Brooklyn, NY- The Tri-City Valley Cats are in a hot-spot this week, working to make the New York Penn League playoffs. First baseman Tyler White has contributed in a few ways down the stretch. In the twenty-two games he's played with the ValleyCats, he's gotten twenty-five hits and eighteen RBI, and worked nine walks.
White has level jumped three times this year, starting off in the GCL, then to Appalachian League, finally landing in Short-Season A ball in early August. The Astros selected White in the 33rd round, on the final day of the 2013 MLB Draft.
The team visited Brooklyn to take on the Cyclones, who are also battling for a playoffs spot, and he spoke about adjusting to the league, and playing in the same league as a former Western Carolina alum.
Getting Acclimated: I wouldn't say harder, just different. They threw me in the mix, and it just took me awhile to get back to what I've always done and simplifying.
First to Third: It took me a long time to get back to playing third. It was weird for me. But now I'm comfortable. It's easier and I definitely like playing third better.
Former Teammate, Now "Rival": [Julian Ridings] Oh, we're good buddies. We work out together at the same gym in the off-season. We knew each other since high school. We're both from a small town. We play different...he's definitely entertaining. We're different on the field, put it that way.
The Big Hurt: Being away from home and family is the hardest part. I'm not sure why I started slow, but I think I just needed to stay within and get comfortable here.
The Big Lesson: From last season to this season, I'm seeing more pitches. I'm getting in better counts. I'm trying to hit the ball in the gaps, up the middle, and not trying to do so much when I get up there.
After returning from a high ankle sprain (left), short stop Gavin Cecchini went on a tear through the New York Penn League. He's hitting .302 with 42 hits, 26 of them in August. In five games he had nine hits and two walks.
Before the Cyclones began a crucial four-game series against the fading Staten Island Yankees, the Mets top prospect discussed his season:
On Post-Injury Success: [Monday night saw the end of Cecchini's hitting streak, halted at sixteen games. He was one game short of the Cyclones franchise record set by Lucas Duda] I'm not doing anything differently. I'm just getting repetitions. After coming back, I started slow. My timing was a little off.
On 'The Process': We all get better making mistakes. My goal is to get one percent better everyday. Not looking ahead, but focusing on the moment.
On Working With Cyclones Hitting Coach Bobby Malek: [I've learned a lot] for sure working with him. What makes him great is that every hitter is different, and he works with that, he works with your swing, and doesn't try to change it. You tweak it, but don't change it. If I want to hit early, or do flips and tosses, he's there. For all of us.
On His Teammate, Second Baseman LJ Mazzilli: He's become a great friend. We're very similar, in that we have fun out there. We have the same personality. He's a great player and a great person.
"I need to improve everything. If a player tells you he doesn't need to improve something, he's a liar and has an ego problem. I want to improve in all aspects of the game."
Follow Gavin on Twitter @GavinCecchini2
Follow the Cyclones @BKCyclones
Brooklyn, NY- Growing up in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, or any part of the region, isn't easy for an aspiring baseball player. Those frigid winters don't allow for the year-round advantage of Georgia and Florida, powerhouses in developing high school and college talent.
But Tyler Young figured it out. As any kid knows growing up in that climate, there's ways of continuing to learn and grow as an outdoor sport athlete.
Young found the opportunity working with the All-Star Baseball Academy in West Chester. The ASBA has multiple facilities in the Pennsylvania area, and the WC branch gave Young a place to take lessons offered all year.
"My parents were great, and paid for lessons to make sure I could keep playing," Young said before a game against the rival Brooklyn Cyclones at their home park in Coney Island. "They had indoor turf and you can take live BP and ground balls. And the coaches have good connections and can get you exposed."
Young, a Malvern Prep grad, grew up loving baseball and showed talent at second and third base early. As a third baseman for the Renegades, New York Penn League affiliate of the Rays who drafted him in the 7th round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of Louisville University, he's gotten a healthy amount of playing time.
In 30 games he has thirty-eight hits, sixteen RBI, and sixteen walks.
"I'd say my natural position is at second. But I've definitely learned a lot over there."
He's learning a lot beyond what he does at the plate. There's plenty of difficulties to work through that affect the everyday experience of playing professionally. The bus rides are often grueling. Just playing everyday takes time to settle into routine-wise and physically. But adjusting mentally is a whole other process.
Young admits the lack of days off is tough coming out of a college schedule. But that other process has been more dominant. That's been the true challenge.
