Carignan Becomes Latest Cougars Alum to Reach Bigs
September 3, 2011 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Kane County Cougars News Release
GENEVA, IL - Pitcher Andrew Carignan, a member of the 2007 Cougars, has reached the major leagues with the Oakland A's. Carignan made his debut Friday evening and closed the game with a scoreless ninth inning in the A's win over Seattle.
Carignan becomes the 115th Cougar alumnus to make a big league debut in franchise history, the fourth Cougars alum to debut in the major leagues this year, and the fifth member of the '07 Cougars squad to reach baseball's highest level, joining Andrew Bailey, Trevor Cahill, Sam Demel and Henry Rodriguez - all pitchers.
The right-hander, who was selected by the A's in the 2007 June amateur draft, joined the Cougars in July that summer and made his professional debut with the team. Carignan makes the leap to the major leagues after spending portions of this season at Class-A, Double-A and Triple-A, totaling 33 appearances and a 1.85 ERA.
"I am surprised," Carignan told media on Friday. "But at the same time, I was pretty close before I got hurt. As long as it's been since I have been healthy, I knew that once I did get healthy that this was definitely in the cards, that this could possibly happen. ... Best day of my life."
The Cougars organization, which began in 1991 and is presently affiliated with the Kansas City Royals, has had at least one former player make a Major League debut in each season, dating back to 1993.
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