Month: August 2010

Kentucky rookie league playoff participants

Minor League Baseball
Matt Payton bats against UK: BluGrass Baseball photo

Matt Payton: BluGrass Baseball photo

The 2010 MiLB season is winding down with league playoffs set to start over the next week. The three rookie-level leagues have finalized their playoff participants with four Kentucky minor leaguers qualifying for postseason play. Check out a quick break down of each below:

Gulf Coast League

  • Matt Payton — The former Western Kentucky University infielder and 2010 Phillies draftee batted leadoff for the GCL Phillies in the team’s semifinal victory. Payton didn’t record a hit but scored twice. The Phillies face the GCL Rays in a best-of-three series starting tonight.

Appalachian League

  • Logan Darnell, Gunner Glad — Former University of Kentucky teammates Darnell and Glad will look to lead the Elizabethton Twins to victory in the Appalachian League playoffs. Glad is batting .240 with two home runs and 14 RBI for the Twins, and Darnell is 2-3 with a 2.20 ERA in 10 games. Since moving to the starting rotation, Darnell is 2-2 with a 1.44 ERA in five games. The Twins face the Pulaski Mariners in the first round.
  • Bob Revesz — The former University of Louisville left-handed reliever and 2010 Cardinals draftee is 4-2 with a 4.84 ERA in 16 appearances for the Johnson City Cardinals. Revesz will look to be a valuable southpaw out of the Cardinals’ bullpen during the team’s first round series against the Burlington Royals.

Two teams still haven’t qualified for the rookie Pioneer League playoffs.

MiLB Roundup: Bats lose; Legends, Hot Rods win; Shaffer streaking; Adcock gets no decision; Lueke gets save

Minor League Baseball

Nathan Adcock; Photo by mwlguide via Flickr

Highlights from Kentucky MiLB action:

  • Paducah native Shawn Roof and the Toledo Mud Hens sent the Louisville Bats to a 6-2 loss. Roof tallied three hits, one RBI and one run scored for the Mud Hens, and right fielder Wladimir Balentien homered for the Bats.
  • Lexington Legends pitchers surrendered just four hits in a 14-1 win over Hagerstown. First baseman Kody Hinze slugged his 17th home run of the season, right fielder Jacob Goebbert drove in five runs and right-handed pitcher Jose Cisnero surrendered one run in six innings.
  • Bowling Green Hot Rods pitchers surrendered just three hits in a 4-1 win over Fort Wayne. Catcher Mark Thomas was 2-4 with a double and two RBI.
  • Former NKU outfielder Jake Shaffer extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single for high A High Desert. Monday’s game was the first in the streak in which Shaffer didn’t have multiple hits.
  • Former NKU right-handed pitcher Josh Lueke recorded his 17th save of the season for AA Tacoma.
  • Former Murray St. left-handed pitcher Daniel Calhoun improved to 8-0 on the season after pitching two scoreless innings of relief for low A Quad Cities.
  • Elizabethtown native Nathan Adcock took a no decision after surrendering two runs in five innings for high A Bradenton.
  • Louisville native and 2010 Astros draftee Jason Chowning earned his second professional win with three scoreless innings of relief for short-season Tri-City.

Webb throws to hitters, looks to rebound in 2011

Uncategorized

Ashland native and former University of Kentucky right-handed pitcher Brandon Webb threw to batters for the first time in almost 17 months over the weekend. Check out a video from Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic of the simulated game above and links from the aftermath of the session below:

  • Piecoro recaps the simulated game for the Republic, writing “Webb’s smile made clear how he felt, and both he and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. spoke with high degrees of confidence that the light at the end of the rehab tunnel was within sight.”
  • Piecoro included quotes from Webb and Stottlemyre in a post on his blog.
  • Diamondbacks interim manager Kirk Gibson told Piecoro he hopes to get Webb back in time to pitch in some games in September.
  • You can see the second half of the simulated game here.
  • Despite missing all of 2010 so far Webb will still look for a substantial contract for next season. Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors quotes Webb’s agent, Jonathan Maruer: “Webb loves Arizona and they will be considered highly, but Brandon WILL be looking at an incentive-based contract [with] a guaranteed base where [Brad] Penny and [Rich] Harden at $7.5MM, [Ben] Sheets at $10MM and [Tim] Hudson’s $9.33MM average annual value are all conversation starters.  Webb, when healthy, is one of the top pitchers in the game.”

