ANOTHER 10 GET SHORT TRIPS TO MAJOR LEAGUE CAMPS

It is not just the 52 former Independent Baseball players who are getting to strut their ability in major league spring training camps. Far from it.

The Independent Baseball Insider has identified 10 more such players who have gotten at least a one-day opportunity to be in uniform for Grapefruit or Cactus League games as MLB team reinforce their rosters, especially for late-inning duty.

Interestingly, two of those who have gotten into games come from the Golden League, which has been out of operation for a few years. First baseman Seth Loman got into one game with Atlanta, and Austin Bibens-Dirkx saw brief duty with Toronto. Both of those players have seen spring training duty in other years, too. Loman played Indy baseball for St. George, UT; Bibens-Dirkx was with Victoria, Canada.

Julio DePaula, who had a whirlwind ride from York, PA of the Atlantic League to the parent Baltimore Orioles last summer, has seen action with his new team, Arizona. It certainly would seem the D-Backs are intrigued, getting DePaula into two games aready. He has given up a run and a hit in 1.1 innings. The right-hander also has pitched for Bridgeport, CT of the Atlantic League and St. Paul, MN of the American Association.

Arizona also has looked at right-hander Brandon Sinnery (Lincoln, NE, American Association; London, Ontario, Frontier League). Another American Association grad, righty Matt Nevarez (Wichita, KS), spent at least one day with Pittsburgh, and Atlantic League righties Mark Rogers and Mitch Atkins have been with Texas. Rogers, signed only recently, played at Lancaster, PA, while Atkins was at Somerset, NJ.

Frontier League players besides Sinnery who have gotten to wear major league uniforms include RHP Johnny Omahen (Traverse City, MI) with Arizona, OF Matty Johnson (Gateway, Sauget, IL) with Boston and RHP Stephen Shackleford (Florence, KY) with Philadelphia.

THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER will resume in March. Request a free sample column from December in order to be automatically reminded when the column starts for 2015.

Get the independent minor league baseball trivia question of the day by clicking this link: Independent Minor League Baseball Trivia Questions