RHP Chris Martin (pictured), who started his professional career in Grand Prairie, has struck out ten in six innings covering four outings with his new team, the New York Yankees. Martin has a save against Tampa Bay, has given up seven hits and has a 3.00 ERA.
The offseason certainly has not dulled the effectiveness of reliever John Holdzkom, who had the meteoric jump from Amarillo to the parent Pittsburgh Pirates last season. Holdzkom remains in the mix in the packed Pirates bullpen by allowing only two hits (no walks) in four Grapefruit League appearances covering a total of four innings. The right-hander has struck out four. He also has pitched for Sioux City.
Another Half-Dozen American Association Players Get Taste of Major Leagues
While the American Association could already boast of having 20 of its former players in major league spring training camps when they opened this year, at least another six have had one or more days of exposure after being called over from minor league bases for exhibition games.
Among pitchers, Julio DePaula (St. Paul 2011), who got a brief call to the majors with Baltimore last season, has pitched twice for his new team, Arizona, allowing a hit and a run in 1.1 innings. Brandon Sinnery (Lincoln 2012), who threw his first pitch in Independent play, wore a Diamondbacks uniform for a day as did Matt Nevarez (Wichita 2012, 2014) for Pittsburgh and Tim Adleman (Lincoln/El Paso 2012) for Cincinnati.
Washington has given catcher Jeff Howell (St. Paul/Lincoln 2011) a chance to be in uniform for the major league team although he has not seen action.
Very Few Cuts
While teams have started trimming their rosters toward the 25-man Opening Day limit, only three have cost American Association players their opportunity. Dane De La Rosa (El Paso) did not pitch at all for Baltimore before being sent to the Orioles’ minor league camp as he continues to recover from an injury. Atlanta has sent both hurler Ian Thomas (Winnipeg) and catcher Jose Yepez (Pensacola) to its minor league camp.
