Two former Gators from this year’s baseball team are already making a splash in the minor leagues, and another is set to join them.
After signing his first professional contract on Monday, former Gator Harrison Bader kicked off his career with fireworks on Tuesday.
Bader blasted two home runs in his professional debut with the State College Spikes, the St. Louis Cardinals' Class A affiliate, in a 5-3 loss to the Staten Island Yankees in Staten Island, New York, about an hour south of Bader’s hometown of Bronxville, New York. The Cardinals’ third-round pick in this year’s draft finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
On Monday, St. Louis announced they had signed Bader, and he received a $400,000 signing bonus after inking his contract, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com.
Bader’s bonus looks miniscule compared with the signing bonus that former UF shortstop Richie Martin received.
Martin hauled in a $1.95 million bonus after signing his contract with the Oakland Athletics, according to Callis. The 20th overall selection by the A’s in the 2015 MLB Draft, Martin signed the deal on Tuesday and has been assigned to the Class A short-season affiliate Vermont Lake Monsters of the New York-Penn League, via a Gatorzone release.
While Bader homered for his first professional hit on Tuesday, former Gator third baseman Josh Tobias accomplished the same feat a day earlier.
Tobias, a 10th-round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in this year’s draft, homered on the first pitch he saw in his first at-bat for the Class A short-season affiliate Williamsport Crosscutters on Monday night. Tobias, who signed his contract on June 27, finished the game 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Bader, Martin and Tobias are just three of the six Gators that have signed after being selected in the 2015 MLB Draft.
Boston Red Sox 14th-round pick Bobby Poyner signed on Tuesday, Los Angeles Angels 28th-round pick Aaron Rhodes signed on Tuesday and Detroit Tigers 24th-round pick Mike Vinson signed on June 23, via their respective teams’ websites.
Among the Gators taken in the draft who have not yet signed include Milwaukee Brewers' sixth-round pick Eric Hanhold, Toronto Blue Jays' eighth-round pick Danny Young and the Atlanta Braves' ninth-round pick, Taylor Lewis.
In MLB:
Former Gator great Preston Tucker has cooled off in June after his scorching May with the Houston Astros.
After hitting .306 with two home runs and eight RBIs in his first month as a big-leaguer, the 24-year-old outfielder hit just .189 in June with two home runs and nine RBIs in 24 games, dropping his season average to .243.
Despite the recent struggles, Tucker has still swatted 12 doubles this season, which is tied for first among American League rookies.
Mike Zunino, the third overall pick in 2012 by the Seattle Mariners, continued his disappointing season. He’s hitting .165 which is tied for the worst in baseball and worst in the American League among players with at least 200 at-bats.
Zunino hit just .130 in June to go along with two home runs and three RBIs. But Zunino may be starting to catch fire as those homers have came in his last four games, and his nine homers this season are fifth-best among American League catchers.
The Baltimore Orioles’ Darren O’Day continues to be one of the best relievers in baseball with a microscopic ERA of 1.21.
O’Day, 32, finished June with a 1.69 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 10.2 innings.
The submarine pitcher is a perfect 5-0 on the season and leads all Orioles relievers in ERA this year.
After leading the National League at one point in ERA earlier this year, Anthony DeSclafani of the Cincinnati Reds has come back down to Earth.
DeSclafani’s 1.04 ERA in April/March skyrocketed after he posted a 5.34 ERA in May and a 4.10 ERA in June. His season ERA sits at a respectable 3.68 ERA and he’s tied for the team lead in wins with five.
Follow Patrick Pinak on Twitter @Pinakk12.
Florida's Harrison Bader (8) celebrates his solo home run against Miami with teammates at the dugout, in the first inning of an NCAA College World Series baseball elimination game at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, June 17, 2015.
Heading into the season on a six-game NCAA Tournament losing streak, the Gators powered their way through the NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals to advance to the College World Series for the first time since 2012. Here we have Ian Cohen's feature heading into the CWS (http://www.alligator.org/sports/baseball/article_d53b4914-0cc1-11e5-b0c6-5f9040295e29.html)
