Although my end with the Orioles was surely a struggle, there was a lot of beauty in that struggle. Which brings me to my other reason for deciding to not play Indy Ball: I thought about how I wanted to remember the end. Luckily, I had brothers like Brett Cumberland (pictured above) to help me survive the grind. Meaning I averaged about two weeks with a team before being moved again. In 2021, of the 18 weeks in the Minor League I was moved 9 times. The one thing I do know is after many days of thought and long conversations, I decided that I am not interested in playing for a team within any of the Independent Leagues. If anything, my agent said he heard back from a few people within various organizations, not with interest, rather to convey that their systems were still log jammed with players even after making cuts at the end of Spring Training.Īt this point I am hoping lightning strikes and the phone rings, but who knows. Sadly, my agent and I have heard very little after he sent out my information to nearly every other organization. Just one other organization had to be interested in giving a super-utility guy at least half a season to sink or swim, right? Nope. I thought, if the Orioles were not going to give me a shot after surviving the madness that was my 2021 season experience then another team would. When the best farm system in baseball released me from my Minor League contract on April 6, I thought another organization would come calling for sure. As long as I know that I gave it everything I had and I left it all on the field all these years, then I should have no regrets when the end arrives. The one constant, for the most part, was that I am the only one who thinks I let anyone down. I have had heavy but necessary conversations with my family, girlfriend, close friends, agent, and even Coach Penders, who took the time to have a long talk about this during the busiest time of the year for him, gotta love that guy. I also know for a fact that I gave it every ounce of effort that I had to the game that I love so much, and I truly believe that in my heart. I feel like I had what it takes to be a Big Leaguer, many coaches and teammates said the same thing to me. The toughest part has been getting over that hump, relieving myself of that burden. This is likely not the last we see from him in 2018, but he may not resurface until September.My fifth and final Spring Training headshot as a member of the Orioles. With a few more at bats, the offense might have come around a bit more. He is the future behind the plate, and he showed he is not too far away from being ready. Hopefully by next season there will be more room for Nottingham. The team did prove that a couple injuries puts Nottingham right in the running for playing time behind the dish. Between Pina, Jett Bandy, and the soon-returning Vogt, there is not a lot of room. It is hard to truly say when he will be back. In his short time as the Milwaukee Brewers backstop, he was responsible for a 0.2 defensive runs saved. He handled himself well behind the plate and looked pretty comfortable. Nottingham did not look overmatched he struck out only once while seeing 34 total pitches in his seven trips to the plate.ĭefensively, Nottingham looked very strong. He drew two walks in his limited at bats. The patience that Nottingham displayed at the plate was impressive. However, what can be done is give immediate reactions to his first few games. This is hardly enough to make any sort of long term judgement about Nottingham’s future, or even his readiness. When I say small sample size, I mean seven plate appearances. A couple of poor seasons in Double A suggest he might still need some work at the plate, though he is swinging well at Triple A so far this year. The sample size may be small, but it is still enough to get a peek at the Brewers future backstop. But, there is little doubt that Nottingham will find his way back to Miller Park. When Stephen Vogt returns, the situation will become even more complicated. He got a brief taste of the MLB, but now that Pina is once again healthy, there is no room. Nottingham is the Milwaukee Brewers 27th ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. An injury to Manny Pina led to catcher Jacob Nottingham making his major league debut.
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