I want you all to know that I’m thrilled to have AZ back in the saddle again. He’s been knocking it out of the park the last couple of days, the Arizona Fall League started yesterday and the Caribbean winter leagues will be starting very soon. I feel like we are getting our mojo back. The DFR, oh, how have I missed thee. I’m still not sure if I’m going to do a daily report or some sort of weekly update on the winter leagues, we’ll just have to play it by ear, depending on how much action there is to report.
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Posted on September 11th, 2008 by erik in Ryan Bird
Just when we see former River City Rascal Josh Kinney back in action in the big leagues again, we learn that the Cardinals have purchased the contract of 24-year old RHP Ryan Bird from the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League. Bird was the Frontier League pitcher of the year, where he led the league with 13 wins and 152 strikeouts, just four strikeouts shy of the Frontier League record. Bird averaged 11.1 K/9 innings and held opponents to a .217 batting average against with a 1.15 WHIP, for what it’s worth.
Bird hales from Potomac, Ill. and pitched his college ball at SLU, where he has the school record for K’s. He was a non-drafted free agent of the Blue Jays, and posted a 1.80 ERA between the GCL and the NY Penn League in 22 relief appearances but was released at the end of the season.
The Southern has this scouting report on Bird:
Bird throws an average major-league fastball that runs anywhere between 87 and 90 miles per hour. He has a plus curveball that dive bombs with a hard downward break when it gets near the plate. Bird’s command of his curveball allows him to throw it in any count to any batter. His changeup is serviceable.
The article also has an interesting take his uphill battle to get noticed by a major league team.
It must be that slow time of the year for me to be reporting on the signing of an indy leaguer, but I often find myself rooting for these kinds of players, and especially considering he’s a local kid and a Cardinal fan.
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