Mustangs In the Pros Update
6/5/2024 2:30:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Spencer Howard is back in the Major Leagues. Brooks Lee is ready to make his return to Triple-A St. Paul. Justin Bruihl has been released by the Cincinnati Reds. Drew Thorpe continues his masterful performance in the minors.
Those are the highlights of Cal Poly's 15 former baseball players in the professional ranks this year.
Howard, who pitched parts of four seasons in the Majors with the Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers, is now in a San Francisco Giants uniform after posting a 1-2 mark and 5.90 ERA in 10 starts with the Triple-A Sacramento RiverCats.
Howard has made two appearances on the mound for the Giants, both in relief, after his callup May 28. That night, the Templeton High School graduate and 2014 North San Luis Obispo County Player of the Year pitched four scoreless innings in relief with four strikeouts against Philadelphia.
He took the mound again Monday night at Arizona, giving up two runs and four hits over 4 2/3 innings with three strikeouts. Both appearances were no-decisions and he has yet to allow a walk.
Lee, sidelined since the start of the 2024 season due to a herniated disc in his lower back, played 10 rehab games — five each with the Twins' Florida Complex League team and the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels — compiling a .395 average with three doubles and five RBIs before he was promoted back to Triple-A Saint Paul on Tuesday.
The Saints' game against Syracuse was rained out, postponing Lee's return to the Twin Cities one more day. Lee played 87 games at Double-A Wichita and 38 more at Triple-A Saint Paul a year ago, posting a combined .275 average with 39 doubles, 16 home runs and 84 RBIs.
Despite a 4-0 win-loss record and 2.31 ERA in 19 appearances on the mound with the Triple-A Louisville Bats this season, Bruihl was let go by the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.
Bruihl pitched in 65 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2021-23 and seven more for Colorado in 2023, compiling a 2-2 record and 4.22 career ERA, seven holds and one save, before signing with the Reds during the offseason.
Thorpe, who earned 14 wins with Hudson Valley and Somerset in the New York Yankees organization last year, was traded twice during the offseason and has responded with a 7-1 record and 1.33 ERA at his new digs — the Birmingham Barons of the Double-A Southern League.
Thorpe's 14 wins were the most by Minor League starters in 2023 and he led all Minor Leaguers with 177 strikeouts for the year. Thorpe was first traded to San Diego with four other players for Juan Soto and Trent Grisham on Dec. 7, then to the Chicago White Sox with three other players on March 13 for Dylan Cease.
Besides Howard, two other ex-Mustangs are on Major League rosters, both with the Seattle Mariners.
Following a 4-5 record with a 4.21 ERA and 93 strikeouts and 31 walks over 87 2/3 innings and nine no-decisions in his first Major League season, pitcher Bryan Woo started the 2024 campaign on the injury list with inflammation in his right elbow and pitched in three rehab starts at Tacoma, allowing no runs over 11 1/3 innings with 17 strikeouts, before returning to the Seattle rotation May 10.
His two victories so far this year are against Kansas City (5 1/3 innings, one run, three hits, five strikeouts) on May 15 and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium (six scoreless innings, two hits, no walks, seven strikeouts) on May 21. Woo is 2-0 with the Mariners so far this season with a 1.30 ERA.
After one season with the San Francisco Giants, outfielder Mitch Haniger returned to Seattle, joining Anthony DeSclafani and cash in a trade for Robbie Ray.
After his average dipped below the .200 mark on May 13, Haniger has rebounded with 16 hits in 18 games, including two doubles and a home run with four RBIs, boosting his average to .221. He hit a grand slam against Arizona on April 26 and broke out of his recent slump with a 3-for-3 night against Kansas City on May 14.
A quick update on other former Mustangs …
• Pitcher Andrew Alvarez is 4-2 with a 2.89 ERA in 10 starts for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators. On May 26, Alvarez tossed a seven-inning complete game shutout, scattering five hits, and striking out five against Akron, and earned his third straight win and fourth of the season last Friday against Binghamton, allowing one run and two hits in five innings with six strikeouts.
• Outfielder Bradlee Beesley was sent down to the Tennessee Smokies last week after going 2-for-17 in his first 12 games with the Iowa Cubs.
• Catcher Myles Emmerson opened the 2024 season at Double-A Rocket City and, after playing in just two games during the first month of the year, has played in four contests over the last week and has four singles and one RBI in six contests so far. He was 2-for-3 against Tennessee on May 14.
• Pitcher Derek True has pitched for two Single-A teams, posting 1-1 marks at both Fayetteville (Carolina League) and Asheville (South Atlantic League). His wins were against Delaware on April 26 (three hits, one unearned run, five innings, no walks, eight strikeouts) and versus Rome on May 15 (two runs, five hits, four innings, no walks, seven strikeouts).
• Another pitcher, Bryce Warrecker, did not play last summer after he was drafted by the Yankees and made his professional debut May 13 against the Florida Complex League Tigers, was the starter and pitched one inning, allowing one run and one hit with one walk and three strikeouts, suffering the loss. He made three more starts in the rookie league before he was promoted to the Hudson Valley Renegades on Tuesday, where he has yet to pitch.
Outfielder Nick Torres continues to tear up the Mexican League, hitting .349 in 40 games with nine doubles, eight home runs and 31 RBIs. He is 25th in the league in batting average, 12th in RBIs, 21st in hits and ninth in home runs.
A pair of ex-Mustangs are on the full-season injury list in 2024 — pitcher Jason Franks (Augusta Green Jackets) and utility player Mark Mathias (Louisville Bats). Both underwent surgery before the 2024 season began.
A third — pitcher Taylor Dollard — remains on the injury list with the Tacoma Rainiers. He pitched in just three games in 2023 before undergoing shoulder labrum surgery, one year after posting a 16-2 record and 2.25 ERA at Double-A Arkansas, earning the Seattle Mariners' Minor League Player of the Year Award as well as being named Texas League Pitcher of the Year.
Two other former Mustangs saw their professional careers come to an end during the offseason.
Catcher Nick Meyer, with the Syracuse Mets the last two seasons, was released on Oct. 30, becoming a free agent. Meyer signed with Tampa Bay on Jan. 29 and was assigned to Durham, but was released by the Bulls on March 27.
Pitcher Erich Uelmen, who played at Lehigh Valley in 2023 after making 25 appearances on the mound for the Chicago Cubs and one more for Philadelphia, elected to become a free agent Nov. 6 but has yet to sign with another team.
Follow the progress of all former Mustangs in the professional ranks by clicking the link at the top of the page.
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