Four Hillcats Named Top Carolina League Prospects
July 7, 2008 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
LYNCHBURG, VA - The Lynchburg Hillcats are proud to announce that four members of the Green & Gold have been included in the Carolina League's Top-30 Prospects for 2008. Jim Negrych, Jamie Romak, Brian Friday, and Daniel Moskos each earned a spot on the list of the 30 best prospects in the eight-team circuit. Fans can pre-order a set of baseball cards featuring all 30 players by contacting the Lynchburg Hillcats at (434)-528-1144.
Negrych, in his third season of professional baseball, has had a career year in the Carolina League. He leads all hitters with a .363 batting average and his 114 hits ranks him fifth in all of minor league baseball. Of his hits, 29 of them have gone for two bases, ranking him second in the league in doubles. The former Pitt Panther leads the Hillcats in walks with 42, pushing his on-base percentage to .438 and making him the active league leader in that category. Negrych's productivity has paid off for Lynchburg, as his 63 runs scored are three short of the Carolina League leader. He was one of two Hillcats to make the All-Star team, and was the only player in the game to record two base hits.
Romak has made up for lost time in 2008 after missing the first month of the season while recovering from elbow surgery. He is the active league leader in home runs with 15 long balls, averaging one in every 14 at bats. The Canadian slugger ranks second in the Carolina League with a .593 slugging percentage.
Friday was Lynchburg's other representative on the Carolina League's All-Star team in 2008. The Cats leadoff hitter was among the league leaders in batting average at .295 before he went on the disabled list. In 57 games, Friday scored 43 runs and stole 12 bases, both among the best on the team. Friday has also lived up to Baseball America's billing as the top defensive infielder in the Pirates organization, making numerous impressive plays at shortstop.
Moskos has adjusted well to his first full season in professional baseball after the Pirates selected him with the fourth overall pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. After Pittsburgh converted him from a closer into the starting rotation, Moskos has shown flashes of brilliance at the High-A level. In a four-game stretch beginning on May 30th, the southpaw from South Carolina allowed just three earned runs in 24 innings. That includes his best outing as a professional against Kinston on June 14th. In that start, Moskos went a career-high seven and two thirds innings of three-hit shutout baseball in which he struck out seven Indians.
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