Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘Michael Ekstrom’

Among the players competing for jobs with the Tampa Bay Rays this season will be former Fort Wayne Wizards, Michael Ekstrom and J.J. Furmaniak.

Ekstrom was claimed off waivers from the Padres who designated him for assigmnent to make room for John Garland. The 26-year-old right-hander made his Major League debut back in September of 2008. He logged 18.3-innings in his twelver games of MLB action last year.  While at Triple-A Portland, he had a 1.73 ERA over 62.3 innings.

While with the Wizards in 2005, Ekstrom went 13-6 with a 3.70 ERA and 112 strikeouts over 167.2 innings pitched. He also appeared in 3 games with the Wizards in 2004. He was 0-2.

Furmaniak has 29 games of MLB experience under his belt, seeing time with the A’s and Pirates. While withthe Pirates in 2005, he experienced a “Field of Dreams moment” when he descretely sprinkled some of his grandfather’s ashes on the Wrigley field ivy.  He also place with Yokohama of hte Japanese Central League in 2008 before returning to the US as a Phillies farmhand in 2009.

With the Wizards in 2001, Furmaniak appeared in 123 games, hitting .220 with five dingers and 35 RBI.

Chase Headly Has Bright Future

First off, Duh! With that said, Cory Brock put together a really nice piece on the Padres’ rookie outfielder who played third base for the Wizards. Its really good at pointing out how Chase Headley has doen everything right within the organization and consistently strived to improve himself while taking his game to higher levels. Take his recent four-hit performance (in a game former Wizard Dirk Hayhurst spot started for another former Wizard in Jake Peavy and former Wizard Luke Carlin was the only bench player not used) and combine that with the fact that the Padres MASH unit is filled with outfielders, and one might rightfully speculate that we’ll see him with the big league squad out of Spring Training.

MadFriars Interview Sawyer Carroll

Sawyer Carroll appeared in a handful of games with Fort Wayne at the end of the season, capping what can be considered a successful pro debut. Denis Savage of MadFriars caught up with the prospect. (subscription required).

Ekstrom & Geer Come Through

Savage also put together a solid article that details the rise of the two former Wizards pitchers, who were teammates on the 2007 Champtionship San Antonio squzad. (Subscription Required).

LeBlanc Gets Win, Leg Up on 2009 Competition

SanDiego Spotlight details Wade LeBlanc’s first MLB win a week ago Monday:

The victory for Wade comes in his third major league start and gives a glimpse of what may come next season.  The Padres are actively auditioning young talent for next years roster and Wade LeBlanc would love to break camp with the big league club next year.

LaTroy Hawkins May Return to Houston

There’s speculation that the LaTroy Hawkins, who put together one of the most dominant pitching performances in Wizards’ history, may be resigned by the Houston Astros for 2009.

Hawkins has pitched so well the Astros would like to bring the right-hander back for another season if the price is right. Hawkins, 2-0 with a save and a 0.00 ERA in 20 games, has struck out 22 and walked just four in 17.0 innings.

Michael Ekstrom got into his first MLB game last night, making him the 75th former Wizards player to do so. Over two innings, he gave up no runs, walkd two and struck out onw. He was part of a team that also fieldied former Wizards, Dirk Hayhurst, Chase Headley, Will Venable, Matt Antonelli, and Drew Macias.

Former Wizards catcher, George Kottaras has been added to the Boston Red Sox’s 40-man roster. This sets the stage for determining who will become the 75th and 76th former Wizards player to make his MLB debut; as well as the 13th and 14th player former Wizards debut during the 2008 season.

Pitcher, Michael Ekstrom was called up a few days ago, but has not yet appeared in an MLB game. So, will it be Kottaras, Ekstrom or perhaps someone else who is yet to be called up?

Kottaras is now one of four catchers that the Reds Sox are carrying, so there is no gaurantee that he will even see action. His offensive production leaves a little to be desired and I gotta wonder if he’ll ever be more than a “Four-A” player given the fact that he has spent pretty much two full seasons at Triple-A with this being his first taste of big league action.

My guess is that the Red Sox are thinking ahead to 2009 a little bit and want to see how he handles the pitching staff.

“How he gets into games, or if . . . I really don’t know,” Francona said. “The opportunity may present itself at some point. . . . You’re always trying to strike a balance and trying to stay ahead of everything so that if something comes up you don’t miss an opportunity to maybe get a Kottaras an at-bat. But I don’t know how you can game plan how to get four catchers in a game. Something’s either going to go wrong or terribly right . . . but even if he’s working in the bullpen with Tuck, it’s an exciting time for him” [source: The Boston Herald].

Related BBIFW Posts:

• Wizards Where R They: George Kottaras
• Macias & Ekstrom to Join Padres Roster
• Wizards’ Alumni (Page)