Shoulder surgery early in his minor league career led Normal CornBelters relief pitcher Alan Oaks to pitch at The Corn Crib. Like the rest of the players on the Frontier League team, Oaks being here is part of an effort to get back to the minors.

In 2010, Oaks attended the University of Michigan and was drafted by the Miami (then known as Florida) Marlins, who promptly sent him to their Class A team in Greensboro, N. C. at the start of the 2011 season. But after just four turns on the mound in Greensboro, the right-hander needed shoulder surgery. By 2012, the Marlins moved Oaks to their Class A team in Jupiter, Fla., where he became a reliever.

As Oaks explains: “In Jupiter, I was just kind of inconsistent because I was only 10 months out of surgery. But then, the arm was feeling better so I got moved up to Class AA after the All-Star break.” That promotion had the Marlins moving Oaks to the Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League.

But what Oaks calls “a small elbow issue” – tendonitis — forced Jacksonville to put him on the disabled list late in the season. Oaks was still under contract to the Marlins when the 2013 season began. He said he was feeling strong as spring training opened for the flying fish, but his bosses told him they felt “there had been too many inconsistencies” in his performance over the time he was with them, and with that, they released him.

Because of his injuries, Oaks said Marlins coaches told him, “they said my velocity was up and down, and they really just didn’t have a spot for me.” During this past off-season, Oaks said, “I knew I was on the chopping block. But I knew if I came in in really good shape and was throwing the ball well, then I thought the Marlins would keep me around.” In his first two outings with Miami this spring, Oaks was throwing at 93- and 94-miles per hour, which, at the time, gave him hope of staying in the Marlins system, but it did not pan out that way.

Oaks has Jacksonville Manager Andy Barkett to thank for the first step taken to get him to the CornBelters. Barkett knew CornBelters Personnel Director Nick Belmonte and suggested Oaks contact him. Once Oaks did that, Belmonte put the 25-year-old Southfield, Mich.-native in touch with CornBelters Manager Brooks Carey.

“Belmonte told me Normal was looking for some relief pitching,” Oaks said. “When I called Brooks, I really liked what he had to say.”

Since coming to Normal, (through last Sunday) Oaks is 2-3 with a 2.08 earned run average through 19 games. In those games, he has registered 31 strikeouts and walked 16 batters.

“Oaks is one of our experienced guys who are dominating the league right now,” Carey said. “He is just one of those guys on the team who’ve been through some ups and downs due to injury who has fought back.” Carey added that players like Oaks and the recently promoted pitcher Casey Upperman “have some grit about them.”

Normal will send three players to the Frontier League All-Star Game, which will be played in Washington, Pa. First baseman Mike Schwartz, shortstop Pat McKenna, and pitcher Ryan Demmin will represent Normal at the annual classic which will be played on June 17.

‘Belters Gain Ground: As of the scheduled off day Monday during the home stand, Normal held on to third place in the Western Division managing to go 2-1 against Gateway, the team the ‘Belters currently need to overtake to get to second place and in effect get into a playoff spot to compete for the Western Division title come the end of the season.

Normal will have wrapped up the home stand July 9-11 by hosting fourth place Joliet at The Corn Crib, and will squeeze in a three-game road trip to Windy City Friday through Sunday. The Frontier League All-Star Break will take place July 15-18. After the break, Normal will begin the second half of the season with a quick three-game home stand against Evansville July 19-21.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 8th, 2013 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Normal Cornbelters, The Normalite. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.