Your 2015 Colorado Springs Sky Sox

[Mass Haas]

Via Ryan Kaufman at Miller Park Prospects -- Feature Profile on Sky Sox catcher Nevin Ashley, who has been hot all season...

[Mass Haas]

Face it: Sky Sox are a 'hairy group'

By Brent Briggeman, Colorado Springs Gazette

 

http://cdn.csgazette.biz/cache/r620-2201e14fc328b3d6145f6e055a3e81ce.jpg

 

(Top row) Bryan Peterson, Taylor Jungmann, Shane Peterson; (middle row) Yadiel Rivera, Matt Long, Nevin Ashley; (bottom row) Tim Dillard, Jim Henderson, Matt Long of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox baseball team show off their luscious beards during gameplay. Photos by Logan Riely, The Gazette

 

Tim Dillard grew the beard to overhaul his image.

 

The veteran pitcher had been a member of the Milwaukee Brewers organization since 2001, but he hadn't appeared in the majors since 2012. He felt it was time to show the club a different side of himself, and he decided the easiest way to accomplish this would be to arrive at spring training with an altered appearance.

 

"I thought it would make me look a little older, a little wise and more confident," Dillard said. "Then I turn around and everyone has a beard on. I was like, 'Well, at least I'll fit in.'"

 

The Colorado Springs community has spent the past two months getting to know a new roster now that the Sky Sox are the top affiliate of the Brewers instead of the Colorado Rockies. That process has been complicated by the fact that so many of these players are difficult to tell apart because of the abundance of beards on the team.

 

Throw in the fact that manager Rick Sweet rocks a famous mustache, and this team is quickly becoming known as much for its facial hair as anything else.

 

"We are a hairy group, there's no doubt about it," Sweet said.

 

The beards were not the result of a plan or a brainchild hatched in some team meeting. It's just the fad among ballplayers and it worked out this way on its own.

 

Dillard made his decision while at home in the offseason. Bryan Petersen, who has the best beard on the club according to his teammates, has sported one for several seasons and began working on his current one after shaving clean for his wedding in January. Matt Long has had one ever since he was a member of the Angels' system and the team lifted its restriction on facial hair.

 

As for Sweet, whose mustachioed look has been his trademark since his playing days in the 1980s, he had actually been mustache-free for the past several years. He grew the new one only because his son and his friends wanted to see it and talked his wife into allowing him to regrow it.

 

"It will be shortlived," Sweet said. "The biggest thing I've got to worry about is food still in it, so I've got to make sure I keep it clean. I can't put anything in my mouth that doesn't go through my mustache. It's like a strainer."

 

The players have reported no such problems and aren't concerned that the extra hair might cause discomfort during the hot summer months. They've also reported no problems from the opposite sex.

 

"My ex-girlfriend actually loved it," Long said. "When I would trim it she would get mad at me. That wasn't the reason I kept it or anything, it's just personal preference."

 

Added Petersen: "My wife has only ever known me with a beard. Maybe not necessarily this long, but there's always been something on my face. She's alright with it. I'm sure she wishes I was clean shaven, but she's good with it."

 

Not quite everyone on the team has a beard, but it's close. Pete Orr keeps growing one and shaving it. Donnie Murphy is the only one that teammates report having issues growing out a full one, as they note he gets a little spotty through the cheeks.

 

There are no universal rules, but Petersen said his personal standard is to stick with a no grooming policy. Trimming is not allowed. If it's going to be cut, it's all coming off.

 

And he doesn't plan to do that anytime soon.

 

"It's done well for me so far, so I think I'll keep it," he said. "And I think it looks good on the guys. It might confuse some people and people mix us up a lot, but it's fun. We have strength in numbers."

 

***

 

VIDEO: Outfielder Matt Long discusses his own beard and those of his Sky Sox teammates.

[Mass Haas]

 

 

[Mass Haas]

TV Report: Colorado Springs Sky Sox pitcher Tim Dillard takes to Twitter to help pass the time.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMewzGjI04M

[Mass Haas]

Brief appearance in majors provides boost to Sky Sox pitcher Tyler Cravy

By Brent Briggeman, Colorado Springs Gazette

 

Tyler Cravy will forever remember Matt Holliday's reaction.

