Following The Fighting Irish On The Farm

Aug. 21, 2009

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 2009 baseball season has flown past the dog days of summer and now moves into the home stretch and race for the playoffs.

Here is an update on former Notre Dame baseball players currently working their way up through the MLB minor league system.

Matt Macri, Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota Twins, Class AAA)
2009: Designated for assignment on August 18 to make room on Twins’ 40-man roster … must clear waivers before possible return to Rochester … had played in 96 games (predominantly at third base) … batting.226 with 20 doubles, two triples, nine home runs and 35 RBI … ranked tied for second on the club in doubles, tied for third in home runs, tied for fourth in walks and fifth in runs scored … hit .286 with two home runs and nine RBI in the month of June.

2008: Batted .324 with a homer and four RBIs in 18 games with Minnesota Twins … hit .259 with 11 homers and 48 RBIs in 89 games with Triple-A Rochester … went 3-for-3 with two homers and four RBIs against Triple-A Syracuse on Aug. 13.

Jeff Manship, Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota Twins, Class AAA)
2009: Recently called up to Minnesota Twins … opened the season with the New Britain Rock Cats in the Eastern League … went 6-4 with a 4.28 ERA in 13 starts … allowed 72 hits, 36 earned runs, 45 strikeouts and 20 walks in 75.2 innings of work … was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week on May 4 after tossing 7.0 scoreless innings against the Trenton Thunder (fanned five with one walk and allowed just one hit) … went 4-2 with a 3.22 ERA in eight starts with Class AAA Rochester Red Wings … allowed 53 hits in 50.1 innings of work … struck out 30 and walked 17.

2008: Was named a Florida State League midseason All-Star and earned Arizona Fall League Pitcher of the Week honors on Nov. 3 … went a combined 10-9 with a 3.65 ERA in 27 starts for Class A Advanced Fort Myers and Double-A New Britain … tossed four-hit shutout against Class A Advanced Dunedin on June 3 … went 6-1 with a 2.09 ERA in nine home starts for Fort Myers … went 2-1 with a 5.08 ERA in eight starts for Phoenix in AFL.

John Axford, Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers, Class AAA)
2009: Opened the season with Class A Brevard County in the Florida State League before moving up to the Class AAA Nashville Sounds, which included a stop with Class AA Huntsville … went 4-1 with a 1.63 ERA in 19 games, all out of the bullpen, for the Manatees … struck out 43, walked 16, allowed only 14 hits and five earned runs in 27.2 innings of work … went 0-0 with a 3.52 ERA in four relief appearances for the Stars … struck out nine, walked three, allowed seven hits and three earned runs in 7.1 innings … owns a 3-0 mark with a 4.30 ERA in 23.0 innings of work for the Sounds … has fanned 26, walked 12 and allowed just 15 hits … opponents are batting just .183 against him.

2008: Spent entire season with Brevard County of the Florida State League … went 5-10 with a 4.55 ERA … struck out 89 over 95.0 innings and held opponents to a .246 batting average, but walked 73 … made 26 appearances and 14 starts.

Brian Stavisky, Reading Phillies (Philadelphia Phillies, Class AA)
2009: Has played in 105 games, predominantly at first base … batting .274 with 49 runs scored, 24 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs and 58 RBI … has also drawn 58 walks … batted .322 (28-for-87) with seven doubles, three home runs and 19 RBI in the month of June … hit .295 (26-for-88) with 10 doubles, five home runs and 13 RBI in the month of July … batting .333 (32-for-96) with runners in scoring position … leads team in walks … also ranks in the top five on the club in games (fourth), at bats (fourth), runs scored (tied fourth), hits (fifth), doubles (second), triples (tied fourth), home runs (tied third), RBI (third), total bases (fourth), on base percentage (third) and OPS (fifth).

2008: Spent the entire season with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers (LA Angels) of the Texas League … batted .312 with 56 runs scored, 18 doubles, 16 home runs and 51 RBI in 86 games … combined for two home runs, four RBIs, five runs and five hits over two games on June 8 and June 9 … doubled three times on June 12 … had four-consecutive multiple-hit games between July 12 and July 15 … collected four RBIs on July 22 … went 3-for-5 with two runs scored on August 22.

