MiLB Recap August 13th 2016

[King]

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Trenton - Jon Berti had two hits and Rowdy Tellez knocked him in both times, but the Fisher Cats fell 8-2 to Trenton on Saturday night at ARM & HAMMER Park.

 

It took Trenton (76-44) until the ninth inning to record a hit in the series opener on Friday, it took them only a few pitches to record one on Saturday. Shortstop Tyler Wade ripped a lead-off home run for a 1-0 lead.

 

The Thunder then tacked on seven runs in the second inning for an 8-0 lead. Mike Ford hit a three-run homer that chased Fisher Cats starter Jeremy Gabryszwski (7-9).

 

New Hampshire (55-63) relievers John Anderson (3.2 IP), Alonzo Gonzalez (2.2 IP) and Colton Turner (0.1) did not allow a Trenton run for the remainder of the game, allowing only three more hits.

 

New Hampshire's Jon Berti tripled and scored on a groundout by Rowdy Tellez for the first Fisher Cats run in the fourth inning. Berti singled and Tellez doubled for another run in the top of the sixth inning against winning pitcher Ronald Herrera.

 

Herrera (9-7) beat the Fisher Cats for the third time this season. He allowed two runs on six hits in six innings. Matt Wotherspoon went the final three innings to earn his fifth save.

 

For the Fisher Cats, Christian Lopes had two hits, extending a hit-streak to 12 games. Dwight Smith Jr. added a single in the fourth inning to extend his hit streak to 11 games.

 

The Fisher Cats wrap up the roadtrip on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. in Trenton. LHP Shane Dawson (7-4, 3.91) takes the mound for New Hampshire against Thunder LHP Caleb Smith (2-3, 3.52). Bob Lipman has the call on the WGIR Fisher Cats Radio. Network beginning at 4:45 p.m.

 

The Fisher Cats return to Northeast Delta Dental Stadium on Monday, August 15 to start a homestand with the Binghamton Mets. Join us as we begin our Back To School Celebration with a Pencil Bag Giveaway to the first 1,000 kids. For tickets, visit www.nhfishercats.com.

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This game was suspended on Friday night and picked back up in the 10th on Saturday.

 

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COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. - The Lansing Lugnuts (24-22, 60-56) and West Michigan Whitecaps (21-23, 60-51) were suspended due to wet conditions tied at 3-3 following ten innings of play on Friday night at Fifth Third Ballpark.

 

The game will be resumed at 6:00 p.m. Saturday in West Michigan, with the regularly scheduled game set for nine innings with a 7:00 p.m. start time.

 

The suspension was forced by Lugnuts reliever Jackson Lowery, who struck out West Michigan catcher Shane Zeile with the bases loaded to end the tenth inning.

 

Lane Thomas gave the Lugs a 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI single off Whitecaps starter Fernando Perez.

 

The 'Caps answered in the second inning, taking a 2-1 lead on a two-run single by Jose Zambrano.

 

The Lugnuts responded promptly in the top of the third inning, tying the game on a Ryan Hissey sacrifice fly and jumping in front on a Connor Panas RBI single.

 

David Gonzalez's sacrifice fly in the fifth knotted the score once more, and led to a slew of scoreless innings to follow.

 

Lansing starter Josh DeGraaf pitched a season-high five innings, allowing eight hits and three runs, walking two and striking out five. He was followed by a sterling performance from Tayler Saucedo, who notched 4 2/3 scoreless frames in relief before yielding to Lowery for the final out in the tenth inning.

 

The next Lugnuts home game is on Monday, August 15th, opening a seven-game homestand. For more information or to purchase your tickets, call 517-485-4500 or visit lansinglugnuts.com.

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Kings 3 Stars of the Night

 

1) Luis Santos: Santos pitched 6 strong innings giving up only 2 earned runs while striking out 7.

 

2) Justin Maese: Maese is starting to find his groove in Lansing as he pitched 6.1 innings striking out 6.

 

3) Vladimir Guerrero Jr: Vlad went 3/5 with 3 singles and 3 runs batted in.

 

Kings Platinum Arencibia

 

1) Jeremy Gabryszwksi: Gab got torched for 8 earned runs in 1.1 innings pitched.

 

 

 

Francisco Mejia update: 1/4 with a double. 50 games!

 

The official ruling was an error, but after the game it was changed to a double.

 

MiLB.comVerified account ‏@MiLB 4m4 minutes ago East Brunswick, NJ

BREAKING: Official scorer changes error to double, giving Francisco Mejia a 50-game hitting streak.

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[Belliss101]

Vladimir really starting to treat the cover of the ball. Very exciting stuff. Anyways anyways appreciated king!

[43211234]

Josh Palacios is putting up fantastic numbers in Vancouver.

[King]

Btw... Tyler Olander, the guy who is making few brief appearances for the GCL Blue Jays, is the basketball player we converted to a pitcher.

