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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2020)
PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 $ 1250 TRADE ASSIST ALL 2020 EXPEDITIONS 2020 EXPEDITION SEPTEMBER $ 1000 TRADE ASSIST ALL 2020 EDGE SUV EVENT SALES 2020 EDGE 3555 River Rd N, Keizer (503) 463- 4853 2021 BRONCO RESERVE YOUR NOW AT FORD.COM 0%X60 ALL 2020 SUVs *Must trade 95 or newer. Plus license, title & documentation fee $413 and applicable taxes. OAC. Art is for illustration only. KEIZERTIMES.COM # 19 Clay Hensley TOP 20 20 Courtesy SB NATION Clay Hensley played for three different teams over his six-year MLB career. BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes Coming in at #19 of the Keizertimes list greatest of greatest Volcanoes of all time is Clay Hensley. The 5-foot- 11, 190-pound, right-handed pitcher played in the Major Leagues for seven seasons for three different teams, ending his career with a 28-34 re- cord and an ERA of 4.00. Hensley grew up in Tom- ball, TX and played his col- lege ball at Lamar Univer- sity before being drafted in the eighth round by the San Francisco Giants in 2002. While not a hard thrower, Hensley often times used in upper-80s sinker to induce weak contact against oppos- ing hitters. Hensley also had a low-80s slider and looping 70 MPH curveball in his arsenal — to go along with his changeup and four-seam fastball. Hensley debuted with the Volcanoes in 2002 and made his fi rst professional season a standout one. In 81.2 innings of work, all of them starts, Hensley went 7-0 with an 2.53 ERA, striking out 84 and only walking 25 — he led the team in wins, innings pitched, strikeouts and com- plete games. In 2003, Henley started the year off in the South Atlantic League, playing for the Single-A Hagerstown Suns. In 15 starts, he went 4-3 with a 3.18 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 68 innings. He even threw a perfect game during his tenure with Hag- erstown, which earned him the call-up to high-A ball in San Jose. But after Hensley’s ERA ballooned to 5.83 in fi ve ap- pearances, he was traded to the San Diego Padres orga- nization. After showing some im- provement in high-A ball with the Lake Elsinore Storm to end the 2003 cam- paign, Hensley spent all of Volcanoes players of all time the 2004 playing Double-A with the Mobile BayBears of the Southern League, go- ing 11-10 over 27 starts, a 4.30 ERA, a 1.352 WHIP, and 125 K’s in 159 innings pitched. He returned to the Pa- cifi c Northwest in 2005, playing for the Portland Bea- vers in the Triple-A Pacifi c Coast League. After having an ERA under three in 14 starts, Hensley received his call-up to the Padres on July 20, 2005. Hensley transitioned to a vital middle-relief role for the Padres after coming up as a starter. In his 24 games with San Diego, Hensley made heads turn by recording a 1.70 ERA and 28 K’s in 47.2 innings of work, helping San Diego to the National League West Division title — the Padres manager at the time was Bruce Bochy, who, ironically, coached a multi- tude of other Volcanoes play- ers in his tenure as manager of the Giants from 2007-19 and won three World Series rings with San Francisco. In 2006, Hensley went from a middle reliever to the #2 starter in the Padres rota- tion next to Jake Peavy, who went onto win the Cy Young award the next season. Hensley made 29 starts on the year and went 11-12 with a 3.71 ERA and struck out 122 as the Padres won their second straight NL West crown. Hensley made fi ve total appearances in the 2005 and Please see #19, Page A8 Bryan Reynolds 18 # BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes Bryan Reynolds, a switch-hitting outfi elder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, comes in at #18 on the Keizertimes list of the 20 greatest Volca- noes players of all time. Reynolds grew up in Brentwood, Tenn. and be- came a star baseball player when he was in high school. He ended up attending Van- derbilt University, where, even as a freshman, he proved to be one of the top players in the country. Reynolds led the Com- modores in hitting in his fi rst season at Vanderbilt in 2014 with a .338 batting average, 95 hits, 53 runs scored and 54 RBIs. His outstanding pro- duction at the plate helped lead Vanderbilt to the 2014 College World Series title. Although he had a slight dip in batting average in his sophomore campaign, Reyn- olds still produced at a com- parable rate to his freshman season. After hitting nine homers in his fi rst two seasons com- bined, Reynolds went onto hit 13 bombs his junior year and also experienced ca- reer highs in RBIs (56) runs scored (59), walks (49), on- base percentage (.461) and slugging percentage (.603). Reynolds skipped his se- nior season after being draft- ed in the second round by the San Francisco Giants in 2016. He made his profes- sional debut for the Volcanoes later that summer — he was ranked the fi fth best prospect in the Giants organization according to MLBPipeline. com. In his 40 games in a Sa- lem-Keizer uniform, Reyn- olds proved he was worth the high draft pick, batting .312 with fi ve homers and 30 RBIs while slugging .500. He was promoted to the Augusta GreenJackets later that season. Reynolds spent the entire 2017 season in High-A ball with the San Jose Giants and continued to make strides in his development, batting .312 with 10 homers and 63 RBIs. However, on January 15, 2018, San Francisco traded Reynolds, along with anoth- er prospect and cash consid- erations, to the Pirates for veteran outfi elder Andrew McCutchen — a fi ve-time all-star and former national League MVP. Reynolds was ranked the sixth best prospect in the Pirates organization at the start of 2018. He spent the Please see #18, Page A8 Courtesy GETTY IMAGES/Victor Decolongon Bryan Reynolds was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2019.