Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘draft’

Taylor Kinzer achieved a lifelong dream Wednesday afternoon when he signed a professional baseball contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at the team’s spring training complex in Tempe, Arizona.

“This is my dream,” Kinzer said after the signing. “It’s what I’ve wanted to pursue my entire life.”

Kinzer will report to a five-day minicamp in Arizona with other Angels draft picks who signed early with the organization. The next stop will be Orem, Utah, where he will suit up for the Orem Owlz, one of the Angels’ two rookie league affiliates.

Opening day for the Owlz is June 23, followed by a two-and-a-half-month season consisting of approximately 80 games.

A right-handed pitcher who played the last two seasons for Taylor University, Kinzer was 8-0 on the mound for the Trojans this past spring as they captured the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament championship and a trip to the NAIA National Tournament.

“My experience at Taylor has been life-changing,” Kinzer said. “The community is awesome and my team was the best group of guys I’ve ever played with. Coach [Taylor head coach Kyle Gould] has prepared me and pushed me to be the best I can be—both on and off the field. I really respect him and it’s been a blessing to have him as my coach.”

By signing a professional contract, Kinzer will forego his final two years of eligibility at Taylor, but the Angels will help Kinzer financially to complete his Taylor education.

“I definitely had my mind set on playing, but it depended on getting school paid for,” Kinzer said. “When the Angels made that happen, it made my decision that much easier.”

Following the signing, Taylor head coach Kyle Gould had high praise for his former ace.

“I knew when we signed Taylor two years ago, that his goal since he was a little kid was to play professional baseball,” Gould said. “Although we would have loved to have him back for his final two years of eligibility, I couldn’t be happier for Taylor as he has earned the opportunity to pursue his life-long dream of playing professionally as a member of the Los Angeles Angels organization.”

Even with Kinzer’s departure, the family ties to Taylor baseball will continue. Kinzer’s father Matt Kinzer, who played professionally for the St. Louis Cardinals, is the pitching coach for the Trojans. He will be joined by Taylor’s younger brother and incoming freshman, Derek Kinzer, this fall.

See also: WANE TV Story and Video of Kinzer leaving Fort Wayne to Report to Angels’ Camp

Related BBIFW Posts:

• Taylor Kinzer Drafted by Angels and Other Picks of Local Interest
• Kinzer Leads Taylor in Debut
• Local Ties: Area Standouts Lead Taylor University

Former Angola High School standout and current Ball State University player/student, Zach Dygert was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 48th round (1,432nd overall) of the 2009 MLB Amateur Entry Draft today.

You might also be interested in the following:

• WANE TV story on Zach Dygert by Ross Kinsey
• MLB Scouting video on Zach Dygert

Taylor University and former Homestead standout, Taylor Kinzer was drafted by the Angels with the 741st pick, which was the final pick of round 24.

The ace of Taylor’s 2009 MCC Tournament championship team, Kinzer was a perfect 8-0 on the mound for the Trojans. This is the second time Kinzer has been selected in the MLB Draft.  In 2006 he was a 34th round pick of the Washington Nationals as an outfielder, but Kinzer chose to continue his education and he landed at Taylor in the fall of 2007.

“We are really excited for Taylor,” said Taylor head coach Kyle Gould. “This is a major accomplishment for him and a testament to the hard work that he put in over the past two years in becoming a great pitcher.  His efforts on the mound down the stretch were key to us winning a conference championship and advancing in the NAIA National tournament.  Taylor’s selection by the Angels demonstrates that playing baseball at Taylor can provide the opportunity and exposure to move on to professional baseball.”

Through two seasons at Taylor, Kinzer is 13-5 on the mound including his perfect record in 2009.  In 135 career innings pitched, he has walked only 28 batters while striking out 95. At the plate he has batted .316 each of the last two seasons to go along with 45 extra base hits in 351 at bats.

