Boilermakers in Pro Ball / Summer League Assignments
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue baseball alumnus Alec Olund has signed with the Traverse City Beach Bums of the Frontier League, becoming the fourth Boilermaker this month to make the transition to pro ball.
Olund made his pro debut June 17, starting in left field in a 5-2 comeback win at Evansville. He drew a walk as part of a two-run fifth inning that pulled Traverse City even at 2-2.
Olund joins his former teammates Shane Bryant (Joliet Slammers) and Kyle Wood (Windy City ThunderBolts) as Boilermakers currently playing in the independent Frontier League. Bryant (2015-16) is in his third season as a member of Joliet's rotation, striking out a career-high 11 over 6 2/3 innings in his June 16 win vs. the Gateway Grizzlies. The Slammers are managed by Purdue alumnus Jeff Isom (1991-93). Wood (2013-16) plans to rejoin Windy City for his third season when he receives medical clearance. He served as an assistant coach with his alma mater St. Laurence High School in Burbank, Illinois, this spring.
Olund played in 183 of Purdue's 223 games (82 percent) from 2015 to 2018, making 152 starts as a corner outfielder. His senior season was his finest, batting a team-best .336 with 11 doubles, 20 RBI and a .401 on-base percentage. His return from an early-season shoulder injury sparked the Boilermakers' second-half surge.
Purdue was 29-9 in the games Olund started in 2018. He among the squad's most consistent performers as Boilermakers won 22 of their final 27 games, recording a team-high 37 hits during that stretch despite missing one game. He batted .378 with a .441 on-base percentage during the final seven weeks, helping Purdue finish second in the Big Ten standings and earn a No. 2 seed at the Chapel Hill Regional. A savvy baserunner with a good arm, Olund recorded 14 career outfield assists as a Boilermaker. He finished his college career riding a personal-best 18-game reached base safely streak.
McGOWAN ALSO MAKES PRO DEBUT
• Jacson McGowan was the first of Purdue's 2018 Major League Baseball draft picks to make his pro debut. McGowan signed with the Tampa Bay Rays after they drafted him in the 11th round. He was the opening day first baseman and cleanup hitter for the Hudson Valley Renegades as the Class A Short Season New York-Penn League opened its schedule the weekend of June 15 to 17. He helped Hudson Valley start the season 2-0 and recorded his first pro hit and RBI June 18 in Brooklyn, finishing the night 2-for-5 with a three-run double.
• Nick Dalesandro also opted to sign instead of returning to Purdue for his senior season. He received a slot value signing bonus from the Arizona Diamondbacks after being selected in the 10th round and said he expects to begin his pro career with the Missoula Osprey of the Pioneer League (Rookie).
• The Miami Marlins drafted Tanner Andrews after his senior season at Purdue, also in the 10th round. After signing, he has been assigned to the Gulf Coast League Marlins for rookie ball. Because Andrews has already thrown 98 innings this year, his first year of pro ball is likely to play out a bit differently than Dalesandro and McGowan as position players.
LINDBLOM ON A ROLL IN KBO
• Josh Lindblom (2007-08) is one of the leading candidates to start on the mound for team Dream at the Korean Baseball Organization's All-Star Game, set for Saturday, July 14. As of the top pitchers in the KBO this year in his first season with the Doosan Bears, Lindblom is one of the top vote-getters in the league with over 125,000 as of June 20. He's received the most votes of any pitcher. Fan voting ends June 29 at 6 p.m. Korean Time and accounts for 70 percent of the all-star selection process. The all-star teams are slated to be announced July 2.
• Lindblom has put together 13 consecutive quality starts as of June 13, compiling a 2.73 ERA and 1.02 WHIP over 92 1/3 innings. He's 8-2 with 97 strikeouts vs. 20 walks. In his June 7 win, he struck out 13 over innings of five-hit ball vs. Nexen. The right-hander has struck out at least seven batters in seven other starts. Doosan leads the 10-team KBO with a 47-22 record,
MINCH, FRAWLEY MAKE DOUBLE-A DEBUTS
• Alumni Jordan Minch (2013-14) and Matt Frawley (2014-16) both made their first career appearances at the Double-A level this season. In the Chicago Cubs system, Minch was promoted to the Tennessee Smokies of the Southern League on June 5. He has allowed a run in only one of his first five relief appearances for Tennessee. In the New York Yankees organization, Frawley pitched in five games for the Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League in May. He has since returned to the Tampa Tarpons of the Florida State League (High A). He has recorded 35 strikeouts vs. 12 walks in 23 2/3 innings for Tampa this season. In his five appearances for Trenton, he surrendered six hits and two runs over 7 1/3 innings.
STROH'S PITCHER OF THE NIGHT HONOR HEADLINES SUMMER BALL HIGHLIGHTS
• Gareth Stroh has been excellent in his first two starts for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters of the Northwoods League. He has worked 11 innings of two-run ball, surrendering just six hits while striking out 13, in his first two outings of the summer ball season. He was selected as the Northwoods League Pitcher of the Night after a quality start (6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K) in a June 16 win vs. Kenosha. Stroh helped the Rapids Rafters win the 2016 Northwoods League title the summer before he joined Purdue.
• Skyler Hunter has started each of the first seven games of the summer for the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod League, helping his team open its season 5-2. He has been the center fielder and batted first or second in the lineup in each of the first seven games. He was 2-for-5 with three RBI and two stolen bases in a June 15 win.
• Andrew Bohm worked five innings of two-run ball, striking out seven as the starter in his June 15 debut for the Harrisonburg Turks of the Valley League.
• Owen Jansen's June 12 home run for the Dodge City A's of the Jayhawk league was the first long ball of the summer ball season hit by a Boilermaker. He's 6-for-19 with four extra-base hits, four RBI and six runs scored through eight games.