Saarloos to Make Major League Debut Tuesday June 14, 2002 – Fullerton, Calif.
Turns out former Cal State Fullerton All-American Kirk Saarloos won't
get to pitch for Triple-A New Orleans after all.
Instead, the righthander will make his Major League debut Tuesday night
when he takes the mound for the Houston Astros at Milwaukee. Saarloos,
23, was a third-round selection (86th overall) by the Astros in the 2001
First-Year Player Draft. He was 10-1 with a 1.40 ERA (13ER/83.1IP) in
13 starts for the Double-A Round Rock (Texas) Express this season. He
allowed 48 hits in 83.1 innings pitched while walking 21 and striking
out a Texas League-best 82 hitters.
"This is an ambitious move to promote a player in his first full
year of professional baseball, but Kirk has been most impressive and appears
to have the poise and maturity to handle this challenge," said Houston
general manager Gerry Hunsicker.
Earlier this week, Saarloos was promoted to Triple-A but had not yet joined
the Zephyrs. He was granted permission by the club to take a "leave
of absence" in order to get married this weekend upon the conclusion
of the first half of the minor league season. Following the nuptuals,
Saarloos was scheduled to head to New Orleans. Instead, he'll plan to
join the Astros on the road next week.
A corresponding move to make room for Saarloos on the 25-man roster will
be made after the Astros' Monday night game at Milwaukee.Saarloos would
be the second player from the 2001 draft to appear in a Major League game.
Chicago Cubs righthanded pitcher Mark Prior was the first from last June's
draft class to play in the Majors and made his debut on May 22.
Saarloos will also become the second Titan in as many years to make his
Major League debut a year after pitching at Fullerton. Adam Johnson, the
second overall pick in the 2000 draft, debuted for Minnesota last season.
Saarloos pitched four seasons (1998-2001) for the Titans and capped his
career by going 15-2 last season to earn unanimous All-American honors.
He led the Titans to their 11th College World Series, where they finished
tied for third.
Saarloos will become the 36th former Titan to play in the Major Leagues
and the seventh Titan on a Major League active roster. The others are
Brandon Duckworth and Jeremy Giambi (Philadelphia); Mark Kotsay (San Diego);
Mike Lamb (Texas); Brent Mayne (Kansas City); and Aaron Rowand (Chicago
White Sox). San Diego's Phil Nevin, a 1992 Golden Spikes Award winner
for Fullerton, is currently on the disabled list.
Portions of this story were provided by www.astros.com
