Jun

30

Notes From Around the League

Posted by Dave | Filed Under News | 6 Comments

As mentioned yesterday, Texas’ Chance Ruffin has been dropped from Cotuit’s roster. Now Ruffin’s Longhorn teammate, freshman phenom RHP Taylor Jungmann, has been released by Wareham. The Gatemen have also released Arkansas outfielder Jarrod McKinney. Those moves have allowed Wareham to add Bourne native Keith Bilodeau (RHP; Maine) and Bruce Kern (RHP; St. John’s) to the full-time roster.

As expected, there are a few former Cape League “temp” players now playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Somewhat surprisingly though, two players who were signed to “permanent” contracts have left their Cape League teams and are also performing in the NECBL.  Infielder Derek Ingui (Franklin Pierce) has left Y-D and is now playing for the Lowell All-Americans. RHP Erik Goeddel (UCLA) is no longer with Brewster. He is now playing for the New Bedford Bay Sox.

Nick Schwaner, IF/OF from the University of New Orleans has been added to Bourne’s roster after being released by Chatham.

Rob Catapano (LHP; Tennessee) has left Orleans after pitching only 2.1 innings over the course of 3 games. Catapano pitched for Orleans in 2007 and had returned after a one year absence.

Speaking of Orleans, despite a 6-7 record, I think they have a pretty good looking lineup. They are only batting .216 as a team but with Gary Brown (CS-Fullerton) and Alex Hassan (Duke) recently arriving, I expect to see more production from the Firebirds. Pitching remains a bit of a question mark, but Hassan’s presence at the back end of the bullpen should help immensely. Hassan picked up the save in his only pitching appearance to date.

Brewster’s league-worst ERA jumped from 4.15 to 4.33 after last night’s game. The good news for the Whitecaps is that the offense came alive in a 9-8 victory over Chatham. The loss was the Anglers fourth in a row. UNC’s Matt Harvey took the loss in his first appearance for Chatham this year. Harvey gave up a hit and walked two batters in one-third of an inning. Harvey is tentatively scheduled to start against Orleans on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how he fares because his stock is falling rapidly in the eyes of some. Although he was 7-2 at UNC this year, Harvey allowed 88 hits and walked 42 in 75 innings.

Wareham is looking much more formidable with the recent additions of Brett Eibner (Arkansas) and Arizona State teammates Zach Wilson and Jordan Swagerty. All three were late arrivals because their teams went deep into the College World Series.

Highly-touted Hunter Morris (Auburn) made his first appearance in a Falmouth uniform last night. Morris was 1 for 4 and had what proved to be the game-winning RBI in the Commodores 4-2 win over Orleans. Morris played for Team USA last summer.

Comments

6 Responses to “Notes From Around the League”

  1. willie on June 30th, 2009 2:38 pm

    Many players could be better served, not only pitchers, by shutting it down in the summer, considering college players are at it year round with no break. The pro guys get 3-4 months off?

  2. CapeMan on June 30th, 2009 3:04 pm

    I think the movement of some players to other leagues often has to do with playing time and the potential lack of it on the Cape.

    I don’t think the comparison Willie made to MLB players is fair. MLB players have 160 game schedule where the college game is 1/2 that and have most of all the weekdays off. Adding the 44 games to their year is a great test of their endurance that they will need at the next level.

  3. willie on June 30th, 2009 3:58 pm

    Around 9/1 college players beging practice and workouts and they “officially” take a short break until they start back up in the winter to prep for a 56 game schedule, which includes 12-16 hours on average in a classroom, not a posh hotel or highline residence. They then embark on a 40 to 50 game summer swing which ends in mid August, get a couple weeks off, then start Fall workouts again. Effectively, they are involved/playing baseball about 10 out of 12 months.

    The USD has forced college baseball to play more weekday games, Monday off, Thursday travel day, 5 games per week, and class.

    I agree some players change leagues for more playing time and some don’t show up at all in an effort to heal, rest, and enjoy the time off. I would venture to guess that a large number of college players play the summer well below 100% physically. Just ask the trainers!!

  4. Dave on June 30th, 2009 9:50 pm

    Baseball players… the “Boys of Summer,” shouldn’t play in the summer?? I don’t understand that thinking at all. I do understand the thought about overuse, but I don’t think that is the case here.

    College coaches want to begin the season one week earlier next year. Since the players might already be overworked, can we be sure the NCAA – those protectors of the “student-athlete” – will not allow that to happen?

    As for the pitchers, no college coach would ever think of allowing Austin Wood to throw 169 pitches over 13 innings, would they? Would anyone let Mike Belfiore throw 129 pitches over 9.2 innings when Belfiore had averaged about an inning per game throughout the season? There are other examples, but those two are the most obvious from this past season.

    An arguement could be made that the school is paying for the athletes’ education, but that certainly does not give the college coach more of a reason to put a player at risk; and that arguement is further weakened because of the way scholarships are distributed in college baseball with so few players receiving a “full ride.”

    I’m sure many players are dealing with bumps and bruises at this time of the year. I think the Cape League does a very good job of taking care of their players. I assume other summer leagues are vigilant about this too. I’ve yet to hear of a player being overworked by a Cape League manager. There would be severe ramifications if a team overworked a player and that led to an injury. It seems to me that a serious college baseball player should be able to compete in school, play through the summer, and then participate in the less-competitive fall season. While I understand that not every player is going to play professional baseball, if they are playing in the summer, they are playing because they WANT to, and probably to see if they can take their game to the next level. CapeMan’s point is a good one. Most college teams play 60-70 games and the players often get a day off in the midweek, out of conference games, and the top three starters only pitch once a week.

    Baseball players should play baseball in the summer.

  5. CapeMan on July 1st, 2009 8:07 am

    Willie..you make some good points but I still don’t think it compares the gruelling MLB schedule. Travel for most colleges, other than a few non-conference series early on and the CWS is within conference and you then go right back to campus. Granted, balancing class and athletics is tough but that is par for the course as a college athlete.

    My main point as stated earlier is that summer Ball, for most leagues, is a test for these kids not only against great talent but showcases their endurance and ability to handle a schedule that approximates a professional schedule. Afterall, if they want to go to the next level and earn the money at the next level, (which is why most of them are on the Cape), then they need to demonstrate that they can handle that type of schedule.

  6. willie on July 1st, 2009 8:57 am

    I think we are all in agreement. Generally, I am saying many of these kids are playing not at 100% versus pro players having the luxury of the DL. As a matter of fact, odd that many of them hit the DL during spring training?

    I can name many college players who played their entire Spring seasons hurt and carried those nagging injuries into summerball.

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