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Independent Ball

Frontier League Tryout Draft Update (July 2024)

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The Frontier League Tryout Camp and Draft was held on April 22nd and 23rd at Wild Things Park in Washington, PA.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the tryout and talk to various managers, players and families in attendance.

Hundreds of players from all around the country and world (I met players from Mexico and Japan as well) made the trek to Pennsylvania for their chance to tryout in front of all 16 Frontier League teams.

The one thing that stood out to me the most was the support from these players’ families. Moms, dads, girlfriends and wives, all of them staying 8+ hours each day in the stadium just to cheer on their player and help him in his quest to live out his dream.

46 players were offered contracts to join teams during spring training to earn a roster spot for the 2024 Frontier League season.

14 (6 pitchers, 8 position players) of them are currently on an active roster, although a few have been released and re-signed throughout the first half.

Here is your complete list of draft picks, followed by an update on where they are halfway through the season. (Players in bold are currently on a roster at the All-Star Break).

1st round
1 New England Knockouts Casey Bargo RHP
2 Lake Erie Crushers Michel Triana UTL
3 Lake Erie Crushers Anthony Perez RHP
4 Trois-Rivieres Aigles Dakota Parsons RHP
5 Windy City ThunderBolts Jose Gutierrez 3B
6 Tri-City ValleyCats Easton Klein RHP
7 Washington Wild Things Raul Ortega C
8 Ottawa Titans Garrett Crowley LHP
9 Evansville Otters James Steindl LHP
10 New York Boulders Sam Franco OF
11 Schaumburg Boomers Allante Hall C
12 Tri-City ValleyCats Rolando Heredia Bustos RHP
13 Florence Y’alls Jalen Evans RHP
15 New Jersey Jackals Greg Ryan IF
16 Quebec Capitales Chase Wilkerson LHP

2nd round
17 New England Knockouts Daniel Goggin RHP
18 Florence Y’alls Val Stammler RHP
19 Tri-City ValleyCats Gino Sabatine RHP
20 Windy City ThunderBolts Austin Elder C
21 Joliet Slammers Jeissy De La Cruz IF
22 Washington Wild Things Ken Williams LHP
23 Ottawa Titans Charlie Towers SS
24 Evansville Otters Matt Cusumano C
25 New York Boulders Kerry Wright RHP
26 Schaumburg Boomers Cameron Zunkel RHP
27 Tri-City ValleyCats Jolan Zhao RHP
28 Gateway Grizzlies Teague Conrad RHP
29 Sussex County Miners Nicholas DeMaio C
30 New Jersey Jackals Bryson Parks OF
31 Quebec Capitales Hunter Boag RHP

Additional
32 Florence Y’alls Nathan Riddle RHP
33 Trois-Rivieres Aigles James Smibert SS
34 Joliet Slammers Jacob Young RHP
35 Ottawa Titans Yushin Ohta UTL
36 Washington Wild Things Sheldon Johnson OF
37 Evansville Otters Benjamin Newbert 1B
38 Schaumburg Boomers Felix Abouerette C
39 Tri-City ValleyCats Brant Broussard IF
40 Gateway Grizzlies Eric Kozlowski RHP
41 New Jersey Jackals Orlando Swift RHP
42 Ottawa Titans Mitzuki Fukoda C
43 Tri-City ValleyCats Bradley Roberto OF
44 Tri-City ValleyCats Ian Diaz OF
Post-draft Schaumburg Boomers Jesus Baez RHP
Post-draft Lake Erie Crushers Lolo Williams C
Post-draft Windy City ThunderBolts Alex Lugo C

Updated stats:

RHP Casey Bargo – Activated by the Knockouts on May 31st. Has made 11 Appearances, 7 starts, 0-4 record with a 6.75 ERA. Casey spent time on the 7 day IL from June 30th to July 10th.

UTL Michel Triana – Did not sign with the Crushers until June 28th. Has played in 13 games with a .100 average. Has hit 1 HR with 3 RBI and 2 SB.

RHP Easton Klein – Has been with Valley Cats since the start of the season. Has made 11 appearances, 10 starts with a 4-2 record and a 3.71 ERA. Has racked up 41 Ks in 63 IP.

OF Sam Franco – Was released in spring training by the Boulders. Signed with the Lake Erie Crushers on July 5th. Has played in 7 games with the Crushers with a .259 average scoring 4 runs and stealing 3 bases.

C Allante Hall – Signed with the Schauburg Boomers during spring training. Has played in 28 games with a .146 average and 2 RBI. Had a stint on the IL from June 1st to June 16th.

RHP Rolando Heredia Bustos – Currently on the IL with the Tri City Valley Cats. Before his injury, has pitched 31 innings with 1 start during the season. Compiled a 4.06 ERA, 1.13 WHIP with 16 strikeouts and a 1-2 record.

RHP Daniel Goggin – Has been active with New England the entire season. Made 24 appearances and pitched 27.1 innings. Currently has a 5.06 ERA with 24 strikouts. Record sits at 0-3.

RHP Gino Sabatine – Originally released by Tri City on June 25th, but has since been re-signed with the Valley Cats on July 13th. Has made 12 appearances, pitching in 28.2 innings. Has a 3-1 record and 5.65 ERA with 12 strikouts.

