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MLB/MiLB Buckeyes Tracker (updated 4-16-22)

brodybuck21

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Staff member
BP Recruiting Team
Fantasy Baseball Champ
Current MLB/MiLB Buckeyes as of 4-16-22

RHP Travis Lakins (Baltimore Orioles)

OF Ronnie Dawson (Louisville Bats- Cincinnati Reds AAA)

RHP Jacob Bosiokovic (Memphis Redbirds - St. Louis Cardinals AAA)

LHP Tanner Tully (Columbus Clippers - Cleveland Guardians AAA)

RHP Ryan Feltner (Albuquerque Isotopes - Colorado Rockies AAA)

OF Dominic Canzone (Amarillo Sod Poodles- Arizona Diamondbacks AA)

RHP Shea Murray (Altoona Curve - Pittsburgh Pirates AA)

LHP Connor Curlis (Chattanooga Lookouts- Cincinnati Reds AA)

C Dillon Dingler (Erie SeaWolves - Detroit Tigers AA)

LHP Andrew Magno (West Michigan Whitecaps - Detroit Tigers A)

LHP Seth Lonsway (San Jose Giants - San Francisco Giants A)

RHP Jack Neely (Tampa Tarpons - New York Yankees A)

RHP Garrett Burhenn (Lakeland Flying Tigers - Detroit Tigers A)

RHP Drew Rucinski (NC Dinos - KBO)
 
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Ohio State’s 2016 draft class is off to a great start in pro baseball

After leading the Ohio State baseball program to a Big Ten tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament, six Buckeyes had their names called in June's Major League Baseball draft. Those players have just recently completed their first stints in the minor leagues, with varying degrees of success.

Outfielder Ronnie Dawson was a second-round pick of the Houston Astros, No. 61 overall, after an All-American junior season in scarlet and gray. In 70 games for the Tri-City ValleyCats of the short-season Single-A New York-Penn League, the Grove City native slashed .225/.351/.373, hitting 13 doubles and seven home runs, driving in 36 runs, and stealing a dozen bases. Dawson showed great improvement after a horrendous start, raising his batting average nearly 50 points and his on-base and slugging percentages nearly 30 points in his final 40 games, and is currently part of the Fall Instructional League for the Astros in Arizona.

Behind Dawson on the Ohio State draft board was fellow junior outfielder Troy Montgomery, who went in the eighth round to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Montgomery earned a promotion from rookie ball to full-season Single-A after posting a .341/.453/.557 slash line for the Orem Owlz. With the Burlington Bees of the Midwest League, his numbers fell against tougher competition, as he slashed .261/.340/.401 in 38 games. For the year, Montgomery finished with 10 doubles, four triples, seven homers, 30 RBIs, and 13 steals, and is also in Arizona for Fall Instructional League on the Angels roster.

In the 19th round, Jacob Bosiokovic was selected by the Colorado Rockies with the 560th overall pick, and after being assigned to the Boise Hawks of the short-season Single-A Northwest League, he handled himself well. Bosiokovic appeared in 68 games, slashing .274/.380/.419 with 20 doubles, four home runs, 27 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases, and was named to NWL's midseason and postseason all-star teams. He's currently in Arizona as part of the Rockies' Fall Instructional League program.

Read about all six: http://www.landgrantholyland.com/20...minor-league-baseball-update-2016-draft-class
 
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BUCKEYES IN THE PROS

BUCKEYES AND PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL

Professional Buckeyes


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J.B. Shuck (2006-08)
Outfielder
Miami Marlins
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
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Alex Wimmers (2008-10)
Pitcher
Miami Marlins
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
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Drew Rucinski (2008-11)
Pitcher
Miami Marlins
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Brett McKinney (2009-13)
Pitcher
Pittsburgh Pirates
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Brad Goldberg (2011-13)
Pitcher
Chicago White Sox
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Jaron Long (2012-13)
Pitcher
Washington Nationals
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Ryan Riga (2013-15)
Pitcher
Chicago White Sox
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Connor Sabanosh (2012-14)
Catcher
San Francisco Giants
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Ronnie Dawson (2014-16)
Outfielder
Houston Astros
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Troy Montgomery (2014-16)
Outfielder
Detroit Tigers
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Jacob Bosiokovic (2013-16)
Outfielder/First Base
Colorado Rockies
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Michael Horejsei (2014-16)
Pitcher
Chicago White Sox
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Nick Sergakis (2014-16)
Infielder
New York Mets
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Tanner Tully (2014-16)
Pitcher
Cleveland Indians
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Shea Murray (2014-17)
Pitcher
Pittsburgh Pirates
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Tre' Gantt (2015-17)
Outfielder
Cleveland Indians
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio
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Jalen Washington (2014-17)
Catcher
San Diego Padres
MiLB Bio, Stats, Info
Ohio State Bio


http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/pros.html
 
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Prospect Watch: Travis Lakins
Keep an eye out

By
Dave Latham
-
August 8, 2018
596

0


Source: MLB.com
More Red Sox News!

