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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 2021)
PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 29, 2021 STRESS-FREE CAR SHOPPING OREGON'S DEALER 1 FORD 7 YEARS RUNNING! # 3555 River Rd N, Keizer (503) 463 - 4853 skylineforddirect.com Health & safety of our staff, customers, and community is our top priority. KEIZERTIMES.COM Best of the rest: Players that just missed the cut BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes The Keizertimes Top 20 Volcanoes players of all time series began in September and will come to a conclu- sion next week. Before we publish the fi nal installment of the series, featuring the #1 player on the list, we take a look at fi ve players who just missed the cut — the list is based on players’ success in the major leagues. EMMANUEL BURRISS Burriss attended Kent State University and was selected by the San Francis- co Giants in the fi rst round of the 2006 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft as a middle infi elder. He played for the Volcanoes in 2006 and batted .307 with 22 RBIs and 11 extra-base hits in 65 games. After two seasons in the minors, Burriss was called up to join the Giants on April 20, 2008. In 95 games with San Francisco, Burriss batted .283. Burriss was named the starting second baseman to begin the 2009 season and, early in the season, had the game-winning RBI in the 300th career victory for Burriss MLB legend Randy John- son. However, after batting .238 in 61 games, Burriss was optioned back down to Triple-A. After an injury-shortened 2010 season, Burriss played in 59 games for the Giants in 2011 and 60 games in 2012. Burriss became a free agent at the end of the 2012 season and signed a minor league deal with the Cin- cinnati Reds. The following year, Burriss went to the Washington Nationals on a minor league deal. Burriss spent all of 2014 in the mi- nors and only appeared in fi ve games for Washington in 2015. In 2016, Burriss fi nished his seven-year MLB career with the Philadelphia Phil- lies, appearing in 39 games. He is now the hitting coach for the Oklahoma City Dodgers, a Triple-A affi liate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. BOOF BONSER Bonser grew up in Flor- ida and was selected in the fi rst round of the 2000 MLB Draft by the Giants. He made his professional debut later that summer for the Volcanoes at the age of 18. Bonser pitched 33 innings for the Volcanoes, going 1-4 with a 6.00 ERA. The fol- lowing year, however, Bons- er improved greatly, posting a 16-4 record and a 2.49 ERA with 178 strikeouts for the Hagerstown Suns in 2006 — he was named the South At- lantic League’s Most Valuable Pitcher. After reaching Triple-A at the end of the 2003 sea- son, Bonser was traded to the Minnesota Twins along with fellow former Volca- Bonser noes players Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano. Bonser spent a little more than two years in the Twins minor league system before being called up on May 21, 2006. In his debut, Bons- er pitched six innings and gave up only one run while striking out eight against the Milwaukee Brewers. Even though he was sent back down to Triple-A in July, Bonser was called back up to join the team in Au- gust. After multiple inju- ries and poor performances by the Twins pitching staff, Bonser proved to be reli- able enough to be selected as the team’s #2 starter on the postseason roster after being named the American League (AL) Rookie of the Month in September. In his only playoff appearance, Bonser pitched six innings and al- lowed two runs. Bonser ended his rookie season with a 7-6 record in 100.1 innings. In 2007, after beginning the year as the second starter in the rotation, Bonser went 8-12 with a 5.18 ERA. He was moved to the bullpen during the 2008 season, but his ERA climbed to 5.93 for the year. Bonser missed the 2009 season after undergoing sur- gery to repair his labrum and rotator cuff. His fi nal year in the majors would be in 2010. Bonser made two appearances for the Boston Red Sox before being re- leased. He was picked up by the Oakland A’s in late-July and pitched 23 innings in 13 appearances. CHRIS STRATTON The Giants drafted Strat- ton in the fi rst round of the 2012 MLB Draft. In eight games with the Volcanoes, Stratton