Mormon Baseball

Posts Tagged ‘Stephen Parker’

If it is hard to adjust to professional baseball from college for some players, then how hard must it be for players drafted from High School? Mason Smith, who graduated this summer from Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, Idaho, was selected in the 4th round of this summer’s draft (118th overall) by the San Diego Padres. After signing he was sent to the Padre’s Arizona League affiliate (the AZL Padres), where he struggled to adjust.  While Smith initially did well at the plate, he fell into a bit of a slump in July, and his batting average dropped to a low of .154. But since then he has adjusted and started hitting. In August he hit .303, and last week he was 4 for 11 (.364) with 2 rbis and a stolen base. No doubt Mason will suffer slumps from time-to-time in the future, but the past month shows he has adjusted to the minors, and may be ready for promotion next year.

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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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In the Omaha Storm Chasers playoff battle against the Albuquerque Isotopes, Mitch Maier homered as the Storm Chasers went up 2-1 in their quest for the AAA championship. Maier was 1 for 5 in the contest with 2 rbis and a strike out. Meanwhile, in the other PCL game, the Sacramento River Cats benched Stephen Parker again, and again lost when they did so. The River Cats now trail the Reno Aces 1-2 in their playoff.

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With the Billings Mustangs’ loss last night to the Missoula Osprey, Jeff Gelalich is out of the Pioneer League playoffs, leaving the number of Mormons in the Minor League playoffs at 6. Gelalich didn’t play in the game.

But in the first round of the 5-game PCL playoffs, both Mormon players did play, as the playoff teams evened up their series to 1-1. Stephen Parker was 0 for 3 with 2 strike outs, but his Sacramento River Cats won anyway to even their series against the Reno Aces. Mitch Maier was 1 for 4 with a strike out in the Omaha Storm Chasers’ loss to the Albuquerque Isotopes.

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In the first playoff game for the Omaha Storm Chasers, Mitch Maier showed that a walk can be very powerful. Maier led the team with three free trips to first and scored twice as a result, as the Storm Chasers beat the Albuquerque Isotopes 8-4. Maier also struck out and flied out in the game.

Meanwhile, in the other PCL playoff game, Stephen Parker watched from the bench as his Sacramento River Cats lost to the Reno Aces 3-1.

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Pitching in the second game of the Canadian’s three game series to represent the West division in the Northwest League Championship, Taylor Cole pitched 6 innings, giving up 5 hits and seeing just 1 run cross the plate. Cole struck out 3, walked 3 and ended up with a 0.00 era due to a fielding error.

Among those he faced was the Everett Aquasox’ Marcus Littlewood, who went 1 or 3 with a walk and a strike out. Due to the Canadians’ win, Littlewood’s season ends, while Cole waits to see who wins today’s game between the Yakima Bears and Boise Hawks. The Canadians play the winner of today’s game in the Northwest League’s 3-game championship starting Friday, Sept. 7th.

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With the end of the regular minor league season yesterday (except for the rookie Pioneer League, which ends on Thursday, September 6th), the Mormons in the minors can look forward to further games in only two ways: they might get called up to the majors with the expanded 40-man roster that started September 1st, or they might play in any of the minor league championship games that have even begun for some teams.

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I don’t normally begin my write-up talking about a minor league player, but this week the stellar pitching of Taylor Cole with the Vancouver Canadians (A short season) kind of demanded front billing. Cole came close to baseball’s ultimate performance, a pitching performance over 7 2/3rds innings marred only by a teammate’s error. Still, Cole was pitching a no-hitter for his 6th win of the season when he was pulled from the game against the Yakima Bears. The Northwest league’s regular season has ended, Cole finishes the year with a stunning (and league-leading) 0.81 era. He will likely pitch in the Canadians’ post-season games, which start today.

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