BLACKSBURG - With the Major League Baseball postseason winding down as the World Series begins tonight, it's a great opportunity to look back at 16 Hokies who saw action during the 2018 professional baseball season – either in the MLB or in the minor leagues.
Below is a brief recap of how each did this past season highlighted by Chad Pinder's season with the Oakland Athletics and several pitchers with successful seasons on the mound - most notably Kit Scheetz, Packy Naughton, Aaron McGarity and Connor Coward. The list below is by level (alphabetically) and a Hokie is located under the highest level reached during the 2018 season. As always, CLICK HERE to view the Hokies' web page that follows all these players and has links to their professional bios.
MAJOR LEAGUE
Jesse Hahn (Kansas City Royals Athletics) – Hahn was traded from Oakland to Kansas City in January and in March was placed on the 60-day disabled list with a right ulnar collateral ligament sprain. In July, Hahn began rehab assignments in the minor leagues, starting in the Arizona League and working his way to Triple-A Omaha. Overall, he pitched in six games with three starts, throwing a total of 6.0 innings. He struck out four and walked two and did not allow a run. In late August, Hahn underwent UCL "repair" surgery and will need at least six months until returning to action.
Chad Pinder (Oakland Athletics) – Pinder spent the entire season with Oakland, minus two 10-day stints on the disabled list (in April and July) and a two-game rehab assignment playing in Stockton. He's the first position player from Tech to play an entire MLB season since Franklin Stubbs (1992). Pinder batted .258 for the Athletics in 110 games played, including 77 starts – ironically, he started at every field position except catcher, and he did not pitch, during the 2018 season. He had 77 hits and 130 total bases (12 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs), knocked in 27, scored 43 times and drew 27 walks. Pinder posted a .332 on-base percentage and a .436 slugging percentage. In early September, Major League Baseball announced Pinder was named the Athletics 2018 nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, the most prominent individual player award bestowed by MLB.
Mark Zagunis (Chicago Cubs) – Zagunis started the year with the Iowa Cubs, the Triple-A affiliate for the parent club, but played five games with the Chicago Cubs during mid-May. In his first MLB game of 2018, Zagunis notched his first MLB hit, against the Miami Marlins on May 9. He added a double in his second game and registered his second career RBI against the White Sox on May 12. For the rest of the season, Zagunis played in Iowa, a total of 115 games, but ended his season on Sept. 4, when he was placed on the 60-day disabled list with a right shoulder inflammation. With Iowa, he posted a .272 batting average with 101 hits, including 17 doubles and seven home runs, along with 63 runs scored and 40 RBI. He had a .395 on-base percentage, adding 70 walks on the year, and a .375 slugging percentage. He also stole 11 bases, his most with Iowa the past three seasons.
TRIPLE-A
Brad Markey (Chicago Cubs) – Markey pitched for most of the season, a total of 24 games with two starts, with the Iowa Cubs, before ending the year with the AA affiliate of the Cubs, the Tennessee Smokies. Markey posted an overall record of 3-2 with a 4.45 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP in 33 total appearances. He struck out 47 batters in 56.2 innings pitched, while walking just 14 hitters.
Alex Perez (Minnesota Twins) – Perez again started the season with the Fort Myers Miracle (Single-A Advanced) but played the majority of the season with the Chattanooga Lookouts (Double-A) before ending the year with the Rochester Red Winds. In all, he played in 100 games, batted .242 with 82 hits, including 11 doubles and two triples, for a .286 slugging percentage. He scored 39 runs, added 34 RBI and drew 41 walks, for a .325 on-base percentage.
Ben Rowen (New York Mets) – Rowen pitched 10.2 innings out of the bullpen for the Louisville Bats during the months of April and May before being released by the organization. He posted an 0-2 record in 10 games, struck out seven batters but had a 9.28 ERA.
DOUBLE-A
Sean Keselica (Pittsburgh Pirates) – Playing for the AA affiliate of the Pirates, the Altoona Curve, Keselica posted a 2-3 record with a 4.94 ERA. In 40 appearances, with one start, he tossed a total of 58.1 innings and struck out 49, had a .195 opponents' batting average and a 1.41 WHIP.
Joe Mantiply (Cincinnati Reds) – Mantiply signed a free agent contract with the Reds back in November and was invited to spring training. However, it was reported on March 9, that Mantiply had Tommy John surgery and would miss the entire season.
