GREENWOOD, Ind. – With just a few hours before the 2015 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft commences, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference is hoping a few student-athletes will hear their random, computer-generated ID numbers called over the next three days.
The G-MAC has two current draft picks with minor league affiliates and two additional alumni as they climb the ladder to reach their potential dreams of making the big leagues.
A pair of recent MLB draftees from the G-MAC, David and Ryan Ledbetter, are currently in their third year with the Texas Rangers organization since starting their professional careers in 2013.
They are together on the roster of the High Desert Mavericks in the Cal League at the Class A Advanced level. The Cal League is known for being a notorious, hitter-friendly circuit.
The right-handed throwing Ledbetter twins are former pitching standouts at Cedarville and were selected in the 3rd and 19th rounds, respectively, in the 2013 draft.
Ryan has appeared in 17 games and logged 22.2 innings, all in relief, while recording a pair of saves.
David has been a part of the High Desert starting rotation while racking up 39 strikeouts in 38.1 frames pitched. He is closing in on 200 career innings pitched in the minors with stints at Spokane, Hickory and the AZL Rangers.
Although not drafted while the institution was a member of the G-MAC, Trevecca Nazarene also has a pair of minor league farmhands working their way up in the ranks.
Twenty-five year old righty Craig Stem is thriving in a relief role in the Southern League with the Jacksonville Suns, the AA affiliate of the Miami Marlins. Stem was drafted in 2011 by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 15th round.
The 6-5 standing Stem has a 1.75 ERA in 16 games pitched this year while working over 25 innings.
Another 2011 MLB draft pick from TNU, P.J. Francescon, is having similar success in the same Southern League, but with the Tennessee Smokies as part of the Chicago Cubs organization.
Francescon’s numbers are strikingly similar to Stem’s as both have emerged as shutdown middle relief options. A 40th-round pick, Francescon has compiled a 0.81 ERA in 18 games this year.
Batters are just hitting .203 off the 26-year old, 5-11 righty and he has fashioned an impressive 1.12 WHIP in over 22 innings pitched.