July 23, 2010
Time to check on former Vanderbilt players in the pros.
Major Leagues
Pedro Alvarez– The Pittsburgh Pirates first round pick in 2008, the No. 2 pick overall, made his big league debut on June 16 against the Chicago White Sox.
After an adjustment period in June where he hit .152 with 22 strikeouts in 46 at bats, he has been on fire in July. He had back-to-back two home run games against Milwaukee on July 20-21 and is hitting .318 with seven homers, four doubles and 15 RBI this month.
Petey is hitting .250 with seven homers and 20 RBI in 31 games entering Friday night’s action. With Triple A Indianapolis he hit .277 with 13 homers and 53 RBI in 66 games.
Jensen Lewis- Lewis has split time between the big league club and Triple A Columbus. He started out with Cleveland in April and had a great April posting a 2-0 record and 1.93 ERA in nine relief appearances.
For whatever reason they sent him down in May and then brought him back in June. He was 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in nine appearances in June and then got sent down again at the start of July.
The club brought him back up again and he made two appearances, the latest against Minnesota on July 19th. He was sent down to Columbus again where is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 13 appearances with 19 strikeouts and five walks in 16.0 innings.
David Price- Everyone has heard about the great season Price has had so we will skip him and go on to the rest of the guys.
Triple A
Mike Baxter- After interning with Coach Corbin and the Commodore baseball team last fall as part of finishing out his degree requirements, Baxter moved on to spring training and San Diego’s Triple A team the Portland Beavers.
He is hitting .258 with 10 homers, seven triples, 15 doubles and 41 RBI in 92 games.
Matt Kata- The oldest Commodore in the group. Kata has been playing professional baseball since getting drafted in 1999. He is currently with Houston’s Triple A team in Round Rock, Texas.
Kata is batting .279 with five homers, 18 doubles and 39 RBI in 96 games with the Express and got to be a witness of Will Ferrell’s foray into minor league ball up close and personal. Pay close attention to around the 2:50 mark of this video.
Ryan Klosterman- Klosterman played in 28 games for Florida’s Triple A club New Orleans before going on the disabled list with a thumb injury. He was hitting .215 at the time with two homers and seven RBI.
Mike Minor- Minor started the year with Atlanta’s Double A team the Mississippi Braves and went 2-6 with a 4.03 ERA in 15 starts. His strikeout numbers were phenomenal with 109 to 34 walks in 87.0 innings before getting called up.
He is 3-0 with Triple A Gwinnett and has a 1.93 ERA with 20 strikeouts and six walks in 18.2 innings.
Minor participated in the All-Star Futures Game in Anaheim which is usually a game that showcases guys on the fast track to the bigs. He pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the game.
Ryan Mullins- Mullins is pitching for Minnesota’s Triple A team Rochester and recently went on the disabled list.
He was 4-7 with a 4.60 ERA in 19 appearances, including 16 starts. Mullins notched 58 strikeouts with 26 walks in 90.0 innings and made his last appearance on July 18 before going on the disabled list.
Jeremy Sowers- Sowers is 1-6 with a 6.86 ERA in 23 games with Cleveland’s Triple A team in Columbus. He has pitched in 23 games with two starts and last pitched against Durham on July 20th, giving up seven runs on 11 hits in three innings of relief.
Double A
Matt Buschmann- Buschmann said in the winter he was making the move to the bullpen with the hopes of getting called up to the bigs quicker in the San Diego organization.
He started the year with Triple A Portland and was 0-4 with a 9.38 ERA. He was sent down to Double A San Antonio where he is 0-1 and currently has a 3.98 ERA to go with 48 strikeouts and 14 walks in 43.0 innings. H has made 18 appearances, 14 in relief with four starts sprinkled in.
Cesar Nicolas- Nicolas signed with the Detroit organization in the offseason after playing independent ball in 2009. He has proven to be a great signing playing for Double A Erie.
He is hitting .288 with seven homers, 19 doubles and 38 RBI in 67 games for the SeaWolves. He has been particularly hot over the last 10 games, hitting at a .368 clip with six doubles a homer and six runs scored.
Antoan Richardson- Richardson is having a solid year with Atlanta’s Double A team in Mississippi. He teamed with former Commodore Mike Minor for a while as well.
Richardson is hitting .297 in 46 games for the Braves with 13 stolen bases in 15 attempts.
Jeff Sues- Sues is 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 19 relief appearances with Altoona, the Double A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He recorded 19 strikeouts with 12 walks in 25.2 innings with four saves before going on the DL on July 5th with a right ankle sprain.
Single A
Caleb Cotham- Cotham has yet to pitch this season for the New York Yankees Single A team the Charleston River Dogs.
He has been on the disabled list rehabbing a knee injury.
Ryan Flaherty- Flaherty started the year with the Chicago Cubs Double A affiliate the Tennessee Smokies but was sent to Single A Daytona after 23 games.
He hit .183 with a homer and nine RBI for the Smokies before moving to Florida. He is hitting .277 with two homers, three triples and 24 RBI in 66 games with Daytona and is playing with former Commodore teammate David Macias.
Brett Jacobson- Jacobson is having a stellar year as a reliever for Baltimore’s Single A team, the Frederick Keys.
He is 6-0 with a 2.44 ERA in 23 games with 43 strikeouts and 17 walks in 51.2 innings.
Steven Liddle- Liddle is playing for Minnesota’s Single A team in Beloit, Wisconsin.
He is hitting .253 with eight homers, 13 doubles and 42 RBI in 79 games for the Snappers and has also stole nine bases in 11 attempts.
Liddle made one lucky fan a $100 earlier this month.Read about it here.
David Macias- Macias is hitting .219 with a homer, two triples and six doubles in 75 games for the Chicago Cubs Single A affiliate Daytona.
Casey Weathers- After sitting out the 2009 season with Tommy John surgery, Weathers made his return to the mound for Colorado’s Rookie League team Tri City.
He did not allow an earned run in 11.2 innings of relief over 10 games, with 21 strikeouts and five walks. Weathers recently moved up to Single A Modesto, where he has a save while also recording a 16.87 ERA.
Rookie
Russell Brewer– Brewer was drafted by Colorado in June and assigned to Casper. He has been held out of action thus far.
Andrew Giobbi- Giobbi was drafted by Seattle in June and was assigned to Pulaski.
He is hitting .278 with three doubles and five RBI in 17 games.
Brian Harris- Harris signed a free agent contract with Tampa Bay in June and was assigned to Princeton.
He is hitting .146 with a double in 18 games.
Drew Hayes- Hayes was drafted by Cincinnati in June and was assigned to Billings.
He has made two appearances thus far and made his pro debut on July 15th. He has thrown two scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
Chase Reid- Reid was drafted by St. Louis in June and was assigned to Batavia.
He made his pro debut on July 3rd and is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in 11.0 innings. He has 15 strikeouts and just one walk in that span and opponents are hitting at just a .128 clip off of him.
Check back on Monday for current players playing Summer League ball.
