While disappointments always show up this time of year as major league teams trim their rosters to the 25-man Opening Day limit, Independent Baseball got a double dose of good news this week in learning that two of its recent pitchers have nailed down No. 5 starting roles in rotations.<\/p>\n
Scott Kazmir<\/b> has drawn so much of the attention because of his comeback with Cleveland<\/b>, which started when he was with the Sugar Land (TX) Skeeters <\/b>in the Atlantic League <\/b>last season, but it is no less meaningful that Dylan Axelrod<\/b> nailed down a starting role with the Chicago White Sox. <\/b>It could even be argued that Axelrod’s opportunity is more impressive in that he came up without the resume of Kazmir, a former No. 1 draft choice who already has 66 major league victories.<\/p>\n
Axelrod’s ascent from being the 927th<\/sup> draft choice in 2007 is ironic in that the right-hander was in Windy City <\/b>all along—emerging in ’09 from the Frontier League’s Windy City ThunderBolts<\/b> of Crestwood, IL,<\/b> mere miles from where he will pitch on the south side of Chicago.<\/p>\n “It’s a great feeling,” Axelrod told MLB.com. <\/i>“I’ve been working toward this for a long time. It’s been a dream of mine to be a starting pitcher in the major leagues. So I’m getting a great opportunity obviously. I’m going to try to run with it.” <\/i><\/p>\n Kazmir, who is under a $1 million contract with another $750,000 possible in incentive bonuses, is scheduled to make his first start the same day as Axelrod, pitching at Tampa Bay. <\/b>“I’m very proud that this has happened,” the southpaw told The Associated Press.<\/i> “Knowing where I was a couple years ago and being able to be here now is unbelievable. I guess hard work does pay off.”<\/p>\n * * * *<\/p>\n ANXIOUS FOR MORE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE?<\/b><\/p>\n We Have It Regularly at <\/span><\/b>www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n * * * *<\/p>\n Drew, Nava in Line for Jobs<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n <\/b>Among position players, Stephen Drew (Camden, NJ, Atlantic League)<\/b> will be at shortstop for Boston <\/b>when his concussion symptoms have gone away although they may not allow him to avoid the disabled list, and indications are Daniel Nava (Chico, CA, Golden League) <\/b>has once more won a job with the Red Sox<\/b>. Nava (14-for-44, .318) needed a strong Grapefruit League <\/b>performance to overcome contenders. He likely will serve as a part-time DH as well as a backup in the outfield.<\/p>\n Great Spring Camps Not Enough for Ford, Pie and Robertson<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n <\/b>Losing out on jobs after solid spring training performances have to be especially difficult to swallow, but that is the fate experienced major leaguers Lew Ford, Felix Pie <\/b>and Nate Robertson,<\/b> all of whom were in Independent leagues for a time last season, face, at least for now.<\/p>\n Ford’s impressive postseason play and his .405 average, .463 on-base percentage with two homers and six RBI this spring could not save the former Long Island (NY) Ducks (Atlantic League) <\/b>outfielder from going back to Baltimore’s <\/b>minor league system, and Pie (Camden, NJ, <\/b>Atlantic) did not make it with Pittsburgh <\/b>despite a solid .318 (14-for-44) with six extra-base hits and eight batted in. Robertson’s new sidearm delivery in which he limited hitters to a .135 average (five hits in 11.1 innings, 1.59) were not enough to get the Wichita, KS (American Association) <\/b>lefty on the Opening Day roster with Texas <\/b>although the Rangers <\/b>have given him the flexibility to shop for a job in another organization.<\/p>\n Indy Radio Voice Robert Ford Joins Astros<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n <\/b>Chalk up one more Independent Baseball radio voice cracking the major leagues. Two-time Frontier League <\/b>Broadcaster of the Year Robert Ford (Kalamazoo, MI, <\/b>’03-04) has joined the Houston Astros<\/b> radio team.<\/p>\n By BOB DUTTON The Kansas City Star<\/p>\n Updated: 2013-03-26T05:37:57Z<\/p>\n (This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball. Forty columns are planned during 2013. Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com<\/a>, enjoy added stories on the blog www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a>, or comment to RWirz@aol.com<\/a>. The author <\/b>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)<\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While disappointments always show up this time of year as major league teams trim their rosters to the 25-man Opening Day limit, Independent Baseball got a double dose of good news this week in learning that two of its recent pitchers have nailed down No. 5 starting roles in rotations. Scott Kazmir has drawn so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[17874,4032,13835,759,19769,16612,19768,7017,4704,508,19767,493,1177,1821,19766,18545,379,3078,11521,19765],"class_list":["post-23558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-axelrod","tag-baseball-coverage","tag-camden-nj","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-crestwood-il","tag-disappointments","tag-double-dose","tag-draft-choice","tag-fifth-starter","tag-frontier-league","tag-incentive-bonuses","tag-independent-baseball","tag-position-players","tag-right-hander","tag-scott-kazmir","tag-skeeters","tag-southpaw","tag-starting-pitcher","tag-sugar-land-tx","tag-windy-city-thunderbolts"],"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