The York Revolution improved to 2-0 in spring training competition with a 7-4 win at Somerset on Thursday. Unfortunately I was not able to make the trip. As a result, there is little to report as far as spring training news is concerned. In the meantime, below is a story on former York reliever Adam Thomas, who retired from baseball and recently began working full-time as the sports event coordinator in the Parks & Recreation Department for Citrus County, Florida.

Please check back Friday for spring training news – including what happened in Thursday’s scrimmage. The Revs will be back home Friday for a morning practice that is closed to the public. It will be their final warmup before Saturday’s FanFest exhibition against a team of retired Atlantic League alumni at Sovereign Bank Stadium. Among many activities planned, there will be a concert on Brooks Robinson Plaza at noon, with gates to the stadium opening at 1 p.m. for the 2 p.m. game.

Also, in case you haven’t checked it out yet, here’s a feature story from Thursday on new Revs’ starting pitcher Brett Tomko, who is expected to pitch Saturday in the FanFest exhibition. Here are some tidbits not included in that story:

- Tomko started up his pitching program in December to get ready for the upcoming season to make sure he was ready to pitch in case any big league teams invited him to spring training.

- Tomko dislocated his shoulder last season in his 12th start for Class AAA Louisville when delivering a pitch. He said the shoulder dislocated and popped back in all in one motion, and he stayed in the game to pitch another three innings.

- Last year’s shoulder dislocation was only the second major injury in Tomko’s 18-year pro career. In 2010, he pinched a nerve in his throwing arm and lost feeling between his elbow and wrist. Doctors told him he wouldn’t return to the game, but he rehabbed over four months and came back just fine: “I was throwing the ball 10 to 15 feet over guys heads (during rehab). I had to learn all my motor skills again. But I ended up returning to the big leagues in 2011.”

Thomas: Adam Thomas no longer thinks twice about the past. It’s a change of tune from how he felt around this point last year.

That’s when he last chatted with me about his decision to step away from the game for three years to work full-time for the Heroes Foundation, a non-profit based in Dallas, Texas, that provides opportunities for children and teenagers to participate in baseball and basketball programs to prepare them for competition at the college level.

He returned to the game in 2011, posting a 1.73 ERA with the Atlantic League’s all-travel Road Warriors club (now defunct) before coming back to York in 2012. What would’ve happened if he didn’t leave the game briefly after the 2007 season?

“Twenty years down the road that’s a question I’m always going to ask myself. ‘What if I would have kept going? What if I wouldn’t have done something else?’” Thomas had said in an interview last April.

At the time, Thomas was just getting ready for the 2012 season, one in which he went 8-2 with a 3.66 ERA in 67 appearances for York. He didn’t know his experience with the Heroes Foundation would leave to his current position as the newly created sports event coordinator in the Parks & Recreation Department for Citrus County, Florida.

“As a baseball player you always had the ‘What if I did this? What if I did that?,” Thomas said by phone last week. “God wanted me to be in Dallas, Texas and run that (the Heroes Foundation) for those three years. Through that knowledge He gave me, I’m
able to land this position.”

Thomas reached the decision to walk away from baseball shortly after last season.

“I had a long talk with (Revolution manager) Mark Mason about what my plans were and stuff,” Thomas said. “I’m 34 years old this year. In baseball age, that’s 35 and-a-half. It’s not any younger.”

Thomas and his wife of four years have a 17-month-old son, Tristan, and are expecting their second child in July.

“I got another kid on the way. I’m gonna have two kids. Playing independent ball was great until I started to get a family. Being away from them last year was hard and difficult. It’s a difficult choice to give baseball up. I love York, love the town. It’s a great league. Mark (Mason) is probably one of the best managers in baseball right now.”

Now, Thomas will rely on his previous experience with the Heroes Foundation to try to boost tourism in Citrus County by bringing various sports events, including large tournaments, to the town. The county recently created the position and decided between Thomas and one other person to fill it. He just completed his first full week working for the county last week.

“What we’re doing is building up sports tourism here in Citrus County,” he said. “They saw what I did in Dallas with the Heroes Organization and they realized what I did with baseball. It was kind of a nitch for me to get this position. It was between me and another guy going for it.”

