ATLANTIC LEAGUE VET ALBERTO CASTILLO SOLID IN ARIZONA BULLPEN

While the Atlantic League has had about a dozen of its former players in the major leagues this season, the only one there at this point (and not disabled) is left-handed reliever Alberto Castillo.

The 36-year-old Cuban native is doing excellent work for Arizona, allowing a stingy 1.17 earned run average for 7.2 innings spread over 11 appearances. He gained a victory in his only decision which stretches his career record to 3-0 (4.31, one save) for 73 outings. Castillo has pitched in the Atlantic League for Newark, Camden and the Road Warriors.

Eleven former Indy players are active in the majors at present with another four, including Stephen Drew (Camden), on the disabled list.

In an update since Thursday's Independent Baseball Insider column, Seattle announced plans to have Wily Mo Pena (Bridgeport, CT, 2010) debut this weekend with its top farm club in Tacoma, WA. With a good start, the slugger, who has 82 career major league home runs, could easily find himself with the struggling Mariners in a very short time.

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BIG PRAISE HURLED AT SOMERSET AS CLOSER'S CONTRACT IS SOLD TO ROYALS

It has to make Atlantic League officials feel good when a departing player heaps praise. Such was the case this week when Kansas City purchased left-handed closer Andrew Dobies from Somerset.

While admitting it was a two-edged issue to be leaving his teammates yet getting a renewed opportunity in a major league organization, the 27-year-old Dobies told Ryan Dunleavy of mycentraljersey.com "playing for Somerset helped revive my career. This is the purest form of baseball I've played in a long time."

'Purest form of baseball' has to mean Independent Baseball where the No. 1 objective is to win. We hear this time and again from managers, coaches and players who have been in both the affiliated and Independent minor leagues in recent years. I heard it directly (well, via telephone) this week from longtime major league star Bill Buckner, who was featured in this week's subscriber-driven Independent Baseball Insider column. Buckner is in his first season as a manager, working at Brockton, MA in the independent Can-Am League.

Dobies went to the Royals' Double-A farm club in Springdale, AR. It is called Northwest Arkansas. A former third-round draft choice of the Red Sox, who also played in the Chicago White Sox system, did not allow an earned run in 18.1 innings from May 28-July 10. He was chosen for the Atlantic League All-Star Game, and left Somerset with a 2-3 record, five saves, a 2.81 ERA and 31 strikeouts (only three walks) in 32 innings.

TOUGH BREAK FOR STEPHEN DREW, D-BACKS

Former Camden shortstop Stephen Drew, who anchors the infield for the Arizona Diamondbacks, is gone for the season with a broken right ankle. What a tough ending for both Drew and the improving National League West team.

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BLUE CRABS LOSE SANCHEZ (.403) TO PIRATES; PENA AND HERNANDEZ ALSO ON THE MOVE

A nice milestone for Independent Baseball was reached over the weekend.

Two players with fairly frequent visits to the major leagues got called up for the first time this season, and they became the 29th and 30th Indy grads to wear an American or National League uniform in 2011, thereby equalling the total for all of last year with more than two months still to be played.

Thirteen of the players have spent time in the Atlantic League.

Catcher Eliezer Alfonzo, who played for the St. Paul (MN) Saints before they moved from the Northern League to the American Association, and left-handed relief specialist Randy Williams both contributed right away, too. Williams, whose Indy time was with Edinburg, TX, then in the United League (and now in the North American), delivered three key outs for the Boston Red Sox in a still tight game at Tampa Bay Saturday. Boston eventually won, 9-5. Alfonzo went 2-for-6 in a pair of one-run Colorado losses against Milwaukee.

WILY MO PENA DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT

It was tough seeing Arizona designate Wily Mo Pena for assignment after his five home runs in 46 at-bats had helped the Diamondbacks stay in the National League West chase, but the flip side was the 2010 Bridgeport Bluefish DH-1B-OF also struck out 19times and his average was only .196 with seven runs batted in. It seems likely he will end up back at Triple-A Reno.

