It is pretty obvious by now that the American Association has one more of its former pitchers established in the major leagues.聽 Toronto’s Bo Schultz, part of Grand Prairie’s bullpen in its 2011 championship season, is the fifth along with three others currently on the disabled list, and most of them are with teams challenging for the postseason.
鈥淚n spring training we saw a real good arm (Schultz),鈥� Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons told The Toronto Sun. 聽鈥淗e鈥檚 throwing strikes now consistently. 聽He鈥檇 scatter it a little bit in spring training. 聽It鈥檚 one thing you look at, if it all comes together for this guy you鈥檝e got something pretty good and that鈥檚 what happened. 聽He went to Buffalo and became a new guy. 聽Guys that throw that hard, sometimes it takes a little time.鈥�
Schultz can hit 98 mph with his fastball and 93 with the cutter and is coming in later in games for the Jays. 聽“Teams don鈥檛 know him a lot,鈥� Gibbons added. 聽鈥淗e overpowers you.鈥澛� He has opponents hitting only .182 against him for the 24.1 innings he has pitched in 15 opportunities starting June 2 when he came up from the minor leagues.聽 The 29-year-old had only four brief major league outings prior to this season, and he has allowed only 16 hits and has struck out 21 while posting a team-leading 1.85 earned run average.
Keep Eyes on Geoff Broussard
While he still is some distance away from the majors, Geoff Broussard is having a solid season in the Los Angeles Angels farm system one year after being released by Philadelphia and rejuvenating his career at Sioux City followed by a brief Mexican Winter League stint.
鈥淲hen I got signed I was like 鈥業 have to make this team, I have to prove to (the Angels) that this isn鈥檛 going to be a wash鈥� and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 driven me this whole time,鈥� Broussard told The Orange County (CA) Register. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been incredible so far. 聽It鈥檚 going really well and I鈥檓 just thankful to be in this position.鈥�
Broussard, 24, is 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA and 10 saves in as many chances for Inland Empire (San Bernardino). The 6-foot, 185-pound right-hander has 52 strikeouts against just eight walks in 30.2 innings. 聽He is among California League leaders in strikeouts per nine innings (15.3), and has not allowed more than one earned run in any of his 24 outings.
Previously the chief spokesman for Commissioners Bowie Kuhn and Peter Ueberroth, Bob Wirz has been writing extensively about Independent Baseball since 2003.聽 He is a frequent contributor to this site as well as writing his blog, www.IndyBaseballChatter.com.