 

https://jaysjournal.com/2016/04/28/blue-jays-converting-6-foot-10-ncaa-basketball-champion-to-pitcher/

 

Hidden away in Dunedin, Florida participating in the Toronto Blue Jays extended spring training is a recent signing unlike any other.

 

Tyler Olander comes to the Blue Jays a decorated NCAA athlete, having won Division One national championships in both 2011 and 2014 with the University of Connecticut before playing professionally in Lithuania and Spain.

 

Standing 6-foot-10, Olander immediately becomes one of the tallest players in all of professional baseball. That size was his most imposing trait with the Huskies, where he appeared in 135 games including 59 starts.

 

For the basketball team.

 

Olander had recently come to the realization that his potential in professional basketball was limited, so he decided to contact Andy Baylock, the coach of UConn’s baseball team up until 2003 who just happened to be a family friend.

 

Baylock and Olander have worked to build his mechanics from the ground up, and Baylock, now 77, was immediately impressed with how quickly the tall left-hander adapted. “When I saw how much he wanted this, I said, ‘I’m going to be right there with you,'” he told Dom Amore of the Hartford Courant.

 

After building up to pitching full bullpen sessions after Olander fully overcame a foot fracture he suffered in Spain, Baylock convinced a former player from his UConn coaching days to come take a look at his new project.

 

Toronto Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker.

 

“I was cautiously optimistic,” Walker told the Courant. “Because I know Andy Baylock and have so much respect for his knowledge of pitching. And I knew Tyler had played for UConn, played for Jim Calhoun, the national championships, so I knew the work ethic would be there. I was curious.”

 

Olander has reportedly been throwing in the mid-80s with his fastball, a number that will climb as his body familiarizes itself with the motions of the sport, and is also working on a slider. Blue Jays assistant general manager Andrew Tinnish is pleased with the raw pieces Toronto has to work with, and Walker continues to be impressed by his early reports out of Dunedin.

 

“When you look at his size,” Tinnish told Amore, “his athleticism, his competitiveness, the work ethic, he has a fresh arm … it’s a baseball project we were interested in. It was a low-risk, no-brainer.”

 

Tinish is right, given the potential upside for such a minimal investment. These “raw athlete” signings are something more familiar to the National Football League, especially with great tight ends like Tony Gonzalez or Jimmy Graham, both of whom come from basketball backgrounds.

 

The Blue Jays have recently signed a football player of their own in former University of South Florida quarterback Bobby Eveld (formerly a 50th round pick of the New York Mets in 2010).

 

As Major League organizations work to leave no stone unturned in their search for talent, these gifted athletes from other sports with baseball in their background, most likely at a high school level, could become a more common target. All it will take is for one to hit, and there won’t be a team in baseball that doesn’t try to follow.

 

Olander’s maturity and mental approach on the field will be critical as the organization looks move slowly with him. He found himself as the centre of attention for the wrong reasons twice at UConn, once for an arrest in Florida for trespassing while on spring break, the other for a DUI that was eventually dropped due to a lack of evidence.

 

In his new baseball career, Olander is starting from scratch, relatively speaking. If all goes according to plan, he could potentially see some innings in short-season ball later this summer.

 

 

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20160618/former-husky-tyler-olander-returns-to-baseball-in-blue-jays-organization

 

He’s a Connecticut native who started for the UConn men’s basketball team and pitched in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.

 

Scott Burrell, right? Well, yes. But Tyler Olander, as well.

 

That’s right, Tyler Olander.

 

Olander, the Mansfield native who won a pair of national championship rings at UConn, has made the switch from fast breaks to fastballs. He has been with the Blue Jays in extended spring training in Dunedin, Florida for the past couple of months.

 

“It’s been a real blessing from God that it’s all happened so fast,” Olander said on Monday, shortly before hopping on a plane back to Dunedin after spending the weekend at his Mansfield home. “I’m in a great place, with great people and great coaches that have helped me out, great trainers. Hopefully, it can continue to work out, I can stay focused and make the most out of this great opportunity.”

 

Of course, the similarities between Burrell and Olander end with their shared UConn and Blue Jays ties. Burrell was a three-sport star at Hamden High who was first-round MLB draft pick (by Seattle in 1989) then a fifth-round pick by Toronto the following year. In fact, he’s the first American athlete to be a first-round selection in two different sports (Charlotte selected him in the opening round of the 1993 NBA draft).

 

Olander, on the other hand, hasn’t played organized baseball since the summer before his freshman year. His freshman year of high school.

 

Burrell tried balancing the two sports while in college, starring for the Huskies in the winter then pitching for the Jays’ minor-league affiliates in the spring and summer. Ultimately, basketball won out, and he wound up playing nine seasons in the NBA. Burrell just finished his first season as head coach at Southern Connecticut State.

 

“It’s easier for him now, because he has one thing on his mind, so it’ll be fun for him,” said Burrell, who doesn’t know Olander personally. “He doesn’t have to worry about schoolwork, basketball. It’s just business now. He did all the hard stuff already. Now, it’s just what goes on on the field.”