.403 GAP IN SOUTHERN MARYLAND ORDER

If ever there were big shoes to fill in this year's Atlantic League they belong to Southern Maryland because the Blue Crabs lost shortstop Yunesky Sanchez to Pittsburgh, taking his .403 batting average and 40 RBI in 61 games out of the lineup. Sanchez was dispatched to Class AA Altoona, PA.

CATCHERS STILL IN DEMAND

Michel Hernandez was not out of work long after the 32-year-old catcher was released by Baltimore's Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk, VA. Cleveland quickly signed the former Somerset receiver, and after putting up outstanding numbers in Double-A (Akron, OH) he moved on to Triple-A Columbus, OH. Hernandez hit .455 in eight games for Akron with a .519 on-base percentage. He did not strike out a single time in 22 at-bats. The former major leaguer picked right up at Columbus with a single (1-for-3) and a walk in his first game in the International League.

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THE STORY BEHIND A.L. STARTER JERED WEAVER'S TIME IN THE ATLANTIC LEAGUE

We wrote in last week's Independent Baseball Insider about the added interest Indy fans should have in Tuesday night's major league All-Star Game because of former independent American Association pitcher Aaron Crow of Kansas City being on the American League team. Crow had pitched in a few games for the Fort Worth (TX) Cats before signing with the Royals.

There was another tie-in since the Angels' Jered Weaver was the starting A.L. pitcher, hurling a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout. While Weaver did not pitch in the Atlantic League he did train with the Camden RiverSharks back in 2005.

Weaver and current Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew were in Camden while major league contracts were up in the air. Drew, whose brother J.D. had played for the St. Paul (MN) Saints of the independent Northern League, got into 19 games, hitting .427 (35-for-82).

Wayne Krenchicki, who was Camden's manager at the time, told me later for the Insider the 6-foot-7 Weaver trained with the Sharks for "two or three weeks, throwing a couple of bullpens and working to get ready. It was a really good experience, at a very nervous time", Krenchicki explained, because a lot of money was on the table if the right-hander and the Angels could get together on a contract. Weaver ultimately signed on May 30 with his first Camden outing tentatively planned for two days later.

One of the topics we will examine in this week's Insider, which subscribers receive on Thursday, is the likely new Atlantic League franchise in Nassau County (Long Island) now that Frank Boulton's bid has been chosen over a group that had wanted to place a New York Mets minor league team in that heavily-populated area.

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RECENT ATLANTIC LEAGUERS TIFFEE AND KENSING PUT UP GREAT NUMBERS FOR YANKEES' TOP FARM CLUB

Vacations are wonderful, but they certainly throw you off schedule. So with that apology and while waiting for the Atlantic League All-Star Game at York on Wednesday, we will bring you up to date on some former Atlantic League players now in the affiliated minor leagues.

We often talk about how many Indy grads are playing in Triple-A, just one notch below the majors. It may surprise some, but the powerful New York Yankees have been one of the most active teams at purchasing the contracts of Independent players again this season.

All five of the players below came out of Indy leagues (three from the Atlantic League this season), and are based at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA, that one step away from putting on the pinstripes at Yankee Stadium.

Recent signees Terry Tiffee and Logan Kensing are doing especially well.

Tiffee, a former major league third baseman who was one of those sold by first-half Atlantic League division champion Lancaster, is hitting .338 after 18 games with three homers and seven doubles among his hits. Tiffee his a dozen runs batted in.

Kensing, signed out of Bridgeport, has a win and three saves in his first five Scranton/Wilkes-Barre appearances with eight strikeouts and only one walk in 6.1 innings while posting a terrific 1.42 earned run average.

Greg Smith, purchased from Grand Prairie, TX in the independent American Association, is starting and after six appearances (one was in relief) he is 2-2, 4.99. Fourteen walks in 30.2 innings have not helped his cause.

Veteran major leaguer Mike Lamb, normally a first baseman or third baseman, has hit
.255 in 11 games since leaving Camden with seven of his 12 hits for extra bases. He has driven in five.

Onetime Chicago Cubs star Mark Prior, who seemed to be a decent candidate for the Bronx at the end of spring training, has once again spent much of the year on the disabled list. Now 30, the right-hander worked three times for Class A Tampa, FL, but has thrown only one inning (scoreless) with the top farm club. Prior started his comeback with Orange County (Fullerton, CA) of the independent Golden League.