posted a 2.76 ERA and struck out 16 in 16.1 in- nings. In 2013, he was named the Giants third best prospect by Baseball America. Stratton spent three sea- sons in the minors before being called up to the Gi- ants on May 30, 2016. Even though he was primarily used as a starter in the mi- nors, the Giants elected to Stratton bring Stratton out of the bullpen. Stratton threw a per- fect inning in his debut and struck out two of the three batters he faced. He earned his fi rst MLB win on June 11, 2016 against the Dodg- ers. Stratton split time be- tween the Giants and Tri- ple-A in 2017, and was moved back into a starting role. With the Giants, Strat- ton was 4-4 with a 3.68 ERA in 13 games. Stratton made 26 starts for the Giants in 2018, win- ning 10 games and posting a 5.09 ERA. His best start of the season came on Sept. 13 when he threw a com- plete-game shutout against the Colorado Rockies. The Giants traded Strat- ton to the Los Angeles An- gels in 2019. Stratton only played with the Angels for a little over a month before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates moved Strat- ton back to the bullpen and used him as their setup guy. He made 28 appearances for the Pirates and had a 3.66 ERA in 46.2 innings. In the shortened 2020 season, Stratton appeared in nearly half of the Pirates total games, posting a 3.90 ERA. EHIRE ADRIANZA Adrianza became a star infi eld prospect in Venezu- ela and began playing pro- fessional baseball in America for the Giants organization in 2008 — he played one TOP 20 20 summers in college and was named an all-star in 2013. After college, Slater was drafted by the Giants as an outfi elder in the eighth round of the 2014 MLB Draft. Slater played 29 games for the Volcanoes in 2014 and led the team in batting average (.347) and on-base percentage (.417). Slater made his MLB de- but with the Giants on June 2, 2017 and recorded his fi rst hit and RBI. He remained with the Giants for the rest of the season, batting .282 with three homers and 16 RBIs in 34 games. Slater went back and forth between the Giants and Tri- ple-A during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. However, Slater made the Giants opening day roster in 2020 and had a fantastic Volcanoes players of all time strain on Aug. 22, and when he returned to the team on Sept. 5, his production wasn’t nearly on the same level. Slater still fi nished the year with a .282 average and fi ve homers. FOLLOW THE KEIZERTIMES ON: Slater start to the year. Through 19 games, he was batting .347 with a .458 on-base percent- age. On Aug. 8, Slater blasted two homers off of Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw in the Giants 5-4 win. But Slater was placed on the disabled list with a groin Adrianza game for the Volcanoes. After steadily progressing through the Giants system, Adrianza received the call- up on Sept. 8, 2013, becom- ing the 300th Venezuelan player to reach the major leagues. On Sept. 22, Adrian- za hit his fi rst career homer against the New York Yan- kees off of Andy Pettitte. His second career homer came early in the following season against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. In his two seasons with the Giants, Adrianza ap- peared in 105 games with the Giants, primarily as a middle infi elder. The following year, Adri- anza signed with the Twins, playing in 70 games for Min- nesota in 2017 and batting .265 with a pair of homers and 24 RBIs. In 2018, Adrianza was a regular starter in the Twins infi eld, playing in a ca- reer-high of 114 games. He batted .251 with six homers and 39 RBIs. Adrianza hit .272 the following season with the Twins, helping them win the AL Central division title. In 2020, Adrianza’s average dipped to .191. AUSTIN SLATER Slater was a star player at the Stanford University for three seasons, batting .310 with 72 RBIs in 113 games. Slater also played in the Cape Cod League for two Fall in Love WITH OUR SPECIAL ADVERTISING RATES FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF February We have tremendous advertising opportunities for every business & every budget R LO AG CO ER P T AR QU $ E a. 9 /e 24 C HALF OLOR PAGE $ 44 9 /ea. Our AWARD-WINNING creative services are ALWAYS FREE with the purchase of any ad Call: 503.390.1051 Email: advertising@keizertimes.com