In case you haven’t heard, the Boston Red Sox have one of the lowest-ranked farm systems in all of baseball. Thanks to several players making the majors at the same time, multiple trades, and a few years of poor drafting, the cupboard of young talent is somewhat bare for the Red Sox. Still, there are several promising players in the minors, such as reliever Travis Lakins. Lakins is in the midst of a breakout season and is one of the most pro-ready relievers in the farm system.

Lakins entered 2018 as an unremarkable starting prospect, but has been absolutely elite ever since converting to a reliever. So, what led to this success? Does 2018 look like a fluke year, or is this breakout season for real?

Travis Lakins: Prospect Watch
As previously mentioned, Lakins entered the 2018 season as a starter with the Portland Sea Dogs. In 30 innings with the Sea Dogs in 2017, Lakins owned an unimpressive 6.23 ERA, 5.01 FIP, and a 5.64 K/9. Because of these lowly numbers, not much was expected out of the former sixth-round pick.

However, something about switching to the bullpen transformed Lakins into one of the best relief arms in the Red Sox farm system. Since joining the bullpen, Lakins owns a 0.81 ERA with a 0.72 WHIP, 9.67 K/9 and a .108 BAA (batting average against). At first glance, Lakins looks like the real deal, a truly elite pitching arm. But what do his underlying statistics say?

When digging a little deeper, it’s evident that Lakins has been the beneficiary of a considerable amount of batted ball luck. His 3.64 FIP is a solid number, but it’s drastically larger than his 0.81 ERA. Additionally, Lakins has an unsustainably low .143 BABIP as a reliever. The league average typically lies around .290, so Lakins is due for some major regression in this area.

However, just because Lakins is getting lucky doesn’t mean that he isn’t a legit prospect. His ERA won’t stay this low, but he’s still doing a lot of things right. As previously mentioned, his 9.67 K/9 is solid, but he’s also getting good results when batters put the ball in play.

Lakins allowed a 46.9% ground ball rate while at Portland, and a 50% groundball rate at Pawtucket. Ground balls obviously do less damage than fly balls, and Lakins is ensuring batters keep the ball on the ground. Striking out one batter per inning and keeping the ball on the ground is the recipe for success with a reliever. Even when his batted ball luck regresses to the norm, he’ll still be an effective reliever.

Pitch Tool
The biggest reason for Lakins bullpen improvement has been his fastball velocity. Per Soxprospects.com, as a starter his fastball sat around 93 miles per hour, topping out a 96. However, now that he’s in the bullpen, he can put a little more on each pitch. His fastball now tops out at a staggering 98 miles per hour while typically resting in the mid 90’s. This added velocity makes a considerable difference, as batters are having a harder time catching up to his heat.

While Lakins fastball is his best offering, his cutter also has the ability to get guys out. It’s an interesting pitch in the sense that it does different things depending on how fast he throws it. When he throws it slower, the ball breaks more. When he throws it faster, it has more of a horizontal break. Both versions of the pitch have swing and miss potential, and both play as nice compliments to his fastball.

Lakins also throws a curveball and a changeup, but neither pitch is an elite offering by any means. He hardly uses either one, and neither pitch is anything to write home about. He used them more as a starter, but now primarily uses them to keep runners guessing. They’re not good pitches on their own, but they’re nice weapons to use on rare occasions to fool batters.

Unfiltered Thoughts on Travis Lakins
Is Travis Lakins as good as his ERA suggests? Probably not, but that’s ok because his ERA is absurdly good. Even when normalizing his peripherals, Lakins still would be having a good season. He has strikeout ability and forces batters to hit balls on the ground. His fastball boasts borderline elite speed, and his cutter compliments it very well.

