Welcome to the rotation, Mr. Lee
July 10, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Kane County Cougars News Release
GENEVA, IL - The Kane County Cougars, in conjunction with the Oakland A's, have announced that pitcher Chad Lee has joined the Cougars from Short-A Vancouver, while pitchers Jamie Richmond and Pedro Figueroa have been promoted to Class-A Advanced Stockton. The latest move brings the Cougars' active roster to 24 players as the squad concludes a three-game series at 6:30 p.m. against the Burlington Bees tonight at Elfstrom Stadium.
Lee (4th Rd, 2006) was briefly with the Cougars in 2007. The tall righty was on Kane County's Opening Day roster that season, but never appeared in game action due to a shoulder injury that ultimately sidelined him for the entire '07 campaign. Lee returned to the mound in 2008, making a total of seven appearances between Vancouver and the A's rookie league affiliate in Arizona.
Lee had been impressive as a member of Vancouver's starting rotation this season, going 2-0 in three starts, not allowing a single run, and yielding just one hit in 15 innings of work.
Lee's arrival coincides with the promotion of both Richmond and Figueroa to the Stockton Ports. Figueroa (Non-drafted FA, 2003) became the 26th player in franchise history to win 10 or more games in a season with a win against Clinton on July 6, and the first Kane County hurler since a pair of Cougars (Trevor Cahill and James Heuser) each won 11 games in 2007. Overall, Figueroa's ledger includes a 10-2 record and 3.23 ERA, and the lefty went 6-0 with a 1.70 ERA in his final seven outings. Of Figueroa's 16 appearances this season, just 5 of them took place at Elfstrom Stadium.
Richmond (34th Rd, 2004 by ATL), a two-time Midwest League All-Star leaves the Cougars for Stockton, appearing in 54 career games for Kane County spanning the past two seasons. This year, Richmond made 26 relief appearances, striking out 40 batters while walking just five and posting a 4-3 mark and 2.70 ERA. Richmond pitched in 213.1 innings as a Cougar - good for fourth on the all-time list.
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