Baltimore Orioles sign pitcher Mike Recchia from Frontier League- MLB News
The Baltimore Orioles acquired pitcher Mike Recchia from the Windy City Thunder Bolts in the Frontier League and have invited him to spring training. The 23-year-old is likely going to play for the Class-A Frederick Keys in the Orioles’ farm system during
the regular season.
Mike will be making a return to the Minor Leagues after being a part of the independent Frontier League in 2012. He has been previously associated with the Minors and last played with the Charleston RiverDogs in 2011, a Class-A affiliate of the New York
Yankees.
Recchia himself is excited at the prospect of playing the Minors once again. The right-handed pitcher said that he was focused at playing during his stint in the independent league and did not let himself be preoccupied by the ideas of playing affiliate
ball.
“Baseball’s supposed to be fun,” he said. “I just wanted to have fun and not think too much about it. I tried to tell myself ‘If it happens, it happens,’ ” he said.
He posted an 11-3 winning record for the Windy City with an ERA of 2.51. He pitched in 24 games, 20 of them as a starting pitcher. He won the Brian Tollberg Award as the leagues’ best pitcher.
His work in the Minors was also quite good, where he had a 6-4 winning record with a 3.37 ERA. He was released by the New York Yankees after 2011 season.
Mike is looking forward to giving a good performance during the spring training. It will certainly be an opportunity for him to be in contact with some of the top players of the game and will get an opportunity to learn a great deal from them.
He understands that it is a great opportunity and Recchia intends to use his second chance well and work hard. “It’s great to have a second opportunity,” he said. “I’m going to go to spring training and work my butt off,” Mike said.
Mike was pleased with his work for the Thunder Bolts and intends to build upon that performance in the coming season. He aims to be a part of the Orioles Organisation as a top pitcher for them. He was almost exclusively a starting pitcher in the Frontier
League and will continue to do the same in the Minors.
“It was huge for my confidence,” he said. “I was relieving exclusively with the Yankees then I come (to Windy City) and start and pitch (1501/3) innings and felt like I was getting stronger as the year went on. I realized there are people who do that who
make millions and I showed that I can do that, too,” he said.
Mike Recchia appears to be someone with talent and importantly a drive to do well and grow as a player. These are good signs for any player who is in the early stages of his career and should he work hard and maintain his focus, there is no reason why he
cannot achieve the desired success at the highest level.
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