Kremer: You'll Be Rooting for These 2 Slammers Pitchers

Let me introduce you to two young, professional ballplayers who epitomize what independent baseball is all about. Both are pitchers with the Joliet Slammers in the Frontier League ranks.

Let me remind you the Slammers, with a new ownership group in place and a new manager in the dugout, open regular-season play against the Traverse City Beach Bums on Friday night.

Joliet mayor Tom Giarrante will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Silver Cross Field. Action begins at 7:05.

You’ll want to keep a close eye on the two men who stand at the head of the Slammers’ rotation, right-handers Evan Anundsen and Jacob Sanchez. Anundsen will start vs. the Beach Bums.

He once was a fourth-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers. He spent seven seasons in the Brewers’ organization, climbing to the Class AA ranks in affiliated pro ball last season. He was let go at the age of 24 because the Brewers felt he peaked before undergoing arthroscopic surgery to fix an injury on his right shoulder in 2010.

He wants to prove he still has plenty of game left, say nothing of a live fastball and an assortment of other pitches designed to keep hitters from digging in the batter’s box. He wants to prove he is healthy again.

Anundsen grew up in Jefferson County, Colo., in the years after the April 1999 Columbine massacre. His persona was shaped by a collective strength that grew out of a community that finally picked up and moved on after searching so long for answers that were never to be found.

So many asked, “Why?” They were left wondering because there is no rationale for mass murder and suicide inside a high school.

On visits home, Anundsen still makes time to have lunch with the principal at Columbine, a close personal friend. He said Frank DeAnglis is holding strong. To that end, Anundsen considers it the least he can do to be strong, to set an example of professionalism and to always keep a proper perspective on the mound.

He is 6-3 and 222 pounds, all grown up. Yet, he is still playing a child’s game. And he is still counted on to be the Slammers’ horse, the guy who will chew up innings and rack up victories for as long as he is in Joliet. And that might not be long, manager Mike Breyman said.

“He’s trying to get back (to affiliated baseball) and we’re trying to win,” Breyman said. “Hopefully we have him long enough he makes a difference for us. Hopefully we can move him on. I know he wants to move on really badly.

“He deserves a shot to come here and prove himself, that he can move on to the next level. If he gets signed—obviously, we’d love to have him here the whole year, but that’s not what we’re about—that’s good for us. That gives us recruiting power for years to come.”

Sanchez joined the Slammers at the midway point of last season and made an instant impact as a rookie who had everybody wondering, “Where did this guy come from?”

He went 5-2 with a 2.89 ERA. Really, he was only adding to a resume of success that he built while flying under the radar. He grew up in Brawley, Calif., played JUCO ball for two years and then moved on to Iowa Wesleyan.

He was the Midwest Collegiate Conference Pitcher of the Year as a senior in college. An honor like that might turn heads if he had played in the Pac-12 or the SEC, but at Iowa Wesleyan the reaction from outsiders was more like, “Big whoop!”

Sanchez, 23, throws hard and mixes in his off-speed stuff. His slider remains a work in progress and, perhaps, the last piece of the puzzle scouts want to see placed firmly in his arsenal before he departs for greener pastures. Breyman said Sanchez’s slider was deemed flat in an off-season workout with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Even so, the word is out now on Sanchez.

“I found out quickly how well respected he was because about 10-15 coaches were trying to get him as soon as I got the job,” Breyman said. “So, it was known how good he was, and having a Rookie-2 player here being able to contribute like he’s going to is like gold in our league.”

A chip-on-the-shoulder mentality is one that likely will push both Anundsen and Sanchez as the season progresses. The Slammers’ roster has been totally rebuilt, Sanchez one of five holdovers returning from 2012. He is making new friends while staying true to his craft.

He said he will continue to attack hitters, work to get ahead in counts. Anundsen said his goal will be to retire hitters on three pitches or less—he is a groundball pitcher.

“Nobody likes to not be re-signed,” Anundsen said of the sting he felt from the Brewers. “Unfortunately, when that call never came, it was kind of one of those next-best-thing situations. Mike (Breyman) called me way back in December or January.

“I did a little research on it and I said, ‘You know what? This seems like the best place to be.’ ”

The Frontier League: It’s a whole new frontier, the minor leagues for MLB’s minors.

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