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Hazleton Area grad Joey Baran is officially a Milwaukee Brewer.
After being selected by the Brewers in the 22nd round of the MLB Draft on Wednesday, the Lackawanna College pitcher confirmed on Twitter that he would turn pro.
“Officially a @Brewers!! Time to get to work and live out a dream,” the southpaw tweeted Friday evening.
Baran was named the Division II Men’s Baseball Pitcher of the Year by the Region XIX Baseball Committee last month, after finishing the season with a 1.55 ERA. He struck out 52 bats while walking just nine in 40.2 innings. Opponents batted just .201 against him.
Matt Wotherspoon
The Crestwood grad bounced back from a rough May 31 outing in his lone appearance of the week for Triple-A Norfolk.
Wotherspoon came in Wednesday’s’s game against Columbus in the ninth inning and pitched a scoreless frame to take it into extras. But with a runner starting on second to open the 10th, Tunkhannock grad Mike Papi, Columbus’ Francisco Mejia drove in the winning run on a single to center after the right-hander recorded two straight strikeouts. The run was unearned.
Wotherspoon pitched 1.1 innings and gave up three hits, two walks and struck out a pair.
Sal Biasi
The Hazleton Area grad appeared twice for Single-A Lexington this week.
He pitched twice in relief against West Virginia, giving up one run on three hits and a walk in 2.1 innings. The run game on an RBI single off the bat of Oneil Cruz during the eighth inning in what was a 4-1 deficit.
Biasi sports a 1-2 record and 6.33 ERA with two saves in 15 games.
Ray Black
The Coughlin grad pitched three times in relief for Triple-A Sacramento this week.
However, after pitching efficiently in his first two appearances over the last seven days, Oklahoma City scratched across two runs in 0.1 innings of work on Thursday.
As a whole, Black pitched two innings of two-run ball while giving up two hits and two walks and striking out three over the stretch.
Mike Papi
The Tunkhannock grad appeared in four games this week for Triple-A Columbus.
However, he didn’t record a hit, going 0-for-4 with two walks. Papi is batting .252 with six doubles, three home runs, 23 walks and 14 RBI on the season.
Notable
Hazleton Area grad Tony Hernandez and former Hazleton Area student Jhordany Mezquita are still in extended spring training with their respective organizations. Hernandez pitches for the New York Yankees, while Mezquita is a Philadelphia Phillies prospect.