Craig Cooper, San Antonio Missions (San Diego Padres, Class AA)
2009: Has played in 114 games, predominantly at first base … hitting .311 with 58 runs scored, 135 hits, 29 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs and 78 RBI … earned San Diego Padres Minor League Player of the Month in April … hit .382 (29-for-76) with a double, triple, home run and 10 RBI in 20 games … hit safely in 19 of those 20 games, including nine multi-hit outings, and carried a 15-game hitting streak into May which was later snapped at 18 games … named to the Texas League All-Star game for the second consecutive year … batting .340 (49-for-144) with runners in scoring position … leads the Missions in hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, on base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and total bases … ranks second in the Texas League in on base percentage, tied for third in doubles, fourth in hits, tied for fifth in RBI, sixth in walks, seventh in total bases and eighth in OPS.

2008: Spent the entire season with the San Antonio Missions of the Texas League … batted .282 with 46 runs scored, 115 hits, 24 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 55 RBI … ranked fourth on the club in doubles, fifth in RBI and fifth in total bases.

Kyle Weiland, Salem Red Sox (Boston Red Sox, Class A)
2009: Has made 23 appearances, all starts, and posted a 5-9 record with a 3.67 ERA in 112.2 innings of work … struggled mightily out of the gate with an 0-2 record and a 12.00 ERA over his first four starts, but has rebounded quite well … over the last three months (June-August), has a 4-4 record with a 1.68 ERA in 69.2 innings of work (13 starts) … is 3-3 with a 2.27 ERA over his last nine starts after the all-star break … has not surrendered a home run since May.

2008: Led the Red Sox farm system with a 1.50 ERA and went 3-3 in 15 games/10 starts for the short-season Class A Lowell of the New York-Penn League … led the Spinners with 68 strikeouts for an average of 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings … limited opponents to a .166 average and just 10 walks … began the season going 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in five relief appearances before going 3-2 with a 1.23 ERA in 10 starts to conclude the season … did not allow an earned run in any of his five August starts, allowing just 15 base-runners and four unearned runs in that span … went a season-high five innings on five occasions, including three straight from August 16-27 … gave up more than one earned run in just two outings … was named the Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Month for August/September … started Lowell’s first-ever post-season game vs. Batavia on September 8, a 4-3 win in 12 innings … fanned six without issuing a walk and gave up three runs (two earned) in five innings, his only playoff game … ranked by Baseball America as the NYPL’s 15th-best prospect in 2008.

David Phelps, Tampa Yankees (New York Yankees, Class A)
2009: Recently called up to Class A Advanced Florida State League … is 2-1 with a 1.27 ERA in five appearances, all starts, for the Tampa Yankees … has yielded 26 hits in 28.1 innings of work … has fanned 24, walked five and opponents are hitting .241 against him … prior to his call up, went 10-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 19 appearances, all starts, for the Charleston RiverDogs … allowed 117 hits in 112.2 innings of work … struck out 90 and walked 25 … led Charleston in starts, innings, wins and strikeouts … his overall season numbers include a 12-4 record with a 2.49 ERA in 24 starts over 141.0 innings … has allowed 143 hits and 30 walks along with 114 strikeouts … now owns a career record of 20-6 in minor league stints at Staten Island (2008), Charleston and Tampa (2009).

2008: Made his professional debut, going 8-2 with a 2.72 ERA in 15 starts with Class A Short-Season Staten Island (72.2 IP, 67 H, 28 R, 22 ER, 18 BB, 52 K, 4 HR) … tied for second in the New York-Penn League in wins and ranked fourth in the league in ERA, earning a spot on the league’s midseason All-Star roster … tied for fourth among Yankees farmhands in ERA … went 6-0 with a 2.75 ERA in eight road starts … won each of his final six decisions of the season over his last nine starts … made one postseason start for Staten Island, going 0-1 with a 33.75 ERA (1.1 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K).

Joey Williamson, Modesto Nuts (Colorado Rockies, Class A)
2009: Opened season with Tulsa Drillers (Class AA) … made two appearances, both starts, and did not allow a run in 6.2 innings of work … fanned four and walked four while allowing three hits in two starts … returned to Modesto (Class A) … owns a 12-3 record with a 3.44 ERA in 96.2 innings of work … has made 31 appearances, 10 starts, and has surrendered 80 hits and struck out 92 (with only 30 walks) … leads club in wins … now owns a career record of 16-3, including his 4-0 mark from Asheville last season.

