Boilers in Pro Ball / Summer League Links // West Virginia Black Bears / Joliet Slammers
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue baseball's Matt Frawley, Kyle Johnson and Shane Bryant will continue their careers at the next level after signing with professional teams this month.
June 20 Update: Kyle Wood is expected to sign with the Windy City ThunderBolts, also of the independent Frontier League. Windy City plays its home games in Crestwood, Illinois.
Frawley opted to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates after being selected in the 17th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Johnson is set to sign as a minor league free agent with the New York Yankees organization. Bryant signed with Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League and was victorious in his pro debut Saturday.
Frawley (2014-16) chose to forgo his senior season of college eligibility after being Purdue's highest-drafted player since 2012. He has been assigned to the West Virginia Black Bears of the Class A Short Season New York-Penn League. West Virginia plays its home games at Monongalia County Ballpark in Granville, West Virginia, which is also home to the University of West Virginia's baseball program. The Black Bears are off to a 3-0 start after opening their season June 17.
Johnson (2013-16) signed with the Yankees organization as a pitcher. He made nine relief appearances as an underclassman at Purdue. The four-year starting center fielder reported to Tampa, Florida, this week for an official team physical. He's likely to begin his pro career in extended spring training, probably with one of the Yankees' two Gulf Coast League teams.
Bryant (2015-16) joined a Joliet team managed by Purdue alumnus Jeff Isom (1991-93). He started the June 18 victory against Schaumburg, surrendering just one hit and one run over six innings. The Slammers are 20-14 as of June 19, only a half-game behind the Windy City ThunderBolts for the East Division lead in the 12-team Frontier League.
Robert Ramer (2010-13) was the last Boilermaker to play in the Frontier League, pitching for the Evansville Otters for parts of two seasons (2013-14) before signing a contract with the San Francisco Giants organization in June 2014. He opted to retire from organized baseball this March due to injury. Bryant and Ramer were similar as strike-throwing durable right-handers that were used as both weekend and midweek starters during their Purdue careers.
Frawley, Johnson and Bryant were full-time contributors for the Boilermakers over the last two years. Frawley and Bryant were both two-year members of the weekend rotation. They pitched a combined 270 1/3 innings over the last two seasons. Johnson played in 198 games, pitching in nine, during his four-year college career. He missed only two games as an upperclassman.
With Frawley and Johnson signing, seven former Boilermakers are currently playing in affiliated pro baseball. Kevin Plawecki (2010-12) and Nick Wittgren (2011-12) remain in the big leagues and five others are in the minors. Bryant and Wood join Dan Black (Triple-A Mexican League), Josh Lindblom (Korean Baseball Organization) and Dan Sattler (American Association) as other alumni also playing pro ball.
EARLY SUMMER LEAGUE SUCCESS
Of the 10 returning Boilermakers currently playing in the collegiate wood bat summer leagues, Nick Dalesandro, Evan Kennedy and Evan Warden have enjoyed the most early-summer success.
Dalesandro is off to a 10-for-29 start for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League. He has been behind the plate for a pair of 1-0 shutout wins and Harwich has surrendered only 14 runs in its first nine games. The Mariners have won seven of their first nine to lead the Cape with 14 points as well as a plus-27 run differential as of June 19.
Kennedy and Warden have been part of some exciting finishes for the new Lafayette Aviators of the Prospect League. Both Boilermakers had a walk-off single this past week. Kennedy capped a three-hit performance by delivering the game-winning single in the 12th inning of a June 16 victory. In the same game, Warden reached base safely four times (2-for-3, 2 BB) and worked 3 1/3 innings of one-hit relief to earn the victory. June 19, Warden came through with the walk-off single in game one of the doubleheader and pitched a seven-inning complete-game shutout in the nightcap. He was named the Prospect League Pitcher of the Week after working 11 1/3 innings of five-hit ball with nine strikeouts over three appearances.
Earlier this summer, Kennedy hit the first homer in the Aviators' inaugural home game (June 1) at Loeb Stadium. After redshirting this spring at Purdue, Warden got off to a slow start at the plate but has seen his average rise more than .100 points over the last seven games. On the mound, he has worked 14 scoreless innings, surrendering just nine hits, in his three victories.
Congrats to Matt Frawley on signing with the Pirates after being selected in the MLB Draft on Saturday. #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/9w8yeAS4Ix
-- Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) June 17, 2016
A photo posted by Purdue Boilermakers Baseball (@purdue_baseball) on