Tagged: Bryan Shaw
Papa Grande slims down, plus Shaw makes Tribe
The decision on roster spots is closing in for Major League Baseball teams as they get ready to break camp in both Arizona and Florida. In fact, some of the teams have already announced some of, if not all of, their intentions.
However, there are still players looking for teams to land on this season, with one of those being former Osprey reliever Jose Valverde (2000).
Jose Valverde … still looking for a team at the moment.
That could be solved soon. The free agent has not only shed the rough ending to last season with the Detroit Tigers, but he has shed some pounds, too. Continue reading
Weekend update (of sorts)
The World Baseball Classic starts tonight … how many of you are watching Australia-Chinese Taipei? We know at least one person who will be watching … anyway, a quick bit of information to get you through the weekend …
Weekend pitching:
– The Arizona Diamondbacks have posted pitchers scheduled for the weekend games, and as you can imagine, former Osprey are on the list, including a second look for Ray Hernandez (2011), who is scheduled to pitch again today against the Chicago Cubs, and former Osprey Scott Hairston (2001).
The rest of the schedule:
Today (Friday) – Andrew Chafin (2011) gets a call over from minor-league camp and is scheduled to pitch.
Saturday – Chase Anderson (2009) is on the short list.
Sunday – David Holmberg (2010), Eric Smith (2009) and Eury De La Rosa (2009) are on the scheduled lineup to throw. Continue reading
End of February Tidbits
by Ben Catley
The end of February is here, and as the World Baseball Classic gets underway beginning tomorrow, it leaves us with more time to focus on what should be an interesting couple of weeks at Arizona Diamondbacks camp. Three mainstays for the D-backs – Gerardo Parra (2006 Osprey), Miguel Montero (2002-03) and newly-acquired Martin Prado will play for Venezuela, as will former Osprey outfielder Carlos Gonzalez (2003).
Parra was held out of Wednesday’s game against Cincinnati with soreness in his left arm. Nothing serious, and he should be back in the lineup when the D-backs play today. Parra also has received some advice from manager Kirk Gibson as it pertains to his two early errors in Cactus League play … and some of it has to do with his new glove.
You can read about the D-backs’ trio here, and read Miggy go all sorts of Ricky Bobby in the piece. Continue reading
Bryan Shaw – from extra to feature star?
by Ben Catley
OK, before I go diving into this whole three-team trade that the Arizona Diamondbacks pulled off which involved a couple of former Pioneer League players, let me say that I do think a lot of the players which I have broadcasted games for during my 20-some year endeavor in calling games on the radio.
That being said, the Arizona Diamondbacks made a great pickup and lost what will be a valuable bullpen piece in a 24-hour span on Tuesday. Continue reading
Update from OspreyLand …
Here’s some stuff to pass along from the past couple of days to get your Osprey fix in before the team is announced this week …
– A total of four former Osprey – at the moment – have been named to mid-season All-Star teams. While the California-Carolina All-Star Game teams, and the Triple-A All-Star teams (you can still vote if you haven’t used up your 25-vote limit here.) are yet to be decided, other games (which are earlier) have been … and three of the four are pitchers – Chase Anderson (2009) in the Southern League, and Archie Bradley (2011) and Kable Hogben (2009) in the Midwest League. The lone position player (so far) is Matt Helm (2009-10) in the Midwest League. Anderson pitches at Double-A Mobile, while the other three are playing in South Bend.
– Paul Goldschmidt (2009) moved his hit streak to 17 games with a single in a three-run first inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks won their fifth in a row on Sunday, finishing off a three-game sweep of the Oakland A’s, 4-3. However, it was a series full of former Osprey appearances. Outside of Goldy, Miguel Montero (2002-03) hit a grand slam to highlight Saturday’s win, Bryan Shaw (2008) pitched out of the D-backs bullpen, Evan Scribner (2007) pitched well out of the A’s bullpen on Sunday, and Jarrod Parker (2007) made the start on Friday and threw well. In addition, let’s not forget about Gerardo Parra (2006) and Lyle Overbay (1999) of the D-backs and the DL’ed Jordan Norberto (2006) of the A’s. That’s eight of the 36 former Osprey who have played in the Major Leagues.
– Congratulations to former Osprey pitcher Conrad Flynn (2011), who proudly showed off his diploma from Tulane University on his Facebook page over the weekend. Flynn is currently with his third team, the Class A Advanced Visalia Rawhide, this season. Flynn has also pitched for Triple-A Reno (one spot-start) and Double-A Mobile (four appearances, two starts). He will start for the Rawhide tonight against Lake Elsinore.