 

Of course, that’s not so easy, either, considering Olander dropped baseball after playing in the Eastern Connecticut Amateur Baseball League a decade ago. Two summers ago, after graduating from UConn, he pitched in a few games for the Vernon Orioles of the Greater Hartford Twilight League. But he really started getting serious about his return to baseball this past winter.

 

While playing professional basketball in Spain last August, Olander broke his foot in a preseason game. He returned home and underwent surgery in October. A couple of months later, he called Andy Baylock, the former UConn baseball coach and longtime family neighbor and friend, saying, “Coach, I want to pitch.”

 

Baylock, who coached Olander’s father, Skip, in college and once served as pitching coach for the U.S. national team, worked diligently with Olander twice a week at UConn’s indoor baseball facility over the winter, even while Olander’s right foot was in a boot cast.

 

“He was totally committed,” Baylock reported. “The kid really wants it.”

 

Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker, a UConn product and East Lyme native, came up to watch Olander and liked what he saw. Other teams (Detroit, Texas, Seattle) scouted Olander, as well, but it was the Blue Jays that signed him to a contract this past spring.

 

“I knew I wasn’t gonna step on the field and be good, but I was hoping for a team that would give me that chance to work and develop and see the potential in me,” he said. “The Blue Jays saw it.”

 

A 6-foot-10 left-hander who doesn’t throw too hard (high-80s) but throws strikes and has no mileage on his arm at age 23, Olander was deemed worthy of a chance.

 

“He throws downhill, high to low, and keeps it around the knees,” said Baylock. “He pitched out of a set position and is quick to the plate. If he keeps that downward plane, people aren’t gonna run on him. Plus, he’s not gonna back down from anything. He’s played on two national championship teams.”

 

As of early this week, Olander had yet to pitch in any extended spring training games. His surgically-repaired right foot started acting up a couple of weeks after arriving in Dunedin, and he was put on a rehab program for about a month. He just got back to throwing off a mound again about a week ago, and hoped to throw some batting practice and finally get into some games over the next week. He’s also been a leader to the mostly younger players in camp, and has learned a bit from Jays’ all-star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who’s been down in extended spring training rehabbing from injury.

 

At some point soon, Olander could be sent out to the Jays’ rookie league affiliate in Bluefield, West Virginia, or to their Class-A short-season team out in Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

“I think definitely now I’d have to come out of the bullpen and be a reliever,” Olander said. “I don’t have the arm endurance to last that long in games. Once I build up that endurance, whatever they want to do, I’ll be happy doing. If I can come in and get lefties out, that would be great. I think they want to see just as much as I do. There’s a lot left up in the air, having not played. I’m working well, progressing well. Now, I need to see where I stand with hitters.”

 

Although Olander’s return to baseball may seem to have come out of the blue, it’s something he talked about frequently over the years at UConn with his four-year roommate and teammate, Niels Giffey. When Giffey heard about Olander signing with the Jays, he texted, “You finally did it, I’m happy for you.”

 

Olander said he received congratulations from DeAndre Daniels, as well.

 

While Olander won’t completely close the door on his basketball career, he says it’s not even on his mind right now. No, he won’t be the next Scott Burrell and play nine seasons in the NBA. But could he be the next Mark Hendrickson?

 

Hendrickson played basketball at Washington State before eventually returning to baseball. A 6-10 lefty who didn’t throw hard, he wound up pitching 10 seasons in the majors – the first two with, you guessed it, the Blue Jays.

 

“If he ever made it happen, it would be a movie,” said Baylock.

 

But the former coach noted that, because of the dedication Olander has shown in his return to baseball, it’s already been a success.

 

“It’s been a fun project for me, because when you have someone who wants it that badly, you want to keep teaching,” said Baylock, who’ll turn 78 next week. “If nothing works out, he’ll be a better man for going through it.”

[Grant77]

Nice to see some K's from Masse. He doesn't necessarily need to rack up big numbers in that department, but I think his slider will get more swings and misses once he shows that he can command his fastball down in the zone more consistently. Right now they can just lay off anything low.

[Jimcanuck]

Buelens a bust?

[43211234]

Buelens a bust?

 

He was never really a prospect.

 

But yeah. 0 chance of being a big-leaguer.

[Angrioter]

Buelens a bust?

European can't play béisbol. It was nice while it lasted

[Jimcanuck]

He was never really a prospect.

 

But yeah. 0 chance of being a big-leaguer.

 

Ya, was just trolling

[Rusty_Savage]

Where's Bo?

[Jimcanuck]

Where's Bo?

 

illness.... likely wont see him til 2017 now

[Daniel Labude]

Where's Bo?

 

Emergency Appendectomy. Like Jimcanuck said, he probably won't play again this year.

[King]

Josh Palacios is putting up fantastic numbers in Vancouver.

 

Him and JB Woodmsn are opposite players