Tuesday, July 11, 2006
First Part In A New Series Profiling a Tribe Player
Were starting with the future: Jeremy Sowers.
Jeremy Sowers (born May 17, 1983) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Indians.
High School Career
He attended Ballard High School in Louisville, KY where he was named National High School All-American by Baseball America...Named Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year, Mr. Kentucky Baseball and Kentucky High School Coaches Association Athlete of the Year as a senior at Ballard...Recorded a 10-2 record and 0.75 ERA, with 156 strikeouts, 18 walks and nine earned runs in 89 innings as a senior...Threw 13CG and 8SHO in his final high school season...Posted a 13-0 mark and 0.16 ERA with 129 strikeouts in 85.2IP as a junior...Threw 13CG/7SHO as a junior...Tossed four career no-hitters as a Bruin...Named All-State, All-Section, All-Region and County Player of the Year while leading the team to consecutive appearances in the state championship game as a junior and senior...Selected by Cincinnati in the first round (20th pick overall) of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft, but opted to attend Vanderbilt.
College Career
Prior to the 2004 First-Year Player Draft Sowers was ranked by Baseball America as the 2nd best collegiate pitcher in terms of command and was ranked 3rd among college pitchers in terms of being "closest to the majors"...He was rated the top prospect in the SEC by BA...Led the USA Baseball Junior National Team to a silver medal finish at the Pan American Tournament in Camaguey, Cuba in July 2001, registering a 3-0 record and 0.00 ERA... Named to the 2001 Pan American All-Tournament team...Twin brother, RHP Josh, pitched at Yale and was a 10th round pick by Toronto in 2004 after being named Ivy League Pitcher of the Year and District I Player of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association...Returned to Vandy and graduated with a degree in Political Science in December 2005...Enjoys movies and music from the 1980s. In 2004, this left-handed pitcher was the first round selection of the Cleveland Indians, 6th overall, in the 2004 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft. He signed with the Indians after completing his junior year. He had previously been selected out of high school in the MLB draft, 21st overall, by the Cincinnati Reds. He was granted permission by the Indians to finish his last credits to complete his senior year in the off season.
Minor League Career
Went a combined 14-4 with a 2.37 ERA in 27 starts at A Kinston, AA Akron and AAA Buffalo in his first season as a pro (159.1IP, 141H, 42ER, 149K, .235 avg)...Led organizational pitcher in wins and strikeouts and was 3rd in ERA and IP and was named Minor League Pitcher of the Year (Bob Feller Award)...His 2.37 combined ERA was seventh-lowest in all of Minor League Baseball...Walked 30 batters the entire season w/a 5.0:1 SO/BB ratio and averaged 1.7BB/9.0IP... Started the year at A Kinston where he worked into the 5th inning in all 13 of his starts and fanned 6 or more in 8 of those outings...Went 3-2 w/a 2.38 ERA in 6 May starts (34.0IP, 28H, 9ER, 35K) and was promoted to AA Akron on June 16...Lefty Carolina League hitters hit .173 (13-75) and batters hit .210 (13-62) with RISP, .083 (2-24) with RISP-2outs... At the time of his AA promotion, he was tied for the Carolina League lead in wins (8) and was 4th in ERA (2.78) and strikeouts (75)... He suffered the loss in his AA debut on June 22 vs. Reading...After that, he did not lose a regular season decision, going 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA in 12 starts (77.1 IP, 66 H, 20 R, 15 ER, 7 BB, 67 SO)...Jeremy pitched 24.0 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run from July 3-22... Was promoted to Triple A Buffalo on September 1 and made one start for the Bisons...He picked up the win on September 2 @ Ottawa (5.2IP, 7H, 1R/ER, 4K) and returned to Akron for the Eastern League Playoffs...In two post-season starts for the EL Champion Aeros, Jeremy was 1-1 with a 5.25 ERA (12.0 IP, 13 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 10 SO)...Opposing left-handed Eastern League batters struggled against Jeremy, batting just .186 (11-59) and on the year lefties also hit .186 (26-140)... After the season was named the 2nd best prospect in the Indians organization by Baseball America. He received a non-roster invitation to attend the Indians' 2006 spring training. He did very well in 3 outtings, but not well enough to make opening day roster.
Named as the Baseball America cover boy in 2006, Sowers pitched for the Indians' AAA team, Buffalo. In 15 starts this year for Buffalo, he posted a 9-1 record with a 1.39 ERA. Considered by many analysts to be a top pitching prospect, Sowers was called up to the Major Leagues by the Cleveland Indians on June 20, 2006, for his Major League debut against the Cincinnati Reds on June 25.
MLB Career
In his first MLB game, Sowers struck out Adam Dunn for his first career strikeout. He later gave up home runs to Ken Griffey, Jr. and Dunn.
