Mormon Baseball

The heralded rookie, Bryce Harper, in the penultimate week of the year, has make perhaps the strongest case yet for National League Rookie of the Year. Three home runs, 12 hits in 24 at bats (yes, he hit .500 for the week!) and 7 rbis, raised his totals for the year to a .269 average, 97 runs, 59 rbis and 22 home runs in 527 at bats. I haven’t looked at the other candidates for national league rookie of the year, but Harper’s case seems very strong. He has already passed the record for the most home runs by a teenager playing in the national league and is just two shy of the major league record.

Except for Harper, the Mormon position players performed poorly this past week.  After hitting 2 home runs the previous week, John Buck was hitless in 10 at bats. Adam Rosales was 1 for 6. And even Jacoby Ellsbury, back in the lineup after nearly a week on  the bench with an undisclosed injury (believed to be in the lat), went 1 for 8.

Among pitchers the situation wasn’t much better. Jeremy Guthrie, who has been steller for the past two months, struggled a bit, turning in a 5.14 era. Roy Halladay, despite earning a win, gave up 4 earned runs in 5 innings for a 7.20 era. The best were relievers Matt Lindstrom and Brandon Lyon, who both blanked the hitters they faced in the handful of relief appearances each.

This coming week is the last of the regular season — and may account for lackluster performances, so similar performances should probably be expected. Currently Harper is the only Mormon certain to make the post season, although Kyle Farnsworth and Elliot Johnson, both on the Tampa Bay Rays, still have a shot at a wild card spot, as does Adam Rosales on the Oakland As.

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Current Roster Players:

• Darwin Barney—second base—Chicago Cubs
  2 for 21 (.095), 1 runs, 1 rbi, 0 hr, 1 bb, 0 sb, 5 so.
  YTD: .257, 72 runs, 44 rbi, 7 hr, 33 bb, 6 sb, 56 so in 541 at bats.
• John Buck — starting catcher — Miami Marlins
  0 for 10 (.000), 0 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 5 so
  YTD: .195, 29 runs, 41 rbi, 12 hr, 49 bb, 0 sb, 101 so in 339 at bats.
• Jacoby Ellsbury — starting outfielder — Boston Red Sox
  1 for 8 (.125), 1 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 3 so
  YTD: .273, 41 runs, 26 rbi, 4 hr, 19 bb, 14 sb, 39 so in 293 at bats.
• Kyle Farnsworth — closer — Tampa Bay Rays
  0-0, era 13.50, 1 hit, 1 er, 1 k, 1 bb, in 0.2 innings
  YTD: 1-6, era 3.33, 20 hits, 10 er, 25 k, 14 bb in 27.0 innings
• Jeremy Guthrie — starting pitcher (right handed) — Kansas City Royals
  0-0, 1.50 era, 7 hits, 4 er, 2 bb, and 3 k in 7.0 innings
  YTD: 7-12, era 4.82 201 hits, 94 er, 47 bb and 98 k in 175.2 innings
• Roy Halladay— starting pitcher (right handed) — Philadelphia Phillies
  1-0, era 7.20, 6 hits, 4 er, 3 bb, 7 k in 5.0 innings
  YTD: 11-8, era 4.49, 155 hits, 78 er, 36 bb, 132 k in 156.1 innings.
• Bryce Harper — left field — Washington Nationals
  12 for 24 (.500), 6 runs, 7 rbi, 3 hr, 2 bb, 1 sb, 6 so
  YTD: .269, 97 runs, 59 rbi, 22 hr, 55 bb, 17 sb, 120 so in 527 at bats.
• Elliot Johnson — infielder — Tampa Bay Rays
  0 for 1 (.000), 0 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 0 so
  YTD: .242, 32 runs, 33 rbi, 6 hr, 24 bb, 18 sb, 84 so in 297 at bats.
• Josh Johnson — starting pitcher (right handed) – Miami Marlins
  0-1, 3.00 era, 4 hits, 2 er, 7 k, 5 bb in 6.0 innings.
  YTD: 8-14, 3.81 era, 180 hits, 81 er, 165 k, 65 bb in 191.1 innings.
• Matt Lindstrom — right handed bullpen pitcher – Arizona Diamondbacks
  0-0, 0.00 era, 2 hit, 0 er, 2 k, 2 bb in 2.2 innings
  YTD: 1-0, 2.68 era, 45 hits, 14 er, 40 k, 14 bb in 47.0 innings.
• Brandon Lyon — right handed bullpen pitcher — Toronto Blue Jays
  0-0, 0.00 era, 1 hits, 0 er, 1 k, 0 bb in 1.2 innings
  YTD: 3-2, 3.20 era, 54 hits, 21 er, 62 k, 19 bb in 59.0 innings.
• Clayton Mortensen — right handed bullpen pitcher —Boston Red Sox
  0-0, 5.40 era, 2 hits, 2 er, 4 k, 1 bb, in 3.1 innings
  YTD: 1-1, 2.93 era, 29 hits, 13 er, 39 k, 17 bb, 6 hr in 40.0 innings
• Adam Rosales — 2B — Oakland A’s
  1 for 6 (.167) 1 run, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 2 so
  YTD: .221, 11 run, 8 rbi, 11 bb, 0 sb, 23 k in 95 at bats.

Foreign Leagues:

• Mitch Talbot — starting pitcher (right handed) — Samsung Lions (Korea)
  0-1, 12.27 era, 6 hits, 5 er, 3 k, 4 bb, in 3.2 innings
  YTD: 13-3, 3.88 era, 124 h, 55 er, 7 hr, 65 k, 47 bb in 127.2 innings

Players who may be Mormon:

• Rick Anton – pitcher – LA Dodgers organization
• Tyler Hanks — pitcher — Washington Nationals organization
• Kam Mickolio — pitcher — Arizona Diamondbacks organization (apparently not Mormon, but I don’t have evidence either way)
• Brad Thompson — pitcher — Houston Astros organization
• Other remote possibilities: Jay Brossman, Brian Budrow, Tyler Chism, Dallas Christison, Stephen Fife, Steve Hirschfeld, Zachary Jones, Ryan Khoury, Cole Miles, A. J. Murray, Jordan Taylor Pratt, Tanner Robles, Braeden Schlehuber, Justin Smith, Matt Spring

Non-Mormons who may be confused for Mormons

• Matt Carson — non-Mormon who went to BYU
• Derek Christensen
• Egan Smith —
• Jordan Smith —

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