Aug. 13, 2010
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By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Led by Minnesota Twins catcher Drew Butera, UCF currently has seven former Knights suiting up at the Double-A level or higher this week. In all, there are a total of 14 Knights busy spending their summers at the professional level.
Butera has received countless praise from the Twins organization for his defense and his handling of the pitching staff. In a recent story from the Pioneer Press, Butera has earned the title of "Carl Pavano's unofficial personal catcher." The story also pointed out that at one point the Twins' pitchers had a 3.55 ERA with Butera calling the game, while Joe Mauer had a 4.12 catcher's ERA. Even though Butera serves as the backup to Mauer, he recently played in seven-straight games which included his second MLB homer.
This week also saw Dwayne Bailey join Matt Fox and Tim Bascom in Triple-A. Bailey is in the Los Angeles Angels organization and the Salt Lake Bees are the fourth team he has played with this summer. After scoring a run in his Triple-A debut, Bailey notched a base hit in his first at-bat with the Bees two days later.
Fox has spent the entire season with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings (Twins organization), posting a 4.20 ERA in 31 appearances with 18 starts. He has struck out 87 in 105.0 innings. Former Detroit Tiger Mike Maroth started his year off with a 1.64 ERA as a teammate of Fox with the Red Wings only to suffer from an injury that has put him on a rehab assignment this month.
Bascom kicked off 2010 in Double-A before getting the call to Baltimore's Triple-A affiliate the Norfolk Tides. He has made 12 starts with the Tides, striking out 31 in 56.2 innings.
A member of the San Francisco Giants organization, Clay Timpner has played 99 games with the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels, hitting .289 with 20 extra-base hits. Meanwhile, Tyson Auer (Angels) reached the Double-A level this summer and boasts a .296 average with 11 stolen bases in 39 games with the Arkansas Travelers, and Mitch Herold dominated Class A to start the year and now has made 20 relief appearances on the mound for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox), sitting down 27 on strikes in 36.0 innings of work.
Several other Knights are continuing to shine in the minors as well, including Owen Dew (Indians) who in his first year in the pros was a short-season New York-Penn League All-Star and this week was already promoted to the Class A Lake County Captains.
Below is an update on all 14 former Knights.
UCF Baseball in the Pros (Stats through Aug. 12)
MLB
C Drew Butera - Minnesota Twins - 32 GP, .202 BA, 4 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 10 R, .987 FLD%, Thrown out 11 of 25 would-be basestealers
Triple A
3B Dwayne Bailey - Salt Lake Bees (LA Angels) - 2 GP, 1.000 BA, 1-for-1, 1 R
RHP Matt Fox - Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota) - 31 GP, 18 GS, 6-8, 4.20 ERA, 105.0 IP, 46 BB, 87 K
RHP Tim Bascom - Norfolk Tides (Baltimore) - 12 GP, 12 GS, 2-7, 7.46 ERA, 56.2 IP, 22 BB, 31 K
Notes
-Bailey also has played for Class A Rancho Cucamongo, Cedar Rapids and Arkansas this summer.
-Bascom had a 3.43 ERA in 11 starts at Double A before being called up.
-LHP Mike Maroth is on a rehab assignment, but had a 1.64 ERA in three starts for Rochester.
Double A
OF Clay Timpner - Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco) - 99 GP, .289 BA, 17 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 39 RBI, 29 R
OF Tyson Auer - Arkansas Travelers (LA Angels) - 39 GP, .296 BA, 8 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 26 R, 11 SB
LHP Mitch Herold - Portland Sea Dogs (Boston) - 20 GP, 2-4, 6.75 ERA, 36.0 IP, 11 BB, 27 K
Notes
-Auer hit .332 with 40 stolen bases in 65 games in Class A before being called up.
-Herold was 2-0 with a 1.05 ERA in 11 games in Class A before being called up.
Class A
C Robert Lara - Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego) - 61 GP, .294 BA, 11 2B, 7 HR, 35 RBI, 33 R
RHP Owen Dew - Lake County Captains (Cleveland) - Just called up to the Captains this week
Notes
-Dew had a 2.64 ERA in nine starts, walking just four in short-season Class A ball before being called up.
Class A Short-Season
LHP Mitch Houck - Brooklyn Cyclones (NY Mets) - 10 GP, 9 GS, 4-1, 3.73 ERA, 50.2 IP, 17 BB, 41 K
OF Shane Brown - Staten Island Yankees (NY Yankees) - 36 GP, .220 BA, 4 2B, 2 HR, 18 RBI, 22 R, 2 SB
RHP Austin Hudson - Everett AquaSox (Seattle) - 16 GP, 3 GS, 4-1, 2.34 ERA, 3 SV, 34.2 IP, 13 BB, 21 K
Rookie
DH Chris Duffy - GCL Phillies (Philadelphia) - 36 GP, .268 BA, 7 2B, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 21 R, .441 SLG
RHP Caleb Graham - Orem Owlz (LA Angels) - 13 GP, 2-1, 4.29 ERA, 1 SV, 21.0 IP, 10 BB, 22 K