The Can-Am League has led the charge in baseball rule changes recently, initiating the international tiebreaker rule in 2014. Now, the league has made more changes to playing rules in an effort to speed up the game.
The speed up rules will include timers, and a fourth umpire located in the press box of all Can-Am League stadiums.
Alex Powers was with the New Jersey Jackals the entire '15 season after two campaigns in the lower tiers of the Chicago White Sox farm system, then got another major league-affiliated opportunity in the Cincinnati organization after that 0-5, 3.29 season (40 appearances).
The righthander is showing a big arm with 16 strikeouts (only two walks) in nine games covering 11.1 innings. He lost his only decision, but has a 3.18 ERA and perhaps more importantly, three saves, the last out coming via... Читать дальше...
When he was only 24 in 2013 Johnny Hellweg got seven starts and a relief appearance with the Milwaukee Brewers mixed in during a 13-5 minor league season. The future looked rosy for the 6-foot-7 righthander.
The 29-year-old's fortunes are bright once again as he has a 0.00 earned run average with five saves in 10 appearances out of the bullpen with the Pirates' top farm club in Indianapolis, including two in the last four days. He has allowed only six hits and five walks with nine strikeouts over 12 innings.
With training camps beginning this week, all six Can-Am League clubs are playing league and non-league opponents in exhibition games through next week, before the regular season starts on Thursday, May 17.
Rich Grassa, an umpire in the Can-Am League during the 2012 season, has been promoted to the Triple-A International League from the Double-A Eastern League.
Grassa attended the 2013 class at MiLB Umpire Training Academy where he was selected to work in the Minor Leagues. Since then he has umpired in the New York Penn, South Atlantic, Florida Instructional, Carolina, Arizona Instruction, and Eastern Leagues. Grassa has also taught at MiLB Umpire Training Academy (previously known as The Umpire School) since 2014.
This seems to be the time for player promotions.
Former Can-Am League pitchers Robert Stock (New Jersey '16), Phillippe Aumont (Ottawa '17, pictured) and Ivan Pineyro (Sussex County '16) all have moved to within one step of the major leagues in recent days and outfielder Stephen Cardullo (Rockland '13-'15) also has re-surfaced in Triple-A. Eight league alumni are now at the Triple-A level.
It is always nice to be wanted, and former Ottawa hurler Wilmer Font learned this week that is the case for him as the Los Angeles Dodgers traded last season's Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year to the Oakland Athletics.
"This is a guy that the front office has talked about before," A's skipper Bob Melvin told MLB.com. "He's got a big arm, and not only is he potential relief but he's (a) potential starter, so we're always trying to have as many guys in the mix as we possibly can."
6-foot-6 Ryan Bollinger, who pitched for Trois-Rivieres from 2014 to 2016, had a memorable debut in the New York Yankees farm system Tuesday, allowing only a solo home run and three other hits in five innings of one-run work as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre dropped a 3-2 decision to Columbus. He walked two and struck out five.
The 27-year-old has spent four seasons in Independent leagues, never pitching above Class A in an affiliated league until this week.
Balbino Fuenmayor (pictured) is on one of his torrid streaks in the Mexican League, hitting safely in all 13 games he has played, going 18-for-45 (.400) with a .472 on-base percentage and a 1.094 OPS. The former Quebec star has four doubles, two home runs and has driven in six runs.
Another slugging first baseman, Art Charles, has driven in 13 runs in 16 games while hitting .308 with a .448 on-base percentage in Mexico. He won the Can-Am Triple Crown while playing for New Jersey in 2016.
Robert Stock (pictured) and Andres Santiago are a pair of pitchers born less than a month but thousands of miles apart in the fall of 1989 who eventually ended up in the Can-Am League two years ago. Now, the right-handers are in separate Double-A leagues and putting together the type of early-season numbers that should be impressing their organizations.
Stock has been a strike-throwing machine in his first four appearances for San Antonio, getting all but 28 of his 81 pitches into the zone, including 10 of 13 Monday.
