"We didn't expect much," said Hogs GM Dan Shapiro. "We didn't get much."
The Groundhogs, who traded their late first round pick a few weeks ago, did
not have a pick until the early second round, their compensation for losing
Rondell White. With this pick, they acquired little know Steve Tsamis, a 21
year old righty who recenty completed his junior year at LSU and decided to
enter the draft. Last season, he was 9-4 with a 2.90 ERA for the Tigers,
but control problems plagued him all year, as he walked 84 while striking
out 108 in 120 innings of work.
However, Tsamis is a dominant pitcher against righties. He holds righties
to .196 batting average, but has been touched up for a .297 average by
lefties.
"We're not sure what to do with Steve. He certainly has a great arm and
could give us a ton of innings. He just doesn't really have a dominant
pitch and his control is shaky at best," Shapiro said. "He'll definitely
get his cracks in AAA Roswell, where he'll start regularly."
Tsamis was indifferent about his selection. "It doesn't seem like they
really want me in Punxatawney, more like they were stuck with me. But its a
great organization to be a part of, I just hope I can prove to them that I'm
worth a chance."
Punxatawney also acquired righty Bill Harrell late in the second round.
Harrell pitched for Central Appalachian State last year and was nicknamed
Wild Child. "He has about as much control over his pitches as my 6-year old
cousin Zach. But he has really developed a pair of solid pitches and has a
quality arm. We just gotta teach him what a strike zone is," said Shapiro.
In a tenative early move, Shapiro also noted some details about the AAA
Roswell team that will begin playing shortly.
The rotation will consist of Curly Karkovice, Tsamis, Steve Green, Frank
Powell, and then either Scott Aldred or Dustin Hermanson once Jon Lieber
returns from injury. Jim Burright will be the closer with Bluma, Mahomes,
Scott, and Harrell occupying other spots in the bullpen.
The starting team will likely be the following:
CF Chad Fonville
3B Kevin Sefcik
RF Damon Mashore
1B Billy Ashley
C Fred Young
LF Eric Owens
2B Ray Eibel
DH Harry Moulder
SS Luis Lopez
"We're looking forward to the minor league season starting," said recently
appointed minor league manager Larry Bowa. "Should be a lot of fun."
