Bucknell University Athletics
Four Former Bucknell Baseball Players on Minor League Rosters on Eve of Opening Day
4/6/2011 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 6, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The 2011 Minor League Baseball season begins Thursday and four former Bucknell baseball players are currently on professional rosters. Jason Buursma (Memphis Redbirds), Matt Daley (Colorado Springs Sky Sox) and Eric Junge (Salt Lake Bees) will begin the year at the AAA level, while B.J. LaRosa (Rancho Cucamonga Quakes) is playing in High-A ball.
Each of the four players are members of teams that begin play Thursday.
A 25th-round selection in the 2008 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, Buursma has steadily worked his way through the Cardinals' farm system, playing in four different leagues over the last three summers. Last year he split time between the Palm Beach Cardinals (Florida State League) and the Springfield Cardinals (AA Texas League) and was a combined 3-1 with a 2.50 ERA in 72.0 innings.
The first five-time All-Patriot League selection in program history and a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award as a senior, Buursma set the Patriot League record for career ERA (2.13) and held the Bucknell career home run mark (24) at the time of graduation in May 2008.
Daley spent the majority of the 2010 campaign in the Majors with the Colorado Rockies, posting a 4.24 ERA in 28 relief appearances. He was one of the final players sent to the Minors last week by the Rockies following a spring training in which he did not allow a run in six appearances. Daley made his Major League debut with the Rockies in 2009 after five seasons in their farm system.
Originally signed by Colorado as a free agent in the week following the 2004 MLB Draft, Daley was part of two Patriot League Champion and NCAA teams at Bucknell. During his time as a Bison he posted a 30-inning stretch without an earned run and came within one out of a nine-inning no-hitter.
Junge is Bucknell's most veteran professional player, having played for more than a decade. He has seen time with no fewer than eight teams since 2003. This is Junge's second straight campaign with the Bees as he was 5-3 with a 5.15 ERA in 14 appearances last summer.
Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 11th round of the 1999 MLB Draft, Junge made his Major League debut with the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 10, 2002, becoming the first Bucknellian to appear in a Major League game since 1958.
Junge was co-captain of the 1999 Bison that tied for the Patriot League regular-season title. He posted a 16-15 record with 12 saves during his Bucknell career.
LaRosa is the youngest Bison in the professional ranks, having been drafted in the 23rd round last June by the Dodgers. The right-handed hitting catcher posted a .280 batting average with a double and a pair of RBIs in 10 games with the short-season AZL Dodgers before suffering a season-ending injury.
A two-time First Team All-Patriot League selection, LaRosa helped Bucknell to two NCAA Tournament appearances, two Patriot League Tournament titles and a Patriot League regular-season crown during his Bison career.
Bison Playing Professionally (Team/Organization)
Jason Buursma (Memphis Redbirds/St. Louis Cardinals)
Matt Daley (Colorado Springs Sky Sox/Colorado Rockies)
Eric Junge (Salt Lake Bees/L.A. Angels)
B.J. LaRosa (Rancho Cucamonga Quakes/L.A. Dodgers)
