Baseball fans who enjoy following former Arkansas players in Major League Baseball should be much busier this year.
The latest to join is catcher James McCann, who made the Detroit Tigers' 40-man roster last week. McCann won the backup job over Bryan Holaday, who played in 62 games last year with the Tigers. McCann, 24, is a standout defensive catcher who batted .295 at Triple-A Toledo last season.
Detroit stars Justin Verlander and David Price were among the first to congratulate McCann on making the opening-day roster.
"To have their backing, for them to be excited for my success, that makes me feel pretty special," McCann said in an article in the Detroit Free Press.
McCann cemented his position last week with two hits off Dallas Keuchel, a former Razorback who'll be the opening-day starter for the Houston Astros. McCann played on the same team at Arkansas in 2010 as six other former Hogs who are either in the big leagues or in Triple-A. Arkansas won two games in the College World Series with McCann at catcher and a pitching staff that included Drew Smyly and Mike Bolsinger. Smyly will begin his second season with Tampa Bay, where he'll join former Razorback infielder Logan Forsythe. Bolsinger will play for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season after making his MLB debut with Arizona last summer.
The Arkansas roster in 2010 also included center fielder Brett Eibner, third baseman Zack Cox, first baseman Andy Wilkins, and reserve infielder Matt Reynolds, who was limited to 24 games as a freshman while battling injuries.
Reynolds is healthy now and crowding Eibner, Cox, and Wilkins on the path to the big leagues. The former Tulsa (Okla.) Bishop Kelley star is a candidate to make the New York Mets' opening-day roster after he hit a combined .343 in Triple-A and Double-A last year. That's quite a leap in production for Reynolds, 24, who hit .225 with two teams in 2013.
The Kansas City Royals are high again on Eibner, who has batted only .223 during four years in the minor leagues. But Eibner has shown flashes while battling injuries and he hit five home runs while playing with the Royals in spring training.
"We've been waiting for him to get healthy at some point and now he is," Royals manager Ned Yost told MLB.com after Eibner hit two home runs in a game last week. "We've got a better idea now of what he can do."
Eibner will likely begin the season in Triple-A again as will Wilkins, who was claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays after the Chicago White Sox put him on waivers. The White Sox are loaded at first base and the Blue Jays snatched Wilkins, 26, who hit 30 home runs with 85 RBIs last season at Triple-A Charlotte.
Cox is still trying to make it to the big leagues with the Miami Marlins after he was traded from St. Louis, where he was the 25th overall pick by the Cardinals in the major league draft in 2010. Cox hit for a high average in college but does not display enough power to be considered an every-day third baseman by most teams in the big leagues. Cox, 26, will likely play second base this season for Triple-A New Orleans, where he hit .282 with 8 home runs and 35 RBIs last year.
Former Arkansas pitchers Blake Parker, 29, and Jess Todd, 28, are each hopeful for another shot in the big leagues after spending most of their careers in the minors. Parker, the former Fayetteville High standout, will once again begin the season at Triple-A Iowa after a spring fling with the Chicago Cubs, where he is 2-3 with a 3.68 ERA in 74 games. Todd, who last played in the major leagues in 2010, will start the season at Triple-A Pawtucket after signing with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent.
Rick Fires can be reached at rfires@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWARick.
Sports on 04/05/2015