After Years in Dodgers Farm System and Play for Six Independent Teams, Bridger Hunt Catches Fire

One cannot wonder if Bridger Hunt , who turns 28 next month, is a late bloomer.

The shortstop was a sixth round draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006, had nearly four years in their farm system without climbing above Class A, and spent time with six Independent teams spread over three leagues the next three years without putting up blistering numbers except for a .327 batting average over 49 games with Lancaster, PA (Atlantic League) last season.  In fact, he brought a combined .270 average for 158 Independent games into this season, according to The Baseball Cube.

Look at the Oviedo , FL native now.  He is hitting .477 for his seventh Indy team, the Newark (NJ) Bears , and has only one Can-Am League hitter ( the Rockland Boulders’ Chris Edmondson at .430) within 87 points of him in this circuit often thought of as a pitcher’s league.  At 6-foot and hitting right-handed, Hunt has hit safely in all 16 games he has played with back-to-back four-hit contests and nine multi-hit games.  He is fourth in the league in runs batted in with 17.

Pair in Rockland Bullpen Have Interesting Stories

It is no secret that strikeouts and low hit totals are two strong hints when an Independent pitcher is likely to get on the radar of major league scouts.  Alex Kreis is doing both in his first few weeks since the Jamestown (ND) College product was dropped after two seasons in the Washington farm system. The right-hander has 19 strikeouts (five walks) and has allowed just six hits in 13.1 relief innings spread over 13 appearances for Rockland ( Pomona , NY ) of the Can-Am League.  The 24-year-old still has a 0.00 ERA.

Boulders bullpen mate Garrett Johnson, a lanky 6-foot-10 lefty, also is putting up decent numbers (1-1, 3.68 with nine strikeouts in 7.1 innings), but that is only part of his story.  “I’m trying to prove I’m healthy”, Johnson told me recently, as he comes back from hip surgery.  The Chicago White Sox thought so much of their minor league hopeful that they had him in Triple-A briefly when he was only 22 and during the 2011 season took him with the major league team for a time to pitch batting practice to left-handed hitting slugger Adam Dunn , who has long been known for his tendency to strike out.

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Colabello Top Choice of Fans for Triple-A All-Star Game

Longtime Can-Am Leaguer Chris Colabello ( Worcester , MA and Nashua , NH ) seems to make news every week, and not merely for his recent shuttle between the parent Minnesota Twins and their top farm club in Rochester , NY .  This time he brings even more attention to the Independent game because he is the top vote-getter from fans so far, outdistancing some of the game’s draft darlings, for the Triple-A All-Star Game July 17 in Reno , NV .  The first baseman is hitting .362 with 12 homers, 43 RBI and a .421 on-base average.

An All-Atlantic League Announcing Crew on ESPN

I wonder how many people who watched the North Carolina-South Carolina showdown for a cherished berth in the College World Series realized it was an ESPN broadcast team made up entirely of former Atlantic Leaguers?  Adam Amin, the radio voice of the Somerset (NJ) Patriots in 2010-11, did the play by play with onetime pitchers Danny Graves and Danny Kanell , the latter better known as a talented quarterback, handling the color commentary.

By BOB DUTTON The Kansas City Star

Updated: 2013-03-26T05:37:57Z

             (This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball.  Forty columns are planned during 2013.  Fans may subscribe at newly-reduced rates at www.WirzandAssociates.com , enjoy added stories on the blog www.IndyBaseballChatter.com , or comment to RWirz@aol.com .  The author has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)