{"id":3301,"date":"2010-03-11T22:55:49","date_gmt":"2010-03-11T22:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=3301"},"modified":"2010-03-11T22:55:49","modified_gmt":"2010-03-11T22:55:49","slug":"weber-and-young-arms-of-crow-scheppers-and-parise-making-their-mark-in-spring-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/11\/weber-and-young-arms-of-crow-scheppers-and-parise-making-their-mark-in-spring-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Weber and Young Arms of Crow, Scheppers and Parise Making Their Mark in Spring Training"},"content":{"rendered":"

It would be much like splitting hairs if we tried to give a definitive answer as to who among the former Independent players hopeful of becoming a first time major leaguer is having the best spring training up to this point.\u00c2\u00a0 Jon Weber,\u00c2\u00a0 Aaron Crow <\/strong>and Tanner Scheppers <\/strong>certainly have offered up their work.\u00c2\u00a0 Pete Parise<\/strong> could be in the mix, as well.<\/p>\n

Weber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bat could not be hotter for the World Champion New York Yankees<\/strong>, while Crow, Scheppers <\/strong>and Parise<\/strong> are right-handed pitchers showing their stuff.<\/p>\n

It is not clear what the Yankees expected when they signed the now 32-year-old Weber this winter and gave him a spring training invite, but it probably was along the lines of thinking he would be nice insurance in Triple-A.\u00c2\u00a0 The odds most likely lean to the left-handed-hitting outfielder being in Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre, PA <\/strong>just like the last two seasons when he was in the International League <\/strong>as a backup for Tampa<\/strong> Bay<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

<\/strong>\"\"<\/a>But Weber has to be opening some eyes since he is pounding the baseball, just like he did in Mexico<\/strong> <\/strong>this winter and Durham<\/strong>, NC<\/strong> <\/strong>last season when he hit .302 with 46 doubles, 14 dingers and 69 RBI in 117 games. \u00c2\u00a0This former star of the Frontier League (Canton, OH) <\/strong>and the Northern League (Fargo, ND)<\/strong> has seven hits, including a pair of doubles, and four runs batted in in his first 10 official at bats.\u00c2\u00a0 He went 2-for-3 in his most recent outing, and his average actually dropped, from .714 to .700.<\/p>\n

Crow and Scheppers were considered fine prospects when they played in the American Association <\/strong>before the draft <\/strong>early last summer, Crow with Fort Worth<\/strong>, TX <\/strong>and Scheppers with St. Paul<\/strong>, MN<\/strong>. <\/strong>They have done nothing to disappoint so far.<\/p>\n

Scheppers, whose fastball gets into the upper 90s and he can mix in five other pitches, has only a single shutout inning in an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A\u00e2\u20ac\u009d game for Texas <\/strong>so far this spring and two more in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153B\u00e2\u20ac\u009d competition, but baseball writer Jeff Wilson <\/strong>of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/em> says the 6-foot-4 23-year-old\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153future is considered as bright as any in the Texas Rangers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 system.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 As for his immediate future, Texas General Manager Jon Daniels <\/strong>told Wilson \u00e2\u20ac\u0153in general, the goal is to introduce him to a pro routine, build up arm strength, protect his arm and ultimately use him in such a way that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s available in the second half if we feel he can help us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Crow is currently ticketed to start the season in the minors for Kansas City<\/strong> even though the Royals need pitching, and he already is on their 40-man roster.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to pull the reins on myself on that one (Crow),\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Manager Trey Hillman <\/strong>told MLB.com <\/em>after watching a recent outing when radar readings reached as high as 97 MPH.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exciting, I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny that,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the skipper added after the two-inning, no-hit, three-strikeout performance.<\/p>\n

Parise has only pitched once so far, too, but it interestingly enough was in a successful one-run save situation for Tony LaRussa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s St. Louis Cardinals. <\/strong>The 25-year-old non-roster pitcher, who started his pro career in 2007 for Slippery Rock, PA (Frontier League)<\/strong>, came on fast last season when he ended up opening eyes as the closer for Triple-A Memphis,<\/strong> including a postseason run.\u00c2\u00a0 Parise\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stock climbed even more this winter when he was named to the all-star team in the climaxing Caribbean<\/strong> Series.<\/strong><\/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

* * * *<\/p>\n

Two Women Possible in Playing Ranks<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Long known for its willingness to push the bar, it appears two women could be suiting up as players in Independent leagues this summer.<\/p>\n

Following in the distant footsteps of pitcher Ila Borders<\/strong>, who was in the Northern League <\/strong>in the late \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc90s, Chico, CA <\/strong>has drafted Japanese <\/strong>sidearm knuckleballer Eri Yoshida <\/strong>for consideration to play in the Golden League<\/strong> and the Big Bend Cowboys <\/strong>of Alpine, TX <\/strong>in the Continental League<\/strong> have first baseman and relief pitcher Tiffany Brooks <\/strong>of Spokane, WA<\/strong> under contract.\u00c2\u00a0 Both played in the Arizona Winter League<\/strong>, where most players pay for the opportunity, earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very excited about what playing for the Cowboys will mean to girls and women all over the globe who want to play baseball rather than softball,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ms. Brooks was quoted in a CBL media release.<\/p>\n

(This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes on Independent Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com, enjoy his blogs, www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> and www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a>, or comment to RWirz@aol.com<\/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":"

It would be much like splitting hairs if we tried to give a definitive answer as to who among the former Independent players hopeful of becoming a first time major leaguer is having the best spring training up to this point.\u00c2\u00a0 Jon Weber,\u00c2\u00a0 Aaron Crow and Tanner Scheppers certainly have offered up their work.\u00c2\u00a0 Pete […]<\/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":[4013,4740,4031,4743,4741,4744,4737,508,510,4742,487,1459,444,400,4735,4739,85,4745,4738,1938],"class_list":["post-3301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-indy-baseball-insider","category-minors","tag-baseball-writer","tag-best-spring","tag-champion-new-york","tag-definitive-answer","tag-dingers","tag-fargo-nd","tag-fort-worth-star-tel","tag-frontier-league","tag-independent-players","tag-jeff-wilson","tag-jon-weber","tag-major-leaguer","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-parise","tag-scheppers","tag-splitting-hairs","tag-spring-training","tag-upper-90s","tag-wilkes-barre-pa","tag-world-champion"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}