Major League Baseball allows draftees until August 17 to sign with their team. Kinzer would forego his final two years of eligibility at Taylor if he signs with the Angels.

Related BBIFW Posts:

• Kinzer Leads Taylor in Debut
• Local Ties: Area Standouts Lead Taylor University

Other Local Ties Notes:

St. Louis native, Josh Worrell - who is a student at Indiana Weslyan University – was selected by the Royals in the 30th round (902nd overall).

The TinCaps may soon have an almost local player. Carmel High School standout and current University of Michigan baseball player, Christopher Fetter was chosed by the Padres with the 264th overall pick in the 9th round.

Photo is courtesy of Taylor Univeristy and Don Rogers.

I thought about simply tagging this onto the previous post on Matt Bush – but then I thought more about it and wanted to give it proper attention.

Remember back to 2004, when the Padres – amid much criticism – drafted the hometown boy Matt Bush with the number one overall pick? They passed up Steven Drew and JAred Weaver. They passed over many others hwo have already gone onto to play and produce at the Major League level.

The DFA that occured a couple days ago probably surprised many given the fact that the Padres had protected him in the recent Rule 5 Draft.

However, since being drafted, Bush has been arrested – three times, he’s failed to hit at even low-A ball (which I would think a top overall pick could do), and he’s converted to a pitcher in a last ditch effort to have a career. The next stop was Tommy John surgery and another season on San Diego’s dime. And now, just as opportunity starts to peak out over the horizon, Bush self destructs yeat again.

A witness, who requested his name not be used because of the ongoing police investigation, said Bush was drunk, threw a golf club into the dirt, picked up and threw a freshman lacrosse player and hit another one. Bush also yelled “I’m Matt (expletive) Bush,” and “(expletive) East County,” before driving over a curb in his Mercedes when leaving the campus, according to the witness [SignOnSanDiego].

You may also be interested in Police interview alleged victims, witnesses in Matt Bush case.

The bottom line is that there is a very real possibility that Matt Bush’s career might be over. One run-in at age 18 after becoming a millionaire might be chalked up to youthful immaturity. However, what we have here is a pattern of self destruction. I imagine the Padres have recognized this and even suspect they’ve tried to intervene to help mentor and nurture the million dollar baby.

Parting ways might now be the only choice and the best thing for Matt Bush. If he does catch on elsewhere, I surely hope the team that takes a chance on him have a plan to build this young man’s character as well as his talents. If he doesn’t catch on, I hope he gets the help he needs to continue life – albeit one that is filled with the regret of having wasted enormous talent.

Photo by Chad Gramling. Special thanks to a reader who brought the SignOnSanDeigo links to my attention.

Right handed pitcher John Madden and outfileder Javis Diaz were selected with picks 23 and 26 respectively in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft today. Madden goes tot he Mets and Diaz goes to the Phillies.

With the Wizards in 2006, Diaz appeared in 27 games where he hit .315 with seven RBIs and eight stolen bases. The following year with Fort Wayne, Diaz appeared in 117 games. He had a .277 average with seven home runs, 36 RBIs and 31 stolen bases.

Madden appeared in 49 games with the Wizards in 2006, all of the in relief. He compiled a 2-3 record with a 2.12 ERA and 48 strikeouts over 51 innings pitched. He also had 20 saves to boot.

However, neither player put up very impressive numbers during the tenure following their Fort Wayne stints. Paul DePodesta echoes this sentiment on his blog:

John is a low 3/4 reliever who has done a nice job over the past two seasons in Lake Elsinore and just turned 26.

Javis is a a 24 year old outfielder who can run, but he started losing playing time this year in Elsinore.

In most cases, players are exposed in the minor league phase when we believe that they will likely have a better opportunity with another Club as of next spring. Sometimes it’s simply a numbers game – who is moving up a level, who is going to get the playing time, etc.

Another reaction from around the Blog-o-sphere:

• Phillies Nation on Diaz: “Another poor hitter, he stole 28 bases last season for the Padres A+ team. Nothing else says he’s a winner.”

