Crook, Bell & De Leon Among Free Agents

LOUISVILLE, KY – Fourteen players from the 2021 Louisville Bats team have been declared free agents, headlined by fan-favorites and walkoff heroes Narciso Crook, Brantley Bell and Michael De Leon.

(click here to see the full list of MiLB free agents, per Baseball America)

Crook, 26, burst onto the scene with the Bats in 2019 by hitting .308 in May, .313 in June and .344 in July during his first action at the Triple-A level. After a slow start to the 2021 campaign split between Double-A Chattanooga and Louisville, Crook found his groove down the stretch to hit .329 over his final 23 games with the Bats and rank among the top five hitters in Triple-A East in RBIs (3rd), OBP (5th) and OPS (4th). The Dominican Republic native also provided late-inning heroics in the waning moments of the season, lifting three game-tying or game-winning home runs over a three-week span in September.

Bell, 26, manned the corner infield and outfield positions for Louisville while collecting 47 base hits, scoring 27 runs and logging 17 RBIs in 85 games. He played particularly well at home for the Louisville Slugger Field faithful, reaching base at a .317 clip – nearly 75 points higher than his road OBP – in the Bats’ “pitcher-friendly” park. The Pittsburgh native also sent Louisville to a walkoff win over division rival Indianapolis with his clutch, slapped single into right field in the bottom of the ninth inning on June 27.

De Leon, 24, made his Triple-A debut for the Bats last season, holding down first and third base for the club and providing much-needed pop in the middle of the lineup. He began the season by knocking each of his first six hits for extra bases (four doubles, two homers) en route to finishing the year with 22 extra-base knocks and ranked fourth on the team in both homers and doubles. The Dominican Republic native was perhaps best known for his huge walkoff hits in 2021, most notably a mammoth walkoff grand slam for a sellout crowd on Re-Opening night on June 22 vs. Indianapolis.

Below is the full list of the 14 players from the 2021 Bats squad who recently elected free agency:
--Stats are with LOU in 2021

PITCHERS (games/starts, ERA)
RHP Tim Adleman (31g/3gs, 3.80 ERA)
RHP Dylan Baker (1g, 18.00 ERA)
RHP Nick Howard (20g, 7.20 ERA)
RHP Zach Lee (7g/3gs, 4.26 ERA)
RHP Diomar Lopez (9g, 1.80 ERA)
RHP Michael Mariot (19g/18g, 4.02 ERA)
RHP Hector Perez (8g, 8.44 ERA)

INFIELDERS (games/avg/hr)
INF Alex Blandino (18g, .102, 0 HR)
INF Michael De Leon (98g, .258, 7 HR)
INF Logan Morrison (16g, .347, 2 HR)

OUTFIELDERS (games/avg/hr)
OF Brantley Bell (85g, .199, 1 HR)
OF Narciso Crook (86g, .245, 11 HR)
OF Jan Hernandez (29g, .167, 3 HR)
OF Braxton Lee (51g, .233, 0 HR)