The new Major League Baseball season started this week, and as usual there is some Australian interest.
There are two Aussies, Grant Balfour and Liam Hendriks, who are going to start the year playing Major League Baseball, plus other players with league experience who will be starting in the AAA league. A quick summary on some of the players involved:
Rich Thompson (pitcher – Toronto Blue Jays)
Only played a handful of games of Major League last year and ended up signing a Minor League contract with the Blue Jays at the end of the year.
He was invited to spring training with the Blue Jays but did not make it onto the final 40-man roster and will probably start at AAA level this year.
Peter Moylan (pitcher – Los Angeles Dodgers)
Moved from the Atlanta Braves to the Dodgers last year on a Minor League contract. Moylan has had injury setbacks in the last two years but if he can keep fit we should hear more about him later in the year.
He did not have the best spring training this year and looks set to start the year in AAA league.
Grant Balfour (pitcher – Oakland Athletics)
Played a bit a big part in the A’s phenomenal run to win the American League West division last year, snatching it from the Texas Rangers on the last day of the season.
Balfour had knee surgery in the off-season but has started pitching again and looks a certainty to be the A’s closer this year.
Josh Spence (pitcher – New York Yankees)
Was picked up by the Yankees in the off-season. He had a decent spring training but it’s not easy getting onto the Yankees roster and he will start the year in AAA league.
Liam Hendriks (pitcher – Minnesota Twins)
Had a good spring training and has done enough to be named as one of the Twins’ starting pitchers.
He had a slight injury scare after getting hit on the hand by a line drive in spring training but will probably make his first start this week.
He now has a golden opportunity to cement his spot in the pitching rotation.
Travis Blackley (pitcher – Oakland Athletics)
Moved from the San Francisco Giants to the A’s after the start of last season and was solid for them for the rest of the season.
Spring training was a bit of a disaster and his future is in the balance; there is a good chance he will move to another team this year.
There are a host of other Australians in the minor league system, some names that we might hear more about in the future are: Stefan Welch (Pittsburgh Pirates), Andrew Russell (Atlanta Braves), Ryan Rowland-Smith (Boston Red Sox), Brendan Wise (Minnesota Twins) and Trent Oeltjen (Los Angeles Angels).
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