 

Holliday was ejected in the seventh inning June 2 after arguing a called third strike against Cravy. The ejection put an end to Holliday's streak of reaching base after an National League-record 45 games to start the season.

 

"When Holiday got ejected, I'll remember that," Cravy said. "He wasn't too happy, but I thought the pitch was a strike. It was nice to end his on-base streak. That will be a good memory."

 

Cravy will take a lot more from his two-day glimpse in the major leagues than that one moment, but it's a nice place to start.

 

The Brewers called on Cravy when a 17-inning game May 31 decimated the pitching staff. He came up from the Sky Sox and threw seven innings in a tough-luck 1-0 loss. He gave up four hits, struck out six and walked two.

 

"Everything was down. That was a great start," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said after the game. "The best start we've seen in a while, for sure."

 

The performance did nothing to change Milwaukee's roster situation. Cravy was sent back to Colorado Springs the next day.

 

"He knew it might only be for one start," Sky Sox manager Rick Sweet said. "We didn't hide things. He knew it could be a short stay.

 

"Now they know he can go up there under the light up there and pitch, too. That's big for confidence. But you still have to continue to improve. You can't say, 'Well, I've pitched good once.' Do it again. It's all about what you have done for me lately."

 

Sweet said the only danger in a situation like Cravy's is the frustration a player can feel when a quality performance isn't enough to earn more time. Cravy has instead responded by winning his first two starts back with the Sky Sox on the most recent road trip, giving up just one run in 12 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts and just one walk.

 

"I was getting pretty comfortable before that, just trusting my stuff and trying not to overthrow everything," Cravy said. "I'm focusing on keeping everything down in the zone and letting guys get themselves out."

 

By earning a call-up, even though it lasted just two days, Cravy is on the major league medical plan for the rest of the year. He has also shown himself he could handle the nerves of making his first major-league start and retire batters at the highest level - even if some, like Holliday, took issue with it.

 

Little-known improved insurance bonus?

 

***

 

More from the Gazette --

 

VOICE MAIL WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THE SAME

 

Tyler Cravy said he nearly didn't answer the call that he'd been waiting for his entire professional life.

 

He was driving home May 31 when manager Rick Sweet reached him.

 

"It was a Vancouver number and I didn't recognize it," said Cravy, 25. "But I thought I'd see who it is. He said, 'Do you know who this is?' I said, 'No.' He said, 'This is your manager, you're going to the big leagues.'"

[Mass Haas]

Matt Clark follows his father's footsteps to Colorado Springs Sky Sox, life in pro baseball

By Brent Briggeman, Colorado Springs Gazette

 

Matt Clark grew up facing an obstacle any aspiring ballplayer would gladly take.

 

He struggled not to catch up with fastballs, but to slow himself down enough to match the level of his peers.

 

This was the result of Clark regularly taking batting practice against his father, Terry Clark, who pitched for seven teams in a six-year big-league career that ended in 1997, when Matt was 11.

 

"I would challenge him all the time to give me his best stuff," Matt Clark said. "Being able to see that when you're that young it becomes a problem. I'd have him pitch to me so much that when I'd then face guys who weren't nearly as good I'd have to make myself almost worse to be able to hit their stuff because it was so slow."

 

That problem, of course, paled in comparison to the advantages of having a big-league father for Clark.

 

He lived a nomadic lifestyle, often following his father through stops along with his mother and sister, but he met the biggest baseball stars of his childhood.

 

"I was around it for so long that it just seemed like another thing to hang out with Cal Ripken or Rafael Palmeiro - future Hall of Famers," Clark said. "Looking back on it, it's like, 'Oh my gosh, the things I could have asked those guys.' It's pretty unbelievable."

 

Sky Sox manager Rick Sweet said sons of former ballplayers benefit greatly from absorbing the game for so long.

 

"Usually the sons that come in have a better understanding of the game because they've been there, they've seen it," Sweet said. "It's a huge advantage.

 

"You're no long star-struck, you want to be one of the stars."

 

Clark hasn't yet developed into one of those stars. At 28, his big-league career at this point consists of a 16-game cameo with the Milwaukee Brewers last year in which he hit three home runs in 27 at-bats.

 

But don't expect Matt Clark to stop grinding any time soon.

