Husker Baseball Alumni UpdateHusker Baseball Alumni Update
Baseball

Husker Baseball Alumni Update

Lincoln ? A number of former Nebraska baseball players have enjoyed strong 2009 campaigns as we take a look at the Huskers in Minor League Baseball. In all, five former Huskers, Adam Stern (Class AA Southern League), Charlie Shirek (Class A Carolina League), Johnny Dorn (Class A South Atlantic League), Aaron Pribanic (Class A Midwest League) and Thad Weber (Class A Florida State League) were selected to their leagues’ respective All-Star games.

Zach Kroenke has been dominant with the Class AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. He is 4-0 with a 1.07 ERA in 19 games. Kroenke, who is 12-0 over his last two seasons in professional baseball, has allowed 21 hits and fanned 26 over 33.2 innings in 2009. Kroenke was selected by the Florida Marlins in the Rule 5 Draft last December, but was returned to the Yankees organization after not making the Marlins’ Major League club in spring training.

After making the Minnesota Twins’ opening day roster, Brian Duensing has been a starter at Triple-A Rochester since being sent down in late April. He is 4-6 with a 4.66 ERA in Rochester, fanning 44 and walking only 19 in 75 innings of work.
Jeff Christy has split time between Double A New Britain and Triple A Rochester in the Minnesota Twins organization. He was just moved up to Rochester last week and is hitting .143 in his first three contests for the Red Wings.

The most recent Husker minor leaguer to earn All-Star recognition was Adam Stern, who was chosen to the Class AA Southern League All-Star game on Tuesday. Stern is hitting .299 with three homers and 26 runs scored for Huntsville, the Double A franchise of the Milwaukee Brewers. He is second in the Southern League in both runs (54) and stolen bases (27) and third in triples.

One of Stern’s teammates in Huntsville was Drew Anderson before he was called up to Triple-A Nashville over the weekend. Anderson was hitting .293 with five homers and 51 RBIs in Huntsville.

Tony Watson has battled the injury bug, as he made just five starts before being put on the disabled list with left elbow tendinitis. Watson was 0-3 with an 8.22 ERA, fanning 14 over 15.1 innings of work.  Watson led the Carolina League in innings last year and was sixth in ERA.
After missing much of the 2008 season, Brett Jensen has been solid for Double A Erie in the Eastern League. The Detroit Tigers farmhand is 3-1 with seven saves and a 2.13 ERA in 23 appearances. He is 10th in the league in saves and is holding opponents to a .223 batting average.

Andrew Brown has been sidelined for most of the season with a wrist injury playing for Class AA Springfield. Brown was hitting .321 with a homer and 13 RBIs in 21 games, but has not played since May 13. He was on a tear before the injury, hitting .439 in his previous 10 games, including seven multi-hit games in that stretch.

Weber has been one of the biggest movers among the former Huskers, climbing to Double A in his first full season in the minors. Weber went 4-4 with a 2.13 ERA in 12 starts in Lakeland, fanning 40 over 67.2 innings and holding opponents to a .217 average to earn a spot in the Florida State League All-Star Game. He was moved up to Double A Erie, where where he is 1-1 in three starts.

Shirek is putting up a breakthrough season in the Chicago White Sox organization, going 10-2 this season and has been moved to Class AA Birmingham. Shirek is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in four starts for Birmingham and comes off a dominant performance where he allowed one run over seven innings against Mobile earlier this week. Shirek, who moved up from the Carolina League in early June, still leads that league with eight wins in his 11 starts and was selected for the Carolina League All-Star game, but was unable to participate because he was promoted to Class AA.

Steve Edlefsen has been impressive during the 2009 season, going 3-1 with a 1.73 ERA in 23 appearances between Class A San Jose and Double A Connecticut in the San Francisco Giants organization. Edlefsen is 1-1 with six saves and a 1.08 ERA in 18 appearances in San Jose, fanning 35 over 25 innings and holding foes to a .154 batting average.

Dorn has continued to climb in the professional ranks, earning All-Star honors in the South Atlantic League. The Grand Island, Neb., native is 7-5 with a 3.25 ERA for the Greensboro, ranking first in the league in starts (15) and innings (91) while he is third in the league in victories. Dorn worked a scoreless inning in the South Atlantic League all-star game on June 23.
Andrew Bowman has been used as a reliever for Class A Dayton in the Midwest league this season. He is 1-6 with a 4.29 ERA, fanning 47 and walking 21 over 42 innings.

Mitch Abeita has been splitting time in Class A Charleston of the New York Yankees organization. He is hitting .248 with three homers and 16 RBIs, but is hitting .314 over his last 10 contests.

Zach Herr is the serving as a set-up man in Class A for Fort Wayne, going 4-2 with a 4.09 ERA, as he has fanned 40 and walked 10 over 33 innings. He leads the Midwest League with 10 holds and is second in the league with 31 appearances.

Pribanic has enjoyed a strong campaign for Clinton in the Midwest League, going 6-4 with a 2.49 ERA in 12 starts. He was chosen for the Midwest League All-Star game last month and is fifth in the league in ERA and sixth in wins.

Jake Opitz has put together a solid year for Daytona in the Class A Florida State league, hitting .293 with two homers and 18 RBIs in 45 contests.

One Husker who is in a new position is Joe Simokaitis, who is now a pitcher in the Chicago Cubs organization. Simokaitis, who was drafted by the Cubs and eventually reached Triple-A as a shortstop, is now in Class A Boise as a relief pitcher.

The most recent Husker to join the ranks of professional baseball, Jeff Tezak has been on a torrid stretch, hitting .389 with five RBIs in his first seven games at Great Falls in the Pioneer League. He has hit safely in all five of his starts, including a 3-for-5 effort with three RBIs against Billings.