Heres' the third part of the series I started last week.
Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox
Jacoby is having a great second "rookie" season with the Boston Red Sox. Out of all the professional players we've covered, he's probably getting the most attention from Beaver fans. He's hitting .278 on the season with 5 home runs, 27 RBI, and all in 209 at-bats. The most impressive stats, however, are his stolen bases. Jacoby leads the American League in stolen bases with 35, one ahead of Ichiro. Willie Tavarez of the Rockies leads the MLB with 39.
On Wednesday night, Jacoby had the first four hit game of his career against the Twins. A highlight video is available on MLB.com, but Jacoby went 4 for 6 with a double and two runs scored.
Jamie Burke, Seattle Mariners
The Roseburg native is a backup catcher for the Mariners, but like we discussed in Tuesday's Morning Orange Juice, he's also gotten some work on the mound. I'll explain: Last Sunday, the Mariners found themselves tied with the Tigers in the fifteenth inning. Skipper Jim Riggleman had already used every arm in the bullpen, so he elected to go to Burke, his backup catcher. Burke had thrown 4 innings in the minors, so it wasn't completely new to him, but the Tigers ended up scoring the winning run while Burke was on the hill.
Jamie has played in 25 games this season and has a .214 average in 56 at-bats.
Brian Barden / AAA / Memphis Red Birds (St. Louis)
The shortstop has been working his way through the minor league system since 2002. He's hitting .310 this season in 86 games with nine home runs and 34 RBI. Cesar Izturis, Brendan Ryan, and Aaron Mile are all ahead of Brian on the big league roster.
Jenkins, Aselton, Matthews, and Baldwin after the break.
*****
A brief, messy rundown of the rest:
Andy Jenkins / AA / Carolina Mudcats (Marlins)
.247 in 76 games, playing 1st base
Kyle Aselton / AA / New Britain Rock Cats (Twins) 4-2, 4,28 ERA, 40 K's, 61 IP
Aaron Matthews / AA / New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays) The John Day native is .298 with 6 HR and 51 RBI in 295 at bats. Andy Baldwin / AAA / Tacoma Raniers (Mariners) 6-5 in 14 starts, 19 total appearances, 50 K's *** GO BEAVERS! --JB--