Aug. 6, 2010
Any Vanderbilt baseball fan taking a look around the major leagues the past few years has seen plenty of familiar faces.
Mike Minor is continuing the trend.
After an injury to Atlanta Braves starter Kris Medlen, Minor, a left-handed ace for the Commodores from 2007-2009, received the news that every minor leaguer dreams about. He’ll take the mound for the Braves against the Houston Astros on Monday, joining several other former Vanderbilt players in the major leagues.
This isn’t mop-up duty with a team calling up the young guys to get some valuable experience late in a lost season. The Braves are battling for their first division title since 2005, currently holding a two-game lead over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. They are counting on Minor to deliver similar results to what he put up at Triple-A Gwinett, where he posted a 4-1 record with a 1.99 earned run average, striking out 35 in 31 2/3 innings.
Minor, taken seventh overall in the 2009 draft by the Braves, was the fifth Commodore in three years to be a first-round draft pick and the sixth since head coach Tim Corbin took over the Vanderbilt program in 2003.
If Minor enjoys similar success to other Vanderbilt first-rounders, he’ll probably want to go house-hunting around Atlanta.
Top draft pick David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays leads the American League in wins with 14 and started the All-Star game this season. The hard-throwing lefty, who as a rookie clinched a World Series berth for the Rays by closing out the 2008 American League Championship Series, boasts a stellar 2.82 earned run average to go along with his gaudy record. With Price leading a top-notch pitching staff in Tampa Bay, the Rays are battling the New York Yankees for supremacy in the powerful AL East.
Price was one of Vanderbilt’s most decorated athletes, earning SEC Male Athlete of the Year and All-American honors in 2007 after leading the Commodores to SEC tournament and regular season championships.
Recently called up by the Pirates, third baseman Pedro Alvarez has shown off the pop in his bat that made him a star in Nashville to give a lift to the long-suffering fans in Pittsburgh. In a 14-game span from July 3-21, Alvarez hit seven home runs, including back-to-back two-homer games against the Milwaukee Brewers to spark the Pirates to blowout victories. The Pirates won’t be in the playoff conversation this season, but a talented, youthful line-up led by Alvarez provides definite hope for the future.
Alvarez was one of Vanderbilt’s best power hitters, tying a school record with 49 home runs in just three seasons while driving in 162 runs and hitting a robust .349. He was the second overall pick in the draft in 2008.
Jensen Lewis, a third-round draft pick in 2005, has made 149 appearances with the Cleveland Indians as a relief specialist, with six career wins, 14 saves and 14 holds.
Jeremy Sowers (2004) has made 71 starts with Cleveland since 2006 and is looking to return to the show soon, while fellow first-rounders Casey Weathers (2007) and Ryan Flaherty (2008) are awaiting their major league debuts.
