We’re back with another season of the OOTP/HHS Baseball League. Some big news:
- Big League Debuts: Andy HHS, RJ Jackson (both with the Mariners)
- Players in AA: Bryan O’Connor, Dalton Mack, Hal Ensrud (Hartvig), Duke Sims, Brandon Robitaille, CJ Miller
- Suspended: Brandon Robitaille (7 days, for arguing balls and strikes)
- Traded: Nick Pain (from Pittsburgh to Oakland)
- New Player: Dan McCloskey, who left us for football, has been replaced by Charles Simone.
Complete notes:
| Name | Previous | Position | Drafted | Ranking | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan O’Connor | 2014, 2013 | P | 23rd, BAL | #26 | Ranked the game’s #26 prospect before the season. In 13 games at A ball, made 17 starts but also saved 12 games. His 3.37 ERA and 1.17 WHIP earned him a promotion to AA, where he continued to close. There, he saved seven and lost two of ten games (5.40 ERA). Somehow pitched in the postseason for two teams, throwing four scoreless frames and saving three games. Already looking pretty well developed at 15/15/8. |
| Dalton Mack | 2014, 2013 | P | 2nd, CHN | #3 | Carlos Danger was named the #3 prospect in the land before the season and managed to stay in the rotation all year, makkng 23 starts. The results were mixed, as he went 8-14 with a 4.70 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. He did fan 120 in 128.1 IP. Still, he’s a 21 year old in AA, so he should have plenty of time to try to master the level next season. He missed about a month of the season with roator cuff tendonitis. He’s already on a big league contract and was re-upped for $490k. Lunch is on Dalton! |
| Yank Mosc | 2014, 2013 | P | 39th, TOR | #50 | The game’s #50 prospect, he stayed in rookie ball for the year, throwing just 17.1 innings. He had a 4.15 ERA and 24 Ks (12 walks). I’m not sure why he pitched so little again. He had a three-week injury in August (tired arm). Rookie ball at 21 is kind of surprising. |
| David Horwich | 2014, 2013 | P | 8th, KCR | #13 | Patches made 28 starts in A ball, going 11-9 with a 3.86 ERA. He threw 184.1 innings (yikes!), fanning 179, walking 54, and posting a 1.15 WHIP. He was named the #13 prospect before the season and won a Gold Glove on the mound. He’s also on a big league contract and will make $490k next year. Dessert is on David! |
| Rich Warren (RichW) | 2014, 2013 | P | 10th, PIT (2013: 3rd, COL) | — | Going back into the draft didn’t seem to work for Rich. Rather than #3, he was taken #10 overall and signed for $3.38 million. After a start in rookie ball and two in short A, he made a dozen starts in Class A. He had a 4.76 ERA and 73 K (41 BB) in 68 IP. |
| Hal Ensrud (Hartvig) | 2014, 2013 | P | 16th, MIL | #6 | Hal made (the #6 prospect) made 8 starts in A ball (3-1, 5.01, 1.57 WHIP) before moving to AA. There, he made 18 starts and was 9-6 with a 4.86 ERA and 1.51 WHIP. He fannned 117 (in 113 IP), but walked 77. He missed two weeks during the year with an abdominal strain. He’s also on a big league contract (490k). Drinks are on Hartvig! |
| Whitey Chevrolet (BryanM) | 2014, 2013 | P | 20th, DET | #18 | The #18 prospect in the game, Whitey made three starts in rookie ball before heading to Short A. There, he made 12 starts and posted a 3.17 ERA with 70 K/45 BB in 65.1 IP. He didn’t allow a single home run this year. |
| Steve O (CursedClevelander) | 2014, 2013 | RP | 25th, SFG | #74 | Steve O was named the #74 prospect—perhaps it doesn’t care for relievers. He started in short A, making 30 appearances and saving 15 with a 2.10 ERA. He made 27 more appearances in A ball with 14 saves and a 4.10 ERA. Overall he fanned 74 and walked 28 in 60.2 innings. |
| Duke Sims (Jim Bouldin) | 2014, 2013 | CL | 44th, PHI | #56 | Another reliever and the #56 prospect in the game, Duke had a nice year. He was even and Eastern League all star. In 12 class A games, he posted a 0.68 ERA with 11 Ks and a walk in 13.1 IP. He made 40 AA appearances and posted a 2.05 ERA with 23 saves. He had 31 K and 27 walks in 44 IP, showing wildness we haven’t seen yet. He’s also on a big league contract now and seems fast-tracked for the bigs (rated 13/14/9). Breakfast is on Duke! |
| Adam Darowski | 2014, 2013 | C | 18th, LAD | #17 | Before the season, I was ranked the #17 prospect but then suffered a month-long injury toward the end of April. I ended up playing 53 games at Rookie ball, hitting .215/.303/.390. I somehow ended up getting called up and did much better at A ball (.281/.330/.440) in 46 games. Defenisvely, my zone rating was low and my throwing dropped to 25.7%. |
