The St. Paul Saints made two roster moves prior to last night’s 4-1 victory over the Sioux City Explorers. First, Christian Reyes was traded to the Evansville Otters for a player to be named later. Reyes, who was 1-4 with the Saints while Kevin Sullivan took the bulk of the playing time behind the plate, will be playing under former Saints pitching coach Jason Verdugo.
…this was bound to happen, with the team carrying 3 catchers…
With Reyes off the roster, the Saints were able to sign Hamline University product Andrew Bennett. In 2008, Bennett started all 41 games for the Pipers. He led the team in triples with 5, HRs with 8, RBIs with 49, and slugging percentage at .74, while finishing second on the team in batting average at .403, runs with 43, hits with 56, total bases with 103, walks with 19, hit by pitches with 19, on base percentage at .476, and stolen bases with 20. Bennett was named to the MIAC All-Conference team, and earned the first MIAC hitter of the week honor, covering Hamline’s first 17 games, in which Bennett totaled a batting average of .474 while scoring 23 runs and 23 RBI on 27 hits, including seven doubles and five homers. He also had 11 stolen bases on 12 attempts, and drew nine walks while only striking out six times in 57 at-bats. Bennett, a math and physics major, graduated as the home-run leader at Hamline with 24 in his career.
…i don’t feel too guilty copying this information from bennett’s bio, which you are linked to on this post, because i helped to compile the information. bennett will be an extremely valuable asset to the saints, as he’s a utility player capable of playing in both the infield and the outfield, and, as evidenced by his stats and george tsamis’ high praise, bennett can really swing the stick. get excited to watch this kid play, especially if julius thames’ hip injury lingers after colliding with marcel longmire on sunday at sioux falls…
