Former Black Bears to play in Arizona Fall League

The Minor League season ended on September 19, when Durham defeated Memphis in the AAA championship game in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Now it's time to focus on the Arizona Fall League, which begins play on Tuesday, October 10. If you are not familiar, it is an off-season league owned and operated by Major League Baseball. It operates at six different baseball complexes every fall and attracts many of the top prospects in minor league baseball.

This fall, five former West Virginia Black Bears have been assigned to the Glendale River Dogs along with two other top Pittsburgh Pirates prospects (pitchers Mitch Keller and Taylor Hearn).

Former Black Bears who will be in Arizona this fall are pitchers J.T. Brubaker and Brandon Waddell, infielder Kevin Kramer, outfielder Logan Hill. and infielder Mitchell Tolman.

Here's a brief update on what they have doing since they played at Monongalia County Ballpark.

J.T. Brubaker

J.T. Brubaker spent the 2017 season with the Eastern Champion Altoona Curve. 

He saw action in 26 games, starting 24 and ended up 7-6 with an ERA of 4.44. Brubaker walked 45, had 109 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.50 in 129.2 innings.

Brubaker came on strong during the Eastern League playoffs and defeated Trenton in game two of the Championship Series. He allowed two runs (one earned) on eight hits over a career-high eight innings in the 4-2 Altoona win. 

Drafted in the sixth round of the 2015 draft by the Pirates, Brubaker went 6-4 in 15 starts for the West Virginia Black Bears, who won New York-Penn League Championship in their first year in Morgantown.

Brubaker split the 2016 season between the West Virginia Power and the Bradenton Marauders, going a total of 6-11 in 26 games as a starter. 

Brandon Waddell

A fifth round draft choice out of Virginia in 2015, Brandon Waddell progressed quickly and spent his second season with AA Altoona in 2017.

He was a member of the 2015 New York-Penn League Champion West Virginia Black Bears going 1-1 in six starts and got a win in the playoffs, pitching six innings and giving up no runs and striking out six.

 He spent several weeks on the disabled list during the 2017 season with a strained left forearm and had rehab assignments with the Gulf Coast Pirates and the West Virginia Black Bears. Waddell ended the regular season back with Curve and was 3-3 with a 3.55 ERA in 66 innings pitched (27 BB, 56 SO, 1.32 WHIP).

Waddell closed out the 2017 season starting the first game of the Eastern League Championship Series. He pitched six shutout innings for the win over the Trenton Thunder (0 R, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 SO, WHIP 0.83). 

Kevin Kramer

Kevin Kramer sat out almost three months this summer at Altoona with a broken right hand.

He was drafted by the Pirates in the second round of the 2015 draft out of UCLA. Kramer started his professional career with Black Bears, playing in 46 games (.305/.390.379) before being promoted to the West Virginia Power. He spent the entire 2016 season with the Bradenton Marauders (.277/.352/.378).

Before he was injured this season, Kramer played in 53 games with the Altoona Curve (.297/.380/.500) and was named to the Eastern League mid-season All-Star squad.

Kramer had brief rehab assignments with the Gulf Coast Pirates and the West Virginia Black Bears in 2017.

He is expected to play shortstop in Arizona this fall.

Logan Hill

Logan Hill was selected by the Pirates in the 25th round of the 2015 draft after playing college ball at Jeff Davis Community College (Alabama) and Troy.

He was New York-Penn League All-Star in 2015, playing in 60 games for the league champion Black Bears (.297/.402/.479) and had 7 home runs, 45 RBI, and an OPS of .881.

After struggling early in 2016 at Bradenton, Hill played in 93 games for the West Virginia Power (.254/.323/.439) and had 11 home runs and 40 RBI.

Before being promoted from the Bradenton Marauders to the Altoona Curve on June 30, 2017, Hill was leading the Florida State League in home runs (16). He was named to the mid-season All-Star game and was a post-season All-Star for Bradenton. After appearing in 22 games for Altoona, he was placed on the DL on July 27, with a fractured left hand.

Mitchell Tolman

Mitchell Tolman was an addition to the Arizona Fall League after Cole Tucker was unable to play due to left hand fracture.

Tolman was a 7th round draft pick out of Oregon in 2015, and appeared in 63 with the league champion Black Bears (.304/.407/.411). He spent the entire 2016 season with the West Virginia Power appearing in 119 games (.265/.370/.371).

Tolman played in 115 games with the Bradenton Marauders in 2017 (.267/.364/.393) and was called up to AA Altoona Curve on September 2. He hit a walk-off three-run homer in the 12th inning to beat the Harrisburg Senators in a last game of the regular season as the Curve clinched the Eastern League Western Division Championship.


Photo Credits: MiLB.com 

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