| Vincent D’Angelo | 2014, 2013 | C | 17th, CHA | #73 | The game’s #73 prospect, D’Angelo stayed in rookie ball all year. In 67 games, he hit .278/.410/.533. Perhaps weak defense kept him in rookie ball? He went 2-for-12 in the postseason, but walked five times (.167 average, but .412 OBP). His zone rating was below average and he threw out only 22% of runners, but boy did he hit! In those 67 games, he had 30 doubles and 11 homers. |
| Luis Gomez | 2014, 2013 | C | Unsigned | NR | Everybody was rooting for Luis Gomez after he went undrafted and reached AA last year. He played all year in A ball this year and hit .267/.357/.408. He graded out well behind the plate, even throwing out 32% of runners. Again, the fact that he wasn’t ranked might be the same issue with why he wasn’t drafted. |
| Nick Pain | 2014, 2013 | 1B | 13th, PIT | #64 | Everyone’s favorite pasty Dominican started the year in Short A, hitting .248/.366/.380. He then became the first of our group to be traded, being sent to the Oakland organization. He joined Class A Stockton and hit .379/.387/.724 in eight games there. He looked solid in 42 games in the field despite terrible ratings there. Ranked the #64 prospect before the season. |
| Mark Jay (MJ) | 2014, 2013 | 1B | 13th, COL (2013: 22nd, TBA) | — | Going back into the draft pool worked for him, as he went #13 overall. After a couple games in rookie ball, he hit .268/.317/.490 in 257 AB in A ball. He went 3-for-12 with a homer in the playoffs. In July, he had a five-hit game (which included four doubles). He doubled 30 times in 66 A ball games. |
| Brandon Robitaille (989baseball) | 2014, 2013 | 2B | 28th, CIN | #36 | Our #36 prospect, Robitaille followed up his tremendous 2013 with an interesting 2014. He became the first of our group to be suspended, sitting for seven games after arguing balls and strikes. Methinks he bumped a man in blue. His versatility remained (36 SS starts, 35 @ LF, 32 @ CF, 22 @ 2B) and he hit .258/.352/.385 in A ball before going up to AA for 11 games. Odd that he hit worse in A ball this year than last. Hope that trend doesn’t continue. Was a player of the week. |
| Frank Tichell (wx) | 2014, 2013 | 2B | 49th, STL | #69 | Continued to show good on-base skills with a .273/.374/.411 line at short A before being promoted to A ball for 8 games. Hit .273/.351/.697 there (1 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR). Was the #69 prospect before the season started and won a Gold Glove and Player of the Week during the season. |
| Andrew Tarwerdi (ATarwerdi96) | 2014, 2013 | 2B | 137th, CHA | NR | First he was picked in Round 5. Now he’s unranked. Spending 44 games in rookie ball, he hit .263/.386/.545 before a callup to A ball. There, he hit .271/.328/.715 (essentially league average). He didn’t make an error all year in 185 chances while showing average range. |
| Darien Sumner | 2014, 2013 | 2B | 29th, NYY | #59 | Spent his first year in the Miami organization with Class A all year. Hit .232/.334/.360 with 141 strikeouts. Hit .381/.458/.810 in five postseason games. Was named the #59 prospect in the game before the season. Made just two errors at second but showed weak range. |
| Andy HHS | 2014, 2013 | 3B | 11th, SEA | #29 | Named the #29 prospect before the season, it was a hell of a campaign for our fearless leader. He started the year in AA and hit .244/.348/.469 (113 OPS+) with 21 homers and downright legendary defense (+12 in 98 games). He was a Southern League all-star. The performance earned him a Major League callup on August 5—the first from our group. He appeared in 20 games for the Mariners and hit .215/.278/.308. He fanned 26 times while walking five times. He showed a bit of why he was called up, hitting a homer and playing +3, errorless defense at third. Andy was the starter in the postseason for Seattle, hitting .357/.379/.714 in 8 games (3 HR, 9 RBI). He’ll be making $490k next year. I wonder if he sticks with the team out of Spring Training in 2015. |
| Dan Smith | 2014, 2013 | 3B | #15, CHA (2013: 26th, OAK) | — | Ended up being drafted #15 after going back into the draft. Hit .263/.381/.433 in Rookie ball before moving up to A ball for 6 games. Made 34 starts at second, 22 at third, 7 at short, 2 in center, and 4 in right. For some reason, he’s listed as a RF now. Perhaps he’s being converted. That 20 arm would tempt me. Still, he showed great range at third. In early August, he took home a Player of the Week award. |