It sounds like Thomas already has the sales pitch down, too.

“We have a lot to offer here. It’s on the water, we have wildlife preservation and a spring water river that’s 72 degrees year-round that you can go kayaking in,” he said.

Thomas and his family recently moved from Dallas to Citrus County. He was working at Lowe’s and giving baseball lessons on the side to make ends meet before taking the Citrus County position.

As for baseball, Thomas isn’t completely saying goodbye to the sport in which he spent 10 pro seasons, reaching Class AAA in 2006 in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ organization.

“When my son gets older and he’s four or five years old he’ll be starting on a little tee-ball team,” Thomas said. “Maybe when he’s eight years old he’ll be on a traveling or select-ball team. Plus, I’m still be giving baseball lessons and coaching on the side.”

So many times when having these conversations with pro players opting to retire, they don’t know what they’re going to do next. Or they might have plans to look around for a coaching gig or go back to school. With that being said, Thomas knows he’s fortunate with his current situation, which may have only happened thanks to his previous experience outside of baseball.

“I’m very blessed,” he said.

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There are a number of guys not returning to York after playing for the Revs at some point last season. Among that large group, slugger Chris Nowak, infielder Ramon Castro and outfielder James Shanks arguably had the biggest impacts during their career in York.

We already know Nowak has retired. And Revs’ manager Mark Mason has said previously he is not going to be welcoming back Castro. Shanks, however, is a different story.

“I talked to James,” Mason said Thursday night. “I told him at the time what he had signed and things of that nature. We have talked to James and for right now we weren’t gonna bring him into camp. But if we get two or three outfielders signed here right away, you know what can happen.”

It’s a real possibility York could have a couple of their outfielders signed early in the season. Jeff Fiorentino, Tyler Graham and Jason Repko all have big league experience. Graham, 29, made his major league debut at the end of last season. And Repko has seen time in the big leagues each of the last seven seasons.

Still, should York need a fill-in for the outfield, it could always turn to position players like Johan Limonta and Andres Perez – both of whom have seen time in the outfield in their careers despite playing the infield in recent seasons – and utility men Brian Burgamy and Eric Patterson.

But Shanks, 34, did rack up impressive numbers during his time in York before a significant drop-off in production in an injury-plagued 2012 season that eventually led to his release.

The Revs acquired the veteran outfielder in 2010 and he went on to help the club win back-to-back Atlantic League titles.  n 2010, Shanks hit .325 with 19 homers and 86 RBIs in 131 games. He followed that up by batting .314 with 12 homers and 61 RBIs for the Revs in 2011.

Battling tendonitis in his knee in one leg and a hamstring injury in the other leg in 2012, Shanks struggled with a .249 average to go along with just nine homers in 77 games.

Shanks soon found work in Southern Maryland, but not much changed there, as he held a .225 average in 25 games with the Blue Crabs.

Mason said Southern Maryland did not have Shanks on its protective list of players after the 2012 season – had he been on the list, the Blue Crabs would own his negotiation rights if he opted to come back to the Atlantic League in 2013.

“Jimmy really wanted to retire as a York Revolution player,” Mason said. “He won two champiohships here. I never close any doors. You never know.”

Thomas retires: Mason said reliever Adam Thomas, 33, has retired. Thomas first pitched for York in 2007, putting together a 1.50 ERA with five saves in 11 games before being picked up by the Oakland Athletics. Later that year he made it to Class AA Midland, but struggled there with an 8.31 ERA in 12 appearances.

He decided to retire following that season and dedicate all of his team with the Heroes Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Dallas, Texas, that provides opportunities for children and teenagers to participate in baseball and basketball programs to prepare them for competition at the college level. Thomas had been working with Heroes Foundation in a small role since 2005, often giving baseball lessons to youngsters during the offseason.

He opted to return to baseball in 2011 and scored a minor league spring training tryout with the New York Mets, but was released in March. With most Atlantic League rosters full at the time, he eventually found a spot on the league’s all-travel Road Warriors. In his first full season back on the mound, he ended up posting a 1.73 ERA with 17 saves in 56 games.

