Here at NITM, we wanted to add a page for our sister site @NinerSummerBall, where we have been following the current Niners who are completing in collegiate summer leagues. The page can be accessed from the top menu bar. Thanks for your support of NITM & NinerSummerBall
Posted in News
In 2010, the MiLB saw 11 different former Charlotte 49ers take the field, but 2011 has been a different story. Only four remain: John Maine, Spencer Steedley, Rob Lyerly, and Brad McElroy.
John Maine
After the Mets declined to pick up the option on Maine, John was able to sign a contract with the Colorado Rockies. This contract allowed Maine to fight for a roster spot throughout all of spring training. Maine’s contract also included in June 1st AAA opt out clause. Out of spring training, Maine was assigned to the Colorado Spring Sky Sox the Rockies’ AAA team. He remained on the Sky Sox until the June 1st opt out, but chose to remain with the Rockies/Sky Sox instead of seeking another contract elsewhere. Maine has played 11 Games in 2011, spending a few weeks on the DL as well. His season ERA is 7.43.
11GP/GS 7.43ERA 46.0IP 48R 38ER 37BB 35K
Spencer Steedley
Spencer Steedley is spending another season with the Twins AA club, the New Brittian RockCats. He missed the second half of 2010 with an injury and has spend part of 2011 on the
Disabled list as well. Steedley returned to the squad last week pitching a scoreless relief outing in his return.
Rob Lyerly
2011 begin with the Tampa Yankees(A+) for Rob Lyerly. He batted .315, had 46 RBIs and was named a 2011 Florida State League All-Star. Following the FSL All-Star game, Lyerly was promoted to AA – Trenton Thunder. So far with Trenton he is batting .269 with 9RBIs
Brad McElroy
Brad McElroy spent 2010 jumping back and forth between Dunedin and Lansing, but has found his home in Dunedin for all of 2011. He is currently batting .275 for the BlueJays squad.
Twenty-seven years after James Dickerson became the first player to play in the minor leagues after playing baseball at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the 2010 Minor League Baseball season featured ten former 49ers. The 2010 class featured John Maine, Adam Mills, Spencer Steedley, Brad McElroy, Shayne Moody, Rob Lyerly, Aaron Bray, Ryan Rivers, Patrick Lawson, Zane Williams, and B.J. Hagen.
John Maine…
In his 9th year playing professional baseball, RHP John Maine started the season playing in his 7th season in the Major Leagues. Maine played for the NY Mets since 2006 when he was traded from the Baltimore Orioles. He was only able to start nine games for the Mets before being placed on the disabled list. In those nine games, John went 1-3 with a 6.13 ERA. He pitched 39.2 innings in which he allowed 47 hits, recorded 39 strikeouts and gave up 25 walks. Mid-June marked progress in twenty-nine year-old’s rehab. On June 13th, Maine pitched for the Met’s AA affiliate the Binghamton Mets. He was only with Binghamton for one game in which he pitched 4.0 innings; allowing 0 runs and 1 hit, recording 5 strikeouts and giving up 2 walks against the Trenton Thunder. Five days later, Maine was with the Buffalo Bisons (AAA) to face the Indianapolis Indians. He pitched 4.1 innings before leaving the game, yet again only allowing 1 hit along with 1 unearned run, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. This would be the last time that John Maine saw the pitching mound in 2010. On July 23rd, he underwent season ending arthroscopic surgery.
Season Totals:
Pitching:
MLB: (1-3) 6.13 ERA 8G 8GS 39.2IP 47H 29R 27ER 25BB 39K .297 OBA
MiLB: (0-0) 0.00 ERA 2G 2GS 8.1IP 2H 1R 0ER 5BB 9K .071OBA
Batting:
MLB: .000 0-10AB 6K 4SH
MiLB: .000 0-1AB 1SH
Adam Mills…
2010 was Adam Mills’ first complete season in the AAA ranks as he was a starter for the Pawtucket Red Sox in Rhode Island. He took the mound 25 times for the PawSox over the course of the season, finishing the season with a 4-10 record. Before the International League All-Star break, Mills was 2-7 with a 4.47 ERA over 18 starts. Just days after the 2nd half of the season began, on July 20th, Adam was placed on the disabled listed due to inflammation of his right elbow. Mills returned to mound on August 3rd but continued to struggle through his next few starts. At the end of August, he was able but together back-to-back victories against the Buffalo Bisons & Rochester Red Wings on the 24th and 29th to match his first half season total of 2 wins and improving his season total to 4 victories.
Season Totals:
MiLB: (4-10) 5.47 ERA 25GP 25GS 1CG 131.2IP 175H 87R 80ER 25BB 58K .318OBA
Spencer Steedley…
Spener Steedley did not have the year that he was looking for in 2010 with the New Brittan Rock Cats, the AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. The left-handed reliever was only able to take the mound 10 times over the course of season after falling early to the disabled list on May 15. A left arm strain kept Steedley off the hill in New Brittan. Spencer returned to the mound on July 3rd only to last .1 inning before returning to the DL for the remainder of the season. He finished the season 1-3 with a 3.00 ERA.
