Schneider and Ryan re-sign with HarbourCats for 2015

Preston Ryan
Photo by Brian Hayes

The HarbourCats announced early this morning that three new recruits have been signed and that two key relievers from their 2014 squad, Carson Schneider and Preston Ryan, will be coming back next summer. The pair of University of New Mexico relievers, along with Gabe Clark, Griffin Andreychuk, Alex Fagalde and Alex Rogers, brings the total number of returning players to six. The new players signed today are pitcher Henry Baker and catcher Zach Bonneau from the University of Washington Huskies, along with hurler Josh Mitchell from the University of Pittsburgh.

Schneider and Ryan are entering their sophomore year with the UNM Lobos. Schneider, a southpaw, went 1-1 with two saves this past summer. He posted a solid 3.37 ERA and 1.31 WHIP and walked only four batters in his 29 ⅓ innings with the HarbourCats. Ryan had a respectable 4.29 ERA and two saves with the 'Cats, although one cause for concern was his control: he walked a whopping 6.1 batters per nine innings. Ryan’s summer was highlighted by an epic 83-pitch relief appearance on August 2nd against the powerful Bellingham Bells in which he threw six scoreless innings and picked up the win. I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Ryan and Schneider take a big step forward in 2015 -- not only will they have another year of experience under their belt, but they’ll greatly benefit from the tutelage of new pitching coach Alec Adame.

Henry Baker

Baker is a sophomore starting pitcher with the Washington Huskies who went 1-0 with a 7.31 ERA and 1.44 WHIP last spring. In spite of his inflated ERA, the underlying numbers for the left-hander from Agoura, California were quite positive: 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings and 3.4 walks per nine. Although Baker only had six appearances (five starts) last season with UW, he is expected to play a more prominent role this spring. Baker had a 1.18 ERA in his senior year of high school and struck out close to 11 batters per nine innings, so there is plenty to like in this signing.

Josh Mitchell

Mitchell is yet another southpaw pitcher and he’s also the first HarbourCat in franchise history to be signed from the University of Pittsburgh. He was ranked as one of the best lefties in the state of Pennsylvania in his senior year of high school in 2013, and he features a good moving fastball that is regularly clocked in the high 80’s and can touch 90. Mitchell also possesses a good change-up. He didn't pitch last spring in his freshman year and he’s coming off of shoulder surgery, so we’ll be keeping close tabs on him once the Panthers' season starts (February 13th) to get a read on how he is progressing. 

Zach Bonneau

Bonneau, a left-handed hitting catcher, is a UW teammate of Baker’s and another guy who is entering his sophomore year. He played his freshman season for Palomar Junior College in San Diego County last spring before accepting a scholarship at the University of Washington.  Although he only had 24 at-bats with Palomar JC, Bonneau had a .292 batting average (all hits were singles) and he posted a solid .414 on-base percentage. He’s a graduate of Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Washington. Unfortunately. Bonneau’s high school stats aren’t readily available.

The current Victoria roster now stands at ten players. As we explained in a previous post, veteran experience is key to a team’s success in the tough West Coast League. Of the ten players already signed by the 'Cats for the 2015 season, there are two juniors, seven sophomores, one freshman and no high schoolers (seniors are not eligible to be signed to a WCL contract). When all is said and done, it’s likely that the roster will contain a majority of upperclassmen (defined as sophomores and juniors in college wood-bat leagues), so you can expect the HarbourCats to feature both skill and experience when the season opens up on June 5th.