 

Terry Clark also didn't make his MLB debut until 27, and from that point on he pitched in 272 games in the minor leagues - even pitching in nine games for Colorado Springs in 1992 when the Sky Sox were the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. But Terry Clark also logged 232 innings in big-league stadiums, provided a livelihood for his family and parlayed that into a job as the minor-league pitching coordinator for the Seattle Mariners.

 

Matt Clark decided long ago, after taking on his dad's best stuff and following him through all those clubhouses, that he would follow his father's example. So the grind continues.

 

"This is what I know," Matt Clark said. "This is what I do, this is what I want to be a part of."

[Mass Haas]

Orr set to step up for Canada’s Pan Am baseball squad

By John Cudmore, Newmarket (CN) Era

 

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Aside from a major league roster, there is no other place in the baseball world Pete Orr would rather be than in a Baseball Canada uniform.

 

Playing a high-profile event just a few dozen kilometres from where he grew up, it is a homecoming of sorts for Orr as a participant in the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Parapan Am Games.

 

It’s rather fitting that Orr will be the elder statesman on the Team Canada roster for the men’s baseball tournament next month at the President’s Choice Pan Am Ballpark in Ajax.

 

As a member of the Pacific Coast League (Triple-A) Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the 36-year-old Orr is available to the Canadian cause for the Games being played on Canadian soil for the first time since 1999 in Winnipeg.

 

For the Pan Am Games, participating countries are restricted to players not on major league 40-man rosters.

 

“I talked it over with the Brewers,” said the Newmarket resident, who is in his second season as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers organization and 16th in professional baseball. “They’re not having an ideal season and a lot of younger guys will be going up to the majors ahead of me. Other guys are in the opposite situation where they’re an ankle injury from being called up. It was pretty safe all along that I’d be available.”

 

Team Canada is due to gather July 4 in North Carolina to prepare for its opening game one week later.

 

For Canada, the seven-team tournament starts July 11 against the Dominican Republic. Other entries are the United States, Cuba, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua. Canada is the defending champion after striking gold for the first time with a 2-1 victory over the U.S. in 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

 

“It’s great,” said Orr, whose extensive international resume dates back to 2003 and includes the 2004 Olympics in Athens. “I’m excited for it. I think all the guys are very passionate about it and take pride in playing for Canada. We’re not just there to show up. We’re representing Canada to win.”

 

It is Orr’s first opportunity to bear the red maple leaf in a Pan Am Games tournament although he did play in the 2010 qualifying tournament. However, he was on the Philadelphia Phillies major league roster at the time of the Games and not available.

 

The former Newmarket High School student has also seen major league duty with the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals. His last taste of major league life is a 15-game stint with the Phillies in 2013.

 

The Newmarket Baseball Association product has also played in three World Baseball Challenge tournaments.

 

Although the roster was revealed last week, Orr has been part of the roster mix since the off-season, although like many he is one call up away from being not available since major leaguers are exempt from being eligible.

 

“I’ve known all winter, I guess, but you always hope to be unavailable,” he said. “The final roster is subject to guys going up and down (between the minor and major leagues), injuries and organization approval.

 

“I’m very excited to play at home,” said Orr. “I’ve never had that chance except for the World Classic played once in Canada so it’ll be nice to play at home.

 

“It’s the closest I’ll get to play in Newmarket.”

[Mass Haas]

Former Bethune-Cookman pitcher Hiram Burgos aims for second shot at big leagues

By Chris Boyle, Daytona News-Journal

 

http://www.news-journalonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DN&Date=20150701&Category=SPORTS&ArtNo=150709950&Ref=AR&imageVersion=Main&MaxW=445&border=0

 

Hiram Burgos was the Milwaukee Brewers minor-league pitcher of the year in 2012. Colorado Springs Sky Sox / Paat Kelly Photo

 

Hiram Burgos has already matched a personal record this season, playing for three teams at separate levels of minor-league baseball.

 

He started as a Manatee. He was a Shucker for a short period of time. Currently, he's wearing Sky Sox gear in Triple-A.

 

Burgos has packed his bags twice over, relocated across the country and met dozens of new teammates, all with one simple goal in mind — returning to the majors.

 

The 27-year-old Bethune-Cookman product, a sixth-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2009, was given a second chance in January after being released by the team in September following shoulder surgery. Now, nearly a full year after the clean-up procedure, Burgos feels healthy and hungry to crack the rotation by season's end.

