Rookie leaguers get a taste

FOURTH IN A SERIES » Matt Inouye, Milton Loo, Kanekoa Texeira, Esteban Lopez, Patrick McGuigan and Zach McAngus made their professional baseball debuts in rookie leagues last summer.

Inouye and Texeira, selected in the 21st and 22nd rounds, respectively, in the Major League's First-Year Player Draft by the Chicago White Sox, played for the Bristol (Va.) White Sox in the Appalachian League.

Texeira (Kamehameha, Saddleback CC) was strictly a reliever, used in the set-up role and as a closer. The right-hander had three saves and a team-best 0.76 ERA when he was promoted to the Kannapolis (N.C.) Intimidators of the Low Class A South Atlantic League in August.

"It was exciting, another experience for me. Being a closer was fun. I want to keep doing that in my career," said Texeira, who held opponents to a .179 batting average at Bristol.

"I didn't expect to get moved up because our season was almost over."

McGuigan (Mid-Pacific, University of San Francisco) also split time as a set-up man and closer for the Pulaski (Va.) Blue Jays in the Appalachian League.

He had seven saves and a team-leading 1.53 ERA when Toronto promoted him to the Auburn (N.Y.) Doubledays in the New York-Penn League for the season's final three weeks.

"I started off well. I had something (control of the fastball on both sides of the plate) working for me in college that continued to work for me," said McGuigan, a 27th-round pick by the Toronto Blue Jays.

He was able to work on his changeup, and welcomed the reliever role. McGuigan also got to face Inouye, a former Mid-Pacific teammate, once.

"I wasn't supposed to pitch that game, but I did in the ninth. It was hard not to crack a smile. I got Matt to ground out," McGuigan said.

Back at his preferred position behind the plate, Inouye (Hawaii) did very well offensively until August, then fell into a prolonged slump. He was hitting .337 entering August, but went 17-for-96 the rest of the way to finish at .258.

He did lead Bristol in walks (20) and hit by pitch (11), while tying two teammates for the home-run lead (four).

Lopez (Hawaii), selected in the 25th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers, hit .279 for the Dodgers in the Gulf Coast League, but only played in 13 games.

First, there were four catchers on the roster who needed playing time, and second, he was bothered by a sore right shoulder. Lopez did not play for a time while receiving treatments. The shoulder improved a bit, but he was finally shut down at the end of the season.

"It was a learning experience. Everything went all right for the most part," Lopez said.

"I was supposed to go to instructional league, but the Dodgers told me to take the time off and rehab the shoulder until next spring.

Lopez will use the time off to complete his degree in sociology at UH and graduate in December.

Loo, a Molokai graduate drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 2004 and 2005, signed before this year's draft after his second season at Yavapai College. He played the Roughriders' season with a strained ulnar collateral ligament that limited him to 14 games with the Reds in the Gulf Coast League.

"I was rehabbing and things were getting better. The first week I was DHing. Then they wanted to see what I could do at shortstop," Loo said. "After a couple of innings, the elbow started to flare up again, so I was done."

He hit .373 in 14 games and remained in Florida for instructional league to continue rehabbing.

"The arm feels real good right now. I finally played a couple of innings," Loo said via a telephone interview from Sarasota, Fla.

McAngus (Kamehameha) was considering playing independent baseball after completing his career at Washington State when a regional scout for the Milwaukee Brewers called.

"He said they had an opening in the Arizona League. It was kind of out of the blue," said McAngus, who jumped at the opportunity.

Signed by the Brewers as a nondrafted free agent, McAngus played 41 games at third base and hit .260 with 11 doubles, two triples, two homers and 18 RBIs.

"I think I did pretty well. My average was a little disappointing. It took time getting used to wood bats," McAngus said.

He will graduate in December with a degree in sports management.

"I'm just trying to focus on baseball and play as long as I can. When I'm done, I want to stay involved with baseball, perhaps work in a front office," McAngus said.