Posted by Lionel on June 29, 2009.I previously announced the Class A minor league All Stars via the weekly ATAtM, but I decided to profile the numerous Tennessee Smokies who made the Southern League All Star team separately. Here are the six:
Jay Jackson-This was an obvious selection. While his 4-3, 3.15 ERA overall doesn't jump out, his 4-0 record and 1.55 ERA in the last 9 starts tells the story. Jackson was a 9th round pick by the Cubs in the '08 draft (yes, only a little over 1 calendar year ago) and is a top ten prospect in the Cubs system.
Casey Coleman-Coleman's 2.79 ERA is the fifth lowest among pitchers in the Southern League. Combine that with an 8-3 record and only 4 HR's yielded in 87 innings pitched (his 87 IP is 4th in the league) and you've got yourself an All Star. Jackson has gotten most of the notoriety as being a lower drafted player having success, but Coleman was a 15th round pick in that same 2008 draft, 461st overall.
Brian Schlitter-Schlitter made the All Star team on the strength of his closing numbers: 12 saves, 3rd best in the Southern League. He has better than a 2 to 1 K/W ratio, but nothing else jumps out. He's 0-4 with a 4.64 ERA and 7 HR's allowed. Schlitter was acquired from the Phillies in exchange for Scott Erye late last year.
Darwin Barney-Barney is 4th in the league in batting average (.317) and is one of only three infielder's hitting above .300. He's mostly a singles hitter (his slugging % is just over .400) and he still has some work to do defensively (16 errors), but that average is hard to ignore. Barney was a 4th round pick in the '07 draft and is the Cubs 19th best prospect according to BA.
Blake Lalli-Lalli is one of the other two infielders hitting above .300 in the league, as he enters play tonight at .302. Much like Barney, Lalli is mostly a singles hitter. One of the more impressive things about the 1-sack is that he was actually an NDFA (non-drafted free agent) who the Cubs signed out of college.
Jim Adduci-Adduci joins Lalli and Barney in the .300 club, although he is one of the 9 OF's in the Southern League (which means that the Smokies have 25% of the .300 hitters in the league). But Adduci adds a little more...he is tied for 5th in the league in stolen bases, with 17. The Cubs acquired Adduci from the Marlins. How? Well, he was supposedly given to the Cubs by the Marlins as compensation for Zach McCormack, who failed his physical after the trade. McCormack was part of the deal that sent Todd Wellemeyer to the Marlins, so you'll often see that he was "traded" for McCormack.
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Original Story:
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June 29, 2009