Kit Scheetz (Houston Astros) – Scheetz started his season with the Buies Creek Astros (Class-A Advanced) but after 13 outings, was promoted to the Corpus Christi Hooks, where he finished out the year. With the Astros, he threw 29.0 innings with 44 strikeouts, posted a 1.55 ERA and went 3-for-3 in save opportunities. For the Hooks, Scheetz had a 2-1 record and was 4-for-5 in save chances in 25 outings. In 39.1 innings thrown, he struck out 43 batters and had a 2.75 ERA. For the season, Scheetz had a 1.17 WHIP. He also tossed 3.1 innings in the postseason, as the Hooks were beaten by the San Antonio Missions in a five-game series in the opening round of the playoffs.
SINGLE-A (Advanced)
Saige Jenco (Los Angeles Dodgers) – Jenco played the entire season for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, but battled a few injuries and was limited to just 59 games. At the plate, he batted .247 with 42 hits, including eight doubles and a triple. Jenco also drew 34 walks to post a .371 on-base percentage and stole seven bases during the year. He also added 25 runs scored and 11 RBI.
Packy Naughton (Cincinnati Reds) – For the entire regular season, Naughton pitched for the Dayton Dragons (Single-A full season), before getting called up to pitched for the Daytona Tortugas in the postseason. Naughton posted a 5-10 record in a team-high 28 starts for the Dragons and finished with a 4.03 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He led the team and the entire Midwest league in innings pitched with 154.0 and strikeouts with 137, while his starts tied for the league lead. He was once named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week (July 15) just after allowing two hits and no runs over eight innings against the Great Lake Loons and striking out a professional career high nine batters. The outing was part of a string of 24 straight innings he did not allow an earned run. The playoff game he started, was on Sept. 7 against Fort Myers, where he went 7.0, struck out three and allowed three earned runs, after tossing five scoreless frames, in a 3-1 loss.
SINGLE-A (Full Season)
Ryan Tufts (Arizona Diamondbacks) – Tufts split his time between the Kane County Cougars and the Hillsboro Hops (Single-A short season) and combined to bat .206 with 34 hits, which included 10 doubles and three home runs, for a .321 slugging percentage. He added 15 runs scored, 17 RBI and 17 walks, for a .314 on-base percentage.
SINGLE-A (Short Season)
Aaron McGarity (New York Yankees) – McGarity's 2017 season ended early as he was placed on the 60-day disabled list and he did not return to action until June 15 of this year. However, once he got back on the mound, he was lights out. In 13 appearances out of the bullpen, he was 2-0 and 3-for-3 in save opportunities, while posting a miniscule 0.35 ERA in 25.2 innings with 32 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.86. McGarity did not allow an earned run in his first 11 outings (20 innings pitched) and surrendered his only earned run in the second inning of an appearance against Hudson Valley on Aug. 28. He struck out a career-high eight batters in his last game (3.2 IP) against the Brooklyn Cyclones.
ROOKIE LEAGUE
Connor Coward (St. Louis Cardinals) – Drafted by the Cardinals in the 26th round of this year's MLB draft, Coward was was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Cardinals on June 19. He made his professional debut on June 27 and his first start on July 15 – he started his last six appearance and pitched in 10 games total. Coward finished the year with a perfect 4-0 mark with 38 strikeouts in 41.0 innings pitched while posting a 0.88 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP as opponents hit just .170 against him. If he would have tossed 2.1 more innings, he would have led the league in ERA by more than a full run, but he did not qualify.
Joe Freiday (St. Louis Cardinals) – Undrafted, Freiday signed a free agent contract with the Cardinals and was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Cardinals on June 21. He made his professional debut on June 26 and notched his first pro hit the next day. In all, Freiday, played 13 games, had seven hits, eight walks, five runs scored and four RBI.
Andrew McDonald (Cincinnati Reds) – Drafted by the Reds in the ninth round of this year's MLB draft, McDonald was assigned to the Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League. He made his professional debut on June 20, which included his first strikeout. In all, McDonald posted a 3-2 record and was 2-for-3 in save opportunities in 22 games out of the bullpen. He finished with a 4.46 ERA in 38.1 innings pitched while striking out 43 batters. He collected save No. 1 on July 23 and career win No. 1 on July 31.
