Local pro baseball players staying sharp with minor league seasons canceled

A bunch of locally-based pro baseball players gathered on Friday at Minnetonka high school to get live pitching and hitting work in.

For many, they won’t have any semblance of a minor league season. For one or two others, they’ll be part of their organization’s taxi squad, a stand-by group in the event the major league team needs help through their 60-game season. Each major league team will house their taxi squad in or near their city, and have facilities available for daily workouts and intrasquad games.

But for a few former Gophers like Tom Windle, Jake Stevenson, Sam Thoresen, and Dalton Sawyer, the phone hasn’t rung yet. So for the time being, they are staying sharp by throwing to college and pro hitters.

KSTP Sports was at Friday’s gathering, and talked with Jake Irvin (Nationals organization P), Windle (Red Sox organization), Stevenson (Reds organization), Sawyer (A’s organization), and Thoresen (Cubs organization).

***Click the video box on this page to watch interviews with the players, and to see them in action***

For the most part, organizations are paying their minor leaguers through the summer. In other words, these guys know they need to stay in shape, and need to send videos to their developmental coaches.

As for the hitters there on Friday, some are college-aged, so the chance to face live pitching against pros is super beneficial. Some of the catchers are college-aged or younger, so the chance to catch pro pitching is about as good it gets when it comes to working on your skills.