Quinn McDaniel couldn’t have gotten off to a better start in his first season at the high Class A level for the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League.
The former University of Maine All-America East first team second baseman from Eliot, who signed with the San Francisco Giants after they drafted him in the fifth round last summer, went 6-for-8 with a double and four stolen bases against Tri-City last weekend.
He drove in a run and scored one.
The 21-year-old McDaniel is one of five former Black Bears playing pro ball anywhere from the high Class A level to the Major Leagues.
Twenty-six-year-old Jeremy Pena is in his third full season as the starting shortstop for the Houston Astros and the former 2022 American League Championship Series and World Series Most Valuable Player is hitting .321 through 10 games with two homers, seven runs batted in and two stolen bases.
Last year he hit .263 with 10 homers, 52 runs batted in, 32 doubles, three triples and 13 stolen bases in 150 games. He also struck out 129 times. He scored 81 runs.
Moscow native and former Valley High of Bingham star Cody Laweryson is pitching for the AA Wichita Wind Surge of the AA Texas League but was put on the seven-day injured list on Wednesday.
The 14th round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins pitched for the AAA St. Paul Saints last season.
Former Brewer High standout Matt Pushard is pitching for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the Miami Marlins’ AA affiliate. The 26-year-old wasn’t drafted.
McDaniel has been reunited in Eugene with his former UMaine teammate Nick Sinacola, a 24-year-old pitcher and seventh round draft pick of the Giants.
“It’s been cool to be around him again,” said McDaniel. “I lived with him during the offseason in Phoenix. It’s been nice to work with him.”
The Giants spring training facility is in nearby Scottsdale.
McDaniel went 0-for-4 in his third game but is still hitting .500 and said he is off to a “pretty good start.
“It has been fun. We have a good group of guys and playing ball every night is a lot of fun,” he added.
McDaniel played for two A teams last year after signing with the Giants and hit .258 in 29 games last summer with six homers and 19 runs batted in. He also stole eight bases in nine attempts and scored 25 runs. He had two doubles and a triple.
“It was a good year. You get a feel for the game and the schedule and what the day-to-day is like in professional baseball,” said McDaniel. “You’re facing better competition and playing in a faster environment.
“I was happy with how it went. There are obviously focal points to improve on. I’m excited to play a full season, for sure,” he added.
He said he made a “little mechanical change” during the offseason and that “a lot of it was geared up to hitting high-velocity (pitches) every night. It’s a matter of getting comfortable hitting 95-plus (miles-per-hour fastballs) day-in-and-day-out.
“I also wanted to cut down my swings-and-misses and get my body where I need it to be so I can do the things I want to do,” he added.
The ballpark (PK Park) in Eugene is beautiful, he said, and the weather reminds him of Maine.
“It’s cold and it rains a lot,” he said.
He said minor league baseball involves playing a lot of six-game series against the same opponent.
“You see the same umps which is a little weird. You get to know the other team’s tendencies. You can pick up a lot after a whole week,” he said.
McDaniel said the key to moving up the ladder is “being consistent. You have to keep taking the next step day in and day out.”
He said Sinacola has been throwing the ball very well.
Sinacola is 1-0 with a 1.50 earned-run average in two outings with six strikeouts in six innings.
Last season in Eugene, he was 2-5 with a 4.58 ERA. He struck out 100 in 88 ⅓ innings and walked 25. He gave up 87 hits including 11 homers.
Laweryson was a Texas League All-Star two years ago. He was 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA for the Wind Surge. He also pitched for Class A Cedar Rapids that season and, between the two teams, he was 6-0 with a 1.62 ERA and he had 111 strikeouts and 27 walks in 94 ⅔ innings.
He allowed only two homers among 66 hits.
He struggled in AAA last year, going 3-4 with a 4.80 ERA. He allowed 11 homers in 50 ⅔ innings.
He struck out 51 and walked 25 and allowed 52 hits.
Laweryson gave up three hits in 1 ⅔ innings but no runs and struck out one in his only outing this season.
Pushard has made one appearance for Pensacola and allowed one hit and one run in 1 1/3 innings.
Last season, he pitched for three teams and compiled a 2-2 record, a 2.91 ERA and was nine for 10 in save opportunities. He allowed just 34 hits in 52 ⅔ innings and struck out 52 while walking 18. He only surrendered two homers.
