Former Cal Poly pitcher Drew Thorpe has struck out at least seven batters in each of his last nine starts for the Hudson Valley Renegades in the South Atlantic League.
Mustangs in Pros: Thorpe, Lee and Mathias on Top of Their Game
7/20/2023 4:39:00 PM | Baseball
MUSTANGS IN THE PROS
BROOKS LEE FINDING POWER STROKE AT WICHITA
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Drew Thorpe has continued his mastery on the mound, Brooks Lee and Mark Mathias both have seven-game hitting streaks, Bradlee Beesley is back in the lineup for the Tennessee Smokies and Justin Bruihl has been called up by the Los Angeles Dodgers for the fourth time this season.
Thorpe is off to a 9-1 start in his professional career. A second-round draft pick of the New York Yankees a year ago, Thorpe was shut down in the summer of 2022 after throwing nearly 105 innings in his final season at Cal Poly.
The move seems to have worked nicely for the Yankees. At High-A Hudson Valley, Thorpe has produced a 9-1 win-loss record and 2.27 ERA in 15 starts on the mound. He leads the South Atlantic League in wins (9), strikeouts (111) and innings pitched (91 1/3) and is second in ERA (2.27) and fifth in opponents' batting average (.209).
Thorpe pitched seven innings for wins in each of his last two starts, allowing no runs and three hits with seven strikeouts in a 2-0 win over Jersey Shore on July 9 and giving up three runs and six hits with 10 strikeouts in a 5-4 triumph over Bowling Green on July 15. He has struck out at least seven batters in each of his last nine starts.
Lee is 15-for-28 (.536) in his last seven games for the Double-A Wichita Wind Surge with nine runs scored, five doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs, hiking his average 25 points to .289.
The shortstop was 3-for-4 with a solo home run and two doubles for four RBIs against Tulsa on July 9 and also drove in four runs with a two-run home run, a double and two singles in a 4-for-6 performance versus Springfield on July 16.
Lee is first in the Texas League with 30 doubles, sixth with 55 RBIs, seventh with 88 hits and 25th in home runs with 10.
Mathias, traded from Pittsburgh to Seattle earlier this month, has hit safely in all seven games in which he has played for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, going 12-for-25 (.400) with two doubles and three RBIs.
Mathias, who played in 22 games for the Pirates this season prior to the trade, made his debut for Tacoma on July 5. Four days later he went 3-for-4 with three singles at Reno on July 9 and was 4-for-5 with a double and three singles at Sacramento on July 19.
Beesley, hit in the face with a pitch May 25, finally returned to the field July 6 for the first of three rehab games in the Arizona Complex League. He was back with Tennessee on July 14 and went 5-for-12 with a double, a two-run home run and four RBIs in his first three games, all against Montgomery.
Beesley currently is hitting .250 this season with six home runs and 13 RBIs in 22 games with the Double-A Smokies.
Bruihl is back with the Dodgers for the fourth time this season and pitched Wednesday afternoon at Baltimore, tossing two scoreless frames in relief with a pair of strikeouts. He can only be optioned back to the Minors once more this season as the limit under the collective bargaining agreement is five per year.
Bruihl is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in 17 appearances on the mound for the Dodgers this season and 5-2 with a 2.04 ERA in 15 relief stints on the mound at Oklahoma City.
Other notes for former Mustangs in the professional ranks …
• Bryan Woo's eighth start for the Seattle Mariners since his call-up June 3 — seven runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings at home against Minnesota on Tuesday night — was similar to his MLB debut June 6 — six runs and seven hits in two innings at Texas — but in the six starts in-between, he has been stellar, posting a 1-0 mark with five no-decisions and a 2.20 ERA, striking out 39 batters over 32 2/3 innings.
• Following two no-decisions in his last two starts, Andrew Alvarez remains 4-2 with a 2.99 ERA at Wilmington.
• Myles Emerson had a five-game hitting streak snapped July 19, going 7-for-18 (.389) with a double and triple for Tri-City.
• At Augusta, Jason Franks earned his fourth save with a scoreless inning July 8 against Myrtle Beach. He has allowed just three runs in his last 17 outings on the mound (21 innings), lowering his ERA from 10.80 to 4.71.
• Spencer Howard earned his first win of 2023 July 16 at Tacoma, tossing 2 2/3 innings in relief and allowing one run and one hit with three strikeouts for Round Rock.
• Alex McKenna returned from Development Camp to Sugar Land and snapped an 0-for-14 slump with a two-run home run at Albuquerque on Wednesday.
• Nick Meyer hit two solo home runs against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 28 during a five-game hitting streak. The Syracuse catcher was 8-for-17 during the streak.
• Nick Torres sports a .340 average for the Laguna Vaqueros and is in the top 30 in the Mexican League in several categories, including No. 6 in doubles (20), No. 17 in hits (88), No. 20 in average (.340), No. 22 in RBIs (50) and No. 29 in home runs (10).