MiLB Roundup: Bats, Hot Rods win; Cooper gets victory; Shelby, Kuhn have big games; Blevins promoted

Minor League Baseball

John Shelby; Photo: UK Athletics

Highlights from Sunday MiLB action:

  • The Louisville Bats evened its series with Toledo with a 8-0 shutout win. First baseman Yonder Alonso, catcher Devin Mesoraco and right-fielder Danny Dorn each homered for Louisville.
  • Kentuckians Michael Bertram and Shawn Roof were each 1-4 in the game for Toledo.
  • The Bowling Green Hot Rods evened its series with Fort Wayne with a 7-5 win. Right-handed pitcher Albert Suarez earned his first win of the season after surrendering one run in five innings.
  • The Lexington Legends were off Sunday.
  • Former UK outfielder John Shelby was 3-5 with two runs scored for AA Birmingham.
  • Former Murray St. first baseman Wes Cunningham extended his hitting streak to 12 games for short-season Eugene with a 2-4 performance.
  • Danville native and 2010 Tigers draftee Patrick Cooper improved to 4-2 on the season after surrendering one run in six and two-third innings for low A West Michigan.
  • Trinity High School alum Tyler Kuhn was 4-5 with a home run, five RBI and three runs scored for AA Birmingham.
  • Louisa native Steven Blevins was promoted to AA New Britain where he pitched three and two-third scoreless innings in his debut.
  • Paducah native Michael Broadway earned his fourth win of the season for AAA Gwinnett with two scoreless innings of relief.
  • Boyd County native Tyler Gatrell picked up his 12th save of the season for the rookie-level AZL Royals.

2011 Newcomers: Murray State University

Minor League Baseball

Murray State University has posted its 2011 roster which means we have out first look at the official list of Breds’ newcomers for the upcoming season. The roster may change slightly by the spring semester, but this list should at least give you a good idea of what the Breds will look like in 2011. You can see the full roster here, but I’ve listed the newcomers below with year and previous school:

  • INF — Wes Warren — FR — Hendersonville HS (Tenn.)
  • RHP — Cameron Finch — FR — Collier HS (Tenn.)
  • C — Clay Fuson — FR — Lipscomb HS (Tenn.)
  • INF — Chase Freeman — FR — Anderson HS (Ind.)
  • LHP/OF — Brock Downey — FR — Murray High School (Ky.)
  • LHP — Thomas McGurk — FR — Medina HS (Ohio)
  • RHP — Tyler Saltsman — FR — Grayson County High School (Ky.)
  • LHP — Kyle Cornett — FR — Eastern High School (Ky.)
  • OF — Paul Ritzheimer — SO — Kaskaskia CC (Ill.)
  • LHP — Bryan Babin — JR — Mississippi Gulf Coast CC
  • RHP/1B — Tyler Beers — JR — Mineral Area College (Mo.)
  • INF — Travis Isaak — JR — Lincoln Trail CC (Ill.)
  • OF — Corey Larson — JR — Skyline CC (Cal.)
  • C — Jacob Rhodes — JR — Wabash Valley College (Mich.)
  • LHP — Luke Shuemaker — JR — Rend Lake College (Paducah, Ky.)
  • LHP — Mark Roberts — JR — Lincoln Tail CC (Henderson, Ky.)
  • RHP — Curan McNeely — JR — Land Lake College (Ill.)

MiLB Roundup: Bats, Legends, Hot Rods lose; Revere tallies 4 hits, steals 3 bases; Shaffer, Wilson homer

Minor League Baseball

Ben Revere; Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Highlights from Saturday Kentucky MiLB action:

  • The Louisville Bats opened their three-game series against Toledo with an 8-3 loss. First baseman Todd Frazier was 2-3 with a run scored.
  • The Lexington Legends couldn’t salvage a series split in its final road game of the season after suffering a 6-5 loss to Kannapolis. Catcher Ben Heath was 2-3 with a triple and two RBI.
  • The Bowling Green Hot Rods opened their four-game series with Fort Wayne with a 3-2 loss. No Hot Rods batter tallied multiple hits in the game.
  • Lexington Catholic alum Ben Revere was 4-5 with a run scored and three stolen bases for AA New Britain.
  • Former UK outfielder Antone DeJesus was 3-4 with a double, triple and two runs scored.
  • Former UofL outfielder Boomer Whiting was 3-4 with a run scored for AAA Syracuse.
  • Former NKU outfielder Jake Shaffer slugged his ninth home run of the season for high A High Desert.
  • Covington native Neil Wilson slugged his fifth home run of the season for AAA New Orleans.
  • St. Mary’s alum Shawn Roof was 3-4 with two RBI and a run scored for AAA Toledo.
  • Louisville native Stephen Shackleford earned his second win of the season after throwing three scoreless innings for short-season Salem-Keizer.
  • Former Murray St. first baseman and 2010 Padres draftee Wes Cunningham singled in four at-bats to extend his hitting streak to 11 games for short-season Eugene.

