Early last week, the Toronto Blue Jays announced that Brett Cecil, a left-handed pitcher who has started 65 major league games over the past three seasons, had been sent down to Double-A New Hampshire to begin the season. The news drew a strong reaction on Twitter from former Blue Jays pitcher Dirk Hayhurst, who questioned the decision to send Cecil to New Hampshire instead of Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas. One of the...
I know things have been quiet here, but for good reason. While Eric has been focusing on College Hoops and his new gig at CBS Sports.com, and Mike has been learning the stand-up comedy ropes at the Tampa Improv, Brian has been hard at work taking Bus Leagues Baseball to the next level. And by “the next level”, I mean publishing. That’s right. Your favorite esoteric minor league writers are now in book form....
The Z-meter is our way of tracking the prospects we like. We keep track of stats for 25 players at a time, compiled from Baseball America, reader votes, and our own irrational sense of whimsy. A couple of the players who made it onto the meter via reader voting ended up starting their seasons in the majors, so Jason Heyward and Jenrry Mejia have the honor of being the first players on our Promotions...
Kyle Drabek, one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays during the offseason. He started the season with Double-A New Hampshire, where he is 4-3 with a 3.60 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 40 innings. We sat down after batting practice last week to talk about his father, the psychology of being traded, and the right way to act on the mound. Your dad ...
The 2010 minor league season begins on Thursday, and one place I expect to spend a lot of time during the next few months is Manchester’s Merchantsauto.com Stadium. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats were nice enough to give Bus Leagues a full season media pass for 2010, allowing us to visit their beautiful riverside ballpark as often as we like in the name of news. The Fisher Cats announced their 2010 roster yesterday. In...
The Z-meter tracks the story arcs of 25 top prospects (or players we just like) on their way to the bigs. It is named after current Washington Nationals star Ryan Zimmerman, who made the transition from anchoring the University of Virginia to starring in MLB in one year. Promoted: Jordan Zimmermann: Syracuse Chiefs (AAA) to Washington Nationals (MLB) Matt LaPorta: Columbus Clippers (AAA) to Cleveland Indians (MLB) Daniel Bard: Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA) to...
2012 05 14 Scranton Wilks Barre/ Empire State Yankees vs Pawtucket Red Sox
