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Silkworm Alumni Update

By Don Leypoldt

When the last out of the 2008 summer occurred, over two dozen young men made the transition from “Manchester Silkworms” to “Silkworm Alumni.”  While the chief goal of the Silkworm organization is to provide a fun, family-friendly, high quality entertainment product to the Manchester and surrounding communities, the Worms also exist to develop the baseball skills of their players and alumni.

The Silkworms have a strong track record in the latter.  35 Silkworm alums are on affiliated or independent baseball rosters.  There have been 20 selections of Silkworm alumni in the last three major league drafts; this excludes several more who signed either free agent contracts or with independent league teams.

Here is an update of Silkworm alumni playing professional ball.  The players’ year(s) with Manchester are listed in parenthesis.  Statistics are current through August 8th.

Triple-A

Ben Copeland (2003) – Fresno (San Francisco).  After a June and July in which he raised his average from .223 to .261, Copeland was promoted to Fresno in early August.  The centerfielder has a .250 average in four triple-A games.  He was named the Eastern League’s Player of the Week on May 5th, after he hit nearly .440 for the week. 

Chris Denorfia (2000-01) – Sacramento (Oakland).  Southington native Denorfia opened the year on the Oakland A’s roster and hit .260 with 6 RBI in 25 games.  After a stint on the disabled list in May, he was optioned to triple-A Sacramento where he has batted .264 with 13 RBI in 26 games.

Jonah Bayliss (2000-01) – Syracuse (Toronto).  Bayliss, acquired by the Toronto organization last month, is 3-3 with a 3.14 ERA in 17 games for the SkyChiefs.  He has struck out 22 and walked 8 in 28.2 innings. 

Zach Jackson (2002) – Buffalo (Cleveland).  Jackson had a cup of coffee with Milwaukee in May, posting a 4.91 ERA in two appearances.  He also made headlines as one of the prospects sent to Cleveland in mid-July for Cy Young Award winner C.C. Sabathia.  The lefty has a 3-1 record and a 4.05 ERA as a Bison.  He also has a 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio with his new team.

Double-A

Reid Gorecki (2001) – Mississippi (Atlanta).  The outfielder has thrived since his mid-season release from the Cardinals organization.  In 55 games for the Braves, he hit .287 with 10 homers, 38 RBI and 15 steals.  Earlier this year, Gorecki hit .538 in a brief call up to triple-A.  

Ryan Finan (2003) – Bowie (Baltimore).  The first baseman is hitting .247 with 11 homers and 50 RBI.  He is hitting .391 in the month of August.  Finan has averaged a walk every other game.

Ryan Klosterman (2002) - New Hampshire (Toronto).  The shortstop is hitting .229 with six homers, 11 steals and 39 RBI.  He hit .294 in the month of June.

High-A

Bryan Hallberg (2005) – Salem (Houston).  Hallberg has a 3-7 record, but with a 3.11 ERA and five saves.  He has struck out 52 in 63.2 innings while holding hitters to a .204 average against.

Chris Cody (2003) – Brevard County (Milwaukee).  After opening the year on the disabled list, the lefty Cody was promoted to high-A in mid June.  He is 2-4 but with a 2.03 ERA in nine starts for Brevard County.  In high-A, he has struck out 44 and walked 18 in 57.2 innings.

Graham Godfrey (2004) – Stockton (Oakland).  Godfrey is 5-5 with a 5.23 ERA in 24 appearances, 19 of them starts.  He has struck out 94 in 106.2 innings and has a 2.84 ERA in his last three starts.

John Slusarz (2004-05) - Bakersfield (Texas).  The Farmington product is on the disabled list and has not pitched in 2008.

P.J. Antoniato (2004) – Clearwater (Philadelphia).  The second baseman hit .267 with eight RBI and 14 runs scored in 46 games.  He has been on the disabled list since mid-June.

Ricky Brooks (2004) - Winston Salem (Chicago White Sox).  Brooks is 3-3 with a 3.73 ERA in 38 appearances.  He has struck out 83 in 72.1 innings and has a 1.32 ERA in his last seven games.

Single-A

Andy Parrino (2005-06) - Ft. Wayne (San Diego).  The switch hitting second baseman is hitting .260 with seven homers, 37 RBIs and eight steals.  He has hit .316 in his last ten games.

Bobby Blevins (2005) - Great Lakes (Los Angeles).  Blevins had a sparkling 1.76 ERA through April.  On the year, he is 2-6 but with a 2.51 ERA, five saves and 53 strikeouts in 43 innings.