 

"I'm blessed, and I'm pain-free," Burgos said. "At the beginning (of the season), it was more about developing my pitch count. The first couple months, it was more like rehab. Now, I'm worried about pitching only."

 

Burgos rapidly advanced through the Brewers' system once before. In 2012, he went 10-4 with a 1.98 ERA with 153 strikeouts in 171 innings across A-ball, Double-A and Triple-A. He was named the Brewers' minor-league pitcher of the year.

 

The next season, the right-hander earned a call-up to the majors. Burgos made six starts, going 1-2 with a 6.44 ERA.

 

"You can't compare it. Playing in the big leagues is another world," Burgos said. "Whenever you play after that, you don't want to play anywhere else."

 

Shoulder injuries derailed his campaigns in 2013 and 2014. He had a scope done last June, which he said cleared up his labrum and his rotator cuff. But the Brewers released Burgos on Sept. 2, making him a free agent.

 

"After getting the surgery, there are really different thoughts that come to your mind — I don't know how strong I'm going to come back, I don't know if I'm going to be able to pitch again," Burgos said. "But hard work, at the end, pays off."

 

Burgos proved he was ready to attempt a comeback in winter ball in his native Puerto Rico. The Brewers offered him a contract, but not an invitation to spring training.

 

Instead, he started the year in the High-A Florida State League. His first start was a return to Daytona Beach, facing the Tortugas in the newly named franchise's first game.

 

Burgos was welcomed back to town rudely. The first batter he faced, Sebastian Elizalde, belted a leadoff home run.

 

"I was laughing after, saying 'Wow, they're going to treat me like that coming back? Give me a chance,' " Burgos joked.

 

He rebounded in his other six starts for Brevard County before being called up. Since his promotion to Double-A, a span of seven starts, Burgos has won all four of his decisions. He's allowed just 15 earned runs and struck out 47 batters in 40.1 innings for Biloxi and Colorado Springs.

 

"He's been able to throw really well," said Fred Dabney, pitching coach for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. "It's a credit to the hard work and dedication he put in to get back to where he was. Getting used to the altitude is an adjustment, but he's back to being Burgos."

 

Burgos throws four pitches — fastball, changeup, curveball and slider. Dabney said his fastball velocity has sat between 86-89 mph.

 

As the calendar turns to July, less than a month before Major League Baseball's trade deadline, Burgos could have an opportunity if the Brewers become sellers as expected.

 

Milwaukee entered Wednesday with a 31-48 record, 21½ games back of the first-place St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central. The Brewers rank 27th in the bigs in team ERA and 26th in opponents' batting average. The No. 5 spot in the rotation has been a revolving door since Wily Peralta was placed on the disabled list with an oblique injury.

 

If he continues to shine, Burgos may be able to relive his big-league dream.

 

"Whenever you have a uniform on, you still have a chance all the time," Burgos said. "You never know."

[Mass Haas]

Would-be engineer Austin Ross faring well as Sky Sox reliever

By Kristen Gowdy, Colorado Springs Gazette

 

Recent Sky Sox call-up Austin Ross definitely does not come from a baseball family.

 

The lingering remains of his slow, Southern drawl are testament to his Louisiana background, a reflection of his Gulf Coast roots.

 

And a reminder of what his life would be without baseball.

 

The relief pitcher grew up set to become a third-generation petroleum engineer. He enrolled as a petroleum engineering major at Louisiana State, and was prepared to follow in his father's and grandfather's footsteps.

 

He never got his degree. The Brewers selected him in the eighth round of the 2010 draft following his junior season at LSU, and Ross broke away from what had become a family norm.

 

"When I went to school, I enrolled in what I would enroll in no matter if I was playing baseball or not," he said.

 

"Fortunately, I was able to get drafted and hopefully I can play for a long time to come."

 

As far as extending his professional career, the 26-year-old is off to a pretty good start. In his four appearances with the Sky Sox since getting called up from Double-A Biloxi Shuckers, Ross hasn't allowed a run and has struck out three in 4 2/3 innings pitched.

 

In his first stint at the Triple-A level, the 6-foot-2 righty is, according to manager Rick Sweet, handling the pressure confidently.

