reliever. He also has the lowest baserunners per nine innings among that group, allowing 7.20 per nine innings.
"I think he has been doing a great job," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Every time we've brought him into any situation, he has done an outstanding job."
Mathis has provided only a small sample of relief work compared to others. He has just 20 innings over 12 appearances as a reliever this season. But he appears to be carving out a vital role in this year's bullpen after running the gamut from arm surgery to outrighted player to 4-A insurance player.• 0-1; 3.16 ERA; 24 G; 2 GS; 1 SV; 42.2 IP; 39 H; 17 R; 15 ER; 3 HR; 2 HB; 10 BB; 25 K; .244 OPP BA; 1.15 WHIP
• 9-11; 4.12 ERA; 30 G; 30 GS; 170.1 IP; 166 H; 94 R; 78 ER; 20 HR; 10 HB; 63 BB; 174 K; .253 OPP BA; 1.34 WHIP
• Scherzer's 'productive' season ends (AZCentral.com)
Diamondbacks right-hander Max Scherzer always has had a grasp on the big picture. When the team told him two years ago he needed to hone his secondary pitches in the minors in order to succeed in the majors, Scherzer made it a focus, showed improvement.
And though he might not like the over-4.00 ERA he will leave behind from his first full major-league season - which, for him, came to an end with a 4-0 loss to Kevin Correia and the San Diego Padres on Friday night - he believes the progress he made in 2009 to be a springboard to the rest of his career
"This whole year, being in the big leagues and facing this league multiple times and having to be able to make adjustments was the biggest thing I had to learn," he said. "Obviously, some I made, and some I didn't. This year provided a foundation for me to have a good year next year."
. . .
It was clear in recent starts that the extra workload was getting to Scherzer, whose fastball this month seemed to lack the same bite it had at times earlier in the season.
He admitted after Friday's game that in perhaps his final 30 innings of the season he has experienced "dead arm" symptoms. He thinks he can avoid that next year, hoping the additional innings he threw this season will build arm strength for next year.
• Gonzaga, 2/19■ February 26-28 Auburn Classic
• New Mexico State, Saturday, 2/20 @ 7PM
• Washington, date unknown
• Gonzaga, 2/21
• Florida Atlantic, 2/26■ March 5-7 Houston College Classic @ Minute Maid Park
• Auburn, Saturday, 2/27
• Boston College, 2/28
■ March 10 (Wednesday)• Houston, Friday, 3/5, 3:30 PM
• Texas Christian, Saturday, 3/6
• Texas, Sunday, 3/7
• Western Illinois @ Simmons Field■ March 12-14
• Xavier @ Simmons Field
• North Dakota - 4 games @ Simmons Field■ March 23 & 24 (Tuesday & Wednesday)
• Arkansas-Pine Bluff @ Simmons Field■ March 26, 27, 28
• Texas A&M @ College Station■ March 30 & 31 (Tuesday & Wednesday)
• Purdue @ Simmons Field■ April 2-4
• Baylor @ Simmons Field■ April 7th (Wednesday)
• Southern Illinois-Edwardsville @ Simmons Field■ April 9-11
• Oklahoma @ Norman, OK■ April 14, 6:30 PM (Wednesday)
• Missouri State @ Springfield■ April 16-18
• Oklahoma State @ Simmons Field■ April 21 (Wednesday)
• Kansas @ Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City■ April 23-25
• Kansas State @ Simmons Field■ April 27 (Tuesday)
• Eastern Illinois @ TR Hughes Stadium, O'Fallon, MO■ April 30-May 2
• Texas Tech @ Lubbock, TX■May 4, 6:00 PM (Tuesday)
• Missouri State @ Simmons Field■ May 7-9
• Kansas @ Lawrence, KS■ May 14-16
• Nebraska @ Simmons Field■ May 21, 22, 23
• Texas @ Simmons Field■ May 26
• Big 12 Tournament begins
Ryan Gebhart sustained a severely dislocated/broken ankle on Saturday.
Andy Heifner dislocated his pinky on his pitching hand on Saturday.
Brannon Champagne was walking around with a huge black eye on Saturday after a ball jumped up and hit him during a drill.
■ Garrett Broshuis (02-04): Connecticut Defenders, SF Giants organizations (Eastern League)• 2009 Mid-Season and Pos-Season Eastern League All-Star
• .333 avg, 450 AB, 93 R, 150 H, 21 2B, 5 3B, 1 HR, 33 RBI, 67 BB, 15/28 SB, .429 OBP• Led the Eastern League in Batting Average, On-Base %, 2nd in Runs
■ Nathan Culp (04-06): San Antonio Missions, San Diego Padres organization (Texas League)• Brosh has had a nightmare season, moving from team to team and level to level more often than Myron Noodleman. For all the details, read his August 21st blog at BaseballAmerica.com. To summarize, he has been in extended Spring Training, then single-A (because there was no room at AA or AAA), then to AA Connecticut, then an all-too-brief call-up to AAA San Jose, and then back at Connecticut (with Brock Bond). His combined stat line is not that bad for someone who is getting little respect from the Giants organization.