Last season with York, he went 8-2 with a 3.66 ERA in 67 games.

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Here it is, the fourth and final recap of the 2012 York Revolution squad, this time on the bullpen and catchers (sorry catchers, no separate post for perhaps the toughest position in baseball). My apologies on getting around to this late, been a little busy covering high school sports as we get into the time of the year for league titles, playoffs, districts and beyond, as well as catching up on reading all the Sports Illustrateds that have been laying around the house for weeks (seriously, who can read those things front to back each week?) and breaking my ankles jumping on and off the Baltimore Orioles’ bandwagon (don’t act like you weren’t doing the same). Anyway, before we get to that, wanted to point out a couple newsworthy items worth checking out:

- Atlantic League expansion…to the Caribbean?: YDR Revs’ beat writer Jim Seip did a good job reporting on Peter Kirk’s intentions of possibly expanding the Atlantic League to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico or Cuba (yes, really, Cuba). This would make sense, considering at least a fifth of most Atlantic League rosters are made up of players from the Caribbean. A roster could easily be filled should the league want to travel far down south. And if it can be any kind of draw like Sugar Land, why not give it a shot? The only question mark would be travel costs. It makes no sense to do it if the league loses money.

- Camden front office: The Riversharks sent out a press release Monday announcing longtime general manager Adam Lorber is being promoted to general manager AND team president. Lorber has served as the team’s GM since 2003. In addition, Lindsay Rosenberg, who has spent the last four seasons in group sales has been promoted to the position of assistant general manager. Rosenberg earned a bachelor’s degree in Sports, Entertainment and Event Management from Johnson and Wales (Rhode Island) University in 2009. While attending school, she had opportunities to work at both Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA and at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Now on to the recap….

 

As far as publicity goes, the guys in the bullpen have it tough. Position players and starting pitchers normally get most of the attention. On the rare occasion a reliever gets anything said about him, it’s normally because he’s been lights-out as a closer or a set-up man or he made an impressive spot start. So, if a reliever doesn’t fit that category, he’s probably left out on the street with the rest of the guys who don’t get much attention, even if they might have an interesting back-story. So, lets just say this blog post is my attempt at making up for all of that….

At the start: At the start of the year, York’s bullpen consisted of right-handers Dumas Garcia, Ricardo Gomez, Omar Javier, Santo Luis, Stephen Penney, R.J. Rodriguez, Shaun Garceau and Adam Thomas and left-handers James Houser, Yunior Novoa and Ian Thomas. By the end Gomez, Novoa, Penney, Rodriguez and Thomas were all that were left of the original bunch. Newcomers on York’s year-end roster included right-handers Mike Benacka and Kris Regas and left-hander Wade Korpi.

Come and go: Garcia (1-0, 6.00 ERA, 27 games), Garceau (0-0, 7-71 ERA, 3 games), Houser (2-1, 5.50 ERA, 33 games), Javier (1-6, 5.66 ERA, 22 games) and Luis (0-0, 4-50 ERA, 3 games) were all released at some point in the season, while right-hander Andy Wells (0-0, 16.61 ERA, 3 games) and left-handers Matt Chico (1-3, 7.50 ERA, six starts) and Victor Garate (0-0, 5.40 ERA, 1 game) were on the short list of pitchers who joined York mid-season but would be released before the end of the year.

Picked up: Thomas the only York reliever and one of three Revs’ players to earn a big league contract this season (all three were pitchers)  in 2012. The 25-year-old earned his first affiliated contract after putting together a 0.96 ERA in 9.1 innings of relief for York. He had spent his first three pro seasons with independent club Winnipeg (Northern League/American Association) before coming to York. In 26 relief appearances for Rome, the lefty went 5-0 with a 3.15 ERA, striking out 58 and walking 15 over 45.2 innings pitched.

8th/9th inning guys: Right-hander R.J. Rodriguez started off the year as the Revs’ closer but lost the job to Ricardo Gomez when he left for the Mexican League mid-season. Adam Thomas served as the Revs’ set-up man the majority of the first-half and then split the duties with Rodriguez when he returned. Rodriguez did fill in as the ninth-inning guy occasionally in the final couple months. Rodriguez went 2-3 with a 2.02 ERA and 13 saves over 55 appearances. Thomas had a 8-2 record and 3.65 ERA in 67 appearances (64 innings), striking out 42 and walking 15. Gomez collected 17 saves, 2.66 ERA and 4-1 record in 46 games (47.1 innings).

