Steam Baseball Alumni Report :: Minor Leagues :: 6.5.08

Garret Baker (San Francisco Giants): Baker's hitting .241 for the Class A South Atlantic League Augusta Green Jackets. The former Steam slugger has five homers and has driven in 26 runs. Baker is hitting .256 in his last 10 games and has driven in five runs.

Jay Brossman (Los Angeles Angels): A year after wrecking on pitchers in the Pioneer League, Brossman jumped out to a strong start in 2007 for the Low Class A Midwest League Cedar Rapids Kernals but has cooled as of late. The former Steam third baseman is hitting .241 with four homers and 27 RBI. He's showing signs of heating up again after going 2-for-4 with a solo home run on Wednesday night. Brossman is 10-for-37 (.270) in his last 10 games. A friend of mine recently caught a Kernals game in which Brossman doubled and made a couple nice defensive plays.

Jordan Craft (Boston Red Sox): Craft spent a year with the Steam while he transitioned from Pepperdine University to Dallas Baptist. The hard-throwing righty is now pitching for the Class A South Atlantic League Greenville Drive. A starter for much of his short professional career, Craft is working out of the bullpen for Greenville and is 0-3, 6.86 in 10 appearances this year. Craft has 13 Ks this season and has worked back-to-back scoreless appearances for the first time in his last two outings.

Parker Dalton (Los Angeles Dodgers): The mayor is stuck in a positional battle with a returning player at Low Class A Great Lakes but has shown his potential for the Loons when given the opportunity to play. Dalton is hitting .250 in 23 games with 6 extra base hits, including a two homers and a triple. During a recent six game stretch, Dalton hit safely in each game and is batting .278 over his last 10 games. I recently heckled the former Texas A&M and Steam middle infielder about his low stolen base totals...his response: I need to steal first more.

Cory Gearrin (Atlanta Braves): Perhaps no former Steam player has made a bigger improvement than Gearrin who also finds himself in Class A South Atlantic League with the Rome Braves. Gearrin was admittedly bad for the Steam in 2005 before his velocity increased and he tore up the Cape Cod league and the Atlantic Sun Conference while at Mercer. Gearrin was recently visited by future hall of famer John Smoltz, who rehabbed in Rome. Gearrin's Smoltz-esque strikeout numbers, 37 in 26.1 innings in 2007 and 20 in 13.2 this season, have yielded solid results for the sidearmer. Gearrin is 2-1 with a 3.29 ERA in 12 appearances this season.

Andrew Kerth (San Francisco Giants): Kerth, a 2004 Steam pitcher, has yet to make an appearance this season but pitched well in 15 appearances last season for the Rookie Level Arizona Giants. Kerth was 1-1 with a 3.91 with 16 strikeouts in 23 innings.

Chad Linder (Independent): One of my all-time favorite Steam pitchers, Linder is dealing for the Alexandria Aces in the United League. In four starts, the lefty is 1-1 with a 5.19 ERA but has fanned 24 and walked just six batters in 26 innings.

Steven Trout (Independent): Signed as a reserve utility infielder, Trout was inserted into the Northern League Kansas City T-Bones lineup early in the season because of an injury to a starter. Trout is batting .200 through 11 games with a double and a triple. I met up with Trout for dinner earlier this season and he was excited about the opportunity to keep playing ball.

Demetri White (Independent): White is pitching for the American Association's Wichita Wingnuts while he recovers from a blood clot in his arm. I saw Dimitri pitch against the Fort Worth Cats a couple weeks ago and he looked sharp at times but looked like a guy working his way back into form at others. White is 1-3, 9.18 in six appearances including four starts for the expansion team. He has 16 strikeouts in 16.2 innings but his lack of command is evident in a team-leading five hit-batsmen and 20 walks. Once he gets his command back, I don't think White will be pitching in Independent ball much longer.

Sprouting up on the farm....Scott Bittle, second round draft choice of the New York Yankees on Thursday.

I'm sure I missed a couple guys and I apologize. Please send me an email with comments or questions at kwmccar@ilstu.edu.