PCL1 New Orleans Baby Cakes

Zephyrs' Hatcher Named to PCL All-Star Team

July 3, 2013 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
New Orleans Baby Cakes News Release


Metairie, LA - New Orleans Zephyrs relief pitcher Chris Hatcher has been named to the 2013 Pacific Coast

League All-Star team, the league has announced.

Hatcher becomes only the fourth pitcher in New Orleans history to make the All-Star team working exclusively

as a reliever, joining Ron Rightnowar (1994), Jim Mann (2001) and Victor Garate (2011).

The Zephyrs' closer has 24 saves in 25 opportunities this season, three more saves than any other pitcher at any

level of Minor League Baseball. His 24 saves are tied for the second-highest single-season total in team history,

only three behind Mann's 2001 record. In addition to leading the PCL in saves, Hatcher also ranks first in

appearances (38) and games finished (34).

"We play a lot of one-run games and getting in those situations to come in and get a save is just a byproduct of

those close games," Hatcher said.

"He has done a great job," Zephyrs manager Ron Hassey said. "At the beginning of the season, I told him he

was going to be our closer and he's stepped in and done an outstanding job."

A converted catcher, Hatcher made his Major League debut as a backstop with the Marlins in 2010, then

returned to the big leagues on the mound in 2011, becoming the first player since 1935 to play his first Major

League season as a catcher and return in a subsequent season as a pitcher.

"Being a former catcher, the bulldog is still in me," Hatcher said. "When I step on the mound, I want to go as

hard as I can every pitch. Sometimes you have to pull the reins back and just say ‘Maybe I can make a better

pitch with a different pitch,' and that comes with learning how to pitch."

Hatcher made 37 appearances for New Orleans in 2012 and went 1-0 with 11 saves and a 0.77 ERA, the best

mark in Zephyrs history among relievers with at least 25 innings pitched. He allowed only one earned run over

his final 31 1/3 innings, and began a streak of 17 consecutive converted save opportunities that carried into the

2013 season. His 35 saves in a Zephyrs uniform are third-most in franchise history.

The 2013 Triple-A All-Star Game will take place Wednesday, July 17 at Aces Ballpark in Reno, Nevada, home

of the defending Triple-A champion Reno Aces. The game between the Pacific Coast League and International

League All-Stars will be nationally broadcast on MLB Network.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 3, 2013


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