In some other transactions involving former Osprey:
– Taylor Siemens (2011) was promoted from Class A South Bend to Class A Advanced Visalia. Siemens had been primarily used as a reliever for the Silver Hawks.
– Kyle Greene (2008) was taken off of the 7-day DL and returned to Double-A Mobile. Greene had been hitting well at the plate when the injury occurred.
– David Holmberg (2010) was promoted from Class A Advanced Visalia to Double-A Mobile. The left-hander has been moving up the prospect radar steadily over the past year, and will now get a look in the ultra-talented Southern League.
Elmore opens eyes, changes looming – or not, and more
by Ben Catley
35 days until Opening Night, 31 days before season opens in Billings
As I get ready for my sixth season of calling Osprey baseball on the radio, I can look back fondly at a few former players who made quite an impression on me. And one of my favorites is tearing it up in the Pacific Coast League … and finally getting some love from the blogs.
So now you’re wondering … it’s not our Adam Eaton (2010)? Well, he is also one of my favorites … but not the one I speak of.
I speak of Jake Elmore (2008), of course, who has produced in a big way at the plate while showcasing nearly all of his versatility. The only position he hasn’t played this season that he has in the past is pitcher – he pitched in at least one game each of the past two seasons while at Double-A Mobile.
Right now, though, Elmore is making plenty of noise with the bat. He’s hitting .372, with nine doubles, a triple, two home runs and 25 RBIs, as well as a .477 on-base percentage, a .504 slugging percentage, eight stolen bases and just two errors in 34 games. Continue reading
It’s good to be an Osprey …
by Ben Catley
So I am watching MLB.tv on Sunday, catching the tail end of the D-backs game, and on the mound in the ninth inning, during a mound visit, were three Osprey – pitcher Bryan Shaw (2008), catcher Miguel Montero (2002-03) and first baseman Lyle Overbay (1999). A fourth, outfielder Gerardo Parra (2006), was in left field. And a fifth, Paul Goldschmidt (2009), had just pinch-hit a half-inning prior.
Yes, I was smiling.
I smiled even more when Shaw blew a 94 mile-per-hour fastball past Buster Posey to finish off his first Major League save, capping off a D-backs comeback of epic proportions, rallying down from 6-0 down to win, 7-6, and finish off a sweep of the San Francisco Giants in their 2012 Opening Series at Chase Field.
Overbay doubled twice and homered – a tape-measure shot, by the way – and drove in three runs to lead the charge.
It caps off what was a great week to be a former Osprey. Well, for a good number of them, anyway. Continue reading
Mistaken identities, Extended Spring Training and others …
by Ben Catley
You think it would have happened sooner.
While doing plenty of searches during the 2010 MLB Draft, I was reminded quite often about the Adam Eaton (2010, and, yes I am speaking of OUR Adam Eaton at the moment) identity crisis. At least I knew where Eaton was coming from – Miami University of Ohio. Easy to determine the difference between the two, right??
The non-Osprey Adam Eaton is a tall, husky (I think) right-handed pitcher who had his brief run in the Major Leagues. He even won a ring with Philadelphia, in 2008. But he hasn’t thrown a pitch since 2009, for the Colorado Rockies.
Now, he – meaning the pitcher Eaton – is back in the news, because of a case of mistaken identity.
You see, the newer, OUR Eaton, received a bunch of royalty checks for trading cards .. which have apparently been bouncing around for a while .. totaling somewhere in the neighborhood of $120,000. Which is a lot of money. In the words of Kenny Powers, “Dollar, dollar bills y’all.”
(Note: I was shocked to actually find a clean, family-friendly version of this. Also shocked that FX was apparently airing Eastbound and Down, but that’s another story for another day.)
Of course, teammate Cody Ransom helped Eaton figure it out, especially since the address was not OUR Eaton’s. So, for now, at least the other Eaton will be getting paid.
While I was hoping for other OUR Adam Eaton news to show up this spring, well … it was too funny not to pass along.
Back to the news of the week:
– The Arizona Diamondbacks dedicated the Roland Hemond Executive Conference Room at Salt River Fields earlier this week. The D-backs wanted to honor the longtime baseball executive, who is currently a special assistant to D-backs President & CEO Derrick Hall.
– Gerardo Parra, heading into today’s Cactus League action, has a .333 batting average, a couple of steals, plus has scored a team-best 11 runs. If he gets into over 100 games, and gets 300 at-bats, and hits over .300 (yeah, call it a prediction, I think he is capable of doing it) … you think he wouldn’t deserve a starting job somewhere?? Oh, yeah, speaking of that … the whole “Parra could be traded” story still has legs.