"My attitude [improving]. If I have a problem, I go up there with a positive attitude now."
There's been struggles at the plate lately, though. At least in Young's mind, he's not done as well as he wanted to. But he's working through that too.
"I'm seeing the ball better," he said. "I'm sticking it out. [I know] I'll have more success."
The Renegades, 2012 New York Penn League champions, are 2.0 games back from first in the New York Penn League McNamara Division.
"It is his capacity for self-improvement and self-redemption which most distinguishes man from the mere brute." - Aung San Su Kyi
The news that Rays pitcher Josh Lueke was optioned back to the minors caused some reaction on Twitter. There were jokes, and people expressing no feeling other than happiness that he was sent back after a brief stint. The idea was 'Good. That's what he deserves. Back where he belongs.'
Unless I missed the memo, the minor leagues are not a dumping ground for convicted sex offenders. It is not a punishment equal to anything a person that's so viciously harmed another should receive.
The brief time he served was simply a tap on the wrist for a decision to violate an intoxicated, sick, passed out girl. But the suggestion that going back to the minors is 'what he gets' is not only an insult to the players that would never hurt women, but also an inaccurate view of the minors.
MiLB affiliates, while not always owned by their parent club, are professional baseball and the direct line to the majors. It's why they call it a 'system.' The system doesn't operate independently of the majors. So please do us all a favor, and stop suggesting the minors are a place where guys who've committed sex crimes should be sent to play.
That subject was covered deftly by those writers. But what about the message this sends to players, both his teammates, other players in the organization, and throughout MiLB? In the minor leagues, players are developing an attitude toward everything. They're figuring a lot out everyday. They're normal guys, in an abnormal situation. Everything is under a microscope, and not just what they do on the field, but what they do with their time off of it. For a good example, it's the Rays that handed out a suspension for one of their player's recent missteps, when minor leaguer Josh Sale posted offensive comments about a strip club visit on Facebook.
Sale was suspended, sending a message that his behavior wasn't acceptable. That action by the Rays doesn't square with having a sex offender in their organization. So what's the message here? The courts punished Lueke with a mild 42-day sentence, but beyond that what did he do to earn redemption, forgiveness, and acceptance back into baseball? If the Rays attitude is that he did his time, they're missing the point. And if you talk about how much you hate steroids, and wrote chest-puffing, self-important diatribes on Alex Rodriguez and the ruination of baseball and all that is sacred, well, let's assume you have the same problem with the message Lueke's employment sends to young boys about conduct and girls.
Has Lueke received counseling? Has he worked with sex abuse victims to hear their stories and learn something valuable from their pain? He talked about the unfairness of being defined by a mistake, but what has he done to re-define himself?
We aren't asking the right questions. We aren't having a conversation. Redemption and rehabilitation are gifts we receive when asked, and they are hard-earned.
Lueke, so far, hasn't been required to do anything that shows he actually deserves forgiveness and a job in baseball. He can. And hopefully will.
We're talking about saving baseball from steroids, and turning Alex Rodriguez into some caricature villain that's destroyed all that's good in the sport. But we're not talking about men with serious issues- like committing sexual violence- on the level we need to.
Professional players, and really young kids, need to be educated and sent the right message about that too.
Brooklyn, NY- In the midst of an early August playoffs push, the Lowell Spinners might want to save Jamie Callahan's arm.
There's pitch limits of course (he's usually held to around 70), but that has more to do with the protective nature of teams. There's also the New York Penn League All-Star Game, which Callahan was selected to play in. All standard reasons for limiting him to a couple of innings Sunday against the Staten Island Yankees.
But Callahan has also been a reliable workhorse in his first season of short-season ball. And although teammate Sergio Gomez's numbers rival the righty's, Gomez has a lot more experience under his belt. He's also a Penn League repeat from last year.
Callahan has been the most successful and worked pitcher by standard of inexperience. And as the Spinners continue to close in on a post-season opportunity, that success could make a huge impact on their chances.
Taken by the Red Sox in the second round of the 2012 MLB Draft, Callahan debuted last year in the Gulf Coast League. He made four starts, pitching eight innings and giving up eight runs on five hits, striking out seven. In his debut season with the Spinners, he's pitched forty-one innings, allowed eighteen runs, and walked just eleven. In nine starts, he's struck out 35. He closed out July with a six-inning no-hit outing, while striking out a career-best nine.