IF Jeissy De La Cruz – Has been active with Joliet for the entire season so far. He has played in 56 of 57 games. Has a .268 average scoring 31 runs with 12 RBI and 6 stolen bases.

RHP Teague Conrad – Released by the Grizzlies during spring training, but re-signed May 19th right after the season started. Has made 10 appearances (all starts) with a 5-2 record and 3.38 ERA. Has racked up 53 strikouts in 53.1 innings.

C Nicholas DeMaio – Was released by the Sussex Co Miners during spring training, but signed with them again on July 11th. Has only played in 1 game before All-Star break where he went 0-3.

OF Bryson Parks – Has played the entire season with the New Jersey Jackals. Has a .270 average in 50 games with 1 HR, 14 RBI, 34 runs scored and has swiped 24 bases.

SS James Smibert – Has played the entire season with the Trois-Rivieres Aigles. In 42 games, has a .252 average with 3 HR, 17 RBI, 20 runs scored and 4 stolen bases.

OF Bradley Roberto – Originally released during spring training, but was re-signed by the Tri City Valley Cats on July 9th. Has played in 5 games with a .182 average including 3 RBI and 1 stolen base.

The second half of the Frontier League season starts tonight (July 19th).

Independent Ball

Why Indy Ball? The Tyler Jay Story

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A lot of baseball players see getting released from an affiliated organization as a death sentence to their careers.

Some people see getting diagnosed with a debilitating disease as a death sentence to an enjoyable life.

Thankfully for Tyler Jay, he is not like most players or people.

Jay was a highly sought after talent when he was drafted as the sixth overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins.

After signing, Jay was sent to High A Fort Myers as a relief pitcher, but was transitioned to a starter for the next season.

In 2016, he compiled a 5-5 record with a 2.84 ERA as a starter in 13 games with Fort Myers before being promoted to Double A Chattanooga. He finished out the season with a 5.79 ERA in 5 games (2 starts).

However, the transition to starting and the jump in playing level never panned out quite like the Twins or Jay would have hoped. His mechanics had changed from what made him so success at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

His 2017 regular season was cut short due to injury. In 8 games (1 start) across 3 levels, he pitched in only 11.2 innings with a 3.09 ERA.

The Twins sent Jay to the Arizona Fall League in 2017, but this time he was coming out of the bullpen to log some innings.

His 2018 season was spent back with Chattanooga in relief, posting a 4-5 record and 4.22 ERA with 38 appearances including 2 starts.

During the 2019 season, his performance started to decline due in large part to medical issues that were still undiagnosed. He began losing weight while struggling to swallow properly. His strength and energy were depleated and his pitching was faltering.

Jay was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in June of 2019. He spent the majority of his time with the Reds at their Double A affiliate in Pensacola recording a 1-2 record and 4.82 ERA in 17 relief appearances.

He was later released by the Reds during the pandemic canceled minor league season.

Jay spent the 2021 season out of baseball while he focused on his family and health. He was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE), an allergic condition that inflames the esophagus. This explained the difficulty in swallowing accompanied by his continuing digestive issues and weight loss.

Even with two years away from the sport and a major health diagnosis, he never stopped training and preparing. After spending time building back up his strength, Jay was ready for another opportunity in baseball.

But by then, he wasn’t sure if a lot of travel with an affiliated organization would be the right fit for him and his body.

Insert independent baseball and a fresh start with a team close to his home, the Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League.

Jay asked for a tryout and signed to pitch for the Slammers in 2022.

Joliet Slammers

When he joined Joliet, Jay had assumed he would be there as a veteran presence who helped the younger players on their own quest to make it to the major leagues. But with the help of Slammers manager Daniel Schlereth, he was able to simplfy his mechanics back to what made him so successful in the past. He started hitting mid-90s on the radar gun, and scouts were taking notice again.

He compiled a 2-1 record with a 1.64 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 22 appearaces with the Slammers that season.

Back with the Slammers in 2023, Jay continued pitching well and lighting up the radar gun. The hard throwing southpaw once again started turning the heads of scouts. By the end of August, he had racked up 64 strikeouts in 20 appearances over 57 innings.

Tyler Jay’s second chance at his big league dreams came when the New York Mets took a chance and purchased his contract from the Joliet Slammers on August 24th, 2023.

After signing, he was sent to AAA Syracuse to finish out his summer making six apperances with the team.

Jay had a memorable spring training outing, striking out seven batters in five shutout innings, but ultimately ended up starting the season back in Syracuse.

However this week, the stars aligned. The rainouts and extra-innings took a toll on the big league bullpen, and the Mets were in desperate need of a pitcher.

On April 11th, 2024, just 8 days shy of his 30th birthday, Tyler Jay made his major league debut with the New York Mets. He pitched two innings, allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out one batter and walking one.

When asked if he thought that moment would never happen, Jay replied that since he was released in 2019 he thought about it, “maybe about every day… Every night you go to bed, you’re thinking like ‘man is it… like is this worth it.’ And then every day you just get up and just continue to grind.”