 

"The key for me is he's come up and thrown strikes," Sweet said. "He's very aggressive, especially with his fastball."

 

That confidence was shown especially in his first outing with the Sky Sox on July 3. After finding out about his promotion at midnight the night before, Ross packed up his apartment, joined the team in Nashville and pitched that evening in a tight 2-1 loss to the Sounds.

 

He allowed a ground-ball gapper for a single that scored the Sounds' go-ahead run, but Ross responded the next day with a much-needed scoreless inning in a 15-1 loss to the Memphis Redbirds.

 

Taking the call-up in stride is all a part of Ross' personality. With the Sky Sox, he is facing batters with years of professional experience.

 

But that hasn't fazed him. He is quick to shake off the added pressure that the next level brings with an easy smile.

 

"Baseball is baseball," he said. "A well-executed pitch is a well-executed pitch, no matter what ballpark you're throwing it in."

 

A solid reliever could be the answer - or at least part of the answer - for a Colorado Springs pitching staff that has struggled mightily this season, posting the second-highest ERA in the Pacific Coast League.

 

But if Ross continues to control the strike zone as well as he has been, Sweet thinks he could progress to the big leagues very quickly.

 

"There's always a chance," he said.

 

"If he commands his stuff well enough then he could pitch at the next level."

[Mass Haas]

Former Neshoba Central, Ole Miss pitcher reaches Majors

By Reed DeSalvo, themeridianstar.com (Mississippi)

 

David Goforth trotted in from the bullpen at Miller Park May 26 to make his major league debut for the Milwaukee Brewers against the 2014 World Series champion San Francisco Giants.

 

He stood atop the same mound countless stars had stood before, including World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner earlier that game, and stared in for the sign.

 

He made it. His dream had come true.

 

The mound at Miller Park is a far cry from the parks in Philadelphia, MS where Goforth played as a kid and dreamed of one day donning a big league uniform and playing in a big league park.

 

“That was a special moment for me and my family,” Goforth said. “That’s something I always dreamed about since I was a little kid. I’ve always wanted to play in the big leagues and be a professional baseball player.”

 

Goforth starred in the high school ranks as a four-year letterman for coach Brian Jones at Neshoba Central. The former Rocket then spent three years at Ole Miss from 2009-2011 before being drafted in the seventh round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft with the No. 221 pick overall.

 

The 26-year-old right-handed hurler has since has been reassigned to the Brewers Triple-A affiliate, the Colorado Sky Sox of the Pacific Coast League, where he has accrued a 2.65 earned-run average to go along with 26 strikeouts in 34 innings in what historically is a hitter-friendly league.

 

"I set a goal coming into the year to be consistent," said Goforth, who is in his fifth professional season. "I wanted the (organization) to know what they were going to get every time I went out there. I fee like over the past couple of years I lacked consistency. Luckily, this year, I've been able to be a lot more consistent, and the way I've been throwing the ball has been tremendously better."

 

It's that consistency that helped propel Goforth to the big-league level in addition to him being named a PCL All-Star in Wednesday's Triple-A All-Star Game.

 

"It was fun," Goforth said. "I enjoyed it and being around all the different guys from different teams. We're playing baseball, but it's an all-star game, and everyone is out there just having fun, and it was a good couple of days."

 

Goforth was in Las Vegas with the Sky Sox when he first learned of his call-up from an unlikely source.

 

"I actually saw it on Twitter before I got a phone call or anything," Goforth explained. "I see the tweet on my phone, and I showed my roommate (Tim Dillard), and honestly, I think he was more excited; it was more shock for me."

 

But what ensued next was a time of celebration for Goforth, his family and friends.

 

"(My family) is the reason that I am able to do what I'm doing," Goforth said. "Without my family — my grandparents, my aunt, my mom and dad — I even called a few coaches — Coach Jones — without these people, I wouldn't be where I am today."

 

Goforth tossed 2/3 scoreless inning that May day in Milwaukee, picking Nori Aoki off at second base with an inside move, and inducing a harmless flyball to left field off the bat of three-time All-Star Hunter Pence. Goforth made three more appearances for the Brewers, logging a total of 2 1/3 shutout innings, while allowing one hit, a walk and a strikeout.

 

"I never had the inside move work ever, at any level," Goforth said with a laugh. "Most of the time, it's just a move to get the runner closer to the base. It's just one of those things that never works.

