Baseball in Fort Wayne

Archive for the ‘Midwest League’ Category

Padres’ youth movement hits Triple-A Portland hard: Several former Fort Wayne players; including Kyle Blanks, Will Venable, Mat Latos and Greg Burke have seen big league action this year. It’s also spelt a drain on talent for Triple-A Portland. With the likelihood of others (such as Triple-A All-Star Home Run Derby winner, Chad Huffman) trickling onto the Padres’ roster in the coming weeks, the chances of Portland improving upon their league worst win-loss record doesn’t look good.

Speaking of Kyle Blanks, he’s starting to earn more widespread attention:

• Nick Canepa (Union Tribune) suggests he has a shot to be legendary
• Dan Hayes (North County Times) shoots the  breeze

Speaking of Will Venable, the former Wizards outfielder has been fortunate enough to play under close tutilage of his father, Max Venable, a former big leaguer who used to be the hitting coach in Fort Wayne. But apparently it was his mother’s advice that kept her son in baseball rather than the pursuit of hooop dreams. See Also: Venable Has Been a Quick Study.

Former Wizards skipper, Randy Ready has been promoted to the Padre’s hitting coach. Probably a move that also is intended to help keep him in the organization rather than jumping ship to be a big league manager when teams start interviewing to fill soon-to-be vacancies.

Mat Latos is also drawing a lot of acclaim since rising from Fort Wayne to the big leauges earlier this season. He netted his first MLB win in his second start. He allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings in a 6-2 Padres’ win over the Washington Nationals. He went seven innings in his next start before allowing former Wizards, Michael Ekstrom and Burke to finish his win in a game that also saw a Blanks homer.

While it’s early to call Latos the next San Diego ace of the staff, it’s probably refreshing news following the trade of the former incumbant, Jake Peavy, to the White Sox. In fact, Friday night, Latos gave up seven runs and eight hits in four-plus innings, leading to a 9-2 loss to the Cardinals. The 21-year-old had won his last four starts and was the first Padres pitcher in history to win four of his first five career starts.

More Latos:

• Latos Has Look of Potential Ace – SignonSanDiego
• Latos knows he must control emotions – SignonSanDiego
• It’s early, but there’s a lot to like about Latos – SignonSanDiego
• Latos leads rookie barrage in victory – MLB.com
• Latos Strong in Second Start – Another Padres Blog
• New kid Latos tough vs. Braves – SignonSanDiego
• Quick glance at Latos through PITCHf/x - Another Padres Blog
• Latos’ Early Struggles Against Lefties - FanGraphs
• Latos Shows Promise in Debut – Friar Forum
• Better Latos than Never – San Antonio Missions
• Mission Accomplished: Latos Nails Down First Win – SignonSanDiego
• Calling on Latos – Friar Forecast

On another Jake Peavy note, the former Wizard and Padre has begun his rehab work with the White Sox. He struck out five in his first assignment.

TinCaps right hander, Simon Castro took the seventh Midwest League honor earlier in the month when he was selected as MWL Pitcher of the Week for the week ending Augst 2nd. At the time, he was leading the league in strikeouts with 125 and had just concluded two dominant startswhere he allowed just one run while struck out out 15 over ten innings.

Current White Sox catcher, A.J. Pierzynski hopes to remain in Chicago but realizes tha the might have to try the free agent waters if the up and coming (and cheaper) competition continue to press.

Off the DL: Nick Hundley, Torii Hunter

Taking a Look at the Padres Prospects (requires MadFriars subscription):

• Doug Dascenzo
• Tom Tornicasa
• Tom Bradley

Speaking of MadFriars, FriarForecast recently caught up with John Conniff following his trip to Fort Wayne. He provides his take on the new erea of baseball in Fort Wayne

Wizards Where R They?

