Les Walrond and Travis Metcalf called up to MLB
by James Quinn
on Aug 2, 2008 10:34 AM CDT
in Baseball
A quick update on some former KU baseball players.
Two former Jayhawks, Les Walrond (P - Phillies) and Travis Metcalf (3B - Rangers) were called up to the major leagues yesterday.
Walrond pitched for the Royals briefly in 2003 and for the Cubs in 2006. The big left hander played first base at KU but was converted into a pitcher after he was drafted.
Walrond and Metcalf.
Travis Metcalf has been up and down with the Rangers over the last two seasons. He looked good to make the opening day roster in Texas this spring before suffering a spring training injury. Coming into 2008 Metcalf held the all-time KU career homerun record with 29. Ryne Price and Erik Morrison both passed Metcalf this season. Price and Morrison are doing well after their first month of professional baseball. Morrison earned a quick promotion to High-A ball. and is now playing second base for the Bakersfield Blaze. Price is still in the Arizona Rookie League but doing very well at the plate.
One other note, two high school players who committed to play baseball at KU and then were taken in the MLB draft remain unsigned. Zac Elgie was taken in the 12th round by Oakland and Lee Ridenhour was taken in the 31st round by the Twins. Teams have about two more weeks to sign their draftees. I am hopeful that both Elgie and Ridenhour will be playing at Hoglund next year. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
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good to see a sign of life from the board.
can you give us any more insight into some of the incoming freshman, even the ones who weren’t drafted? baseball recruits don’t get any publicity and the ones who do are hard to get onto campus after the money talks.
by SweedishHamma on
Aug 2, 2008 7:27 PM CDT
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Hi Sweed,
I haven’t posted much since the MLB draft. It has been a very busy summer. I wish I had more time for the blog.
The last two years bkmhoxx and I have posted information on the incoming players along with season preview articles breaking down the team. Look for these in late December and early January. Coach Price has been nice enough to talk with me before the last two seasons to give me a better idea of how the roster is shaping up.
I will say this now, there will be a LOT of turnover this offseason. With graduation of Ryne Price, John Allman and Erik Morrison, plus the early departure of Nick Czyz there are a lot of big holes to be filled on the team.
www.rockchalktalk.com for pretty good KU baseball coverage
by James Quinn on
Aug 2, 2008 9:24 PM CDT
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yeah, i was just hoping to get a little insight as to who we are recruiting for baseball. not so much who is already on our team that needs to step up, just what HS stars are going to be playing for us next year.
by SweedishHamma on
Aug 3, 2008 11:57 AM CDT
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I'm sure we will have some material on the incoming prep players by January.
The most hyped incoming two will be Elgie and Ridenhour, but every year unexpected players step up and contribute big time. Last year it was Shaeffer Hall and T.J. Walz. Two of the all-time greats at KU came in without scholarships. Don Czyz and John Allman. It is really hard to know how 18 year old players are going to perform in college. The gap between the competition most kids face in highschool and what they will see in Big-12 play is enormous.
www.rockchalktalk.com for pretty good KU baseball coverage
by James Quinn on
Aug 3, 2008 12:20 PM CDT
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Walz came up huge early on in the year but faded a little as conference season wore on, but it was fun making it to the games. I’m trying to make a more concious effort to get to more games and to know the players better. Hot dog games are my favorite.
by SweedishHamma on
Aug 3, 2008 9:00 PM CDT
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