 

“Big league baseball is amazing, and I enjoyed every second of it. There is nothing else like it out there. You get that taste when you get called up, and you see what everything is about, and that definitely makes you want to get back there.”

[Mass Haas]

Austin Ross climbing through minors the hard way

Darrell Williams, Special to The (Baton Rouge, LA) Advocate

 

http://theadvocate.com/csp/mediapool/sites/dt.common.streams.StreamServer.cls?STREAMOID=i093aNWOg8odmIaU5Bmlcs$daE2N3K4ZzOUsqbU5sYtpGwSSr7YU55DRBwx0SR3aWCsjLu883Ygn4B49Lvm9bPe2QeMKQdVeZmXF$9l$4uCZ8QDXhaHEp3rvzXRJFdy0KqPHLoMevcTLo3h8xh70Y6N_U_CryOsw6FTOdKL_jpQ-&CONTENTTYPE=image/jpeg

 

The Colorado Springs Sky Sox's Austin Ross has made it to Triple-A after overcoming Tommy John surgery in 2012 and a nerve issue in 2013. (Photo by Paat Kelly)

 

Austin Ross faced a difficult stretch in which it at least crossed his mind to explore his other option.

 

Ross, who pitched on LSU’s College World Series championship team in 2009 and was drafted in the eighth round by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010, also was on the All-SEC Academic team three consecutive years, majoring in petroleum engineering.

 

And here he was in the lower levels of minor league baseball trying to bounce back from an injury and a setback.

 

“There were some testing times, especially being in your mid-20s,” said Ross, a 26-year-old (27 next month) relief pitcher with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, who are wrapping up their series Sunday against the New Orleans Zephyrs at Zephyr Field. “All your friends who aren’t playing baseball are starting their lives and getting jobs and starting careers.

 

“Your friends you played baseball with are progressing through the system and getting to the big leagues, and you’re kind of sitting there spinning your wheels trying to come back from this injury. And there’s that unknown: ‘Am I going to be the same?’ ”

 

Ross appeared primed for a big season in 2012 with Brevard County, the Brewers’ Advanced Single-A team in the Florida State League. He’d been impressive in spring training. But in his third start of the regular season, he felt “a twinge” that so many pitchers have experienced, particularly in recent years.

 

It wasn’t the Tommy John surgery and the resulting rehab process that became frustrating to Ross. He’d talked to pitchers such as Rob Wooten, who’d had the surgery the year before and was in the Brewers’ system. They assured him he could come back even better.

 

“I came back in 2013 and thought I’d be ready in April or May,” he said, “but in spring training, I had a nerve issue. It set me back two months.”

 

After recovering, Ross had to go all the way back to Rookie League baseball to start over. He finished the season in Low A.

 

Ross has been making up for lost time since then. The 2014 season was huge. It was Ross’ first time healthy since 2011, he said. He began in Advanced A as a reliever, then became a starter, and at the end of July was sent to Double-A Huntsville.

 

“I threw the ball pretty well,” he said.

 

He went back to Double-A, the team now in Biloxi, to start this season, but as a reliever.

 

“I’ve been a starter most of my career, but right now, that’s where they see,” he said. “As long as you’re pitching, you get a chance to go to the big leagues. And that’s what they told me is my profile to do that.”

 

He was promoted to Triple-A on July 3, and in six appearances with Colorado Springs he has allowed two earned runs in 7.2 innings, striking out six and walking one.

 

“He’s really pitched well for us,” Sky Sox manager Rick Sweet said. “He’s come up and been aggressive, throwing strikes. He’s got good stuff. He was pitching really well in Double-A, and he hasn’t missed a beat.

 

Colorado Springs’ Fred Dabney, who was Ross’ pitching coach with Brevard County when he returned at the start of the 2014 season, said Ross has become what the Brewers thought he’d be in the way of development.

 

“For one, the fastball velocity is better, and just the life on his secondary pitches is better,” Dabney said. “His slider is really more consistent than it was at the lower levels, and obviously, the feel for the changeup.”

 

Like a meticulous engineer, Ross said he used the rehab period and journey back up to improve his mechanics. Time has allowed him to fine-tune them.

