The Traverse City Beach Bums have received pitchers Josh Myers and Matt Lawrence from the Amarillo Dillas of the United League in exchange for a player to be named later. Pictured: Josh Myers delivers a pitch during his sophomore season at the University of Virginia in 2003.
Josh Myers is a 6'3" 185-pound right hander from Chesapeake, Virginia, and played collegiately for the University of Virginia from 2003-2006 before being signed by Amarillo at the end of the 2007 season. In two starts for Amarillo, Myers had a 1-0 record with a 1.56 ERA in 17.1 innings to go with 12 strikeouts while allowing just 6 walks. Myers held opponents to a .217 average.
At Virgina, Myers compiled a 5-1 record with a 1.43 ERA, allowing just 38 hits in 50.1 career innings including 44 strikeouts while giving up only 19 walks. During his senior year in 2006, Myers had a 0.00 ERA in 16.2 innings, giving up just 8 hits with 20 strikeouts and 8 walks.
I had the chance to talk to the pitching coach and head coach at the University of Virginia in addition to the field manager of Amarillo about Myers, and all of them raved of his intelligence in addition to his talent on the mound. Reports have Myers throwing in the mid to high 80s with a plus slider and a, "really, really, really deceptive motion." His coaches and teammates in Amarillo nicknamed Myers, "The Bird," because of his lanky frame and funky delivery.
We're excited bring Myers into training camp to see what he has. If our reports are accurate, we think Myers could fill the void left by David Nathanson, who was traded to Joliet in the Hutting and Whitesides deal (read further down for details on that trade).
The Beach Bums also received RHP Matt Lawrence in the deal. Lawrence pitched collegiately at Bellhaven College in Mississippi, where he was the school's closer in 2007. After his senior season, Lawrence was picked up by the Shreveport Sports of the American Association where he had a 1.80 ERA in 5 innings with 6 strikeouts. Then Lawrence was released by the Sports and picked up by Amarillo where he pitched another 7 innings before the end of the season, striking out 6 and walking 4.
Lawrence will compete for a role in the bullpen in 2008.
2 comments:
Jason,
Great work on the blog!!! I do some blog work on Tim Perry site "From The Bleachers. Its great to see you hard at work improving the Bums. Its great to see the new pitchers coming in and the Trade last week with Joliet. Congrats on your promotion to HItting Coach. Keep up the good work man on the blog and finding those guys that have swings that are just a tweak away from being awesome.
Thanks for the positive feedback, Mark. The blog has really helped me shake away the winter blues and look forward to baseball season. It also really helps to know there are fans out there that like to read about putting together the team. As long as you keep reading, I'll keep writing!
GO BEACH BUMS!
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