The Baseball NW Blog

CENTER FIELD, Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox

Boston 1st round pick in 2005 out of Oregon State. Was drafted also from Madras HS (Or.) in 2002 by Tampa Bay. Made major league debut on June 30th, 2007.  Has hit .293 in his two ML season in 178 games.  Was member of the World Champion Red Sox in 2007 where he hit .360 in the post season and was only the 3rd rookie all-time to have 4 hits in a World Series game. In 2008 lead all major league rookies in steals, runs, and at bats. Expected to be the opening day centerfielder this year. Holds the highest SPARQ rating ever scored at 102.3. Played on BBNW’s Junior Olympic Tournament team in 2000, three State Prospect Games, two Northwest Championship Tournaments, and the 2001 Oregon Fall Senior Scout Team in 2001 with Jed Lowrie (below).

LEFT FIELD, Travis Snider, Toronto Blue Jays

Drafted in the first round (14 overall) by Toronto in 2006 out of Jackson HS (Wa.) Made his ML debut on August 29th, 2008 and hit .301 with six doubles, 2 homeruns and 13 rbi in 73 at bats. Was ranked by Baseball America as the 3rd best rookie prospect for 2009. Expected to be the opening day leftfielder for the Blue Jays. Former MVP of the Northwest Championships is 2005.

RIGHT FIELD, Travis Buck, Oakland A’s

Drafted in as a supplemental 1st round pick in 2002 out of Arizona State. Was also drafted in high school out of Richland HS (Wa.) by the Mariners. Made his major league debut on April 2nd, 2007.  Has hit .266 with 31 doubles, 6 triples, and 14 homeruns, 59 rbi, in 120 games. Expected to be the A’s opening day starter in RF. Played on the 2001 East Washington Senior Scout team for Baseball Northwest.

SECOND BASE, Brent Lillibridge, Chicago White Sox

Drafted in the 4th round in 2005 out of the Univ. of Washington.  Played at Jackson HS (Wa.). Made major league debut on April 28th, 2008 for Atlanta. Played in 29 games for the Braves in 2008 and hit .200. Expected to start the year as the White Sox utility infielder. Played in the 2002 Washington Metro Prospect Games.

SHORT STOP, Jed Lowrie, Boston Red Sox

Boston’s 2nd round pick in 2005 from Stanford was he was a first team All-American.  Played at North Salem HS (Or.). Made major league debut on April 15th, 2008.  Started 45 games at SS, 22 at 3B, and 2 at 2B and hit .260. Had only 2 errors in 238 chances. Set a ML rookie shortstop record with beginning his career with no errors in 155 chances in 49 total games. Expected to be the opening day shortstop in 2009 for the Red Sox.  Played on BBNW’s 2000 Oregon Junior Olympic Tournament Team, two State Prospect Games, two Northwest Championship Tournaments, and the 2001 Oregon Fall Senior Scout Team with Jacoby Ellsbury (above).

THIRD BASE, Kory Casto, Washington Nationals

Drafted in the 3rd round of out of the Univ. of Portland in 2003. Went to North Marion HS (Wa.). Made his major league debut on April 3rd, 2007. Has appeared in 82 major league games. Played in the 1999 Northwest Championships for Oregon Metro team.

FIRST BASE, Travis Ishikawa, San Francisco Giants

Drafted in 2002 out of Federal Way HS (Wa.). Made his major league debut on April 18th, 2006.  Has played in 45 games and hit .277.  Is the starting 1B this season for the Giants.

DH, Trevor Crowe, Cleveland Indians

Drafted in the first round by the Indians out of Univ. of Arizona in 2005.  Played high school baseball at Westview HS (Or.). Was drafted in high school by the Oakland A’s.  Made major league debut on April 8th, 2009.  Hit .302 combined at AAA and AA in 2008 with 28 doubles, 9 homeruns, 41 rbi, and 18 steals. A two year Oregon State Prospect Game player.

CATCHER, Nick Hundley, San Diego Padres

Drafted in the second round out of Univ. of Arizona in 2005.  Played in high school at Lake Washington (Wa.) and was drafted by the Florida Marlins. Made his major league debut on July 4th, 2008 and played in 60 games and hitting .237 with 5 homeruns and 24 rbi. Expected to be the opening day catcher this year for the Padres. Played in the 2001 Northwest Championships for Washington Metro.

STARTING PITCHER, Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

Drafted in the 1st round (10th overall) in 2006 out of Univ. of Washington. Pitched at Liberty HS (Wa.). Was Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year (first one to do that) in 2004. Is the all-time leader in Pac-10 career strikeouts. Was the 2006 Golden Spikes Award winner as the top college baseball player. Made his major league debut on May 6th, 2007. Has a 25-10 major league record with at 3.16 era. Won the National League Cy Young award in 2008 by posting a 18-5 record with at 2.65 era and leading the major leagues with 265 strikeouts. Is the opening day starter for Giants. Pitched in the 2002 Northwest Championships for the Washington Metro.

STARTING PITCHER, Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox

27-8 in parts of three the major league seasons with a 3.81 ERA and 354 innings. Made his major league debut on June 10th, 2006. Was a member of the 2007 World Champions- winning Game 4 that year as a starter. Threw a no-hitter on May 19th of last season.  Drafted in the 2nd round out of Bellarmine Prep (Wa.) in 2002. Played in the 2000 and 2001 BBNW’s Northwest Championships for Washington Metro.

STARTING PTICHER, Jeremy Bonderman, Detriot Tigers

Drafted in the first round out of Pasco HS (Wa.) in 2001 by Oakland A’s. Made his major league debut on April 2nd, 2003.  Was the Tigers opening day starter in 2005 and won 14 games that season. Has a career record of 59-66 in 163 major league starts with an era of 4.74.  Was second in the American League in strikeouts in 2006.  Is starting the 2009 season on the 15 day disabled list. Pitched for the East Washington Senior Scout team in the fall of 2000.

STARTING PITCHER, Kyle Kendrick, Philadelphia Phillies

Drafted in the 7th round out of Mount Vernon HS in 2003. Made his major league debut on June 13th, 2007. Led National League rookies with 10 wins in 2007. Has a 21-13 carrer record with a 4.78 era. Won 11 games in 2008. Will start the 2009 season in the minor leagues. Played in the 2001 and 2002 Northwest Championships for the Washington Northwest teams.

LEFT-HANDED SET UP, Eric O’Flaherty, Atlanta Braves

Life-time major league record:  7-2, 5.91 ERA in 78 games. Made major league debut for the Mariners on August 8th, 2006. Drafted in the 6th round in 2003 out of Walla Walla HS.(Wa.) Signed by Phil Geisler. Will begin the season in the bullpen for the Braves. A 2002 East Washington Prospect Game and East Washington Senior Scout team participant.

RIGHT-HANDED SET UP, Brian Bruney, New York Yankees

Begins 7thth season in major leagues with 168 appearances, 11-10 record and at 4.34 ERA. Made major league debut on May 8th, 2004.  Drafted in the round in the 2000 draft out of Warrenton HS (Or.). Pitched for Oregon in the 1999 Northwest Championships.

CLOSER, Kevin Gregg, Chicago Cubs

Drafted from Corvallis HS (Or.) in 1996 by Oakland. Made major league debut on August 9th, 2003.  Has 271 major league appearances since. Saved 32 and 29 respectively in 2007 and 2008 for the Florida Marlins with 18 career wins. Begins the 2009 season as the Cubs closer.

–Jeff McKay

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