2008: Was named a South Atlantic League All-Star after going 4-0 with a 3.04 ERA in 35 games for the Asheville Tourists … yielded 67 hits in 83.0 innings of work … struck out 89 and walked 32.

Dan Kapala, Charleston RiverDogs (New York Yankees, Class A)
2009: Has made 34 appearances, all but one out of the bullpen … owns a 6-0 record with a 2.95 ERA in 76.1 innings of work … surrendered 67 hits and struck out 42 … almost unhittable in the month of June … went 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA in seven relief outings … allowed one earned run in 16.2 innings over the stretch (surrendered 13 hits and fanned nine) … ranks first among relievers on club innings and second in wins and appearances.

2008: Combined to go 2-2 with one save and a 1.91 ERA in 17 relief appearances with the GCL Yankees, Class A Charleston and Class A Short-Season Staten Island … held right-handed batters to a .143 (8-for-56) batting average … recorded his first professional save on June 25 vs. the GCL Phillies, tossing 1.0 perfect inning … earned his first career win on July 13 at Tri-City (with Staten Island).

Jeremy Barnes, Williamsport Crosscutters (Philadelphia Phillies, Class A)
2009: Has played in 54 games since being selected in the 11th round in the 2009 MLB draft … batting .287 with 15 doubles, five triples, four home runs and 27 RBI … leads the club in games played, at-bats, doubles, triples and walks … also ranks second in total bases, second in hits, second in runs and tied for third in RBI … registered an RBI ground out in first career professional at-bat in 15-2 rout of State College … added an RBI single and first career pro home run on June 20 against State College … went 3-for-5 with four RBI, two runs scored, a triple and home run against Batavia on June 30.

Sam Elam, GCL Yankees (New York Yankees, Rookie)
2009: Began pro career at Class A before moving down to rookie ball … made three appearances out of bullpen with Staten Island … tossed a scoreless inning of relief with a strikeout against Hudson Valley on June 26 in pro debut … has made five relief appearances with the GCL Yankees.

Wade Korpi, Jupiter Hammerheads (Florida Marlins, Class A)
2009: Opened the season with the Greensboro Grasshoppers in the South Atlantic League before recently moving up to the Florida State League … went 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA in 18 games, two starts, for the Grasshoppers … struck out 42, walked 17, allowed 41 hits and 17 earned runs in 38.1 innings of work … has made 14 appearances, one start, for the Hammerheads … stands 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in 18.1 innings of work … yielded 15 hits and 11 walks … struck out 21 … opponents are batting just .224 against him.

2008: Made his professional debut at short-season Jamestown, where he struck out 41 over 37.1 innings and held opponents to a .239 batting average … fanned seven over five shutout innings to beat Mahoning Valley on July 26 … struck out five over three scoreless innings to defeat Mahoning Valley on Aug. 6.

A.J. Pollock, South Bend Silver Hawks (Arizona Diamondbacks, Class A)
2009: Has played in 45 games since being selected in the 1st round in the 2009 MLB draft … batting .277 with eight doubles, three triples, three home runs and 22 RBI … batting .296 (21-for-71) with a home run and eight RBI in the month of August … hitting .346 (28-for-81) with three home runs and 22 RBI with runners on base … has a hit in nine of the squad’s last 10 games, including each of the last six outings … went 3-for-4 with a run scored on Aug. 18 against West Michigan.

Evan Sharpley, AZL Mariners (Seattle Mariners, Rookie)
2009: Played in 37 games since being selected in the 50th round in the 2009 MLB draft … batted .333 with 12 doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 29 RBI in just 132 at-bats … led the team in games played (37), runs scored (31), hits (44), doubles (12), home runs (seven), RBI (29), total bases (81), walks (21), slugging percentage (.614) and batting average (.333) … also ranked among the top 10 in the entire league in games played (t-1st), home runs (t-3rd), total bases (t-3rd), hits (4th), walks (t-3rd), slugging percentage (4th), OPS (4th), doubles (t-4th), on-base percentage (t-4th), runs (6th), RBI (7th) and batting (10th).

Brett Graffy, Great Falls Voyagers (Chicago White Sox, Rookie)
2009: Has made eight appearances, all out of the bullpen, this season … stands 1-3 with a 10.22 ERA … has struck out 11 in 12.1 innings of work.

— ND —