Gyorko Becomes 112th Alum in MLB
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Former TinCaps infielder Jedd Gyorko (pronounced jerk-oh) made his debut for the San Diego Padres on Monday as one of 27 Fort Wayne alums appearing on Opening Day rosters across 15 of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball. In the process, Gyorko became the 112th Fort Wayne product to complete the journey from the Midwest League to the big leagues since 1993.
Gyorko, 24, played for the TinCaps in the second-half of the 2010 season, his first in professional baseball, after three years at West Virginia University. The Morgantown, West Virginia native hit .284 with 2 HR and 23 RBI in Fort Wayne.
Since his time with the TinCaps, Gyorko split the 2011 campaign between Advanced-A Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio, and the 2012 one between San Antonio and Triple-A Tucson. The Padres' second- round selection in the 2010 MLB Draft posted his most impressive numbers yet in Triple-A where he hit .328 with 24 HR and 83 RBI in 92 games. Gyorko's .588 slugging percentage with Tucson was the fourth- highest in all of Triple-A last year.
Debuting on Monday against the Mets in New York, Gyorko played second base and batted fifth, going 1-for-4 with a double. In spring training, he was second on the Padres in both HR (4) and RBI (12).
Gyorko was one of six former Fort Wayne players on San Diego's 25-man roster for Opening Day.
Below is a list of the other 26 Fort Wayne alums on Opening Day rosters across Major League Baseball in 2013:
San Diego Padres: Anthony Bass '09, Brad Brach '09, Nick Hundley '05-06, Dale Thayer '03, Will Venable '06
Cincinnati Reds: Mat Latos '08-09
Chicago White Sox: Dylan Axelrod '07-08, Jake Peavy '00
Colorado Rockies: Michael Cuddyer '98, Wilton Lopez '07
Detroit Tigers: Torii Hunter '94
Kansas City Royals: George Kottaras '04
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Ernesto Frieri '06-07
Los Angeles Dodgers: Luis Cruz '03
Miami Marlins: Wade LeBlanc '06
New York Mets: Mike Baxter '05-06, Greg Burke '06, LaTroy Hawkins '93, Jeremy Hefner '08
Oakland Athletics: Nate Freiman '10, Eric Sogard '07
Seattle Mariners: Oliver Perez '01
Tampa Bay Rays: Cesar Ramos '05, Jose Lobaton '05-06
Texas Rangers: A.J. Pierzynski '95-96
Toronto Blue Jays: Steve Delabar '06-08
The TinCaps 2013 season starts Thursday, April 4th on the road at the Great Lakes Loons. Meanwhile, Opening Night at Parkview Field is slated for Thursday, April 11th when the TinCaps host the Lake County Captains, with first pitch at 7:05pm. Opening Night features post-game fireworks and is a Thirsty Thursday with $1.00 beer specials. Visit TinCaps.com or call (260) 482-6400 for more information.