CBN POW, Week XVIII - Erik Sabrowski, plus Cottam

Left-hander Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.) had two wins in relief for the double-A Akron Rubber Ducks this week to earn Canadian Baseball Network minor league Player of the Week honours.

August 9, 2023

By George Farelli

Canadian Baseball Network

Erik Sabrowski has probably never heard of Phil Regan.

Regan went 14-1 for the 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers making nary a start, but he did made 65 relief appearances.

The old line was manager Walter Alston would insert Regan into tie games to ignite the Dodgers’ offence. Regan earned the nickname ‘The Vulture’ for gaining so many wins and now you can hear players turn the nickname into a verb saying “man did he ever ‘vulture’ that one.”

That was years ago. Win totals don’t mean a lot to the Cleveland Guardians. Zeros have meaning.

Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.) put up two zeros and gained two wins for the double-A Akron Rubber Ducks this week to earn Canadian Baseball Network minor league Player of the Week for Week XVIII ... the best of 156 Canadians in the minors or independent ball.

How the week went for the former Edmonton Prospect, selected in the 14th round from Cloud County in 2018, as he pitched ...

_ A scoreless fourth inning taking over for the starter with the scoreboard showing a 0-0 deadlock. Akron scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth, a la Regan, in a 6-1 Rubber Ducks win over the Somserset Patriots before 3,543 fans at Canal Park.

He needed only eight pitches -- six strikes -- to strike out Trey Sweeney, Jasson Dominguez on a lines to centre and popped up Ben Rice.

_ A scoreless inning four nights later he entered with two out in the fourth with Akron trailing 3-1. Sabrowski retired the third out of the fourth on a fly ball to left. In the bottom half of the fourth, Akron scored three times on the way to a 10-8 victory before 4,721.

In the fifth inning, Sabrowski retired Rice on a pop up to third, then Elijah Dunham doubled and Anthony Seigler struck out swinging before Akron went to the bullpen again. The lefty threw 10 pitches -- seven for strikes.

Highlight: C Kole Cottam - Currently active with Spire City Ghost Hounds, was named by the IND Atlantic League as Player of the Month for July 2023.

Atlantic League release _ Kole Cottam 26, hit .379 in 25 games in July, slamming 10 home runs and driving in 27 runs. Cottam had a .471 on base percentage, and a slugging percentage of .828, for an OPS of 1.299. He led all Atlantic League players in both slugging percentage and OPS while recording 10 multi hit games, and nine multi RBI games. He collected a pair of four RBI games to go with two multi homer contests. A native of Knoxville, Tenn. Cottam is in his first year in the Atlantic League.”

Although US born, Cottam is recognized as a “dual status Canadian,” in light of the fact his father is born in Canada. He has extensive family in Burlington area, including grandparents and is known to visit often. Apparently, he’s serious about his Canadian connection, and the rumor persists that he’s also a Toronto Maple Leafs and a Toronto Blue Jays fan.

Best Offensive Performances

Name Class Team AB R H HR RBIs Avg.

Liam Hicks AA Frisco 21 2 10 1 6 .476

Owen Caissie AA Tennessee 19 6 7 2 6 .368

Gavin Logan A Visalia 19 5 7 2 2 .368

David McCabe A Rome 22 7 8 1 3 .364

Jared Young AAA Iowa 11 3 4 0 3 .364

Konner Piotto A Down East 11 2 4 1 1 .364

Dylan O’Rae Rookie ACL Brewers 14 4 5 - - .357

Matt Coutney A Tri City 20 1 7 - - .350

Victor Cerny IND Trois Rivieres 15 3 7 - 1 .457

Dane Tofteland IND Ogden 24 4 11 2 5 .458

Jacob Robson IND Kansas City 26 4 11 1 5 .433

Matt Lloyd IND Sioux City 20 3 8 - 4 .400

Noah Myers IND Evansville 18 5 7 - 1 .389

L.P. Pelletier IND Trois Rivieres 20 4 7 1 2 .350

David Glaude IND Quebec 23 6 8 2 8 .348

Marc Antoine Lebreux IND Quebec 23 4 7 2 5 .304

(Minimum 10 ABs)

Best Pitching Performances

Name Class Team GM W S ERA INN K

Mike Soroka AAA Gwinnett 1 - - 1.80 5.0 8

Soroka continues his steady progress towards returning on a full-time basis to the big league level with the Atlanta Braves. He had another strong outing this week in Gwinnett’s 5-3 win over the Indianapolis Indians. In this game, on Aug. 4, he pitched five innings, gave up four base hits and one earned run while striking out eight, but was not involved in the final decision. This latest start improved his overall record with Gwinnett in 13 Triple A International League games, to 3-3 with a 3.55 ERA.

Name Class Team GM W S ERA INN K

Erik Sabrowski AA Akron 2 2 - 0.00 2.0 2

Sabrowski missed the entire 2022 season due to injury, so his rehabilitation and recovery are being monitored closely by the Cleveland Guardians organization, and it’s safe to say they are pleased with his progress thus far in 2023. He’s become an important part of the Akron Rubber Ducks bullpen, and this week he had two more excellent outings. On August 1, in a 6-1 win, over the Somerset Patriots, he pitched one scoreless inning allowing nary a hit while striking out one and picking up the win. He followed that up on Aug. 6, in a 10-8 win again over Somerset, by tossing one scoreless allowing one hit, while fanning one to earn his second win of the week. These results improved his overall record with Akron in eight double-A Eastern League appearances, to 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA. What’s most impressive is that in 11 innings he still does not have an earned run average.

Previous Players of the Week

Week I _ Edouard Julien (Ancienne-Lorette, Que.) triple-A St. Paul Saints (Twins)

Week II _ Cade Smith (Abbotsford, BC) double-A Akron RuberDucks (Guardians).

Week III _ Abraham Toro (Longuiel, Que.) triple-A Nashville Sounds (Brewers)

Week IV _ Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.) double-A Midland (A’s) and Trei Cruz (Toronto, Ont.) double-A Erie (Tigers)

Week V _ Wesley Moore (Surrey, BC) class-A Clearwater Threshers (Phillies).

Week VI _ Matt Coutney (Wetaskiwin, Alta.) class-A Inland Empire (Angels).

Week VII _ Damiano Palmegiani (Surrey, BC) double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Jays)

Week VIII _ Matt Coutney (Wetaskiwin, Alta.) class-A Inland Empire (Angels) annd David McCabe (Courtice, Ont.) and Augusta Greenjackets (Braves.)

Week IX _ Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.) double-A Akron Rubber Ducks (Guardians)

Week X _ Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) class-A Hickory Crawdads (Mets)

Week XI _ Jared Young (Prince George, BC) triple-A Iowa (Cubs).