Miners add pitchers to staff

PALMER — With just more than a week until the first pitch of the 2008 Alaska Baseball League season, Mat-Su Miners general manager Pete Christopher thinks his roster is finally set.

The Miners added a pair of pitchers earlier in the week — Oklahoma University sophomore Jeremy Erben and Chabot Community College sophomore Charles Ruiz — giving the Miners a full 25-man roster for the upcoming season.

With the first game looming — a June 14 nonconference date with the California Bears at Hermon Brothers Field — Christopher had been down to just 10 pitchers. The Miners lost Ventura Community College sophomore Zack Thornton and Indiana freshman Kyle Leindecker. This late in the offseason, Christopher was starting to sweat.

“I started at ‘A’ on my PalmPilot and started calling (Division I) coaches,” Christopher said on Wednesday at Hermon Brothers Field.

Christopher said Oklahoma, a school that is already sending freshman pitcher Michael Rocha to the Valley for the summer, had another arm to lend the Miners — Erben.

“They were kind of holding him back,” Christopher said of Erben. “Coaches do that sometimes.

Erben worked 64 innings during his sophomore campaign, appearing in 17 games and making 10 starts for the Sooners. He posted a 1-4 record and a 6.89 earned run average.

Christopher said Erben’s ERA is a bit high, but noted opponents hit just .260 against the right-hander.

Christopher said Mat-Su head coach Conor Bird and pitching coach Ryan Heil found Ruiz, a junior college prospect.

Ruiz could potentially be a part of the Mat-Su bullpen. During his sophomore season, Ruiz posted five saves in 13 appearances. He was also 3-2 with a 2.50 ERA, and had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of more than 7-to-1. He fanned 22 hitters while walking only three.

Christopher said Thorton will not pitch in Alaska this summer because of a, “tired arm.”

With the loss of Leindecker, the Miners are down to only two lefties. Christopher said ideally, he would have loved to find another southpaw for the staff, but with just a week left until the first game, he could wait around for a left-hander to fall into his lap.

“Beggers can’t be choosers,” Christopher said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.