Mormon Baseball

Posts Tagged ‘Shane Peterson’

We are a week away from the first Spring Training baseball games, and most players have already reported. And as always happens during the off-season, many players have moved from one team to another as managers search for just the right combination of players, and players look for more money or better opportunities.

Of course, the Mormons in professional are no exception. Here is a rundown of the Mormons who played at least one game in the majors last year and where they are at the moment. Tomorrow I’ll give a rundown of those who only played in the minors last year.

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The Marlins’ promising prospect in the AA Southern League, Matt Neil, pitched a gem last week, but failed to get a win when his team didn’t score during his 5-inning service. Neil gave up just 3 hits and struck out 6 in the first of his two outings last week. He also pitched 2 innings of relief last night, giving up a run and two walks. Still, his season era, including 9 games in AAA, is now 3.95, while his era for AA this year is 3.05.

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The Sacramento River Cats’ Shane Peterson is hot once again. After all but taking over spring training as a personal showcase, he cooled down during the season, settling into a sub-.250 batting average. But this past week Peterson has become hot again. In games against Albuquerque and Round Rock Peterson has exploded, going 10 for 22 with a home run, 5 rbis, 4 runs scored and six walks. In the process he has raised his season average to .241. With Oakland leading the AL West and expecting to make the post-season, they will want another hot bat on the bench when the roster expands to 40 on September 1st. Will Peterson be ready?

Another 40-man roster candidate is the Yankee’s Nik Turley, currently playing in the AA Eastern League for the Trenton Thunder. Turley has steadily improved over the past few weeks and could also be ready for the expanded roster on September 1st. This past week he was stellar, giving up just 1 run in 11 innings (0.82 era), striking out 9 and posting a WHIP of 1.00. For the season the lefty’s era is down to 3.77 and his WHIP stands at 1.31, and given the doubts about the Yankee’s pitching, he may make his first appearance in the majors this Fall.

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If summer hasn’t arrived yet, can we be in the “doldrums of summer?” I don’t think so, but if you look at the Mormons playing in baseball’s minor leagues, you might think that we’re in some kind of doldrums. It doesn’t seem like anyone is playing very well, with some few exceptions.

One of them is Marcus Littlewood, the catcher for the Clinton Lumber Kings (Midwest League – A). Littlewood was 5 for 16 (.313) during the week, scored 4 times, earned 3 rbis and hit his 2nd homer while striking out just 3 times. The performance brings his season average up to a respectable .253 over 75 at bats.

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Yankees prospect Nik Turley got the call to move up a level last week, from the Trenton Thunder (AA) to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders (AAA), and although his pitching has been somewhat mediocre this year (4.46 era), he rose to the occasion. In a 6-inning start Turley gave up just one run and two hits (1.50 era), but ended up with a no-decision. But, despite a great performance, Turley was sent back to AA this week—apparently the Yankees don’t need him in AAA yet.

Turley pitched for the Yankees in spring training and is on the major league team’s 40-man roster, making him one of the more likely prospects to be brought up. But overall Turley’s AA performance says that he isn’t quite ready yet.

He isn’t the only Mormon in the minors on a major league 40-man roster. Oakland A’s prospect Shane Peterson, who is currently with the AAA Sacramento River Cats, is on the major league team’s 40-man roster and has already been brought up to the majors briefly, to cover an absence due to parental leave. And unlike Turley, Peterson, and outfielder, is playing very well. Not only does he have a .298 era, he is 8th in the Pacific Coast League in on base percentage and tied for 8th in runs scored.

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The A’s outfield prospect, Shane Peterson, ended a post-majors slump last week in a big way. He went 8 for 19 for the week (.421) while hitting 2 home runs and stealing 3 bases, and in the process raised his season average past .300. He was once again the Peterson we saw in Spring Training. Peterson’s slump came right after he spent two games in the majors, substituting at 1st base for Brandon Moss, who was out for paternity leave.

Peterson wasn’t the only Mormon in the minor leagues whose bat woke up last week. Both Stephen Parker (AAA Nashville Sounds) and Marcus Littlewood (A Clinton Lumberkings) hit .286 last week, although Littlewood did it in just 7 at bats while Parker went 8 for 28. Parker also had a home run and 3 rbis.

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There might be more to say about the Mormons in the minors this week if so many weren’t on the disabled list. A week ago Bryan Harper and Mitch Talbot were on the 7-day list, and this past week they were joined by Cale Iorg and Mitch Maier. And only Harper seems ready to return to play.

And while they are out, there isn’t too much to focus on.The best performance was from Jacksonville Suns’ pitcher Matt Neil, who gave up just 1 earned run in 5 innings, but failed to earn hist first win of the year when his team lost the game after he left the field. Neil has brought his era down to 4.79 and seems to have settled down to his standard pitching form, we hope.

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If there is a Mormon “Cinderella” player this year, it sure looks like it is Shane Peterson. After starting last year in AA, working his way to AAA, Peterson was invited to spring training and promptly tore up the ball, hitting .408 over 39 at bats and making a big impression on the Athletics brass. He started the regular season with the AAA Sacramento River Cats, and by last week he was again beating up the white spheroid, going 14 for 27 (.519) and scoring 9 times. So when the As were hit with injuries at shortstop and left field, they called up the outfielder Peterson—and had him play first base yesterday! Huh?

Apparently its temporary. The As regular first baseman, Brandon Moss, is out on paternity leave, and since Peterson has experience at 1st (64 games in AA in 2011) and was hitting better than the backup first baseman, Nate Freiman (current batting average .176), he got the job. What will happen next? I assume it depends on how Peterson adjusts and performs. Yesterday he went o for 4 with a strike out, but the As won the game and Peterson performed well in the field, so he has at least a few games—till Moss returns—to prove himself.

While this past week Peterson outperformed any other Mormon in the minor leagues, he wasn’t the only player making a difference at the plate.

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Somewhat surprisingly, the story of  Mormons in the minor leagues last week was a pitching story. The assumption I ususally make is that pitchers need time to warm up to the season—they often don’t perform well for the first few games of the year. But the Mormon pitchers in the minors were split 50/50 for the past week—half pitching well and half poorly.

[Most of the Mormons (9 of 15 players) we know about in the minors are pitchers—likely because we don’t have a very complete list.]

Perhaps the strongest performance last week was from the Lansing Lugnuts’ Taylor Cole, who struck out 7 and blanked the Lake County Captains over 6 innings for a win. But not far behind Cole was the veteran Mitch Talbot, currently with the New Orleans Zephyrs, who notched a win in 5 innings, also without giving up a run. And reliever Bryan Harper (Bryce’s older brother) earned a 0.00 era in 1 1/3rd innings of relief last week.

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