Three former NECBL pitchers were added to three separate Major League Baseball 40-man rosters yesterday morning: Tom Koehler (Keene Swamp Bats 2005) was added to the newly named Miami Marlins, Jeff Beliveau (Newport Gulls 2006) was added to the Chicago Cubs and former Vermont Mountainer Christian Friedrich was called up by the Colorado Rockies.
In an NECBL release, Friedrich was listed as a 6'4" lefty who played his college ball at Eastern Kentucky and was drafted in the first round in 2008 as the 25th overall selection. He was a Mountaineer in 2006 and "left New England as one of the League's most highly anticipated prospects. He had a 36-to-5 strikeout ratio and a 1.41 ERA in his 32 innings of work for the Green Mountain State franchise."
Rockies.com was quoted in the release, saying: "Friedrich, the Rockies' top pick in the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Eastern Kentucky, spent the last two seasons at Double-A Tulsa. After struggling through a series of injuries in 2010, he went 6-10 with a 5.00 ERA in 25 starts. Friedrich was named a Texas League All-Star at mid-season, when he was 6-5 with a 3.94 ERA, but did not win a game after June 26. Friedrich, however, entered the season as MLB.com's No. 50 prospect in all of Minor League Baseball."
Congratulations, Christian.
The release also noted that the NECBL has 77 alumni who have appeared in the MLB.
Longtime manager John Russo will be back with the Mountaineers for the 2012 season, and the Montpelier-based team will host the 2012 NECBL All-Star Game. Is it June 2012 yet?
-Anna Grearson
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