It’s probably not a surprise to some of you, but I take the time to check out every minor league start by a former Valley League pitcher. And I check all the major league boxscores, and I watch transactions, and… well, good enough.

Last night (Wednesday, April 20), five pitchers with ties to the Valley League made starts in the minor leagues, and in all my years of following every day, I haven’t seen a night where, as a whole, they pitched so well.

Here are the five:

  • Chad Kuhl (New Market 2012), for Triple-A Indianapolis: 5 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, a win, game score of 67.
  • Drew Rucinski (Luray 2009-10), for Triple-A Iowa: 6 IP, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts, game score of 62.
  • Sam Howard (Staunton 2012), for High-A Modesto: 5 2/3 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, game score of 68.
  • Max Povse (Staunton 2013), for High-A Carolina: 6 IP, 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, loss, game score of 48.
  • Austin Gomber (Luray 2012), for High-A Palm Beach: 6 2/3 IP, 6 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts, win, game score of 67.

Wow.

So, combined: 29 1/3 innings, 22 hits, 5 earned runs, 7 walks, 29 strikeouts, 2 wins, 1 loss, 1.54 ERA, 0.9898 WHIP, 8.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, averaged game score of 62.4.