A week-by-week look at how our Baseball Alums are representing in the Major and Minor Leagues across professional baseball.
Here's a look at how the 7 MLB Frogs faired the week of June 24-June 30:
Jake Arrieta (P/Chicago Cubs) - The Cubs played the Cardinals on June 26, and Arrieta pitched 7 innings. Facing 26 batters, he allowed 3 hits with 1 run. The Cubs lost the game 3-2, but Arrieta's 2015 ERA has been steadily improving since mid-May. His ERA is currently 2.94 for the season, with a great WHIP of 1.06. You can see more stats from his 2015 season here.
Matt Carpenter (3B/St. Louis Cardinals) - As mentioned above, the Cardinals and Cubs battled it out this week. But prior to that, the Cards faced the Miami Marlins in Florida. On June 24, Carpenter had 4 bats with 1 RBI to help his team win 6-1. The next day was tougher, with 3 strikeouts in 4 at bats and 1 lucky base on balls that didn't lead anywhere but the dugout. The Cards still managed a win 5-1 before heading home to face the Cubs. In the 3-game home series June 26-28, Carpenter had 13 total at bats with 3 RBIs. The Cubs won the series with wins of 3-2 (6/26), 8-1 (6/27), and 4-1 (6/28). The Cards followed with a loss to the White Sox on June 30, with no luck for Carpenter that day. Carpenter's AVG currently sits at .277 with an OPS of .834. For more stats from Carpenter's 2015 season, click here.
Andrew Cashner (P/San Diego Padres) - The Padres faced the Diamondbacks at home on June 27. Cashner pitched for 7 innings, with 8 hits, 2 runs, and 6 strikeouts with 27 batters faced. He also had 3 at bats with 1 run and 1 RBI to help the Padres in a 7-2 victory. His 2015 ERA is 4.22, with a WHIP of 1.42. His AVG is .282 for the season so far. For more of Cashner's stats, click here.
Taylor Featherston (3B/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) - The Angels had a busy week at home. They finished a series against Houston on June 24. Featherston had 2 at bats and brought home the win in the bottom of the 13th with a single that allowed the scoring run to come home. On June 26, the Angels faced the Mariners in a 3-game series. Featherston had 4 at bats, but only 1 hit that didn't lead to anything, and Angels lost 3-1. June 27, Featherston had 3 at bats that didn't get him anywhere, and he had an error in the 8th. The Angels still managed to win 4-2. June 28 saw Featherston with 4 at bats, 1 hit, and 1 run to help the Angels win 3-2. On June 29-30, the Angels played the Yankees, but Featherston was a spectator for the series. His current AVG is .127, with an OPS of .388. You can see more of his season here.
Brandon Finnegan (P/Kansas City Royals) - TCU's most beloved College-World-Series-to-Major-World-Series-in-the-Same-Year Hero faced the Mariners on June 24. He threw 13 pitches to 4 batters and allowed 1 hit to help the Royals with an 8-2 win. June 29 saw Finnegan in Houston, where he pitched for 3.1 innings and allowed a home run in the 5th. The Royals lost 6-1, but it's the rumors of a trade that have TCU fans waiting to buy Finnegan jerseys for Christmas gifts. With inconsistent performance and having just returned from a stint in the Omaha Triple-As, Finnegan's name is starting to get tossed around with the word "trade" next to it. We really hope the Royals remember how much of an asset he was during the World Series last year and decide to keep him around. It would be a shame to have to burn our Royals gear and put them on our "Most Despised Teams List" under Baylor. We'll be rooting for you, Finny! For more on Finnegan's season, you can go here.
Bryan Holaday (C/Detriot Tigers) - The Tigers started out in Cleveland on June 24, where Holaday had 3 at bats with nothing to show for it. The Tigers lost 8-2 before playing the White Sox on June 25. Holaday had 2 RBIs in the bottom of the 10th. But the Tigers couldn't score enough to stay in the game and lost 8-7. Holaday had 1 hit in 4 at bats the next day, but couldn't get make it amount to anything on the scoreboard. He has a .273 AVG with a .682 OPS. Check out all of his stats here.
Chad Huffman (Outfielder/Chiba Lotte Marines) - It's not quite as easy to find a plethora of stats for the Nippon (Japanese) Professional Baseball League, but we couldn't leave out Chad Huffman. He's still a Frog, after all. Unfortunately, he's off to a bit of a rough start, with just 1 hit in 11 at bats over 6 games this season, but we'll never stop cheering for him. We wish him the best, and you can follow his season here and here.
And here is how our Former Frogs in the MiLB are doing:
Tyler Alexander - Connecticut Tigers (Detroit Class A-Short Season) Seasons at TCU: 2014-2015, Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2015- Present. Keaton Jones - Connecticut Tigers (Detroit Class A-Short Season) Seasons at TCU: 2012-2015. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2015-present. Trey Teakell - Connecticut Tigers (Detroit Class A-Short Season) Seasons at TCU: 2011-2015, Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2015-present. Tyler, Keaton, and Trey have not been with the Connecticut Tigers long, but the team (42-34) defeated the Lowell Spinners (37-38) Monday night. and are headed to the New York-Penn League playoffs for the first time in franchise history with the League's 4th best record and a Wild Card berth in those playoffs. Tyler has only pitched 4 innings in one game so far, but had an impressive 71% strikes in 46 pitches thrown. Keaton has slugged 1 HR and 2 more RBIs in 19 at bats. Trey has also pitched only 4 innings, those for a save, and also had 2 hits in that outing.