• Paul McAnulty: After being released by Boston, McAnulty signed with the Colorado Rockies. He’s now playing with the Triple-A SkySox.
• Jose Lobaton: The Tampa Bay Rays claimed the catcher off waivers from the Padres and assigned him to Double-A Montgomery.
• Freddy Guzman: Now playing in Triple-A Norfolk with the Orioles organization.
• Josh Barfield: After not getting claimed off waivers, Barfield was outrighted from Indian’s 40-Man Roster.

Finally, Paul DePodesta shares his thoughts on the current prospects in the Padres’ system. Many of them are former Wizards/TinCaps.

The Fort Wayne TinCaps dream season at Parkview Field continued Saturday as the team won its 80th game of the year, breaking the franchise record with 21 regular-season games left to play. The previous record of 79 was set in 1998 when the club was an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

The TinCaps set a franchise record for wins in a half-season earlier this year, when they went 45-25 in the first half. They have continued a sensational pace in the second half despite promotions of several key players.

“The depth of this team has been unbelievable all year,” TinCaps president Mike Nutter said. “They play with a lot of hustle and every player has worked incredibly hard to improve themselves. That’s a testament to the coaching staff and the San Diego Padres’ organization. We’re proud of the season these guys have had so far and we’re looking forward to even more memories in the playoffs.”

Several more records are expected to go by the wayside in the coming days. With Saturday’s victory, manager Doug Dascenzo is four shy of setting the franchise record for wins by a manager. Randy Ready, now the San Diego Padres’ hitting coach, won 209 games during his three-year stint, 2004-06.

The TinCaps are also closing in on the franchise attendance record. With Saturday night’s sellout crowd of 8,375, the TinCaps’ season attendance at Parkview Field reached 315,970. That is just short of the record total of 318,506, set with the franchise’s inaugural season of 1993.

Saturday night’s crowd was the second-largest in Parkview Field history. The TinCaps have sold out six of their last 11 home games.

Parkview Field will also play host at least one Midwest League playoff game on September 10th at 7:05pm against an undetermined opponent. The TinCaps qualified for the post-season with a firsthalf Eastern Division championship.

Tomorrow, Mat Latos will make his Major League debut when he takes the mound for the San Diego Padres against the Colorado Rackies. When he does so, he will have gone from A-Ball to the Majors is what amounts to half a season. Granted, this was not his first year in A-ball:

He made his professional debut with the short-season Single-A Eugene Emeralds in 2007, going 1-4 with a 3.83 ERA, although he struck out 74 in 56 1/3 innings. Latos was limited to 56 innings last season with three low Single-A and Rookie teams due to spending three months on the disabled list with a sore shoulder. After spending time in the Padres’ major league camp this spring, Latos’start of the season was slightly delayed by a sprained ankle. He opened with low Single-A Fort Wayne [signonsandiego.com].

The 21-year-old right hander was drafted by the Padres in the 11th round (333rd overall) of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft. In 2008, he appeared in seven games with the Wizards, going 0-3 with a 3.28 earned run average. He struck out 23 and walked eight over 24.2 innings pitched.

This year, he began the season with the TinCaps, where he compiled a 3-0 record and a miniscule .036 earned run average while striking out 27 and walking just three over 25.1 inning spitched.

Since his promotion to Double-A San Antonio, he has dominated nearly as much. In nine games that spans 47 innings, Latos is 5-1 with a 1.91 ERA, while striking out 46.

“He’s answered the call on everything we’ve asked him to do,” Padres vice president of scouting and player development Grady Fuson said after Latos was promoted to San Antonio in May. “He’s down in the strike zone, his velocity is great, his changeup is great. He’s ready to be challenged [MLB.com].

Latos’ debut will mark the 83rd Fort Wayne alumnus to make the Majors. He’ll be the seventh on the season and hold the distinction of being the first (and only for the moment) who played while wearing both a Wizards jersey and a TinCaps jersey.

UPDATE: TinCaps Issue Press Release:

“We knew Mat had huge potential, but this has even exceeded our expectations,” TinCaps team president Mike Nutter said. “I can’t express how proud we are of Mat’s maturation. He is a great example of the baseball talent our fans watch every night at Parkview Field.” 

