Promising Futures for Cave, Cotton
Published on December 15, 2015 under Coastal Plain League (Coastal Plain)
Peninsula Pilots News Release
HAMPTON, Va. - Former Peninsula Pilots Jake Cave and Jharel Cotton started their holiday seasons with a bang. On November 20th, Jharel Cotton, a right-handed pitcher from Menchville High School and East Carolina University, was added to the Los Angeles Dodgers 40-man roster. Adding Cotton, 23, to the 40-man protected him from being picked in the Rule 5 draft later in the fall. He was selected by the Dodgers in the 20th round of the 2012 draft and just completed his 4th season in the organization. Cotton spent most of the year in double-A Tulsa, where he compiled a 5-2 record sporting a meager 2.30 ERA in 11 games.
Cotton played for the Pilots in 2010 and again for a short stint after the draft in 2012. He was the opening day starter in 2010 and front-lined a rotation that pitched the Pilots to the semi-final round of the Petitt Cup Playoffs. In 8 starts, Jharel went 3-2 with a 3.33 ERA in 46 innings. He struck out 57, while walking only 11 and held opponents to a low .205 batting average. Cotton was also known that summer for pitching the first 7.2 innings of a combined no-hitter with teammate Coby Cowgill (VMI) in a 10-0 win over the Outer Banks Daredevils. He fanned 14 batters while giving up zero walks.
A few weeks later on December 10th, Jake Cave was selected 2nd overall by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2015 Rule 5 draft at the baseball winter meetings. The Rule 5 draft annually closes the Winter meetings, of which were held in Nashville, Tenn. this year, and a total of 16 selections were made during the Major League portion of the draft. Any player selected must be kept on that team's 25-man major league roster for the entire season after the draft. A player may be waived by the team, but if so, that player will be eligible to be claimed by any other MLB team. If that player clears waivers then he must be offered back to the original team prior to the draft. While typically the percentage of players selected in the Rule 5 Draft to make a 25-man roster the following year hovers around 30%, 2014 saw 10 of the 14 selections make major league rosters.
Cave played for the Pilots as a rising college freshman in 2011. He was committed to playing at LSU prior to being selected in the 6th round of the 2011 draft by the New York Yankees. A Hampton native and Hampton High School graduate, Cave spent most of the 2015 season in double-A with the Trenton Thunder. He batted .269 with 22 doubles, 37 RBI and stole 17 bases in 125 games. He was left unprotected off the Yankees 40-man roster making him eligible for the Rule 5 draft. In his 2011 summer season with the Pilots, Cave led the team with a .326 batting average while compiling 7 doubles, one triple, one home run, and 16 RBI. He also pitched 12 1/3 innings with an impressive 2.19 ERA. His stellar season landed him a spot on the Coastal Plain League all-star team.
Cave and Cotton have opportunties in 2016 to become the Pilots 8th and 9th major leaguers.
Coastal Plain League Stories from December 15, 2015
- Promising Futures for Cave, Cotton - Peninsula Pilots
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
