Athletes Beyond Bartow: Howard returns to Albuquerque
After appearing in six games with the MLB Colorado Rockies, local left-hand pitcher Sam Howard was sent back to Triple-A Albuquerque by the organization. The sixth-year pro made three quality appearances for the Isotopes last week. Elsewhere, Elliott Anderson made his seventh appearance of two or more innings Saturday at home against the Johnson City Cardinals. Connor Justus hit .333 for the week in a series with division-leading Biloxi, and Luke Schiltz made an appearance with Arizona League playoff-bound AZL Rangers.
ELLIOTT ANDERSON — Burlington Royals (1st yr. pro; LHP; Rookie Advanced Appalachian League; Kansas City Royals organization; Auburn; Cartersville HS)… made a two and one-third inning scoreless appearance Saturday at home against Johnson City. Anderson allowed one hit and three walks while striking out two. For the season, he is 2-1 with a 1.14 ERA in 15 appearances working just under 24 innings. Anderson has 25 strikeouts and has earned three saves. Burlington (34-23) is second in the Appalachian League East Division trailing Pulaski by three and one-half games.
SAM HOWARD — Albuquerque Isotopes (6th yr. pro; LHP; Triple-A Pacific Coast League; Colorado Rockies organization; Georgia Southern; Cartersville HS)… After appearing in six games for the MLB Rockies, Howard returned to Albuquerque where he made three appearances last week. With the big league club, Howard worked eight and one-third innings and allowed seven earned runs on nine hits, six walks, and a pair of hit batsmen. He had eight strikeouts with the Rockies. With the Isotopes last week, he did not allow a hit or walk and fanned two in two and two-thirds innings dropping his Triple-A season ERA to 3.61 and 0.90 over his last ten appearances in the PCL. Albuquerque (53-71) is third in the Pacific Southern Division trailing El Paso by 19 games.
CONNOR JUSTUS — Mobile BayBears (4th yr. pro; Infielder; Double-A Southern League; L.A. Angels organization; Georgia Tech; Cartersville HS)… made four starts last week at division-leading Biloxi and went 4-for-12 at the plate with one RBI and two walks. Through 102 games and 306 at-bats this season, Justus has a .193 batting average with 21 RBI. Defensively, he has a .957 fielding percentage in 369 total chances and has been part of 45 double plays for the BayBears. Mobile is 17-36 in the South Division second half standings, 44-77 for the full season, and has been eliminated from post-season contention.
LUKE SCHILTZ — AZL Rangers (1st yr. pro; RHP; Rookie Arizone League; Texas Rangers organization; Cartersville native; Stoneman Douglas [FL] HS)… gave up one earned run on two hits and a walk last Thursday in a one-inning appearance at Arizona Brewers Blue. For the season, Schiltz is 1-0 in 10 appearances and 13 innings with a 4.85 ERA. He has recorded eight strikeouts. The Rangers (28-21 overall) are 9-12 in the second half West Division standings and trail the AZL Royals by three and one-half games. The Rangers won the first-half division title with a 19-9 mark to clinch a post-season berth.