Read the full release at TinCaps.com.

Been a while since I’ve done a Fort Fragments post, so ths one may get a bit long. Here’s some news and info tidbits related to Fort Wayne:

Former Wizard and Major League, Cory Doyne has signed with the Long Island Ducks.

Doyne joins the Ducks for his first season in the Atlantic League . . . Prior to last season, the Florida native spent eight years in the minors toiling in the Astros, Padres, Cardinals and Orioles organizations, earning a call up to the Major Leagues on June 16, 2007. The former eighth round draft selection appeared in five games for the Orioles that season, pitching three and two-thirds innings, while striking out three. He has 29 career minor league victories with a 3.32 ERA in 586 innings pitched.

Norwell native and current Arizona Diamondbacks’ farmhand, Jarrod Parker is ranked number twevle on Baseball America’s top 25 Prospects list. He’ll also pitch in the Baseball Future’s Game.

After a quick whip through the high Class A California League, Parker moved up to Double-A Mobile, where he has shown a fastball that can sit 92-96 mph with a plus slider and the makings of a potentially above-average changeup. A line drive off his wrist slowed the 20-year-old Parker down a bit, but he’s on pace to be one of the youngest pitchers in the big leagues by 2010 [Baseball America].

TinCaps in Full Motion: If you haven’t seen the commercial yet, take a look here (John King of Metta Audio).

Former (and recently retired) Wizard, Shawn Garrett is helping to develop players on an American League League roster.

I didn’t get to cover any of his visits to Parkview Field, but like Kyle Day, Justin Parker was wowed by the park when he visited with his South Bend Silverhawks.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Parker said Sunday. “I heard a lot of nice things about it, but I had no idea it was going to be this nice. It’s a really nice place.”

Former Fort Wayne Daisies player, Dr. Lois Youngen has endowed a baseball scholarship in honor of her father (Elden “Ty” Youngen) at Kent State University.

Baseball was quite prominent among the Youngen household. “Ty” Youngen was a member of the Kent State baseball team from 1924-26, earning three varsity letters and was a captain for his final season. Lois would follow in her father’s footsteps of playing baseball as she was a pitcher and catcher in the All-American Girls Professional League for the Fort Wayne Daisies and the South Bend Blue Sox.

In a game that involved many former Wizards/TinCaps, the Lake Elsinore Storm scored a 33-18 win over High Desert in Adelanto during late June. The Storm set league marks for RBIs, time of game (four hours, 10 minutes) and hits. Former TinCap Matt Clark went 5-for-6 with two doubles, a homer, five RBIs, two walks and scored a record-tying seven runs. Former Wizard, Felix Carrasco was 4-for-7 with two doubles, a triple, six RBIs and four runs. 

Left fielder Brad Chalk (4-for-9, two doubles, three RBI) . . . right fielder Sawyer Carroll (4-for-7, double, homer, three RBI, four runs scored) . . . third baseman James Darnell (4-for-7, two doubles, homer, three RBI, five runs scored). Center fielder Dan Payne (4-for-6, double, homer, three RBI, four runs scored). Second baseman Andy Parrino (2-for-6, two doubles, two RBI) . . . Left-handed reliever Matt Teague picked up the win allowing three runs on eight hits over 3 1/3 innings. Storm starter Jeremy McBryde allowed 11 runs on 13 hits over 4 2/3 innings. But he departed with a 22-11 lead.

Last season, after being released from the Yankees, former Wizard LaTroy Hawkins didn’t go home. He quitely came back to Fort Wayne. While back in town, he reconnected with agent, Matt Kinzer:

Kinzer is more than an agent. He’s a former major league pitcher and scout, and through the years has become the person who knows Hawkins as well as anyone . . Together, they studied video, did some bullpen sessions and attempted to rediscover the command of a fastball that has helped keep Hawkins in the big leagues for 15 years.

