Beach Bums left-hander Jared Locke was sold to the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League yesterday, marking the 2nd player in Beach Bums' history to be sold to a Major League organization. Locke joins fellow left-hander Ryan Arial, who was sold to the Baltimore Orioles this time last off-season. Arial was released by the Orioles out of spring training and was signed by the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the Northern League, where he is still playing.
Locke joined the Beach Bums last season after being released by the Texas Rangers organization. In 21 appearances for the Beach Bums, Locke pitched 23.2 innings with a 3.46 ERA, recording 15 walks and 27 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .218 average. Jared's stats are much better than they look - he gave up 4 earned runs in 0 innings of work in his last outing of the season while feeling some arm fatigue - before that outing he was sporting a 1.90 ERA.
Locke, along with teammates Brad Roblin and Brett Bostelman, were invited to a Philadelphia Phillies tryout camp in Clearwater, Florida, over the weekend. The report from the camp was that Roblin, an outfielder out of the University of Michigan who hit .333 in 45 games with the Bums last summer, ran 6.45 seconds in the 60-yard dash, but didn't hit or throw well enough to be signed (for perspective, on the MLB scouting scale, a 6.4 second 60-yard dash would get you the best rating possible, an 80 out of 80, representing the fastest of the fast in the Major Leagues). Bostelman also pitched well during the tryout, but as a 5'11" right-hander who throws 90mph, he will need to prove himself for another year in Traverse City before he gets a look, in my opinion.
With the talented crop of players we have coming into camp this May, you can expect some more MLB organizations signing players during or after the 2008 season. My best guess is that Locke will be competing for a spot with the class high-A Clearwater Thrashers of the Florida State League. If Locke does not make the team, you might still be seeing him in a Beach Bums uniform in 2008, however, he definitely has the talent to keep moving up the ladder. With another year or two in the minors, I could easily see him projecting as a bullpen lefty in the big leagues.
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2 comments:
I had a feeling that Locke might not be back withe TC this year. His arm really is electric. I think he will stick in the Phillies system. If he does not im sure you and us Beach Bums fans would love to have him back.
Locke has the size and velocity to project to the big leagues (he is a young guy, too, just turned 23, which helps). He has great movement on his fastball and a good enough breaking ball to be a left-handed specialist in the bigs right now. It will just depend on the politics and the numbers he is going up against. I definitely wouldn't mind having him back in our bullpen, but I hope that he can stick around and be the first Beach Bum to pitch in a big league uniform!
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