Middle relief: Left-handers Yunior Novoa (2-6, 4.71 ERA, five starts, 38 games), Kris Regas (3-2, 2.78 ERA, 44 games) and Wade Korpi (4-0, 2.26 ERA, 3 starts, 18 games) and right-hander Stephen Penney (2-1, 3.13 ERA, 62 games) had good seasons in the ‘pen.

Novoa went back-and-forth between the bullpen and starting rotation at the start of the year before serving mainly as a reliever in the final few months. Korpi ended up being a good mid-season pick-up for the Revs. The lefty was lights-out in his three spot starts, putting up a stellar 1.93 ERA in 9.1 innings.

One other middle reliever, Mike Benacka, joined York in the final month of the season and had a 1-0 record, 3.00 ERA and one save in six relief appearances. But he took the loss after giving up four runs on one hit and two walks in 2/3 of an inning in Game Two of the Freedom Division Championship Series against Lancaster. The Revs didn’t like what they saw, either, sending him back to the Laredo Lemurs (American Association) after the season.

Catchers: Instead of dedicating a whole blog post to the catchers, it’ll be included here as more an honorable mention (sorry Travis Scott and Salomon Manriquez). York started off the year with Scott and Salvador Paniagua behind the dish. Etch’ used the left-handed hitting Scott and right-handed hitting Paniagua as a platoon. York released Paniagua on July 19 and signed Manriquez the next day. It’s tough in the Atlantic League to find a solid defensive catcher who can also hit well. And when that rare guy comes along, he’s normally picked up right away by a big league club since that’s so rare. That’s why it’s tough to be hard on Atlantic League clubs about not finding a solid-hitting catcher. Plus, it has to be hard on catchers to have a good batting average considering they’re not playing every game for obvious reasons.

With all that being said, Scott had a .228 average with seven homers and 28 RBIs in 81 games while Manriquez finished with a .287 average, two homers and 16 RBIs in 32 games. Manriquez upped his batting average in his final 18 games, during which he went he hit .387. Paniagua departed mid-season with a .227 average over 40 games.

(Note*The following stats are through Game 2 of the FDCS) As far as how they performed behind the plate, Paniagua caught in 40 games (38 starts) and caught a total of 328.2 innings. York pitchers had a 4.11 ERA with Paniagua catching. Revs’ pitchers were about the same in the 601.1 innings with Scott behind the dish with a 4.12 ERA. Manriquez, meanwhile, made 32 starts to help Revs’ pitchers get a 3.63 ERA in his 275.1 innings catching. However, all three had trouble throwing out runners at second and third. Paniagua caught 5 of the 40 guys who stole on him, while Scott gunned 12 of 48 and Manriquez nailed down just three of 25 base-stealers. That’s a combined percentage of 17.7 (20 caught of 113 base-stealers).

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The 2012 Atlantic League All-Star at Camden’ Campbell’s Field on Wednesday night turned out to be a pitcher’s dual.

And York’s two pitchers who saw action ended up putting on stellar performances in the Freedom Division’s come-from-behind 9-5 win over the Liberty Division.

Managing the Freedom Division along with his coaching staff for the second consecutive year, Revs’ skipper Andy Etchebarren put his own pitcher, Corey Thurman, on the mound to start the third.

Later in the game, Revs’ reliever Adam Thomas picked up the win by tossing a scoreless eighth.

Revs’ outfielder Michael Hernandez and second baseman Andres Perez were in the starting lineup for the Freedom Division. York third baseman Ramon Castro, who was selected to the game, did not play. Revs’ outfielder Brandon Haveman saw action later in the game.

Click here for the full recap of the game and how York’s players performed.

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York will send six players to Camden’s Campbell’s Field next Wednesday for the 2012 Atlantic League All-Star game. The league announced the all-star rosters on Thursday afternoon.

