5 Westerners Played Triple A Baseball In 2022
December 5, 2022 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Danbury Westerners News Release
2016 Westerner Coco Montes began the 2022 season with the Rockies Double A farm team in Hartford. Before April was over, he was promoted to the Pacific Coast League's Albuquerque Isotopes, the Rockies top farm team. In 111 games with the Isotopes, he slashed .274/.359/.500 with career highs in runs scored (87) and home runs (20). He also turned around his base stealing stats. In three previous minor league seasons he was thrown out 21 times in 37 attempts. In 2022 he stole 15 bases and was thrown out only once.
In the field Montes split his time almost equally between second base, shortstop and third base. This fall he played shortstop for Las Aguilas de Mexicali in the Mexican Pacific Winter League. With the Rockies regular shortstop, Jose Iglesias, being a free agent, and the Rockies 2022 backup infielders producing little at the plate, Montes has a good chance of playing his way onto the Rockies 2023 MLB roster in spring training.
2017 Westerner and Brewers farmhand Cam Devanney followed up a miserable 2021 season at Double A with a stellar effort that got him promoted to Triple A for the final month of the 2022 season.
Devanney batted only .175 for Biloxi of the Southern League in 2021. This year, in 115 games, he batted .259 with 20 home runs and 28 doubles. As a result, Cam was promoted to Nashville of the International League. In 13 games with the Sounds he batted .306 with 3 homers and 4 doubles. Overall, Devanney had an .834 OPS with 32 doubles and 23 homer runs.
In the field Devanney's time was split almost evenly between third base and shortstop with a few games at first base and left field for good measure.
Brewers third baseman Jace Peterson is a free agent, but he was backed up this year by a couple of young players who hit well at the MLB level. Willie Adames appears set at shortstop, so even if Devanney does well at Triple A this season it appears he has an uphill battle to crack Milwaukee's MLB roster. But trades and injuries happen, so there's always a chance.
2015 Westerner Colin McKee's fastball reached 98 MPH during his 2021 campaign with the Astros' AAA club in Sugar Land, TX. But a herniated disc that required surgery in January 2022 sent him to a six-month rehab stint at Houston's spring training complex in Florida. Cleared to play at the end of July, he made a few rehab appearances with the Astros' Florida Complex League teams before returning to the Pacific Coast League on August 9th. In 12 relief appearances with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys covering 14.1 innings, he gave up 10 hits and 14 walks.
During his rehab McKee worked hard to develop a sinker that would deliver a steady stream of ground balls. And while his 2022 fastball was significantly slower than his 2021 fastball, McKee believes that with a full offseason to work on it, he'll be back to his old velocity to begin the 2023 season.
In his third year in the Yankee farm system, 2016 Westerner Matt Minnick got his first taste of Triple A ball when he pitched an inning of relief for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on September 8. But it was with Double A Somerset that Minnick really made his mark.
In 35 relief appearances covering 59.2 innings Minnick compiled a 1.81 ERA and a microscopic WHIP of 0.737. From May 10 through July 27 batters went 6 for 82 against him, a batting average of .073.
His best outing may have been his two 1-2-3 innings against Binghamton on June 4 when he struck out 5 of the 6 batters he faced.
2016 Westerner Bryce Conley got his second taste of MLB Spring Training and his first taste of Triple A baseball in 2022. He began the season with the Las Vegas Aviators of the Pacific Coast League, the Oakland A's highest level farm team. A 7.36 ERA and a WHIP of 1.909 over 7 relief appearances ended with Conley being sent back to Double A Midland of the Texas League. He spent the remainder of the season with the Rock Hounds, making 35 relief appearances totaling 48 innings. He earned 4 saves to go along with 2 wins, 4 losses and a 4.50 ERA.
Conley finished strong, allowing 1 hit and no walks over 4 innings in his final two appearances of the season.
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from December 5, 2022
- 5 Westerners Played Triple A Baseball In 2022 - Danbury Westerners
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