Memorial Stadium is pretty much long gone. Just some rubble left. The auction brought in about $20,000.

About 200 people attended the auction Saturday. Stadium general manager Randy Brown says the grand total for the day was $210,588. Aluminum bleachers along the third-base line brought the most money, selling for $65,000.

Former Wizard, Todd Donovan collected two hits off of future Hall of Famer, John Smoltz while the pitcher was rehabbing before making his season MLB debut with the Red Sox.

The TinCaps’ Blake Tekotte was the Midwest League Offensive Player of the Week for the week eneded June 29, 2009:

.538 (7-13), 2 R, 2 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 SB, 1.154 SLG
Currently on a 10-game hitting streak, Padres prospect Blake Tekotte put together another week of impressive plate appearances. The center fielder homered in consecutive games on June 25 and 26, amassing six RBIs in those two contests. He also recorded three multiple-hit games this week.

A couple transactions you might have missed. The Padres released Josh Alley and Derek McDaid while the Blue Jays called up Dirk Hayhurst. Alley was hitting .192 with Triple-A Portland at the time and has since signed with the St. Paul Saints. McDaid was 0-2 with a 7.42 ERA with Double-A San Antonio. He has since signed with the Quebec Capitales of the Can-Am League. Brockton (also of the Can-Am League) has released former Wizard Stevie Delabar. Hayhurst has quietly been productive with Toronto. In eleven appearances, he has a 1.84 ERA with nine strikeouts over 14.2 innings.

TinCaps Reveal Playoff Schedule, Fireworks & Thirsty Thursday for First Round Game, September 10th ~ Playoff Tickets On Sale Tuesday, July 14th at 10:00am

The Fort Wayne TinCaps, with a record of 45 wins and 25 loses in the first half of the 2009 Midwest League season, clinched first place in the Eastern Division and a playoff berth. The first round is best two out of three games, with the winner advancing one step closer to the Midwest League Championship series. It is set to begin with the TinCaps on the road for game one on Wednesday, September 9th.

The team return to Fort Wayne for game two on Thursday, September 10th. The first pitch will be thrown at 7:05pm. The TinCaps also announced today that they have added a post-game fireworks show for this game and are continuing the Thirsty Thursday promotion for the Thursday playoff game. If a third game is necessary, it will take place at Parkview Field on Friday, September 11th beginning at 7:05pm.

Individual tickets for the TinCaps first home playoff game on Thursday, September 10th go on sale Tuesday, July 14th at 10:00am and are available by logging on to TinCaps.com, calling the TinCaps Ticket Office at    260-482-6400    or visiting the Parkview Field Ticket Office located at the south entrance to the ballpark. Tickets for a potential Game #3 will also be available for purchase.

The Fort Wayne TinCaps had six players invited to the MidWest League All-Star Game. Catcher Sawyer Carroll, infielder James Darnell, rigt-handers Anthony Bass and Brad Brach as well as lefty Zach Herr were on the winning Eastern Division roster tonight in the game played in Clinton Iowa. Jaff Decker had been invited after South Bend outfielder Brendan Duffy was promoted to Advanced-A Visalia, but Decker’s trip to the disabled list prohibited him from participating.

Carroll was awarded the Star of Stars Award after going 4-for-4 with two stolen bases and a run scored. Anthony Bass picked up the win. Over one inning, he struck out two while giving up one hit and a walk.

Darnell had a double, a walk and an RBI. Herr pitched a third of an inning and walked one. Brach also pitched a third of an inning. He gave up one hit and struck out one.

Fort Wayne TinCaps outfielder, Sawyer Carroll received Midwest League Hitter of the Week honors on Monday while right-hander, Anthony Bass snagged his second Pitcher of the Week award on the season. Both are MidWest League All-Stars and their performances are the latest headlines from an amazing run which has Fort Wayne on the verge of its first playoff berth since 2006.