– Looks like some of the 2012 Osprey will get some Major League help for at least the beginning of Extended Spring Training, if only for a couple of games. Unless Stephen Drew gets into a simulated game, before the end of camp, he will likely spend at least a week or two in Extended then rehab in Reno before heading to the AZ.
– Former Osprey pitcher Archie Bradley (2011) was pitching in the Class A Advanced game on Thursday for the D-backs against the Giants High-A club. That would be one of those Visalia-San Jose match-ups in the California League during the season. While it’s no guarantee that those players will stay in that classification out of camp, it’s a great sign for Bradley that the D-backs have him on that roster. It will be interesting to see if he stays there, or gets moved around.
– Bloomberg Sports came out recently and says that Paul Goldschmidt (2009) will hit 30 home runs and drive in 92 runs in 2012. Here’s more reasons why that is likely to happen.
– Eaton (as in OUR Eaton), Charles Brewer (2009), Chris Owings (2009) and Bryan Shaw (2008) show up on this prospect list – the most likely to make an impact in the Major Leagues by 2015.
– It’s going to be a wait-and-see thing as well as the debate goes on about whether or not the D-backs will re-up with Miguel Montero (2002-03). Funny how this story was supposed to go away, yet won’t …
– If you had Jarrod Parker (2007) in the starting rotation for the Oakland A’s out of Opening Day … not this year. He will start the season at Triple-A Sacramento.
Shaw heads to “The Show”
Bryan Shaw, a reliever with the Osprey in 2008, has been called up by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Shaw was one of three pitchers to combine on the last Osprey no-hitter, which happened on June 30, 2008 at Helena.
More details will be available soon on MissoulaOsprey.com.
Terriffic Tuesday
T-minus 43 days until the home opener, 41 days before the season opener, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 days before the second half of the Pioneer League season begins …
– More details (thanks to Nick!) on the Charles Brewer-meets-Carolina-dugout incident. The 2009 Osprey alumnus apparently took quite a shot to the cranium, and it sheds light as to why the new 7-day concussion DL is in place.
– Very interesting debates are now happening around Paul Goldschmidt (2009), which should not surprise anyone, about when to bring him up to the Major Leagues. The AZ SnakePit bloggers take a shot at the debate, among other things D-backs related.
– Looks like the leadership that Lyle Overbay (1999) is helping bring the Pittsburgh Pirates is paying off – they’re in some rare territory this late in the season after a 3-run 8th last night – buoyed by an Overbay run-scoring double. Apparently, Lyle is also making comparisons between Pirate right-hander Charlie Morton and another guy Overbay knows all too well.
– Here’s a lesson in why you should not wonder why a player doesn’t “wear one for the team” all that often, or, a better way to put it with an Osprey spin to it, here’s video of a blogger who may have been secretely wondering what it’s like to be Adam Eaton.
Minor League Update:
– Triple-A Reno: The Aces split a doubleheader on Monday with Salt Lake City, winning the first game, 3-2, while losing the nightcap late, 6-5. Jordan Norberto (2006) allowed just a walk and collected a strikeout in his inning of work in Game 2.
– Double-A Mobile: Taylor Harbin (2007) had a three-hit day, including a two-run home run, and scored the game-winning run on a fielder’s choice by Jake Elmore (2008) to help the BayBears beat Jacksonville, 6-5. Goldschmidt hit his 12th home run of the season, a three-run shot in the first inning, while Ollie Linton (2008) had a hit and a run scored. Bryan Shaw (2008) allowed a hit in the ninth, but shut down the Suns and earned his seventh save of the season.
– Class A Advanced Visalia: Had Monday off …
– Class A South Bend: The SilverHawks finished off a three-game sweep of Fort Wayne with a 7-2 win at home on Monday. Bradin Hagens (2009) walked four, but allowed just two hits in six innings of work, and just one earned run in earning his second win of the season. Eury De La Rosa (2009) shut the door over the final 1 1/3 innings. Raywilly Gomez (2009) had a single and double, while Matt Helm (2009-10) collected a hit and a RBI in the win.
Today’s games (and Osprey probables):
AAA Reno (20-12) vs. Omaha
AA Mobile (18-12) at Jacksonville – Jarrod Parker (2007) gets the ball for the BayBears.
A Adv. Visalia (15-16) vs. Bakersfield – starters TBA
A South Bend (13-17) at West Michigan, DH – JR Bradley (2010) will start Game 1 while Daniel Taylor (2010) will make the start for the Hawks in Game 2.
Bird Droppings 