| Bill Brockman | 2014, 2013 | 3B | 4th, COL (2013: 6th, BOS) | — | He ended up going back into the draft and moving up two spots to 4th overall. Hit .227/.335/.383 in short A (also paying a bit in rookie ball and A ball). Mostly started at second and showed terrible range. Ended up being waived by Colorado (less than a year after being taken #4 overall!). Now in the Nationals organization. |
| Jon Harris (cubbies) | 2014, 2013 | 3B | 9th, PHI (2013: 15th, ARI) | — | Moved up into ninth overall in his second try at the draft. Hit .294/.413/.413 in rookie ball (40 games) and .177/.239/.258 in 19 games in short A. Apparently that didn’t look good because Harris was waived three timesin the offseason. He went from Philly to Chicago, to New York, to San Diego. |
| Jeff Stearns (lazyrasmus) | 2014, 2013 | SS | 12th, SDP | #8 | The #8 prospect in the league, lazyrasmus won a Gold Glove at shortstop while hitting .310/.435/.465 at rookie ball (136 OPS+). He earned a 10-game callup to short A where he hit .163. He made just t hree errors on the year and was +3.3 in range while exclusively playing short. He was waived by San Diego before the season and picked up by Miami (they seem to grab a lot of these guys off waivers!). I have no idea why San Diego would waive the #8 prospect in the game. |
| RJ Jackson | 2014, 2013 | SS | 41st, SEA | NR | Not ranked before the season, Jackson played 110 games in Class A and hit .254/.317/.382 while playing short and third. He then went to AA for 15 games and hit .259/.333/.426. He was then called up the Mariners and made his big league debut on 9/9/2014. Yes, the Mariners have two of us at third in the big leagues! He went 1-for-5 with a double in four games. Rated as a +4.7 SS in 85 games and a +9.2 errorless 3B in 47 games. He’ll be making $490k next year as well. We’ll let RJ keep it all since he wasn’t even ranked! |
| Charles Simone | the new Dan McCloskey | LF | 18th, CLE | — | In 12 rookie ball games, Simone hit .308/.391/.513 to earn a promotion. He struggled at short A, hitting .171/.227/.260. “Left Field” made 28 starts at first, 12 in left, and 8 in right. As he’s just 18 and was drafted a year after everyone else, I’m guessing he might be one of our last players active. |
| Dan McCloskey | 2014, 2013 | LF | 32nd, CHN | — | Off playing football. |
| Ryan Hennesy (whipstache) | 2014, 2013 | CF | 14th, PHI | #28 | The league’s #28 prospect, Hennesy spent seven games in short A (.207/.258/.310) before a callup to A ball. He played in 101 games there, batting .280/.343/.487 with 35 doubles and 14 homers. He also stole 18 bases and was a +15.6 defender in center field, making one error all year. Looks like he recovered well from last year’s big injury. |
| Chris Castonguay (Chris C) | 2014, 2013 | CF | 9th, TOR | #5 | The #5 prospect in the game started off the season by being waived. Tampa Bay claimed him from Toronto and he kicked off at Rookie ball again. He hit .217/.356/.319, a far cry from last year’s .919 OPS at the same level. He still was promoted to short A and hit .227/.348/.361.Was errorless in center field, but had below average (-5.5) range. |
| CJ Miller (GrandyMan) | 2014, 2013 | CF | 19th, STL | #32 | Grandyman (the #32 prospect) played 61 games in Class A (hitting .257/.309/.446 with nine homers). He then moved up to AA and played 50 games, batting .227/.273/.362. He showed average range in the outfield, but only made three errors. He missed about five weeks with elbow tendinitis. |
| Jeff Hill | 2014, 2013 | RF | 10th, NYM | #9 | “The Thrill” was the #9 prospect going into the year and was named an All Star in the South Atlantic League. He spent the season in A ball, hitting .266/.387/.479 (for a 140 OPS+). He drew 89 walks, hit 35 doubles, and homered 18 times. His exceptional range slipped back to the average range, but his offensive prowess more than made up for it. |
| Andrew Nadig | 2014, 2013 | RF | 21st, LAA | #53 | Hit an impressive .274/.391/.537 at Rookie ball again before moving to A ball and hitting .234/.331/.403. The #53 prospect in the league, Nadig spent a great deal of time at DH. In just 16 games in left field, was a -3.3 fielder. At the end of July, had a 5-hit game, falling a triple short of the cycle, scoring four runs, and driving in four runs. |
Complete coverage:
