{"id":13229,"date":"2011-03-31T10:05:18","date_gmt":"2011-03-31T17:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=13229"},"modified":"2011-03-31T10:05:18","modified_gmt":"2011-03-31T17:05:18","slug":"wilhelmsen-almonte-step-up-give-indy-game-14-on-opening-day-rosters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/31\/wilhelmsen-almonte-step-up-give-indy-game-14-on-opening-day-rosters\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilhelmsen, Almonte Step Up, Give Indy Game 14 on Opening Day Rosters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Erick Almonte\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>unexpected jump onto the Milwaukee Brewers<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 bench grabbed much of the Independent Baseball attention during spring training, but now that the reality of Opening Day is here the 32-year-old, who has not been in the major leagues since 2003, has to share the spotlight with a quartet of pitchers who also have cemented spots on 25-man rosters.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Another surprise with virtually as much shock value as that of Almonte is the spot in the Seattle <\/strong>bullpen nailed down by Tom Wilhelmsen<\/strong>, who, incredibly, was out of baseball for five seasons (2004-08) until landing in the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc09 Golden League<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 Wilhelmsen and prized Kansas City <\/strong>prospect Aaron Crow <\/strong>will be in the majors for the very first time.\u00c2\u00a0 Brandon Kintzler<\/strong>, still another right-hander, will be a teammate of Almonte\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in Milwaukee, a job not assured until he outlasted some stiff competition even though he got 7.1 innings spread over seven appearances (0-1, 7.36) in his first brush with the major leagues last September.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Bobby Cramer <\/strong>did not win the No. 5 starter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s job with Oakland,<\/strong> as he had a chance to do, <\/strong>but the lefty stuck and will be used in a variety of relief roles. <\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The American Association <\/strong>can claim both Crow (Fort Worth, TX) <\/strong>and Kintzler (St. Paul, MN<\/strong> plus Winnipeg<\/strong>, moving to that circuit from the Northern League).\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>Almonte played in the Atlantic League (Long Island, NY) <\/strong>for a season, while Cramer, like Wilhelmsen, came out of the Golden League. Wilhelmsen was in Tucson, AZ, <\/strong>Cramer at Orange County (Fullerton, CA).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 With this quintet, 14 players who have worn Independent uniforms made Opening Day rosters with two others, San Diego <\/strong>lefty Joe Thatcher (River City, O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Fallon, MO, Frontier League) <\/strong>and Los Angeles Dodgers <\/strong>outfielder Jay Gibbons <\/strong>(Atlantic League teams in Newark, NJ, <\/strong>and Long Island), <\/strong>both <\/strong>on the 15-day disabled list.\u00c2\u00a0 The 14 is an increase of three, not counting those disabled, over last year.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 If Milwaukee did not give Almonte much chance of landing a National League <\/strong>job, Wilhelmsen told MLB.com <\/em>he gave himself \u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153maybe a two per cent chance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of starting the season in the American League<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 No one could argue.\u00c2\u00a0 Although only 27 now, the 6-foot-6 hurler was out of baseball those five years and had been bartending and playing in a coed softball league until Tucson gave him a chance in \u00e2\u20ac\u212209.\u00c2\u00a0 When he throws his first regular season pitch it will be his first above Class A in affiliated baseball.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He throws in the mid-90s, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got a good breaking ball, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s throwing strikes and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s big,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d praised Seattle General Manager Jack Zduriencik<\/strong>, who remembered Wilhelmsen when they both were in the Milwaukee system.\u00c2\u00a0 An improved changeup also helped the reliever to a 2.70 ERA in 10 spring innings.<\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> ADDED TO www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

FOR ADDITIONAL INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE?<\/strong><\/p>\n

* * * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark Prior, Rene Rivera Could Be on \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcFuture\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 List<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It is very tricky trying to predict which others among the 50 Independent players in major league spring training camps fulltime are likely to be promoted sometime during the season, but two more who had strong showings are New York Yankees <\/strong>reliever Mark Prior <\/strong>and Minnesota <\/strong>catcher Rene Rivera.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You seem to see more arm speed (from Prior) every time out,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Yankees Manager Joe Girardi<\/strong> praised to ESPN.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/em>The Yankees opted to leave him in the warmer weather of Florida <\/strong>for now, but did not deny the onetime standout Chicago Cubs <\/strong>starter has a chance of getting to the Bronx<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 Prior started his comeback from a series of injuries at Orange County (Fullerton, CA) <\/strong>of the Golden League <\/strong>last season, and put up a 1.04 ERA for nine spring appearances with New York.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Rivera started last season in the Atlantic League (Camden, NJ), <\/strong>and thought enough of his work this spring to take him north for a pair of exhibition games in Atlanta.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 Strong defensively, he also hit .292 (7-for-24) in 13 spring appearances.\u00c2\u00a0 He has major league experience with Seattle <\/strong>and is only 27.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 (This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans may subscribe at <\/em><\/a>www.WirzandAssociates.com<\/em><\/a>, enjoy his blogs, <\/em>www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/em><\/a>, or comment to <\/em>RWirz@aol.com<\/em><\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 The author <\/strong>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Erick Almonte\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unexpected jump onto the Milwaukee Brewers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 bench grabbed much of the Independent Baseball attention during spring training, but now that the reality of Opening Day is here the 32-year-old, who has not been in the major leagues since 2003, has to share the spotlight with a quartet of pitchers who also have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4746,78],"tags":[222,14111,13597,5564,5665,508,9813,493,6158,10047,6161,60,13598,2375,5210,1161,499,1821,14109,14110],"class_list":["post-13229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-indy-baseball-insider","category-minors","tag-bullpen","tag-cramer","tag-erick-almonte","tag-fallon-mo","tag-five-seasons","tag-frontier-league","tag-fullerton-ca","tag-independent-baseball","tag-jay-gibbons","tag-joe-thatcher","tag-long-island-ny","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-man-rosters","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-newark-nj","tag-opening-day","tag-outfielder","tag-right-hander","tag-shock-value","tag-stiff-competition"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t