Among the Revs’ players selected are starting pitching Corey Thurman, closer Adam Thomas, third baseman Ramon Castro, second baseman Andres Perez and outfielders Brandon Haveman and Michael Hernandez.

York is tied for third for the most players selected to the All-Star game, behind Lancaster (8) and Long Island (7).

For the full breakdown and numbers on what the Revs’ all-stars have done so far this season, click here.

For the full list of Atlantic League All-Star rosters, click here.

Haveman: The University of Dayton announced earlier this week that it has hired the wife of Brandon Haveman, Sarah, to be the school’s new cross country coach and assistant track (distance) coach. Sarah comes to Dayton from Purdue University, where she was an assistant in track and cross country since the winter of 2011. Brandon and Sarah met at Purdue while going to school there a few years ago. As you might have guessed, both were stellar athletes – Brandon in baseball and Sarah in cross country and track & field. I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing a race between the two. I have a feeling Brandon might win a 100-meter dash, and Sarah would sweep in a long-distance race.

Hillenbrand returns:  The Bridgeport Bluefish on Thursday announced the signing of infielder Shea Hillenbrand. He joins the Bluefish for his second season in the Atlantic League and 14^th of professional baseball. The former Major League last played professionally in 2008 as a member of the York Revolution. In 36 games for York, he batted .340 with 11 extra-base hits, 25 RBI, and 22 runs scored. It’ll be interesting see if Hillenbrand has changed his ways since his infamous departure from York four years ago. For the Revs’ fans wondering when they will get a chance to see Hillenbrand  in action at Sovereign Bank Stadium, the Bluefish next visit York following the All-Star break for a four-game set July 16-July 19.

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Just a few days removed from finding out slugger Chris Nowak signed a deal with Mexico City, the York Revolution learned Monday that closer R.J. Rodriguez is now heading south.

The right-hander has signed a deal with the Campeche Pirates. While the move doesn’t help the Revs one bit, Rodriguez’s departure at this time of year doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The last couple of years he has left York mid-season only to return later in the year after the Mexican League wraps up its season sometime in August. So, it’s likely we’ll be seeing Rodriguez again in the near future. Rodriguez will join quite a few former Atlantic League players in Campeche, including slugger Jason Botts (the two were teammates last year in York), Wes Bankston and Brian Barton.

Rodriguez leaves with an 0-2 record and 2.36 ERA with 11 saves in 27 appearances. He struck out 26 and walked 14 in 26.2 innings of work. He held opponents to no earned runs in 22 of his 27 appearances. But he only had 1-2-3 ninth innings (no walks or hits allowed) in just eight of his appearances.

What it means for York: Luckily for the Revs, they have a more than adequate replacement for Rodriguez in Adam Thomas. The right-hander has served as team’s set-up man to this point in the season, so he should be able to transition into the closer role smoothly. Among York relievers with at least 10 appearances this season, Thomas is third on the team in ERA (3.45), earned runs allowed (11), innings pitched (28 2/3) and hits allowed (26). He’s second on the team in strikeouts (18) and fourth in walks (eight). He has also held opponents to no earned runs in 21 of 28 appearances.

With Nowak and Rodriguez leaving the club in recent days, York now has 23 players on the active roster, which is two below the league maximum. The front office is likely busy looking for some players to patch in the holes, so expect some moves to come sooner rather later.

All-Star nods: In case you haven’t checked it out yet, I disclosed my choices of York Revolution players who I believe should be given a roster spot in the 2012 Atlantic League All-Star game that is coming up on July 11 at Camden’s Campbell’s Field. To read more on that, click here.

Getting the call: The Revs announced Monday that for the second time in franchise history, a former York player has reached the Major Leagues. Monday morning, left-handed reliever Justin Hampson was promoted from Class AAA Buffalo Bisons to the New York Mets, one of a few roster moves resulting from Mets closer Frank Francisco landing on the 15-day disabled list with an oblique strain. Hampson was a member of the 2010 Atlantic League champion Revs, appearing in 11 games out of the bullpen. The following season he joined the Mets organization, pitching all of 2011 in Buffalo, posting a 3.41 ERA in 52 games and 58 innings of relief. To read more on the historic achievement, click here.

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