Friday, March 14, 2008

Beach Bums Ink ex-Brewers Prospect JT King

The Traverse City Beach Bums have announced the signing of right-handed pitcher J.T. King to a 2008 contract.  King is 6'2" 210-pounds and a native of Grove, Oklahoma, and attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Junior College  He was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2006 MLB draft by the Milwaukee Brewers out of Junior College and spent the past two seasons pitching in their organization.

In 2007, King pitched with the West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League (as a side note, former Beach Bums Field Manager Jeff Isom will be the new manager of the West Virginia Power in 2008).  For the Power, King had an 8-2 record and 4.67 ERA in 31 appearances, including 2 starts, going 61.2 innings with 26 walks and 34 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .282 average.  In King's two starts he had a 3.24 ERA in 8.1 innings while holding opponents to a .191 average.

King's success at the low-A level should translate very well at the Frontier League level.  LHP Zac Cline, who was an All-Star for Slippery Rock in 2007 with a 10-6 record and 3.10 ERA, had a 5.08 ERA in the South Atlantic League in 2006.

We believe King has All-Star potential as a starting pitcher in our league, and since he was drafted as a sophomore out of Junior College, he is only 23 years old and with some success, stands a good chance of drawing some notice from other MLB organizations.

4 comments:

Mark said...

Wow sounds like a huge signing. I like the size of all the pitchers youve got under contract, Well Rembiez excluded. Looks as if your on a mission this offseason Jason. Keep it up.

Jason Wuerfel said...

Thanks, Mark. This is a very good signing for us and will go a long way to solidify the starting rotation. I have another contract out on a starter that I believe will be equally as good in the Frontier League, too.

I also have my eye on a few pitchers in affiliated camp that have a good possibility of being released, so when all is said and done, we should have the most talented group of guys in training camp since we've been in Traverse City - at least on paper. Although the games aren't played on paper, right?

As for the size of the guys - I have to say that Rembisz is a favorite of mine and has earned himself a following by a couple MLB clubs for his 7-0 performance last year. But you're right, I like the bigger guys on the mound - the taller they are, the steeper the angle they throw on to the plate and the more difficult it is to hit the ball square, so you see more pop-ups and ground balls.

Mark said...

Oh I agree, Rembisz is a awesome pitcher. I think that he will be one of the top pitchers in the Frontier League this season.

jammie said...

jt king will be an asset to your team. not only is jt a great player but a great person also. i had the privalege to watch jt pitch last year with the power.