"Everything has clicked lately," he said before a game in Staten Island, "I'm keeping the ball down in the zone. All my pitches are working."
The Florence, South Carolina native throws a fastball that's been clocked mid-90's, and his curveball is widely considered his best offering. As a senior at Dillon High, he went 7-1 with a 0.89 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 51 innings of work. As a two-way player (he also played third and first), he hit .439 with 32 RBI and five home runs.
"My passion was always on the mound," he said.
The adjustments have been few and the transition to the pro life hasn't been difficult. He's watching his diet and being mindful of how he lives his life off the field.
"I'm holding up well, but I'm also treating my body right."
The Spinners have played themselves into a good spot. They've gone 6-4 in their last ten, and are 1.5 games back from the first place Tri-City Valley Cats. Their pitching has been their biggest strength. Down the final stretch, Callahan is determined, but having fun with the possibilities.
"It would be a good experience for me, and for all of us. We're gonna ride it out. And hopefully bring a title back to Lowell."
You can follow Jamie Callahan on Twitter @JCallahan15
A few years ago I interviewed a player that had been released from a big league team. He'd found a job in independent baseball, trying to reclaim his reputation, career, and life.
We sat in the stands chatting after BP, in a broken mess of a stadium, and talked about his recent success. He was animated as he spoke, excited and confident about what could be. Then I dropped the bomb.
The question was about why he was there in the first place. And why he'd been released. The way his face dropped and his tone turned quiet and anxious sticks with me today. He was utterly remorseful, scared he'd thrown it all away, but hopeful that what he was accomplishing would earn him another chance. But he was never a highly regarded prospect. He was no superstar of the game. He could be easily discarded by a big league team, and branded for life.
He faded away in the next couple of years. I don't remember his name.
He had no chances, after one brutal mistake. He didn't have an illustrious career to hang his hat on. He had no ability to manipulate or negotiate.
Like so many minor league players of that time, he was let go. There were constant suspensions and releases. Working for a minor league news site, I reported them regularly. What I didn't report, because there was nothing to report, was major league players being caught or punished. To that point, Pete Rose was made the enemy of baseball, suspended for life. It was so easy to throw minor leaguers away. And baseball did a lot of making examples of them. Somehow their concern appeared serious if they made examples of those young players, who were desperate and struggling.
MLB was doing little to send a message to the stars of the game. All that has changed.
Alex Rodriguez's lengthy suspension makes perfectly clear that no one is bigger than the game. No player can slip under the security blanket of money, power, and recognition.
Rodriguez, as well as Ryan Braun and many others, are being told that they are no better than those guys that scrounge it out for change in the minor leagues.
The hate and judgment directed at players that have used steroids feels pointless and over-the-top to me these past few days. And always. It's gone to a level that helps no one, and doesn't address the culture and certainly not the human being, Yes, there's a level of selfishness that shouldn't be tolerated. Making mistakes is part of life. So is being responsible for them. And so is trying to start over, after making terrible choices.
Undoubtedly, the stars of the game have now been humbled.
That guy that looked across at me with embarrassed eyes in an indy league park never had the opportunity to be great or to take it all back. He wasn't that lucky or talented. For all those guys hoping for a shortcut let this be a lesson.
For the guys that are clean, "grinding it out" as they like to say, killing themselves to hold onto a job or get noticed because they aren't a highly ranked pick, this hopefully tells them they're on the right path.
After struggling with command in his last few starts, starting pitcher Chris Kirsch turned in a more solid performance Saturday.
The Hudson Valley Renegades lost 4-3 to the Auburn Doubledays, but Kirsch went six innings, the lefty's longest outing since July 8th, allowing three runs on eight hits. Just as important, he didn't walk anyone, after walking four batters last week. He also didn't allow a run or a hit until the fourth, while the Renegades offense was slow to score.
Overall, he got a much-needed quality start, after taking care of some problem areas before taking the mound again.
"I felt like I was able to command my fastball a lot better than before. I kept it down in the zone to produce a lot of ground balls tonight."
"In my bullpen this week, we used a dummy, working on pitching at the knees."
"We worked on getting my slider back. Then threw a few 'put away' pitches."
"[This time] I was able to throw [the slider] for strikes, and was able to get a swing and miss a time or two."
Chris Kirsch was a 14th round pick for the Rays in 2012. He made his professional debut last year for the Princeton Rays later that year. This is his first season in short-season New York Penn League.
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