 

“I took the opportunity of all that down time to change a few things mechanically that I knew I had trouble with and would make me better down the road,” he said. “You take off 15 months, you don’t have that much muscle memory, so it’s easy to create a new pattern.

 

“I think I did a good job with that, on all of my pitches. And I also think I’ve grown up a lot, pitching-wise in just talking to other guys and pitching to better hitters. I know how to approach hitters better, and I know what I’m good at, I know myself as a pitcher.”

 

Sweet said Ross has a lot of attributes. He’s an aggressive power pitcher with a tremendous mound presence who knows no fear. He showed a glimpse of that in the series opener against the Zephyrs.

 

Entering in the sixth inning, he allowed two one-out singles before getting Brandon Bantz to hit into an inning-ending double play. He then pitched a scoreless seventh, allowing only a two-out walk.

 

“The only time somebody is not in the big leagues, it’s the consistency of their games,” Sweet said. “(Ross) is still not as consistent as he needs to be, but he’s getting better and better, and it won’t be long to where he’s going to get an opportunity to get there.”

[Mass Haas]

Chapman back on path toward majors

Dustin Kent, Panama City (FL) News Herald Assistant Sports Editor

 

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — In the fall of 2012, Jaye Chapman got the opportunity of a lifetime. After six seasons and 252 Minor League games, the former Mosley Dolphin and Chipola Indian player was getting called up to the big leagues.

 

Chapman made his debut Sept. 4 for the Chicago Cubs, who acquired him that summer in a trade with the Atlanta Braves, pitching a scoreless second inning with a strikeout and a walk in an 11-5 loss to the Washington Nationals.

 

He made 12 more appearances for the Cubs that season, finishing with a 3.75 ERA and 12 strikeouts to 10 walks in 12 innings pitched.

 

Chapman went to Cubs training camp the following spring with every reason to believe he had a legitimate shot to make the opening day roster.

 

But after he got there, he felt like something was wrong, physically. Chapman always had struggled with soreness in his hips, which he would write off to simple tightness.

 

“I never really said anything to anyone,” he said. “I just pitched and figured everybody had some kind of hip thing. In sports, no one is every 100 percent. No one goes out there and feels great every day. I just figured it was something I had to deal with.”

 

The pain was never that severe, certainly not substantial enough to actually keep him off the mound. But after a pitch he threw at training camp, Chapman felt something he hadn’t felt before.

 

“I was like, man, that’s not right,” he said. “That doesn’t feel right.”

 

Chapman was sent to Triple-A affiliate Iowa Cubs in the Pacific Coast League where he pitched in four games and struggled mightily, giving up 12 earned runs in just 6 1/3 innings.

 

The pain in his hips hadn’t subsided, so he finally asked team doctors to check him out. What they relayed to him was not easy to accept.

 

Chapman suffered from Femoroacetabular Impingement, or FAI, in both hips, a congenital condition in which the bones of the hip are abnormally shaped and consequently rub against each other and cause damage to the joint.

 

Microfracture surgery would be required in both hips and there was no timetable on when he would be able to return to the baseball field.

 

It was an especially devastating blow given the timing of it.

 

“I had just got to the big leagues and pitched pretty well,” Chapman said. “I was probably going to pitch some in the big leagues (in 2013). I felt like I was really close. I felt like I was a part of (the Cubs’) plan. That’s where my faith came in. You’re thinking that this couldn’t come at a worse time, but at the same time, I knew something bigger was in store.”

 

The surgery removed bone chips from both hips to alleviate the pain and allow for a greater range of motion. It was a success, but he spent the next six months on crutches and missed the remainder of the 2013 season.

 

At year’s end, his contract with the Cubs expired and no other club was confident enough in Chapman’s health to give him a contract.

 

He found a home with the Bridgeport Bluefish in the Independent Atlantic League where he pitched 50 games in 2014 and went 2-3 with a 3.86 ERA, 58 strikeouts, and 24 walks in 53 2/3 innings.

 

Chapman called his time in Bridgeport a “blessing in disguise” and he was rewarded after the season with a phone call from his agent that he was not expecting.

 

He was on the road when he got the call informing him that the Milwaukee Brewers were going to offer him a contract. Chapman was so overcome with emotion that he had to pull his car off to the side of the road to finish the conversation.

