Top 9 MU Baseball Stories of 2011: MU in the Majors & Minors

9. Brock Bond & Aaron Senne sidelined for 2011 with injuries

The pair of promising minor leaguers found themselves on the shelf this season.   Bond played in 19 games and then suffered a concussion in a game and never got back to being able to play.  Senne had Tommy John surgery at the beginning of the season and was out for the year.  

8. Doug Mathis, World Traveler

Mathis, who had spent part of the previous three seasons up and down with the Texas Rangers, spent time in the minor leagues of the Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's during the season, finally signing on for a stint with the Samsung Lions in Korea.  Upon his return from Korea, he was signed to a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox on December 2nd.

7. Max Scherzer pitches in the AL Playoffs

Max had a good year with the Detroit Tigers (15-9, 4.43 ERA), helping take them to the AL Central Championship.  He pitched great in a game against the Yankees in the ALDS (1.23 ERA), and then stumbled in the ALCS against Texas (9.72 ERA, 8.1 IP)

6. Former Mizzou Catchers contribute

Former MU catcher Nicholas was featured in an milb.com story for his leadership skills with the Spokane Indians, an important characteristic for a catcher on his way up the ladder.  Trevor Coleman had a good season with the High-A High Desert Mavericks (Mariners organization), but the highlight of his season was being called up to AAA Tacoma for 10 days as a temporary fill-in.  

5. Nick Tepesch makes a splash in  his first full season

Nick Tepesch spent a solid year with the Hickory Crawdads (Texas Rangers organization) of the High-A Southern Atlantic League.  He was the Rangers' June Pitcher of the Month, 

4. Ian Kinsler in the World Series.  Again

For the second straight year, Ian Kinsler played a key role in helping the Texas Rangers make it to the World Series.  The Rangers failed to win the crown again, but Kinsler had a much better series this time around, earning a lot of attention for his performance in Game 2

3. Four Tigers drafted; 3 begin their pro careers

Matt Stites (17th round, Padres), Phil McCormick (31st round, Giants), Conner Mach (46th round, Yankees), and Zach Hardoin (47th round, Astros) were all drafted.  Mach chose to return for his senior year with the Tigers, but the other three spent the summer putting up good numbers in the Rookie Leagues 

2. Kyle Gibson's fast-track to the Show delayed by injury

Kyle Gibson received a lot of press and a lot of hype for his performance in Spring Training and then with the AAA Rochester Red Wings in the early weeks of the season.  Most experts predicted he would be a mid-to-late season call-up to the Minnesota Twins.  But then his numbers started to drop, and then the other shoe dropped.  In early September, Gibson underwent Tommy John surgery and is hoping to return to the mound in time for Spring Training 2013.

1. Aaron Crow makes Major League debut with the KC Royals

After a layoff of more than year between his first draft and finally signing with the Kansas City Royals, and then a rough and disappointing first full year in the minors, Aaron Crow grabbed the attention of baseball fans and the Royals' management in 2011 Spring Training, earning a spot on the opening day roster.  Crow became an early leader in the Kansas City bullpen, so much so that he was chosen to join the American League team in the All-Star Game.  Altogether, an impressive rookie year.