MiLB: (1-3) 3.00 ERA 10GP 0GS 18.0IP 15H 8R 6ER 7BB 18K .221OBA
Brad McElroy…
Outfielder Brad McElroy spend the 2010 season jumping back and forth between the Dunedin Blue Jay (A-Adv) and Lansing Lugnuts (A), both of which are affiliates of the Toronto Blue Jays. Brad’s 2010 campaign started in Dunedin where he stayed from eleven days to start the off the season before being moved to the Lansing Lugnuts. Brad was moved back to Dunedin on June 2nd then returned to Lansing on August 15th. Upon his second return to the Lugnuts, Brad went 4-5 with 1R and 1RBI versus the South Ben Silver Hawks. He had a very successful season with Lansing batting .330 and .269 combined.
Season Totals:
Dunedin: .210BA (42H/200AB) 58G 25R 10-2B 3HR 18RBI 17BB 47K 8SB .279OBP .305SLG
Lansing: .330BA (64H/194AB) 52G 37R 14-2B 3-3B 4HR 22RBI 21BB 34K 12SB .404OBP .495SLG
MiLB: .269BA (106h/394AB) 110G 62R 24-2B 3-3B 7HR 40-RBI 81K 20SB .341OBP .393SLG
Shayne Moody…
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Advanced -A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, started 2010 with 3B Shayne Moody on their roster. Shayne played with the Pelicans for 23 games before he was released from the organization on May 26th.
Season Totals
MiLB: .241BA (21H/87AB) 23G 15R 2-2B 1HR 9RBI 6BB 12K .298OBP .299SLG
Rob Lyerly…
In his second season of Minor League ball, Rob Lyerly played 131 games with the Charleston RiverDogs in the South Atlantic League. Charleston is the Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. Lyerly possibly had the best season of any former 49er. He finished third in the South Atlantic League with a .312 batting average, and was voted a Post Season All-Star.
Season Totals:
MiLB: .312BA (157H/503AB) 131G 72R 36-2B 7HR 71RBI 34BB 129K 9SB .352OBP .425SLG
Aaron Bray…
Aaron Bray joined fellow 49er, Rob Lyerly in playing in the South Atlantic League as a member of the Lexington Legends, the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. Bray spent time playing LF, DH, 1B & 3B for the Legends throughout the season. He batted .245 with 41RBI on the season through 93 games.
Season Totals:
MiLB: .245BA (78H/319AB) 93G 32R 12-2B 5-3B 41RBI 34BB 74K 3SB .321OBP .313SLG
Ryan Rivers…
Ryan began 2010 playing for the Charlotte 49ers, and was drafted in the 35th round by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He then reported to Arizona to join the Rookie level, Tempe Angels of the Arizona Summer League (AZL.) He made his debut on June 21st as Tempe Angels action started. It took 3 games for Ryan to finally get his 1st MiLB hit and become accustomed to the wooden bat.
Season Totals:
MiLB: .174BA (12H/69AB) 20G 7R 2-2B 5RBI 4BB 28K .240OBP .203SLG
Patrick Lawson…
Patrick Lawson also started 2010 as a Charlotte 49er under Loren Hibbs. Unlike Rivers, Lawson was not drafted but signed a free agent contract with the Detroit Tigers, and was assigned to the Single-A affiliate the Connecticut Tigers. He made his debut on June 20th where he came in as a reliever for 1.0 inning allowing 2 hits and 2 runs (1 earned.) Lawson continued to develop as a pitcher for the Tigers and was promoted to a starter on July 10th. In his first start he pitched 4.0 innings allowing 4 hits and one earned run. He also recorded 3 strikeouts and gave up 1 walk. Lawson ended up playing 16 games, 9 of which were starts.
Season Totals:
MiLB: (3-3) 2.93 ERA16G 9GS 58.1IP 47H 21R 19ER 30BB 38K .229OBA
Zane Williams…
As another member of Charlotte’s 2010 squad, Zane Williams also found himself with a free agent Minor League contract with the Tampa Bay Rays. Williams as assigned to Tampa’s rookie League affiliate the Princeton Rays. Zane struggled with Princeton only getting 2 hit through 32 at bats.
Season Totals:
MiLB: .063BA (2H/32AB) 2R 13K .211OBP .063SLG
B.J. Hagen…
Hagen was a member of the 2009 Charlotte 49ers, and was not drafted or give any Minor League contract. B.J. went to play for the Traverse City Beach Bums, an independent baseball team in the Frontier League. After the conclusion of the Beach Bums season, he was offered a contract with the Houston Astros for 2010. Hagen spent time with the Gulf Coast League (GCL) Astros & the Greeneville Astros, the rookie affiliates, before being released on August 3rd.
Season Totals:
GCL: (0-3) 1.86 ERA 7GP 0GS10.0IP 19H 12R 11ER 0BB 5K .388OBA
Greeneville: (1-0) 9.90 5GP 1GS 1SV 9.2IP 12H 5R 2ER 5BB 4K .316OBA
MiLB: (1-3) 5.95 ERA 12GP 1GS 1SV 19.2IP 31H 17R 13ER 5BB 9K .356OBA
Posted in Uncategorized