• 12-6, 3.20 ERA, 123-2/3 IP, 131 H, 55 R, 44 ER, 8 HR, 29 BB, 69 SO
■ Evan Frey (05-07): Mobile BayBears , Arizona Diamondbacks organization (Southern League).• 8-9, 4.21 ERA, 158-1/3 IP, 172 H, 83, R, 74 ER, 14 HR, 29 BB, 68 SO
• .267 BA; 62 R, 135 H, 21 2B, 6 3B, 1 HR, 31 SB
• On the roster of the Scottsdale Scorpions in the elite Arizona Fall League
• 2009 Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star in the Texas League
• 3.69 ERA; Led the Texas League with 31 Saves
• .236 Avg, 105 G, 364 AB, 33 R, 86 H, 16 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 30 RBI, 118 TB, 31 BB, 54 SO■ Rick Zagone (06-08): Frederick Keys (High-A Carolina League), Baltimore Orioles organization
• Mense was installed at first base for the Hammerheads. A quote from his blog, dated July 3:
"The second half has started on a really rocky path for me, I've got my four wheel drive on though and I'm trying to endure it the best that I can. I swear that there are some times when I absolutely hate baseball! It's such a frustrating game, but whenever you succeed it just makes it that much better. Baseball is something that I have such an extreme passion for. "
• Began the season with the Delmarva Shorebirds in the Low-A SAL League. After 13 games, he was promoted to the High-A Keys, where he pitched another 13 games. His numbers for the two separate 13-game hitches are remarkably similar, taking only a moderate dip after the promotion:
• Delmyra: 4-5, 4.66 ERA; 63.2 IP; 59 H, 35 R, 33 ER, 3 HR, 27 BB, 59 SO• Frederick: 1-3, 5.10 ERA, 67.0 IP; 70 H; 41 R; 38 ER; 7 HR; 22 BB; 59 SO
■ Lee Fischer (07-08): Kannapolis Intimidators (South Atlantic League), Chicago White Sox organization• Drafted in June
• .184 Avg; 32 G; 114 AB; 11 R; 21 H; 4 2B; 1 3B; 2 HR; 13 RBI; 33 TB; 17 BB; 24 SO
■ Greg Folgia (07-09): Mahoning Valley Scrappers (New York-Penn League), Cleveland Indians organization• Fischer began the season at Bristol (Appalachian League), then played 1 game with the Charlotte Knights of the AAA International League, and spent most of the season with Kannapolis. His travels would appear to mark him as an organization player being plugged in where a middle infielder is needed, similar to Garrett Broshuis.
• Bristol: .333, 1 G, 3 AB• Charlotte: .500, 1 G, 2 AB
• Kannapolis: .216, 20 G, 51 AB, 10 R, 11 H, 3 2B, 4 RBI, 6 BB
• Drafted in June, rumors had Folgia wanting to return to the Tigers for another season, but he finally chose to make the leap to the pros.■ Ryan Lollis (06-09): Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (Northwest League) San Francisco Giants organization
• .272 Avg, 65 G, 232 AB, 34 R, 63 H, 17 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 36 RBI, 95 TB
• Drafted in June, Lollis signed quickly and headed to Salem-Keizer.■ Kyle Mach (06-09), Arizona Giants (Arizona League) San Francisco Giants organization
• .312 Avg, 53 G, 199 AB, 31 R, 62 H, 9 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 25 RBI, 20 BB
• Drafted in June, Mach signed quickly and was assigned to the Rookie league
• .216 Avg, 31 G, 97 AB, 13 R, 21 H, 7 2B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 7 BB, 25 SO
■ Erik Dessau (04-05): Calgary Vipers, Golden Baseball League• Released by the Altoona Curve in June.
• Signed by the Explorers July 4th; Placed on the disabled list 8/18; Released by the Explorers August 25th
• Explorers stats: .281; 24 G; 89 AB; 17 R; 25 H; 11 2B; 1 HR; 10 RBI; 9 BB
• .245 Avg; 86 G, 302 AB, 60 R, 74 H, 18 2B, 6 HR, 41 RBI■ Justin James ( 02-03): Kansas City T-Bones, Northern League
• 4-6; 5.73 ERA; 34 G; 88.0 IP; 98 H; 57 R; 56 ER; 14 HR; 74 SO■ Taylor Parker (03-06): Fort Worth Cats, Texas League.
• 2-1; 6.05; 29 G; 41.2 IP; 40 H; 31 R; 28 ER; 1 HR; 22 SO■ Andy Shipman (03): Gary South Shore RailCats (Northern League)
• Began the season with the Kansas City T-Bones, Northern League. Was released in early June and picked up by Gary.
• Selected for the Northern League All-Star Game
• Named Northern League Pitcher of the Year; led the Northern League in Saves (15)
• Stats
LATE SIGNEES
■ Kyle Gibson (07-09) signed with the Minnesota Twins in mid-August. He has no stats listed at milb.com, and apparently was rested by the Twins for the sake of further recovery from his injury.
■ Aaron Crow (06-08) signed with the Kansas City Royals on September 17th. He is slated to be on the roster for the Surprise Rattlers of the elite Arizona Fall League.
Wednesday, April 14, 6:30 PM @ Springfield
Tuesday, May 4, 6:00 PM at Simmons Field
