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Bats: Right Throws: Right
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| MAJOR LEAGUE SEASON PITCHING STATISTICS: | ||||||||||||
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YEAR |
ERA | W | L | G | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | BAA |
| 2002 | 2.17 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 49.2 | 32 | 13 | 12 | 19 | 54 | 2 | .184 |
PROFILE: Brendan Donnelly graduated from Sandia High School in New Mexico, and then went on to attend New Mexico Junior College in New Mexico before transferring to Mesa State College in Colorado. He was signed by Chicago White Sox scout Gary Pellant. Brendan took the long road to the big leagues. He actually spent a total of 14 years in the minors. The lowest point of his minor league career coming when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays released him to clear a minor league spot for Jim Morris of Disney’s “The Rookie” film fame. Brendan wasn’t really putting it all together until the 2001 minor league season, where he pitched at Class-AA Arkansas, and finished with a 4-1 mark and posted 12 saves and a 2.48 ERA. He actually ended up participating in the Texas League All-Star Game. He was then promoted to Class-AAA Salt Lake, where he went 5-1 with one save and a 2.40 ERA. Brendan throws a very lively fastball in the low 90s. Throughout his professional baseball career, he has struggled with numerous problems, but was always a pretty good strikeout pitcher. He began last season with the Angels, but after a poor start to the season, he was sent back down to the minors before being called up for good. Upon the recall, Brendan pitched wonderfully. Despite technically being a rookie, due to his age and experience, Brendan actually pitched like a crafty veteran. He was among the American League leaders in stranding inherited runners (84 percent) and in retiring the first batter faced (91 percent). Defensively, Donnelly gets the job done on the mound and is also adept at holding runners. Though Francisco Rodriguez and Troy Percival are the most heralded and known Angel relievers, Donnelly was actually perhaps their best reliever in last year’s World Series. FINAL ASSESSMENT: It is difficult to say what Donnelly will do in the future. On one hand, he appears to be a prototypical case of journeyman reliever who comes up, puts it together for one magical major league season, and then goes back to minor league obscurity. However, we feel that the odds are more in favor that Donnelly will stick around for a few years, simply because he is, for the most part, a strikeout pitcher who is difficult to hit. He may indeed have had his “career year” as a rookie, but we feel that he falls more into the “late bloomer” category than “one-year wonder.” However, as with anything, time will tell. Because of his terrific rookie numbers out of the pen, and his national exposure on the big stage last season, we see Donnelly going in the early middle rounds of the upcoming NABL draft (perhaps as early as the second round). He would really help to complement and fill out a club’s pen, particularly, if that club is looking to contend next season. However, because he much older than your average rookie, many clubs may be reluctant to draft him and he could slip to become a real bargain for some NABL club. |
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