“This team just continues to impress,” TinCaps president Mike Nutter said. “The players have more than lived up to the high expectations and we’re thrilled to be on the brink of making the postseason.”

Carroll, 23, went 12-for-25 during the past week (June 8-14). The University of Kentucky product ripped four doubles and a home run, scored eight runs and drove in six. In Sunday’s game at West Michigan, Carroll went 4-for-5 and finished a home run shy of the cycle. Last week he was selected to his second All-Star Team in as many seasons; he was a Northwest League All-Star for the Eugene Emeralds in 2008.
 
Bass, 21, won both of his starts last week, allowing two runs (one earned) in 12 innings of work to lower his ERA to 2.17, second-best in the Midwest League. This is his second time winning Pitcher of the Week honors; he was also selected on April 20th after delivering 12 scoreless innings to open the season.
 
It is the first time this season any team in the Midwest League has won both Pitcher and Hitter of the Week.

Related BBIFW Posts:

• Bass is First TinCap to Earn MWL Honors

You gotta think that if he had been there all year, Fort Wayne TinCaps’ outfielder Jaff Decker would have been on the Midwest League All STart team. Turns out, it didn’t take a whole season. In fact, Decker was added to the Midwest League Eastern Division All-Star team today, becoming the sixth TinCap on the squad.

South Bend Silver Hawks OF Brendan Duffy was promoted to Advanced-A Visalia, opening the roster spot. The move also pushed Fort Wayne OF Sawyer Carroll into the starting lineup for next Tuesday’s game in Clinton, Iowa.

Decker, 19, burst onto the scene this year, blasting a home run in his first at-bat with the TinCaps. He remains the only player to hit a home run onto the TreeTops Rooftop Party Area beyond the right-field wall at Parkview Field in a game. Decker was selected 42nd overall in last year’s draft and led all of Minor League Baseball with a .513 on-base percentage. He was the Arizona League MVP with the Peoria Padres. He is listed as the No. 3 prospect in the San Diego organization by Baseball America.

Decker, Carroll, INF James Darnell, RHPs Anthony Bass and Brad Brach along with LHP Zach Herr are on the All-Star roster for the Eastern Division

Former Wizards Pitcher, Jon Huber has signed a deal with the Atlanta Braves and will report to Triple-A Gwinnett County. Huber has some limited Major League experience and had been pitching with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League prior to the signing.

Former Wizards right-hander, Cory Doyne has signed with the Nationals and joins Triple-A Syracuse. Doyne has spent the past two seasons in the Baltimore Orioles organization.

Former Wizards outfielder, Will Venable has returned to the Padres after starting the season at Triple-A Portland. I recently got Will’s autograph. Glad to see him back in the big leagues.

As expected, former Wizards catcher, Chad Moeller was designated for assignment when Matt Wieters was called up. He cleared waivers and was assigned to Triple-A norfolk.

The TinCaps will have four representatives at this year’s Midwest League All Star game. Congratz to INF James Darnell, OF Sawyer Carroll, and right-handers, Brad Brach and Anthony Bass. If you’d like to help former Wizard Kyle Balnks make the Triple-A All-Star game, you can cast a ballot similar to the MLB version.

You may have noticed a new page here at Baseball in Fort Wayne. It’s my “Twitter Feed” page that contains a flash widget that provides the last several “tweets” I’ve done. I decided to do this becuase I think it provides a really nice extension to the BBIFW community. Also, I often will post tidbits of Fort Wayne related news that doesn’t make its way into a full post becuase there simply isn’t enough content or time for me to do so.

Also on that page, I’m going to maintain a listing related entities or persons I find on Twitter. So far, I have found the Dayton Dragons (@DaytonDragons), Kane County Cougars (@KCCougars) and the West Michigan WhiteCaps (@Whitecaps). I’ve also found the Portland Beavers (@portlandbeavers), the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. 

Would love to see the reast of the Midwest League teams (and he MWL for that matter) make their way onto Twitter.