Super planning on my part! Failing to take Strasburg’s fanatic fandom into account, we now have a Sweet Sixteen contest between two Strasburg MVPs- Brad Zebedis (2011) and Jordan Tarsovich (2013). (Sorry to the Neal family in advance for making them choose. Actually, you know, I can’t wait to see what happens!)

  • Zebedis got here by defeating Nick Ward (66.7% to 33.3%). His writeup: “Brad Zebedis came to Strasburg in 2011, right after his truly incredible freshman season had ended at Presbyterian. First, what he did in school: .425/.492/.717 in 212 at-bats, with 47 runs scored, 23 doubles, 13 home runs, 57 RBIs, and a 16/22 BB/K ratio. Then, to follow up? All he did was win the Valley League MVP award, hitting .420/.490/.638 in 174 at-bats, with 39 runs scored, 19 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 36 RBIs, and an excellent 22/20 BB/K ratio. Because of that production, he was named to the All-Decade first team at catcher. (By the way, he led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, doubles, and total bases, and finished second in OPS (behind Mac Williamson, who you will see later in this competition)). Zebedis went on to finish four years at Presbyterian, ending his college career with a slashline of .328/.402/.501 in 769 at-bats, with 53 doubles, 26 home runs, and a 74/98 BB/K ratio. Inexplicably, he was not drafted after his senior year.”
  • Tarsovich got here by walloping Nath Minnich (80% to 20%). His writeup: “Tarsovich was the MVP of the league back in 2013, the second for the team in three years. He slashed .414/.511/.529 in 157 at-bats, with 34 runs scored, 10 doubles, a triple, two home runs, 10 RBIs, a 28/20 BB/K ratio, and 13 stolen bases. It’s clear to see why he was MVP; he led the league in all three categories- batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. He returned to VMI for his junior year in 2014, and hit .293/.392/.435 in 184 at-bats. In his (redshirt) senior year, he hit .337/.419/.568 in 199 at-bats, and found himself selected in the 22nd round of the 2015 amateur draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers gave him two years in pro ball while bouncing him around to five different levels. In January of 2017, the Dodgers traded him to the Oakland A’s. He spent that season in Double-A Midland, but was released the following spring. Tarsovich hit a total of .238/.338/.352 in 747 minor league at-bats. He currrently lives in Richmond.”

So who ya got?

Vote by going to twitter.com/JohnATVL.

And by the way, if you want to read a ton about either the 2015 or 2019 VBL season, be sure to check out this post on the 2019 Valley League Annual.

Also, please check out and subscribe to the Valley Baseball League youtube channel– some awesome stuff is released almost every day!

Zebedis
Tarsovich