Former Steamers Find Success in Arizona Fall League
January 6, 2014 - Coastal Plain League (Coastal Plain)
Edenton Steamers News Release
EDENTON, N.C - The Edenton Steamers announce today that former Steamer pitchers Chris Bassitt, Vidal Nuño and Keith Couch along with infielder Joey Wendle have recently wrapped up successful campaigns in the Arizona Fall League.
The Arizona Fall League is an offseason professional circuit, owned and operated by Major League Baseball. The AFL takes place shortly after the conclusion of the MLB season and runs from early October until mid-November and culminates in a championship game between the winners of the East and West divisions. The league consists of six teams and each Major League Baseball organization provides seven players to fill each team's 35-man roster.
Bassitt, a University of Akron alumnus, made 10 appearances for the Glendale Desert Dogs. In 10 innings on the mound he held opposing hitters to a .216 batting average against, allowing just one earned run with nine strikeouts and a 0.90 ERA. For Bassitt, this capped a stellar 2013 minor league regular season as a starting pitcher in the White Sox system. After splitting time between high-A Winston-Salem and AA Birmingham he finished a combined 11-4 in 26 starts covering 149 innings pitched. He logged a 3.08 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, .226 batting average against and 138 strikeouts. In Edenton, for the 2010 Steamers, Bassitt made 28 appearances and pitched 33.2 innings. After his 1.87 ERA, .155 batting average against, 0.98 WHIP and 41 strikeouts, he went on to be a 16th-round selection of the Chicago White Sox in 2011.
Nuño made five appearances, including four as a starter for the Scottsdale Scorpions. In his 19.2 innings pitched he finished the AFL with a 3.20 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 18 strikeouts to three walks. This was an impressive and important performance this fall from Nuño after he missed most of the second half of the regular season with a groin injury. Before getting hurt, Nuño was a revelation in the Yankees big-league rotation after Andy Pettitte went on the disabled list.
Combined between AAA and the Majors, Nuño made 10 appearances with eight starts. He totaled 45 innings and allowed 30 hits, struck out 39 batters to only eight walks and finished with a 0.84 WHIP and 1.80 ERA. The Baker University (a NAIA program in Kansas) grad suited up for Edenton in 2008 and made 10 appearances with eight starts. He pitched 48.1 innings for the teal and black and struck out 46 hitters while also holding opponents to a .216 batting average against.
After graduating from Baker, Nuño went on to be a 48th-round choice by the Indians in 2009, who later released him before the Yankees signed him out of the independent Frontier League and his career took off.
Couch's successful AFL campaign included 11 appearances and 13.1 innings pitched. He wrapped up with a 4.05 ERA, 12 strikeouts and he notched three holds and one save for the Surprise Saguaros. This came after an effective season as a swingman for the AA Portland Sea Dogs in the Red Sox organization where he made 29 appearances and 15 starts. He pitched 129.2 innings, going 11-3 with a 3.47 ERA and 1.35 WHIP.
Couch, from Adelphi University in New York, pitched for the 2009 Steamers and made 11 starts. In 67.2 innings pitched he held opposing hitters to a .248 batting average against, a 1.06 WHIP, and struck out 44 hitters to issuing only four walks.
The four walks in 67.2 innings on the mound still stands as a Steamers single-season record for lowest walk rate by a starting pitcher. Couch was taken the next year in 2010 by the Red Sox in the 13th round.
Also for the Surprise Saguaros, Wendle logged 61 at-bats in 16 games. He finished the AFL with a .311 batting average, .371 on-base figure, .492 slugging average and an .863 OPS.
Wendle put an exclamation point on a monster year, that also saw him battle through an early-season fracture to the orbital bone underneath his right eye, en route to winning the Cleveland Indians minor league player of the year award named for Lou Boudreau. He spent the season with the Mudcats in the high-A Carolina League and produced a slash line of .295/.372/.513/.885, adding 32 doubles, five triples, 16 home runs and went 10 of 12 in stolen bases along with stellar defense at second base, marked by a 4.84 range factor and .974 fielding average.
"The AFL was a great experience for me. I was honored to have gotten the opportunity. I really enjoyed getting to play with players from other organizations and I felt that I was able to develop as a player both physically and mentally," Wendle said. "Receiving the organizational position-player of the year award was a great honor for me as well. There were several other players equally deserving of that award, so for the Indians to choose me was a great honor."
When Wendle suited up for the Steamers in 2011 he won the Gieseke Gold Award given to the best player and communitarian throughout the season. The West Chester University alum hit .377, had an on-base percentage of.448, slugged .507, and had an OPS of.955. He hit 12 doubles, two triples, four home runs and walked 24 times to only 14 strikeouts. He capped his summer off by going nine of 14 in stolen bases, logged a 4.92 range factor at second base and had a .973 fielding average. Wendle set the Coastal Plain League single-season standard with 81 hits that summer and also led the league in runs with 46. In addition to the hits record, he set Steamers franchise bests in hitting streak (24 games), total bases (109), assists by a second baseman (158) and tied for batting average (.377). The next year, Wendle became the highest-drafted position player in Edenton history when the Indians made him their sixth-round pick.
"My experience in Edenton was great. I cannot say enough good about the people involved with the Steamers during the summer I played there. From a baseball perspective it was influential in my development as a player because of the high level of competition and the use of wood bats. This definitely made the transition to pro baseball smoother," Wendle added. "As a Division II player in college it was encouraging for me to be competitive with Division I players.
That was a definite confidence-booster for the following year of college. On a personal level, I was able to make some great friendships with people in Edenton and I continue to visit my host family and their family frequently during my offseason."
The Edenton Steamers are a proud member of the Coastal Plain League, the nation's hottest summer collegiate baseball league. Celebrating its 17th season in 2013, the CPL features 14 teams playing in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The CPL gives college players the chance to refine their skills with the use of wooden bats. Players are housed with local host families for the summer and past experiences have been very positive for both players and hosts.
Furthermore, the CPL has had over 1,000 alumni drafted and 63 alums - including 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young winner Justin Verlander -make their Major League debut thus far. For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league website at www.coastalplain.com, and be sure to friend us on Facebook (at www.facebook.com/coastalplainleague) and follow us via Twitter (as cplbaseball).
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Coastal Plain League Stories from January 6, 2014
- Former Steamers Find Success in Arizona Fall League - Edenton Steamers
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