Northwestern University Athletics
Former Northwestern Players Excelling in Minors
6/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 27, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -
A total of nine former members of the Northwestern baseball team are currently on minor league rosters. The Wildcat alums are enjoying a great deal of success as a whole, including one player who is at Triple A and four more who are at the Double A level.
With the exception of Mark Loretta (1990-93), who is continuing his long Major League Baseball career with the Houston Astros this season, J.A. Happ (2002-04) is the former Wildcat who is closest to the majors. A left-handed pitcher, Happ is playing for the Triple A Lehigh Valley IronPigs of the Philadelphia Phillies organization in the International League. After a brief call up to the Phillies last season that saw him make one start, Happ is 5-6 with a respectable 3.73 ERA in 16 starts for Lehigh Valley. In 94 innings pitched this season, he has struck out 99 batters, including 13 in seven innings against the Columbus Clippers May 9. In his most recent start Monday at Durham, Happ picked up the win after allowing only one hit while striking out nine in six innings of work. After starting out the year 0-4, he is 5-2 in his last eight starts, including a 3-1 mark in the month of June.
Another former Northwestern player who is inching closer to the majors is right-handed pitcher George Kontos (2004-06). While playing for the New York Yankees' Double A club, the Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League, Kontos has only a 3-7 record to show for an impressive 3.27 ERA. In 16 starts this year, he has struck out 84 batters in 88 innings pitched while limiting opposing batters to a .235 average. His finest outing this season came May 5 when he struck out 11 in just five innings in helping the Thunder to a win at Erie. Kontos has seven or more strikeouts in six of his last 10 starts.
Side-winding right-handed reliever Chris Hayes (2002-05) has also worked his way up to Double A as a member of Kansas City Royals' Northwest Arkansas Naturals squad. Out of the bullpen, Hayes has a 1-1 record with a 2.43 ERA in 19 appearances and 29.2 innings pitched. He leads the team with four saves, while opponents are batting just .228 against him.
Out of all of the former Northwestern players currently in the minors, Jon Mikrut (2002-05) may be the most pleasant surprise. After both pitching and playing the infield his first three seasons as a Wildcat, Mikrut made only one appearance on the mound his senior year. However, the St. Louis Cardinals signed him as a free agent following the completion of his eligibility and he made the jump from Single A (Palm Beach Cardinals) to Double A (Springfield Cardinals) this season. Mikrut was stellar in 14 relief appearances with Palm Beach to open the year, posting a 1-1 record with a minuscule 0.55 ERA and five saves. The effort earned him a promotion to Palm Beach where he is 2-3 with a 5.28 ERA in 20 appearances. Prior to a rough outing Thursday, he had allowed just one earned run in eight appearances in the month of June covering 13 innings pitched.
Like Mikrut, Joe Hietpas (1998-2001) has benefited from a position change. Drafted as a catcher by the New York Mets in 2001, he spent six years in the minors at the position before make the move to the other half of the battery in 2007. After spending last season at Class A with the St. Lucie Mets, Hietpas made the jump to the Binghamton Mets of the Double A Eastern League this year. In 24 relief appearances in 2008, he has a 1-3 record with a 4.91 ERA. In his last 10 outings, he has allowed a run on only one occasion, sporting a 1.93 over that span.
Dan Brauer (2003-06) is yet another Wildcat starter working his way up the professional ranks. Brauer, the 2006 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, is a member of the Clearwater Thrashers, the Phillies' High A club in the Florida State League. The southpaw has a 2-3 record this season with a 5.73 ERA in 17 appearances, including five starts. His numbers have improved remarkably since making a shift to the bullpen, as he has a 2-2 mark with a 2.45 ERA in 12 relief appearances.
Unlike all the hurlers previously mentioned, Mark Ori (2003-05) has been climbing the ranks as a position player. The first baseman has been playing for the Houston Astros' High A squad, the Salem Avalanche of the Carolina League. Ori leads the team with a .301 batting average, 21 doubles and 51 runs batted in to go along with four home runs in 72 games played. His bat has been especially hot in the month of June as he is sporting a .341 average.
After being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 33rd round a year ago, Caleb Fields (2004-07) is an infielder for the Class A Hickory Crawdads of the South Atlantic League. He has appeared in eight games so far this season. In addition, Bo Schultz (2007-08), who was recently signed as a free agent by the Oakland Athletics, has been assigned to the organization's Rookie League team the Arizona League Athletics.