MiLB Roundup: Bats, Legends, Hot Rods win; Cunningham streaking; Bertram, Glad, Kuhn homer; Darnell gets win

Minor League Baseball

Logan Darnell; BluGrass Baseball photo

Highlights from Friday Kentucky MiLB action:

  • Second baseman Wilkin Castillo drove home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to send the Louisville Bats to a 2-1 victory over Columbus. Cuban phenom Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth inning for the win and reportedly hit 105 mph on the radar gun.
  • The Lexington Legends scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to earn a 5-3 win over Kannapolis. Center fielder Grant Hogue was 4-5 with a double and two runs scored.
  • The Bowling Green Hot Rods pitching staff struck out a club-record 18 batters in a 12-6 win over Lake County. Right fielder Brett Nommensen drove in four run in the win.
  • Former UK left-handed pitcher and 2010 Twins draftee Logan Darnell earned the win for rookie-level Elizabethton after pitching six shutout innings.
  • Former UK infielder and 2010 Twins NDFA Gunner Glad supported Darnell with his second home run of the season for rookie-level Elizabethton.
  • Former UK infielder Michael Bertram slugged his 11th home run of the season for AAA Toledo.
  • Former Murray St. first baseman and 2010 Padres draftee Wes Cunningham extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a 1-2, two walk performance for short-season Eugene.
  • Lexington Catholic alum Ben Revere returned from his DL stint for AA New Britain with an 0-3 performance.
  • Trinity alum Tyler Kuhn was 3-4 with a home run and double for AA Birmingham.

2011 Newcomers: University of Louisville

College Baseball

The University of Louisville has posted its 2011 season roster on the athletic department website, which means we have the official list of newcomers for next season. You can see the full roster here, but I’ve listed the newcomers with position and former school below:

  • 2B/SS — Alex Chittenden — FR — Lawrence Central HS (Ind.)
  • INF — Adam Engel — FR — Loveland HS (Ohio)
  • LHP — Cody Edge — FR — Cherokee Washington HS (Iowa)
  • C — Kyle Gibson — FR — Henderson County High School
  • OF/LHP — Cole Sturgeon — FR — Owensboro Catholic High School
  • 3B/OF — Ryan Seiz — FR — Christopher Dock HS (Penn.)
  • RHP — Chad Green — FR — Effingham HS (Ill.)
  • LHP/1B — Brad Hedden — FR — Roxbury HS (N. J.)
  • RHP/3B — Brandon Alphin — FR — Bullitt East High School
  • SS — Ty Young — FR — Malvern Preparatory HS (Penn.)
  • RHP — Travis Tingle — JR — Cleveland State
  • C — Jeff Gardner — FR — Whitefield Academy
  • RHP — Jeff Thompson — FR — Floyd Central HS (Ind.)
  • RHP — Dace Kime — FR — Defiance HS (Ohio)

MiLB Roundup: Bats, Legends, Hot Rods lose; Cowgill homers; Jones, Marks win; Ross struggles in loss

Minor League Baseball

Colling Cowgill; Photo: UK Athletics

Highlights from Thursday Kentucky MiLB action:

  • Columbus pulled within a half game of the Louisville Bats for first place in the International League West Division after giving the Bats a 5-2 loss. Right fielder Danny Dorn was 2-3 with a double and RBI.
  • The Lexington Legends outhit Kannapolis 8-6 but still suffered a 4-1 loss. Left-handed pitcher Luis Cruz struck out eight in a quality start after surrendering three runs in six innings.
  • The Bowling Green Hot Rods tallied six hits but couldn’t score in a 4-0 loss to Lake County. Right-handed pitcher Yorman Mayora took the loss after surrendering one run in four innings.
  • Former UK outfielder Collin Cowgill slugged his 15th home run of the season and drove in three runs for AA Mobile.
  • Former UofL left-handed pitcher Justin Marks earned his sixth win of the season for high A Stockton after pitching two and one-third scoreless innings of relief.
  • Former NKU right-handed pitcher Nathan Jones improved to 10-5 on the season after surrendering one run in seven and one-third innings for high A Winston-Salem.
  • LCA alum Robbie Ross fell to 12-10 on the season after surrendering five runs in two and one-third innings for high A Bakersfield.

Revere may return early from injury; Friedrich shut down; Wright named top Team USA prospect

College Baseball, High School Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Christian Friedrich; Photo by Matt McGee via Flickr

Latest links from around Kentucky MiLB action:

  • Aaron Fitt of Baseball America has ranked the top 20 prospects on the collegiate Team USA and lists University of Louisville infielder Ryan Wright at No. 10 on the list. (subscription required)
  • Ken Lipshez of the New Britain Herald reports Lexington Catholic alum Ben Revere, thought to be out for the season after being hit in the face by a pitch earlier this month, was in the lineup for AA New Britain Thursday before being scratched due to an equipment issue.
  • Also apologies to Lexington Catholic fans after a commenter pointed out I’ve incorrectly being labeling Revere as a LCA alum recently. The problem has been corrected.
  • Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post reports former EKU left-handed pitcher and top Rockies prospect Christian Friedrich has been shut down for the season after his latest arm injury.
  • Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes University of Kentucky outfielder Brian Adams is in the running for playing time at wide receiver for the UK football team, though he is having some trouble transitioning from baseball to football.
  • Mike Fields of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports Paul Laurence Dunbar senior pitcher Cameron Langfels has committed to play collegiately at Eastern Kentucky University.
  • Fields also notes Forcht Bank has extended its its title sponsorship of the KHSAA state baseball tournament through 2013.