Woo and Bruihl are the only Mustangs currently in the Major Leagues, though Cal Poly has had a record six former players in the Bigs this season.
Follow the progress of all former Mustangs in professional baseball by clicking the link at the top of the page.
BROOKS LEE FINDING POWER STROKE AT WICHITA
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Drew Thorpe has continued his mastery on the mound, Brooks Lee and Mark Mathias both have seven-game hitting streaks, Bradlee Beesley is back in the lineup for the Tennessee Smokies and Justin Bruihl has been called up by the Los Angeles Dodgers for the fourth time this season.
Thorpe is off to a 9-1 start in his professional career. A second-round draft pick of the New York Yankees a year ago, Thorpe was shut down in the summer of 2022 after throwing nearly 105 innings in his final season at Cal Poly.
The move seems to have worked nicely for the Yankees. At High-A Hudson Valley, Thorpe has produced a 9-1 win-loss record and 2.27 ERA in 15 starts on the mound. He leads the South Atlantic League in wins (9), strikeouts (111) and innings pitched (91 1/3) and is second in ERA (2.27) and fifth in opponents' batting average (.209).
Lee is 15-for-28 (.536) in his last seven games for the Double-A Wichita Wind Surge with nine runs scored, five doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs, hiking his average 25 points to .289.
The shortstop was 3-for-4 with a solo home run and two doubles for four RBIs against Tulsa on July 9 and also drove in four runs with a two-run home run, a double and two singles in a 4-for-6 performance versus Springfield on July 16.
Lee is first in the Texas League with 30 doubles, sixth with 55 RBIs, seventh with 88 hits and 25th in home runs with 10.
Mathias, traded from Pittsburgh to Seattle earlier this month, has hit safely in all seven games in which he has played for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, going 12-for-25 (.400) with two doubles and three RBIs.
Mathias, who played in 22 games for the Pirates this season prior to the trade, made his debut for Tacoma on July 5. Four days later he went 3-for-4 with three singles at Reno on July 9 and was 4-for-5 with a double and three singles at Sacramento on July 19.
Beesley, hit in the face with a pitch May 25, finally returned to the field July 6 for the first of three rehab games in the Arizona Complex League. He was back with Tennessee on July 14 and went 5-for-12 with a double, a two-run home run and four RBIs in his first three games, all against Montgomery.
Beesley currently is hitting .250 this season with six home runs and 13 RBIs in 22 games with the Double-A Smokies.
Bruihl is back with the Dodgers for the fourth time this season and pitched Wednesday afternoon at Baltimore, tossing two scoreless frames in relief with a pair of strikeouts. He can only be optioned back to the Minors once more this season as the limit under the collective bargaining agreement is five per year.
Bruihl is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in 17 appearances on the mound for the Dodgers this season and 5-2 with a 2.04 ERA in 15 relief stints on the mound at Oklahoma City.
Other notes for former Mustangs in the professional ranks …
• Bryan Woo's eighth start for the Seattle Mariners since his call-up June 3 — seven runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings at home against Minnesota on Tuesday night — was similar to his MLB debut June 6 — six runs and seven hits in two innings at Texas — but in the six starts in-between, he has been stellar, posting a 1-0 mark with five no-decisions and a 2.20 ERA, striking out 39 batters over 32 2/3 innings.
• Following two no-decisions in his last two starts, Andrew Alvarez remains 4-2 with a 2.99 ERA at Wilmington.
• Myles Emerson had a five-game hitting streak snapped July 19, going 7-for-18 (.389) with a double and triple for Tri-City.
• At Augusta, Jason Franks earned his fourth save with a scoreless inning July 8 against Myrtle Beach. He has allowed just three runs in his last 17 outings on the mound (21 innings), lowering his ERA from 10.80 to 4.71.
• Spencer Howard earned his first win of 2023 July 16 at Tacoma, tossing 2 2/3 innings in relief and allowing one run and one hit with three strikeouts for Round Rock.
• Alex McKenna returned from Development Camp to Sugar Land and snapped an 0-for-14 slump with a two-run home run at Albuquerque on Wednesday.
• Nick Meyer hit two solo home runs against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 28 during a five-game hitting streak. The Syracuse catcher was 8-for-17 during the streak.
• Nick Torres sports a .340 average for the Laguna Vaqueros and is in the top 30 in the Mexican League in several categories, including No. 6 in doubles (20), No. 17 in hits (88), No. 20 in average (.340), No. 22 in RBIs (50) and No. 29 in home runs (10).
Woo and Bruihl are the only Mustangs currently in the Major Leagues, though Cal Poly has had a record six former players in the Bigs this season.
Follow the progress of all former Mustangs in professional baseball by clicking the link at the top of the page.
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