This week in Catching up with the Bucks, were taking a different angle and looking at how some of the Bucks recent draftees are faring in the pros. In the 2012 MLB draft, 11 former Bucks were selected. We are going to look at Cameron Perkins, Dakota Bacus, Joel Hutter, Zach Cooper, and Jeff Popick.

Cameron Perkins played for the Bucks in 2011 while attending Purdue University, playing primarily first base. After his junior season, Perkins was selected in the 6^th round by the Philadelphia Phillies, the highest any Buck went in 2012. After a short stint with the rookie league team, the former Boilermaker has been primarily playing for their A- team. In 37 games, he has recorded a .267 batting average and is slugging .377. He has driven in 15 runs and scored 16 of his own. While he has not walked a lot, he has kept his strikeout totals reasonably down also.

Dakota Bacus was taken by the Oakland Athletics in the 9^th round after playing at Indiana State University and for the Bucks in 2011. He has ten relief appearances this season for their rookie league team and has been excellent with an ERA of 2.25. His strikeout and walk numbers are also excellent, striking out 7.31 batters per nine innings and walking just 0.56 in that time.

Joel Hutter attended Dallas Baptist University and played for the Bucks in 2011 as a shortstop. Drafted in the 10^th round by the Baltimore Orioles, he has appeared in 35 games for their A- team. In that time he has hit a very solid .308, with an on-base percentage of .378 and slugging .383. He has also driven in 17 runs for them. While he has not shown a lot of power, he has struck out in less than ten percent of his plate appearances.

Zach Cooper attended Central Michigan University and played for the Bucks in 2009-2010. Taken in the 15^th round by the Philadelphia Phillies, Cooper has pitched ten and two-thirds innings and ten innings at for their A- and A teams, respectively. At A-, Cooper had an ERA of 1.69 with ten strikeouts and six walks. At single A, he lowered his ERA even further to 0.90. He also kept a solid strikeout total with nine but only had three walks here.     

Jeff Popick was taken in the 16^th round by the Colorado Rockies after playing at Mesa State College. He also played for the Bucks in 2011 playing in left field. In 26 games for their rookie league team, Popick has hit for a .344 average and has an on-base percentage of .417. He has also showed some excellent power, with four home runs, eight doubles, and one triple in just 105 plate appearances. This has put together a .589 slugging percentage.

All of these Bucks are off to great starts in their careers in pro baseball and we wish them continued success in their journeys.