Every MLB First Year Player Draft represents a new crop of players who may see playing time at the Castle. On occasion, some of the draft picks make their way into Fort Wayne late in the season, while others trickle in the following year (and some get to skip us). I’m not going to break down the crop of possible Wizards because there are many places on the web that do a fine job of detailing the potential of this year’s “future Friars”. Here’s my suggestions:

• SignOnSanDiego has great line items of Day One and Day Two. They also have a nice article on first round pick, Allan Dykstra.
• Friar John also talks about Allan Dykstra. Always a lot of hype about a first rounder I guess.
• MadFriars.com talks with Towers, Fuson and Gayton on their draft thoughts (subscriber only warning).

Yesterday, Justin Parker was the lone Northeast Indiana representative in the draft. Today, two more were added.

Kyle Day, was selected in the 12th round (359th overall) by the Cincinnati Reds. Last year, he was drafted in the 9th round by the Chicago Cubs, but chose to return to Michigan State instead, where he was their top offensive performer. Day hit .320 with 9 home runs and 48 runs batted in and 39 bases on balls over 175 at-bats. His 28 strikeouts was a college career low and accompanied his .543 slugging percentage. He had been shooting for going in the first five rounds.

Purdue pitcher, Matt Bischoff was selected in the 47th round (1,416 overall) by the New York Mets. the former New Haven High School standout from Decatur was named to the 2008 Big Ten first teamafter completing the year as the team’s number one starter with a 6-3 record and helped lead the Boilermakers to second place finishes in both the Big Ten regular season and tournament.

Last year, the Arizona Diamondbacks selected Norwell’s Jarrod Parker with their first round selection. This year, they selected another Indiana Parker when they chose shortstop Justin Parker with the 198th pick during the 7th round of the 2008 MLB Draft.

Parker is a former Wayne High School standout and a junior at Wright State University. He lettered all four years for the Generals and was a two-time All-Summit Athletic Conference selection. As a senior, he was named to the Division 3A All-State team as he hit .498 with six home runs and 22 stolen bases.

Parker also holds the school record for batting average in a season, which he set as a senior while leading his team to the sectional championship. Upon graduation, he was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 43rd round of the 2005 Major League draft but chose Wright State over going pro. While in school, he has earned honors as 2007 Second Team ABCA All-Region, 2007 First Team All-Horizon League and 2006 Horizon League All-Newcomer Team.

This season, Parker hit .395 with 70 hits, 44 runs scored and 53 runs batted in over 177 at bats. He hit 8 home runs and drew 25 walks. He started 46 games at shortstop and collected 21 multi-hit and 15 multi-RBI games. He missed seven games after being struck in the jaw with a pitch at Arkansas in February. 2008 honors included First Team All-Horizon League, ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Second Team and he was on the Preseason Brooks Wallace Award Watch List. Parker also is tied for first in career doubles (55) at Wright State.

Today is draft day. And while it’s four years since the Padres selected Matt Bush – the hometown kid from San Diego’s Mission Bay High School – as the top overall pick, the team remains optimistic about the future of the shortstop-turned-pitcher.

This is despite the fact that he has never played above A ball.

He’s been arrested for bar fighting at age 19, had a spat of injuries and proven he can’t hit. The Friar had to postpone the conversion to pitcher experiment when Bush tore en elbow ligment after 8 pitches with the Wizards (though it was reported to be 98 mph). He underwent Tommy John surgery that September and likely will pitch very little this season if at all.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that, once he comes back from his surgery, that he’s going to be worth that 1-1 [first pick of the first round],” says Mike Couchee, the Padres’ minor league pitching coordinator. “He’s going to come back better and in better shape than the first time we sent him out as a pitcher [source: SI.com].”

So, while the word is out on the 2008 picks, maybe Fort Wayne will see the 2004 top overall pick, Matt Bush, yet again in 2009.