 

“I was elated,” he said. “I was like, ‘what?’ It was just such a blessing. After all this long, hard work, putting in the rehab, doing six months on crutches, to finally get an opportunity to play affiliated baseball again? I couldn’t wait.”

 

Chapman got his start this year in Double-A with the Biloxi Shuckers of the Southern League and dominated from the outset, going 4-2 with two saves and a 0.82 ERA, 21 strikeouts, and nine walks in 22 innings.

 

He quickly moved up to Triple-A Colorado Springs in the Pacific Coast League and has appeared in 18 games and pitched 21 innings, posting a 3.43 ERA with 22 strikeouts and three walks.

 

It appears Chapman is on a path back to the majors, but he said he’s just thankful to be playing baseball again.

 

“It’s just a huge blessing to be back doing what I love,” he said. “When I was going through rehab, I had that one goal in mind the entire time, just to get back. It’s been at times very trying and at times very humbling. But when things aren’t going your way, it’s kind of how you respond to those things.

 

“Injuries are unfortunately a part of the game, so you just try to bounce back from it. I tried to have a never-say-quit attitude. I try to embody that as much as I can.”

 

Remaining resolute in his belief hasn’t always been easy, however, with Chapman saying it was tough at times to stay positive in the face of such adversity.

 

“There were nights where I’m sitting there and I can’t move, my hips are locked into this machine, and I’m like, ‘man, I don’t know,’” he said. “But for me, I relied a lot on my faith and also I try to be an extremely positive person. I had to tell myself that this is not it for me. I’m going to work harder than anybody has worked. I’m going to work as hard as I possibly can to make it work again.”

 

After the surgery and the rehab, Chapman said he feels better now than he ever has before, experiencing occasional tenderness after an outing but never anything on the scale of the pain he dealt with pre-surgery.

 

“I’m right at two years removed from surgery and I feel great,” he said. “I still have days where I’m like ‘ugh,’ and I can definitely tell I had surgery. But then there are days where it’s way better than before I had the surgery. My range of motion is 10 times better. When the phone rings (in the bullpen) and it’s my time to go in, I’m ready to go every single time. That’s been a huge blessing.”

 

There’s another call that Chapman is still waiting to come in, the one that tells him it’s time for his second chance to pitch in the majors.

 

He said doesn’t know how close he is to that dream becoming reality, but he is trying to keep his focus only on what he can control.

 

“I know it sounds super cliché, but I’m just trying to take it one day at a time,” he said. “I’m just so blessed and excited and lucky to even be playing again. It’s something maybe you take for granted. When you get hurt, you realize how lucky you are to be there. This year, I thank the good Lord every single day for the opportunity to do what I love and I try to attack that day and fully appreciate that day.”

 

Chapman still vividly remembers the month he spent in the big leagues, which he called “one of the best times in my career.”

 

“It was incredible,” he said. “It’s something you work your whole life for. It’s one of those weird things where even people that sometimes deserve to be there are just not in the right place at the right time and don’t get the opportunity. To actually get that opportunity is huge.”

 

Getting another chance to pitch at the highest level would be rewarding on a completely different level, Chapman said.

 

“In all honesty, it would be pretty emotional,” he said. “It’s something a lot of people thought would probably not happen again, even myself at times. If that opportunity came again, it would be a really emotional moment for me.”

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO via MLB Trade Rumors -- Podcast: New Brewers Righty Zach Davies

[Mass Haas]

Baseball America -- 2015 Pacific Coast League Top 20 Prospects

 

#13 Domingo Santana, #20 Taylor Jungmann

[Mass Haas]

Miller Park Prospects -- 2015 Colorado Springs Season Review

[Mass Haas]

The art of losing successfully: baseball and the minor league grind

As the new season approaches many players aren’t dreaming of a World Series victory – they’re just hoping to stay in the major leagues. Chris Bassitt is among their number

David Gendelman, theguardian.com

 

Good article from a general sense, there is one Sky Sox anecdote of note --

 

When players get sent back down to the minors, it’s not unusual for them to show frustration. Last year, one player on the triple-A team the Colorado Springs Sky Sox used his helmet to destroy a sink in the dugout after he struck out, and the game had to be stopped because water was gushing up the first-base line. His teammates held out buckets to catch the cascade.

[AKCheesehead]

For some reason I'd really like to know who the perpetrator is.