Columbus State Baseball Minor League Update
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Columbus – With opening day in the air, two former Columbus State University baseball players will begin the season in the minor leagues. Brian Baker and Jason Rogers will both start the 2012 season in the Milwaukee Brewers farm system with the hope of becoming the first former Cougar to reach the Major Leagues.
Baker has spent the last two seasons with the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. However in the offseason, Baker signed a minor league free agent contract with the Milwaukee Brewers and will begin his third straight season in Triple-A with the Nashville Sounds of the Pacific Coast League.
Last season, Baker started 20 games for the Bulls posting a 7-9 record in 104.2 innings pitched. The Columbus native struggled a bit making the move out of the bullpen into the roation having a 6.62 ERA up from a 3.88 earned run average in the 2010 season where he pitched mostly in relief.
In his seven minor league seasons, Bakers has a 36-31 record with 14 saves and an ERA of 4.17. His best season came in 2007 when pitching for his hometown Columbus Catfish. That season, he posted a 4-3 record in 78.2 innings pitch with a ERA of 2.40.
Baker and the Sounds will begin the season this evening versus the New Orleans Zephrys.
Rogers will begin his second full season in the minors with the Single-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers where he finished the 2011 season. In 64 games with the Rattlers, Rogers hit .275 with six home runs and 37 RBIs. He also legged out 15 doubles on his way to having 23 extra-base hits.
In 2010, Rogers excelled in the challenging Arizona Fall League batting .281 with three long balls and 32 RBIs.
The Rattlers will also kick off the season this evening against the Cedar Rapids Kernels.