Nick Frey - State College Spikes (St. Louis Class-A Short Season). Seasons at TCU: 2011-2013. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2011-present. Alas, Nick will not see any playoff action against any of his former Frog teammates from Connecticut, as the Spikes are "just above cellar" in their division of the New York-Penn League. Since switching from the Peoria Chiefs mid-season, his ERA has improved a little, offset by a minor bump the wrong way in his batting average.
Jantzen Witte - Portland Sea Dogs (Boston AA). Seasons at TCU: 2009-2013. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2013-present. The Seadogs will host the Eastern League All Start Game on July 15, and Jantzen will represent at first base. That's no surprise, as he is the Sea Dogs' second top hitter at .281 with a .358 OBP. Jantzen has reached 3B 115 times, and then crossed home plate an impressive 77 of those. He has hit 4 HRs and 44 RBIs. I wonder how often he'll make it back to his hometown of Fort Worth in the fall to watch TCU Football?
Paul Hendrix - Lynchburg Hillcats (Cleveland Class A-Advanced). Seasons at TCU: 2013. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2013-present. Lynchburg is a tough 6 games back in the Carolina League Northern. Paul is contributing well with a .245 batting average, 4 HRs and 25 RBIs.
Jason Coats - Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox AAA). Seasons at TCU: 2009-2012. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2013-present. The Knights are at the top of the International League Wild Card Standings, but with 4 teams nipping at their heels within 1 - 2.5 games back. Jason is batting .244 at Charlotte, with 7 HRs and 43 RBIs, and .275 overall in two seasons in the Minors. Maybe Preston Morrison will drive up from Waxhaw to watch!
Stefan Crichton - Delmarva Shorebirds (Baltimore Class A). Seasons at TCU: 2011-2013. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2013-present. Stefan is the Shorebirds' third top pitcher with a 2.47 ERA and is batting a respectable .246 with 44 hits.
Matt Purke - Hagerstown Suns (Washington Class A). Seasons at TCU 2010-2011. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2011-present. "Pitcher Purke-fect" Matt, the star of TCU's first CWS appearance in 2010, does not appear headed for the South Atlantic League playoffs, as The Suns are 9 games back in the Northern division. I've always admired Matt for turning down a contract with the Rangers straight out of high school to go to TCU. I think it was the right thing to do, and wish things had worked out better for Matt injury-wise. His ERA has been all over the map while in the minors, but he's throwing a decent 3.25 right now, as well as batting .278.
Jerrick Suiter - West Virginia Power (Pittsburgh Class A). Seasons at TCU: 2012-2014. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2014-present. The Power, one of the two teams ahead of Delmarva and Hagerstown in the South Atlantic League Northern, is sitting 4.5 games behind the leader Hickory Crawdads. Jerrick has improved his batting average from .279 to .317 since his first season with the Bristol Pirates, and has logged 2 HRs and 30 RBIs so far this season, already more than in 2014.
Andrew Mitchell - Kannapolis Intimidators (Chicago White Sox Class A). Seasons at TCU: 2011-2013. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2013-present. Like their division mates the Hagertown Suns, Kannapolis is even less playoff bound, sitting 2.5 games behind The Suns. To make matters worse, Andrew is currently on their DL, and his ERA is sitting at 5.37. On his first outing for Kannapolis and Class A debut on April 8, 2014, however, he pitched 5 hitless innings.
Riley Ferrell - Quad Cities River Bandits (Houston Class A). Seasons at TCU: 2013-2015. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2015-present. Well, Riley obviously hasn't been with the Bandits too long. If you live near the Quad Cities and were one of the first 1,000 to the Ballparks Digest "Best Class A Ballpark 2015" Friday, you did get a free Bandits Koozie!
Cody Jones - AZL Royals (Kansas City Rookie League). Seasons at TCU: 2013-2015. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2015-present. Absolutely nothing to report on Cody yet, but a good time will be had by all!
Trevor Seidenberger - Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee AA). Seasons at TCU: 2013. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2013-present. The Shuckers are well, shucking, the rest of the Southern League South, with the next closest team 11 games back! Trevor, however, is struggling on the mound, with a 7.94 ERA since moving to Biloxi after a much better start earlier in the season at Brevard County in the Florida League.
Kyle Winkler - Arkansas Travelers (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim AA). Seasons at TCU: 2009-2011. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2011-present. The Arkansas Travelers are only 3.5 games behind the Arkansas Naturals (that's not too confusing) in the Texas League North, and a comfortable 5 games ahead of the Tulsa Drillers. Kyle is pitching a gnarly 1.35 ERA this season, his best in the minors; although his bat has gone cold at .188. Most of this season has been with the Montgomery Biscuits, and Kyle has just one no-hit inning on his Travelers resume so far. He may find the Travelers' name a little ironic, as this is his sixth team in four years...if you don't count the one he's been with twice.
Kevin Cron- Visalia Rawhide (Arizona Class A-Advanced). Seasons at TCU: 2012-2014. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2014-present. Visalia is currently tied for first place in the California League North, and they were the first half champions. Kevin is batting .279, with a .319 OBP. This includes 16 HRs and 61 RBIs. I had a blast watching him with TCU against USC at Dedeaux Field just a couple of years ago (TCU won me dinner from my USC friend!), and Visalia is not unreasonably far from me. I may just need to get up there soon.
Jordan Kipper - Inland Empire 66ers (Los Angeles Angels Class A Advanced). Seasons at TCU: 2014. Seasons in Pro Baseball: 2014-present. The 66ers and everyone else in California League South are struggling far behind the Rancho Cucamonga Quake. It's possible Jordan enjoyed Orem UT much better last season, and his ERA has slipped quite a bit "way down in San Bernardino," but we'll keep an eye out (they're also close enough for a personal visit) for a big surge!
GO FROGS!!!