A look at how Lakeshore Chinook alumni performed throughout baseball in 2017!
In our final review of Chinooks playing in professional baseball, we take a look at three popular pitchers who began their professional careers after being drafted or signed in 2017:
Keenan Bartlett – Lakeshore Chinooks 2016
San Francisco Giants
After being named as the top prospect in all of the Northwoods League in 2016 by Baseball America, Bartlett missed much of the 2017 college season at Richmond University before making seven starts and logging 31 innings. That was enough, however, for the San Francisco Giants to use a 31st round pick for the junior from Phoenix, AZ. The hard-throwing Bartlett topped out at 95 mph when he pitched for the Chinooks and used that power in his first stint with the Giants’ Arizona League rookie team in 2017. After signing in late June, Bartlett pitched 29.1 innings in 15 appearances and notched a 4-0 record with a 1.53 ERA and 34 strikeouts.
Marshall Kasowski – Lakeshore Chinooks 2015-16
Los Angeles Dodgers
Kasowski, who resurrected his career after a horrific car accident in 2015 with a performance as the Northwoods League Pitcher of the Year in 2016 and a transfer from the University of Houston to Division II West Texas A & M, was selected in the 13th round of the MLB draft by the Dodgers. Kasowski was limited in his first professional summer, but made four appearances with the Dodgers’ rookie team before being promoted for the end of the Class A season to the Great Lakes Loons. In 11.1 combined innings between the two stops, the powerful right-hander posted a 1-1 record with a 3.18 ERA and 15 strikeouts.
Parker Sanburn – Lakeshore Chinooks 2014, 2015, 2017
Texas Rangers
After a college career in which he suffered a broken vertebrae and being released from two different Division I college teams, Parker Sanburn provided a major story line for the Chinooks in 2017, as at least ten major league teams followed the hard-throwing right-hander after he wasn’t selected out of Des Moines Area CC in the MLB draft. With his checkered medical history, Sanburn used the first half of the NWL season to show scouts his potential by leading the league with a staggering 48 strikeouts and a sizzling 0.37 ERA in 24.1 innings of work. Named to pitch in the NWL All-Star game, Sanburn accepted a free agent offer from the Texas Rangers and shipped out to start his professional career on July 18. Sanburn, who was routinely hitting mid-90’s on the radar gun at Lakeshore and displayed some terrific secondary pitches, made quick progress for the short season Class A Spokane Stars and finished the season with the Class A Hickory Crawdads. In nine appearances, Sanburn struck out 16 batters and recorded an ERA of 2.35. With the drama of college behind him, Sanburn will look to advance in his career in 2018.
The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 185 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.lakeshorechinooks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Chinooks as your favorite team.
