Post season baseball update: Schwindel shines, others struggle in first taste of professional baseball

The St. John’s baseball team saw Major League Baseball teams draft five of its players in the 2013 draft.

All but one player signed as righthanded pitcher James Lomangino will return to the Red Storm as a fifth-year senior. The Oakland A’s drafted the closer-turned-starter in the 14th round after he recorded 85 strikeouts in 90.1 innings and finished with a 3.79 ERA.

But Lomangino’s former teammates who took the pro route experienced mixed results as they adjusted to their introduction to professional baseball.

Danny Bethea, C, 2013 34th round draft pick, Boston Red Sox

Bethea managed to make 179 plate appearances as he split time between Boston’s Gulf Coast League team and short-season Single A.

Bethea split time between catcher and designated hitter on both levels. He struggled hitting in the Gulf Coast League and finished with a .140 batting average and .235 on-base percentage. He only managed six hits in 43 at-bats with 6 RBI and a run scored.

Bethea significantly improved his OBP when he was promoted to the Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League. He finished with a .344 OBP and hit .261 with one homer and had RBI.

Bethea struggled to throw out basestealers and only nailed 4 of 32 runners. Of course, there’s no way to know how many of those were against the pitcher, but he’ll need to increase that percentage going forward.

Sean Hagan, LHP, 2013 31st round, Chicago White Sox

Hagan struggled in his senior season at St. John’s and that followed him into the professional ranks; he finished with a 6.19 ERA in 17 appearances for Great Falls of the Pioneer League.

Hagan surrendered 16 walks in 32 innings and finished with a 1.781 WHIP. He earned three saves.

Ryan Horstman LHP, 2013 4th Round, Mariners

The athletic Ryan Horstman was one of the few college freshmen this year who was eligible for the draft. The Mariners signed him to a contract worth $550K, which was viewed as a significant raise from his slotted price of $437.6K, according to MLB Trade Rumors.

Horstman missed the remainder of the short-season Single A season with Everett, Wash. as a sore elbow sidelined him after he made his professional debut June 23. The injury wasn’t considered serious at the time, according to an article in the Herald of Everett. Horstman only pitched two innings in his debut, but that was the plan and did leave the game due to injury.

Frank Schwindel 1B/C, 2013 18th round pick, Kansas City Royals

Schwindel appeared to have little trouble adjusting to the professional ranks in his first season in the Royals system. He finished the Rookie League season hitting .300 with 6 homers and 42 RBI with a .336 on-base percentage.

Like at St. John’s, Schwindel was all over the field for Idaho Falls. He played 27 games at catcher, 15 at first base, and was the designated hitter 22 times. He threw out 39 percent of all would-be basestealers, but was charged with 8 passed balls. He was flawless at first base in 132 chances.