Padres Minor Leagues: El Paso Chihuahuas April Report
An interesting story is former Toronto Blue Jay infielder Mike McCoy is with the El Paso team. He is 34 years of age and a native San Diegan. McCoy went to Grossmont high school and attended the University of San Diego. He came to the team as a minor league free agent after spending the entire 2014 season with the Boston Red Sox AAA team in Pawtukett.
McCoy has 336 career major league at bats and a .190 career average. He has not played in the major leagues since 2012 with the Blue Jays. Players like this need to be acknowledged. This is a man who at 34 has made a lifelong career out of the game of baseball. He hasn’t had the most successful of careers, but still continues to live for that dream.
All current major league players should have a talk with a player like this. To know what is it like for the other 60-70 percent that never make it to the big leagues and cash in. It drives me crazy that players get $100, $200, and now $300 million dollars while a player like this makes like $800,000 his whole 13 year career. McCoy plays for the love of the game, that is a great quality to have despite his .167 batting average in 16 games for the Chihuahuas.
The Chihuahuas pitching staff has been hit and miss. The middle relievers have been rotated in and out between El Paso and San Diego so their numbers are a little skewed. Young 27-year-old Leonel Campos is throwing very well in middle relief with a 0.77 ERA in 11.2 inning pitched. He has struck out 16 and walked only 3. Marcos Mateo a veteran right hander who last pitched for the Chicago Cubs is also throwing very well. He has taken over as the teams closer once Kevin Quackenbush was recalled back to the Padres. Mateo has an ERA of 0.90 in 10 innings(13 K’s) and has saved five games for the Chihuahuas.
Robbie Erlin, Jason Lane, James Needy, Aaron Northcraft and Bryce Morrow have been starting for the team. Morrow has had the most success thus far with a 3.20 ERA and a 2-1 record. He is a 27-year-old career minor league pitcher with a 3.75 ERA in five minor league seasons. Erlin is 3-1 with a 4.50 ERA and 19 strike outs in 22 innings pitched.
The story and career of Jason Lane continues. The man with 61 career home runs and a .241 batting average in six major league seasons is off to a 2-2 start with an ERA of 5.10 in 30 innings pitched. Lane is also 0-9 at the plate, in case you wanted to know. James Needy and Aaron Northcraft are both getting roughed up early in the season. Needy is 2-1 with a 6.86 ERA and Northcraft is 1-2 with a 10.22 ERA. Both pitchers are young and need to make adjustments in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League.
The El Paso Chihuahuas are off to a decent start and should get better as the team starts to play together more. Rymer Liriano and Austin Hedges could really boost their values with a decent year. Both players are at the age where their careers could either flourish or regress. Taylor Lindsey is also an interest player to keep an eye on. He has a lot of ability but has yet to put it all together consistently. The season for both the Chihuahuas and Padres should be very exciting. Please go out and support both teams in any way you can. The players love to hear from you the fans.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.