Jesse Darcy (2005-06) – Columbus (Tampa Bay).  All this 6’4” righty has done was win Tampa Bay’s June Pitcher of the Month award.  Darcy is 5-3 with a 2.95 ERA in 25 games, 15 of them starts.  He has fanned 82 and walked just 13 in 110 innings.

Jon Fixler (2006) – Lexington (Houston).  The catcher is hitting .260 with seven homers and 42 RBI.  He hit a blistering .349 in the month of April.

Short Season

Drew Garcia (2005-2006) – Bristol (Chicago-A). The second baseman is hitting .279 with 5 homers and 27 RBI.  He carried a .309 batting average through July 31st. 

Justin Greene (2006) – Bristol (Chicago-A). Garcia’s teammate is hitting .288 with two homers, 12 RBI and 25 steals in just 42 games.  He has also hit nine doubles and five triples.

Kyle Higgins (2007) – Spokane (Texas).  The 2008 NEC Player of the Year is hitting .250 with six doubles, 3 RBIs and two steals in 23 games.

Matt Cooney (2005-2006) – Lowell (Boston).  The catcher and Eastern Connecticut State grad is hitting .071 with 4 RBI in 13 games in the NY-Penn League.

Pat Egan (2004-2005) – Aberdeen (Baltimore).  The twice drafted righty is 1-5 with a 4.63 ERA in nine starts.  He has averaged a strikeout per inning while walking just 2.5 batters per 9 innings.

Ryan Lavarnway (2007) – Lowell (Boston).  Hampered by a broken wrist this spring, the Red Sox 6th round pick and former NECBL all-star has appeared in two games.

T.J. Baxter (2006) – Aberdeen (Baltimore).  Egan’s teammate is hitting .276 with a homer, seven extra base hits and 15 RBI in 35 games.  He hit .288 in the month of July.

Independent

American Association

Aaron Garza (2004, ’06) - Grand Prairie.  The outfielder is hitting .259, slugging .371 and has stolen 17 bases on the season while being caught just once.  He has belted 4 homers and has driven in 31.

Evan Conley (2001) - Pensacola.  Traded from El Paso earlier in the year, the third baseman is hitting .276 with 10 RBI and just one error in 31 games for Pensacola.  He is hitting .264 when El Paso stats are included.

Matt Reilly (2004-05) - Ft. Worth.  In 29 games, Reilly is 1-3 with a save and a 3.46 ERA.  Opponents are hitting .256 off of him.

Shawn McGill (2003) – Lincoln.  The big catcher is hitting .293 with six homers, 34 RBI and seven steals.  He is slugging .453 and has appeared in all but nine of Lincoln’s 80 games.

Atlantic League

Ryan DiPietro (2003-2004) – Bridgeport.  The lefty is 3-3 with a 5.50 ERA in 17 games, five of them starts.  He has struck out 32 in 54 starts.  DiPietro’s ERA is better than the rest of his team’s by nearly ½ a run.

Patrick Stanley (2004) – Newark.  Stanley never suited up for the Silkworms, but learned he was drafted by the Rockies while in his Manchester host family’s living room.  In 18 starts, he is 9-5 with a 4.34 ERA and over a strikeout per inning.

Can-Am League

Jarrett Stawartz (2000) – Nashua.  The lefty is 3-3 with a 5.04 ERA in 20 appearances, 11 of them starts.  He has walked just 28 in 75 innings.

Gil Zayas (2005-2006) – Atlantic City.  The third baseman is hitting .297 with four homers and 23 RBI.  His .458 slugging percentage is second best on a team that is 11 games over .500.

Frontier League

Zach Groh (2006) – Washington.  The one time America East Pitcher of the Year is 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA in three starts.  Groh has struck out 15 and has allowed just nine hits in 14.2 innings.

Billy Mottram (2003) – Florence.  The second baseman is hitting .296 with six homers and 36 RBI.  He is slugging .470 and has four steals on the season.

Northern League

Wilson Matos (2006) – Schaumburg.  The second baseman is hitting .400 with a homer, four RBIs and just one error in his 10 games with the Flyers.

While the Silkworms strive for 100% accuracy, occasionally we do make errors.  It is difficult perfectly monitoring all of our alumni in the dynamic world of professional baseball.  Not even Ozzie Smith or Brooks Robinson- arguably the two best fielders in the history of the game- were immune from an occasional “E”.  Please contact General Manager Ed Slegeski (SilkwormsGM@aol.com) if there is an omission.

The Manchester Silkworms are a proud member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.  Over thirty Silkworm alumni have been selected in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft.  For more information on the Silkworms, please contact Don Leypoldt in sports information or G.M. Ed Slegeski (SilkwormsGM@aol.com).