Lakins isn’t on the 40-man roster, so he probably won’t join the major league club in 2018. This is probably for the best, as the reliever would probably benefit from a full season in the minor leagues. However, he’s certainly capable of landing a bullpen spot in 2019. He has the stuff to be a major leaguer and should be a mainstay in the bullpen starting next year.


https://thegruelingtruth.net/baseball/prospect-watch-travis-lakins/
 
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Astros' Ronnie Dawson: Invited to big-league camp
  • by RotoWire Staff
  • Jan 22, 2019 • 1 min read UPDATE Jan 22, 2019, 8:00pm




HOU.svg

Dawson was invited to the Astros' major-league camp Tuesday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Dawson appeared in 119 games between High-A Buies Creek and Double-A Corpus Christi in 2018, hitting a combined .258/.333/.428 with 16 homers and 35 stolen bases. Seeing as the 23-year-old has yet to appear above Double-A, his presence at big-league camp is primarily for experience. Dawson figures to return to the minors to begin the 2019 campaign.


https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/b...VjXYC1nXcU9wnAgj4SzxTgM1Uc918XqDAuD2od_lYs58c
 
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Buckeyes in 2019 MLB Camps:

P Travis Lakins - Boston Red Sox
P Tanner Tully - Cleveland Indians
OF Ronnie Dawson - Houston Astros
OF JB Shuck - Pittsburgh Pirates
 
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Against the Rays, Travis Lakins (Boston) allowed a single and a walk with a strikeout in two scoreless innings while Shawaryn allowed two runs (one earned) on a double, a single and a walk with two strikeouts. He figures to play a role in the majors later in the year.

Tanner Tully picks up the W for Cleveland. 2 ip 2 k

JB Shuck goes yard for Pittsburgh

Ronnie Dawson 2 run single for Houston

https://twitter.com/ronniedawsonn?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author
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Red Sox relievers are struggling in spring competition for bullpen roles

.......................A handful of Red Sox relievers remain scoreless in their appearances this spring but none of them are currently on the 40-man roster and probably won’t be anytime soon. Travis Lakins has shown glimpses of his potential but isn’t ready for the big leagues yet. Bobby Poyner and Marcus Walden are on the outskirts of contending for a roster spot. Let’s see if their solid starts continue.

Nothing we’ve seen this spring has helped determine how the bullpen shakes out heading into the season. Those in the conversation to be the new closer have been ineffective or unavailable. Most of the relievers battling for a roster spot have done little to deserve one.

https://bosoxinjection.com/2019/03/11/red-sox-bullpen-failing-impress-spring-training/
 
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American pitcher credits adversity for instilling work ethic
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Drew Rucinski, pitcher for the NC Dinos baseball club, poses next to the team bus after arriving at Incheon International Airport following the team's spring training in Tucson, Arizona, Friday, 2019. Yonhap

In the award-winning film "Moneyball," based on the best-selling book of the same title by Michael Lewis that chronicled the Oakland Athletics' ground-breaking approach to talent evaluation in the early 2000s, the team's head scout, Grady Fuson, fires verbal shots at general manager Billy Beane for driving the A's to ruin with his analytical ways.

Fuson tells the GM he will be fired and adds, "You're going to have to explain to your kid why you're working at Dick's Sporting Goods."

That was all fictional, of course. Beane still runs the show at the A's and has never had to work elsewhere.

But in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) this year, you'll see an American pitcher who once had to work at Dick's Sporting Goods to make ends meet while playing independent ball.

Meet Drew Rucinski of the NC Dinos.

Before the 2013 season in indy ball, where he was making US$600 a month, Rucinski worked at a pecan farm in Oklahoma, cleaning up debris on the ground before the pecans could be picked up. After that season, he got a job selling ping pong tables and treadmills, among other things, at Dick's Sporting Goods.

He kept at baseball, even as he continued to bounce around different organizations. His perseverance paid off in 2018, when he made a career-high 32 appearances for the Miami Marlins and posted a 4.33 ERA.

As a free agent last winter, Rucinski, 30, decided to add a new chapter to an already fascinating book. The right-hander signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Dinos in November, taking his journeyman career outside America for the first time.

One thing has remained constant throughout his ups and downs: his love of the game.

"I've seen a little bit of every level of baseball. It's been a crazy ride," Rucinski told Yonhap News Agency Friday at Incheon International Airport after returning from the Dinos' spring training in Arizona. "I love baseball. My family and my wife are super supportive. They've supported me the whole way. And the dream of getting to the big leagues or getting wherever baseball takes you ― you want to go do it."