Jeremy Sowers (born May 17, 1983) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Indians.
High School Career
He attended Ballard High School in Louisville, KY where he was named National High School All-American by Baseball America...Named Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year, Mr. Kentucky Baseball and Kentucky High School Coaches Association Athlete of the Year as a senior at Ballard...Recorded a 10-2 record and 0.75 ERA, with 156 strikeouts, 18 walks and nine earned runs in 89 innings as a senior...Threw 13CG and 8SHO in his final high school season...Posted a 13-0 mark and 0.16 ERA with 129 strikeouts in 85.2IP as a junior...Threw 13CG/7SHO as a junior...Tossed four career no-hitters as a Bruin...Named All-State, All-Section, All-Region and County Player of the Year while leading the team to consecutive appearances in the state championship game as a junior and senior...Selected by Cincinnati in the first round (20th pick overall) of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft, but opted to attend Vanderbilt.
College Career
Prior to the 2004 First-Year Player Draft Sowers was ranked by Baseball America as the 2nd best collegiate pitcher in terms of command and was ranked 3rd among college pitchers in terms of being "closest to the majors"...He was rated the top prospect in the SEC by BA...Led the USA Baseball Junior National Team to a silver medal finish at the Pan American Tournament in Camaguey, Cuba in July 2001, registering a 3-0 record and 0.00 ERA... Named to the 2001 Pan American All-Tournament team...Twin brother, RHP Josh, pitched at Yale and was a 10th round pick by Toronto in 2004 after being named Ivy League Pitcher of the Year and District I Player of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association...Returned to Vandy and graduated with a degree in Political Science in December 2005...Enjoys movies and music from the 1980s. In 2004, this left-handed pitcher was the first round selection of the Cleveland Indians, 6th overall, in the 2004 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft. He signed with the Indians after completing his junior year. He had previously been selected out of high school in the MLB draft, 21st overall, by the Cincinnati Reds. He was granted permission by the Indians to finish his last credits to complete his senior year in the off season.
Minor League Career
Went a combined 14-4 with a 2.37 ERA in 27 starts at A Kinston, AA Akron and AAA Buffalo in his first season as a pro (159.1IP, 141H, 42ER, 149K, .235 avg)...Led organizational pitcher in wins and strikeouts and was 3rd in ERA and IP and was named Minor League Pitcher of the Year (Bob Feller Award)...His 2.37 combined ERA was seventh-lowest in all of Minor League Baseball...Walked 30 batters the entire season w/a 5.0:1 SO/BB ratio and averaged 1.7BB/9.0IP... Started the year at A Kinston where he worked into the 5th inning in all 13 of his starts and fanned 6 or more in 8 of those outings...Went 3-2 w/a 2.38 ERA in 6 May starts (34.0IP, 28H, 9ER, 35K) and was promoted to AA Akron on June 16...Lefty Carolina League hitters hit .173 (13-75) and batters hit .210 (13-62) with RISP, .083 (2-24) with RISP-2outs... At the time of his AA promotion, he was tied for the Carolina League lead in wins (8) and was 4th in ERA (2.78) and strikeouts (75)... He suffered the loss in his AA debut on June 22 vs. Reading...After that, he did not lose a regular season decision, going 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA in 12 starts (77.1 IP, 66 H, 20 R, 15 ER, 7 BB, 67 SO)...Jeremy pitched 24.0 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run from July 3-22... Was promoted to Triple A Buffalo on September 1 and made one start for the Bisons...He picked up the win on September 2 @ Ottawa (5.2IP, 7H, 1R/ER, 4K) and returned to Akron for the Eastern League Playoffs...In two post-season starts for the EL Champion Aeros, Jeremy was 1-1 with a 5.25 ERA (12.0 IP, 13 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 10 SO)...Opposing left-handed Eastern League batters struggled against Jeremy, batting just .186 (11-59) and on the year lefties also hit .186 (26-140)... After the season was named the 2nd best prospect in the Indians organization by Baseball America. He received a non-roster invitation to attend the Indians' 2006 spring training. He did very well in 3 outtings, but not well enough to make opening day roster.
Named as the Baseball America cover boy in 2006, Sowers pitched for the Indians' AAA team, Buffalo. In 15 starts this year for Buffalo, he posted a 9-1 record with a 1.39 ERA. Considered by many analysts to be a top pitching prospect, Sowers was called up to the Major Leagues by the Cleveland Indians on June 20, 2006, for his Major League debut against the Cincinnati Reds on June 25.
MLB Career
In his first MLB game, Sowers struck out Adam Dunn for his first career strikeout. He later gave up home runs to Ken Griffey, Jr. and Dunn.
# posted by MurphyStreet @ 1:32 PM 