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PENA, DI FELICE GIVE ATLANTIC LEAGUE 11 IN MAJORS ALREADY THIS SEASON

Wily Mo Pena's promotion this week to be the designated hitter for at least part of Arizona's trek into American League stadiums during this session of interleague play was terrific for 29-year-old Dominican, but it also notches another impressive feat for the Atlantic League.

Pena, who played at Bridgeport last season until his contract was sold to the San Diego organization, became the 11th former Atlantic League player to wear a major league uniform since the season started. That is quite a statement.

Newly-recalled Mark DiFelice (Milwaukee) became No. 10. Stephen Drew and Rene Rivera are the other grads currently in the majors, but Erick Almonte, Robinson Cancel, Tom Cochran, Nelson Figueroa, Jay Gibbons, Mike O'Connor and Mike Rivera also have been there.

It only took Pena two at-bats to blast his 78th career major league home run (his first since 2008), a 441-foot drive at Kansas City. That is his only hit in seven at-bats through two games.

We will cover both Pena and DiFelice in this week's Independent Baseball Insider column, which subscribers will receive later today.

RENE RIVERA SURVIVES

It seems clear that Rene Rivera, who was at Camden as recently as last season, has had some impact with Minnesota because the Twins decided to keep three catchers when Joe Mauer returned from his lengthy stint on the disabled list.

Rivera and Drew Butera pretty much split the catching duties the last several weeks as the Twins started clawing their way up from their horrid start. Neither carries much of a batting average (Rivera is at .180, 11-for-61 with a homer and three RBI), but they did the job defensively and even combined to hit .314 over one 14-game span.

KALA KA'AIHUE DID NOT STAY INACTIVE FOR LONG

Colorado's release of former York and Newark first baseman Kala Ka'aihue did not keep him on the sidelines for long. He signed in the independent American Association with the Kansas City (KS) T-Bones.

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CANCEL STAYS HOT, HOWARD JOINS TORONTO ORGANIZATION AND '10 BATTING CHAMPION RETURNS

Robinson Cancel's latest brief stay in the major leagues did not slow down his bat when it comes to punishing Triple-A pitching.

The 35-year-old backstop, an Atlantic League veteran (Long Island, 2010; Somerset, 2003-04; Road Warriors, 2003) went 5-for-11 (2B, RBI) in his first two games after returning to Houston's top farm club in Oklahoma City. He is now hitting .336 in 32 games for the Redhawks with a .390 on-base percentage. Cancel was 0-for-6 in two games for Houston, where he caught prized rookie Jordan Lyles.

KEVIN HOWARD LEAVES LANCASTER FOR LAS VEGAS

I am anxious to see how Kevin Howard fares in his return to Triple-A after starring both offensively and defensively while playing shortstop at Lancaster. Howard, who turns 30 later this month, was primarily a second baseman and third baseman in his previous stints at the top level of the minor leagues.

"Kevin had a great year," Lancaster Manager Butch Hobson praised in the press release announcing Howard had his contract purchased by Toronto and that he was returning to Las Vegas, where he played for part of both '08 and '09. "He's seeing the ball really well right now and squaring everything up," added Hobson, in what almost seems like an understatement since the University of Miami product had gone 23-for-49 (.469) in his last 13 games for the Barnstormers which elevated him to No. 2 in the Atlantic League batting race at .381.

"He also did an excellent job at shortstop, playing it for the first time," Hobson said.

'10 BATTING CHAMPION RETURNS TO LEAGUE

Last season's batting champion, outfielder Brian Barton, is back in the Atlantic League, joining Southern Maryland. He has gone 3-for-12 in his first four games with two runs batted in.

Barton, who struggled with Bridgeport early last year then caught fire at Newark, was released by Cincinnati, and quickly caught on with the Blue Crabs. He hit a combined .348 in 102 Atlantic League games last season, winning the batting title by nine points.

Lefty Josh Muecke, who made one appearance for Somerset last season, was dropped by Colorado. Both Barton and Muecke had been playing in Triple-A.

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