To say Rucinski has come a long way, figuratively if not literally, would be a gross understatement. Rucinski signed with the Cleveland Indians as an undrafted free agent out of Ohio State University in 2011. He was released the following year and began playing unaffiliated baseball.

Rucinski made his big league debut with the Los Angeles Angels in 2014 and went on to make 41 appearances in the big show before moving to South Korea.

And he said his experiences in the lower rungs of professional baseball shaped him as a person and a ball player.

"It's made me determined to get to the next level, (and do) whatever it is I have to do to figure out how to succeed," he said. "It's made me the hard-working guy that goes out there and figures out the way to get the job done."

Though Rucinski had a solid season with the Marlins in 2018, the big league market in recent years hasn't been kind to middle relievers in their late 20s or early 30s.

His dream of pitching in the majors realized, Rucinski said he wanted to take on a new challenge.

"The opportunity and the experience," Rucinski said, when asked what motivated him to take his talent to Asia. "It's going to be such a unique experience that I don't think I could pass up the opportunity."

That the Dinos had their spring training in Arizona, rather than in Japan or Taiwan like a few other KBO clubs, helped Rucinski with his early transition to a new team in a new league.

But his teammates were so welcoming that Rucinski said, "It would have been fine anywhere."

Rucinski said he'd been teammates with some players who've gone through the KBO before him, and so he had at least some ideas of what to expect.

"You can listen to them all you want but you got to go and do it for real," he said. "It's frustrating sometimes not to be able to directly communicate with guys, but we find a way. It's still baseball. Baseball is a universal language. It's nice to have that in common with all the guys. It makes it easy to get along."

Rucinski made about half of his minor league appearances in starts, though he was almost exclusively a reliever in the majors. With the Dinos, Rucinski, as with almost all other foreign pitchers in the league, will be counted on as a front-line starter who can pitch deep into games.

He's also joining a team coming off a last-place finish, which ended a string of four consecutive postseason appearances. Foreign players face constant pressure to produce immediately, and even players with substantial major league experience have been sent packing before the All-Star break because of that short leash.

Rucinski, though, said the weight of expectations doesn't change his approach on the mound.

"I don't think there's any extra pressure," he said. "You compete against yourself. You go out there and do the best you can every time out there. For me, it's always to give the team a chance to win when I take the mound. I want to do the same thing every time: go out there and compete against whoever's in the box, throw strikes and make them work for it." (Yonhap)

http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=265055
 
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APRIL 23, 2019
TRAVIS LAKINS MAKES MLB DEBUT TUESDAY NIGHT
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  • Facebook, Twitter and Instagram | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Roster | Baseball Homepage | Big Ten Baseball

    COLUMBUS, Ohio – Travis Lakins made his MLB Debut Tuesday night at Fenway Park for the Boston Red Sox. A native of Franklin, Ohio, Lakins made his debut in the second game of Boston’s day-night doubleheader at Fenway Park. He allowed one run in 2.2 innings of relief and struck out two. Lakins stranded runners on the corners in the seventh. He struck out Jeimer Candelario swinging on a 94 mph four-seam fastball for the second out. He then retired Nicholas Castellanos on a groundout to first base to end the seventh.

    Lakins said in a masslive.com article he found out he was being promoted right after Triple-A Pawtucket finished its batting practice before their game against Lehigh Valley on Tuesday.

    “I called my wife (Alexis) and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m going to the big leagues,’” Lakins said. “And she was like, ‘No way.’”

    Lakins was drafted in the sixth round of the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft by the Red Sox. Lakins went 4-4 with a 3.75 ERA in 15 starts with 84 strikeouts in 96.0 innings pitched in 2015. Lakins was fourth in the conference in strikeouts in Big Ten games (46) and tied for sixth with four conference victories.

    The Red Sox moved the righty to a reliever last May and posted a 1.21 ERA in 30 relief outing between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket. Red Sox manager Alex Cora was impressed with his debut last night.

    “He did an outstanding job,” Cora said. “We pushed him hard. It’s something we needed. You saw the fastball up, the cutter, the breaking ball. Slowed the game down, which is good.”

    Lakins told masslive.com it was a dream come true to pitch in the big leagues.

    “I’ve been playing ball since I was 4 years old and never experienced anything like this,” he said. “Never thought of being in this position. It’s just hard to describe.”
https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/travis-lakins-makes-mlb-debut-tuesday-night/
 
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