Skip to main content

College Rivals Bonding as Teammates for Lakewood

Rivals in college, two Phillies draft picks from this year have paired up as battery mates with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. University of Texas product Hoby Milner (pictured, right) and Baylor graduate Josh Ludy regularly faced off, in one of college baseball's top conferences, but now they must rely on one another to advance in the pros.

Milner, the son of former Major League catcher Brian Milner, earned honors as a second team All-Big 12 Conference representative this season, when he posted a 7-4 record with three saves and a 2.64 ERA in 34 games for the Longhorns.

According to Milner, the transition from facing Ludy to taking signs from him has been a welcome one.

"I'm glad he's behind the plate and not at the plate, hitting," Milner said with relief. "I mean, he's a great hitter and he's a good catcher too. He hit a 480-foot home run off of me in the last conference series of the year. The next (time) I faced him, I intentionally walked him and I don't know if I've ever got him out, to be honest. But I'm glad he's hitting for us and not someone else."

The 21-year-old Milner was also battery mates with Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers catcher Cameron Rupp in college as well, throwing all 32 of his freshman innings to the Phillies' number 24 prospect, according to PhilliesNation’s 2012 rankings, before he was drafted by the organization that the duo now calls home.

Generously listed at 5-feet-10-inches tall and weighing 210 pounds, Ludy (pictured, left) was the Phillies’ 8th round pick in last month's amateur draft. According to the Portland, Indiana native, it’s been an easy transition going from opponents to teammates, with Milner, in such a quick matter of time.

"The last three years, we've been Big 12 Conference rivals and once we got here, Hoby's a great guy, he's easy to get along with. We're in that group that's just coming from college right now, so we're in the same boat and everything and we've been able to work together pretty well. I got to catch him (in a recent) outing and we've had a pretty good chemistry going on," Ludy expressed.

Ludy, a righty hitting 22-year-old, was First Team All-Big 12 this year, as he batted .362 with 15 doubles, 16 HR and 71 RBI in 63 games for the Bears.

In addition to jumping into the professional ranks with a former on-field enemy, Ludy is also now teammates with another pitcher he has some history with. Lakewood lefty Blake Mascarello (Purdue) pitched to Ludy on a regional summer league team, during the youngsters’ high school years.

Along with Mascarello, an undrafted free agent signee, Milner and Ludy are among four 2012 Phils draft picks currently making up the BlueClaws roster. Tim Carver (19th round) and Zach Cooper (15th round) are also a couple of new additions in Lakewood.

In six pro games, two of which came with short-season Williamsport, prior to joining Lakewood, Milner has a 2-2 record with a 4.18 ERA. Through 13 games, splitting time between catcher and designated hitter, Ludy has tallied a .304 batting average with 5 doubles, a triple and 7 RBI.

It’s not far fetched to consider that dominance over a pitcher could provide a backstop with the type of insight that might assist that hurler with improving his own efforts versus other offensive opposition. Milner sees evidence of his former nemesis’ assistance already.

"He knows what pitches are easy to hit off me and I guess it worked out that the first time he caught me was my last start and that's been my best start so far, so maybe he's figuring it out for me," Milner stated after Ludy helped his new cohort toss 5 1/3 scoreless frames against the Hickory Crawdads (Rangers affiliate) on July 12th.

It’s certainly a long road from college to the majors, but the quickly bonded Milner and Ludy are already looking forward to potentially climbing the developmental ladder together, as they ascend toward every minor leaguer’s dream.

"That’s the ultimate goal", Ludy said. "You want to move up and we're trying to do the best we can, every day, to get better, so we can do that."
_____________________________________________________

Milner image- Dave Schofield

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...

5th spot, Wall, Old timers, Links

The race for the Phillies' fifth starter spot is still on. While it's not fully fair to compare Grapefruit League stats, when some of the pitchers have had "B game" and scrimmage outings mixed in, Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco look to be falling behind Chan Ho Park and "Jay" Happ. Happ added to his solid Grapefruit League stats (2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP in 4 games) today against the Rays. Pitching coach Rich Dubee had been displeased with Kendrick even before he surrendered 8 earned runs in 3 innings of work yesterday against the Braves. Park has been working on improving his change up, with (Coach) Jamie Moyer. Park noticed Moyer's location control on his change, so he sought out Moyer to teach him the grip and positioning of the ball. Moyer, of course, feels good about helping anyone on the Phils' staff. Park has been coached by greats like Nolan Ryan with the Rangers and Sandy Koufax with the Dodgers, so Moyer is in great company. Park is working h...