Five Aberdeen IronBirds will be participating in tonight’s New York-Penn League All-Star Game in Staten Island, NY. Pitchers Tim Adleman and Justin Moore, outfielders Trent Mummey and Kipp Schutz, and third baseman Adam Gaylord will represent the team. It is the largest number of representatives the IronBirds have ever had in the All-Star Game.
Adleman expects to pitch an inning in the game despite starting Saturday night’s loss to the State College Spikes. So far this season, Adleman leads the IronBirds with a 3.14 ERA and 52 strikeouts with a 2-3 record. His most notable start of the year came on August 2 against Staten Island where he pitched six perfect and seven no-hit innings in a victory over the Yankees. Adleman was a 24th-round draft pick out of Georgetown by the Baltimore Orioles in 2010.
Whether or not Moore is pitching in the game is up in the air as he was scheduled to pitch Sunday’s game that was rained out. He originally was not going to pitch but still take part in the festivities. This year Moore is 3-1 with a 3.31 ERA despite missing about three weeks with an oblique injury.
Mummey was Baltimore’s fourth-round pick out of Auburn this year and joined the team a few weeks into the season. From his first day with the team he has batted leadoff and played centerfield. He is currently batting .270 with three home runs and 24 RBIs. He has 15 doubles to go along with a .349 on-base percentage and a .418 slugging percentage. Mummey’s highlight came on July 11 when he hit a walk-off grand slam against the Auburn Doubledays as Aberdeen came back from a 3-1 deficit to win 7-3.
Schutz has been the offensive leader for the IronBirds in 2010, leading the team in average and RBIs. The leftfielder is batting .316 with four home runs and 32 RBIs. Schutz was batting over .400 at one point in July, but he has cooled off as the season has worn on. His highlight, like Mummey’s, was a walk-off grand slam on July 20 to beat the Tri-City ValleyCats 9-5.
Gaylord, a 31st-round draft pick in 2010 out of Stanford, has been the every day third baseman for Aberdeen, coupling good defense with consistent offense. Gaylord is third on the team in batting with a .286 average with two home runs and 20 RBIs. Gaylord’s average has dipped recently, but it was in the .300-.320 range for the majority of the season.
The first pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Tuesday at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.
Aberdeen resumes play Wednesday at Ripken Stadium against Hudson Valley. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Great news! Are the O’s finally drafting well and building for the future? That would be a welcome change.