Pro Baseball Blue Devils, 2016 Edition

[jimsumner]

That's what happens when you fish in the big pond. Some of the monsters get away.

[jimsumner]

The Phillies selected James Ziemba in the 37th round. He's a 6-10, left-handed pitcher. He's a redshirt sophomore and thus can return.

Tampa Bay selected Brian McAfee in the 38th round. He's a pitcher and a grad student. So, he's gone.

[-jk]

The Phillies selected James Ziemba in the 37th round. He's a 6-10, left-handed pitcher. He's a redshirt sophomore and thus can return.

Tampa Bay selected Brian McAfee in the 38th round. He's a pitcher and a grad student. So, he's gone.

Any idea likelihood he'll return? 37th round seems really out there...

-jk

[awhom111]

Two more incoming players got drafted. The Giants picked Adam Laskey in the 31st Round, but he has already affirmed his commitment.

Matt Mervis was picked by the Nationals in the 39th Round.

[jimsumner]

I would expect Ziemba, Laskey and Mervis to be on the team next year. But that's not based on inside info, just the fact that they weren't picked all that high. They should be able to do better down the road.

[-jk]

Thanks! (That's a ridiculous number of rounds...)

-jk

[DU82]

Thanks! (That's a ridiculous number of rounds...)

-jk

Newly elected Hall of Famer Mike Piazza was picked in the 62nd round.

Baseball fills more positions than any other sport. While NFL football has a larger roster (45) than baseball (25), baseball is filling at least five teams per franchise. With the washout rate pretty high (players after 2-4 years realizing they won't make the majors) they need a lot of new players each year.

[jimsumner]

Newly elected Hall of Famer Mike Piazza was picked in the 62nd round.

Baseball fills more positions than any other sport. While NFL football has a larger roster (45) than baseball (25), baseball is filling at least five teams per franchise. With the washout rate pretty high (players after 2-4 years realizing they won't make the majors) they need a lot of new players each year.

Most of those wash-outs don't figure it out on their own.

It's figured out for them.

Minor league baseball at the lower levels is fiercely Darwinian. Move up or move out.

[awhom111]

There has been a lot of good news over the past week.

Two players made their professional debuts after a long time out of action. The Rangers had Mike Matuella pitch at Spokane in the Short Season A Ball Northwest League. James Marvel pitched for West Virginia, the Short Season A Ball affiliate of the Pirates in the New York-Penn League.

The start of that short season league also meant the first game of the season for Andy Perez with the Red Sox affiliate in Lowell after his first season was spent in the Rookie League. Kenny Koplove was moved to Williamsport for the start of their season.

Alex Hassan is off the disabled list now.

[awhom111]

I will go with the good news first.

Brian McAfee made his professional debut with Princeton, Tampa Bay's rookie level affiliate in the Appalachian League.

Mike Matuella was shut down for the rest of the season after his debut.

Chris Capuano was moved from the 15 day to the 60 day disabled list.

Alex Hassan is also back on the 7 day disabled list.

[awhom111]

Since the last update Alex Hassan got put on and taken off the DL.

Bailey Clark made his professional debut with the Cubs' affiliate in the Rookie Arizona League after signing a deal with an above-lot bonus.

[awhom111]

The Cubs promoted Bailey Clark to their Short Season A ball team in Eugene.

Alex Hassan was put back on the DL shortly after the last update.

[awhom111]

Marcus Stroman has really made it now. A player at the Little League World Series has picked him as a favorite player.

Alex Hassan has been back off the DL.

[awhom111]

Nate Freiman is playing for Israel's national team again as they try to qualify for the World Baseball Classic. He went 1 for 4 and had a walk in their 5-2 win over Great Britain. Games are on ESPN3, although exact timing can be tricky because of the format of the mini-tournament.

Also, Sarkis Ohanian ended his season on the DL.

[awhom111]

Nate Freiman has a double in four at bats and came around to score the only run for Israel as they beat Brazil 1-0.

[awhom111]

I was going to post this yesterday, but I was rudely interrupted by a power outage. Nate Freiman and Israel qualify for next year's World Baseball Classic with a 9-1 win over Great Britain. Nate went 0 for 3 with 2 walks in the championship game.

[75Crazie]

In the category of "Things I Never Expected to See": two former Duke baseball players pitching against each other in an MLB Championship Series (Stroman for Blue Jays, Otero for Indians). Duke has gotten several callouts by the announcers.