Each week in the Alumni Notebook, we will take a look back at the previous weekend’s action from around the game of baseball. This week, we take a look across all baseball levels and bring you the latest on Baseball Factory alumni who are helping their teams with outstanding play. Steve Bernhardt, Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Factory provides information on the Factory alumni.

Minor League Baseball

Bijan Rademacher

Bijan Rademacher – The Chicago Cubs 13th round selection in 2012 out of Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA currently plays for Double-A Tennessee and the 24 year-old outfielder is off to a breakthrough 2016 season.

Bijan leads the Southern League in hitting with a .396 average and has also hit four homers, tied for league-best. He’s also in the Top 5 in other categories like runs scored (13) RBI (13), on-base percentage (.515) and OPS 1.188 after 18 games for the Smokies.

The 2010 graduate from Canyon High School in Anaheim Hills, CA attended a Baseball Factory National Tryout in Azusa, CA in July of 2007, as well as the 2007 Dodgertown World Series and 2009 Team One West showcase.

Chris Ellis

Chris Ellis – Another player in the ultra-talented Southern League, the right-handed pitcher originally was drafted by Los Angeles Dodgers in 2011, but did not sign and instead played at the University of Mississippi. Ellis was drafted after his senior season and signed by the Los Angeles Angels in the third round of the 2014 Draft.

After spending most of last season on the Angels Triple-A Arkansas ball club where he went 7-4 with a 3.92 ERA, Ellis was traded to the Atlanta Braves organization after season’s end in the Andrelton Simmons trade. In an effort to rebuild their minor league organizational pitching depth, the 2008 Under Armour Pre-Season All-American has been part of a new crop of pitchers ready to emerge and has been very good to start his 2016 season.

Ellis is off to a 2-0 start with a 1.16 ERA in 23 1/3 innings pitched for Double-A Mississippi, so it’s a bit of a homecoming for the Macon, GA native with the area he’s currently playing in and for the organization he’s with. Ellis’ 0.94 WHIP is good for ninth-best in the Southern League and he’s struck out 17 batters to just eight walks over four starts so far.

Ellis attended the 2010 Team One South event.

Rio Ruiz

Rio Ruiz – The Atlanta Braves picked up Ruiz from the Houston Astros in the deal that sent Evan Gattis to Houston in January of 2015 and the slugging third baseman is showing power potential down on the farm.

In his first season in the Braves organization, Ruiz hit just .229 with five homers in 126 games for Double-A Mississippi in 2015. In 18 games at Triple-A Gwinnett this season, Ruiz already has two homers to go along with four doubles, a triple and 10 RBI. His .358 batting average is good for fifth in the International League and his OBP, SLG and OPS all sit in the Top 10.

Ruiz graduated from Bishop Amat Memorial High School in La Puente, CA in 2012 and was the Astros fourth round selection that same year. We saw Rio at one event in December of 2010; an Under Armour Baseball Factory College PREP in Agoura Hills, CA.

Jose Berrios

Jose Berrios – The 2011 Under Armour All-American put together an outstanding 2015 season between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Rochester in the Minnesota Twins organization, going 14-5 with a 3.03 ERA with 175 strikeouts in 166 1/3 innings pitched. His star has been shining brightly for some time now as he was named a Triple-A All-Star (selected by Baseball America) in 2015. He’s also made back-to-back starts in 2014 and ’15 for the World Team in the Futures Game, held during All-Star week, showcasing the top talent in baseball across all levels.

This season, Berrios has been downright nasty, sitting within the Top 5 in ERA within the International League (1.06) and is 2-0 with 20 strikeouts and a 0.94 WHIP in 17.0 innings pitched.

Updated (4/26): This afternoon, it was announced Jose would make his major league debut on Wednesday night against the Cleveland Indians.

College

Patrick Mathis

Patrick Mathis – Mathis is a 2014 graduate from Venus High School in Venus, TX and attended an Under Armour Baseball Factory College PREP event in Cedar Hill, TX (just outside of Dallas) in late 2012 and was a participant in the 2013 Under Armour All-America Pre-Season Tournament. Now a sophomore outfielder at the University of Texas, Mathis had a huge series against rival Texas Tech last weekend and is having a big season hitting in the middle of the lineup for the Longhorns.

In the team’s recent series vs Texas Tech, Mathis went 5-for-10 with three runs and nine RBI in the team’s road-series victory in Lubbock, TX. In each of the three games, Patrick knocked in three runs and tied his career high in runs scored with two in the series finale.

The former three-time District Offensive MVP at Venus was also part of Baseball Factory’s Top 100 Prospects in 2014 and leads Texas in most offensive categories this season. His .315 average is tops, as are his five homers and 27 RBI in 33 games (32 starts). He also has seven doubles, a triple and has walked 20 times, good for third-best on the Longhorns.

Thomas Hatch

Thomas Hatch – The 2012 Under Armour All-American Tulsa, OK also attended an Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout & College PREP event in the Oklahoma City area in late 2011 and early 2012 and made the 2013 Top 100 Prospects list.

Hatch is in his sophomore season at Oklahoma State University and the 6’0″, 191 pound right-hander is fresh off a dominant, complete game shutout of TCU last Friday in which he threw 121 pitches in the 9-0 victory, scattering five hits, walking one and striking out 10 hitters. The program is happy to have Hatch healthy after redshirting last season due to injury. Through 10 starts this season, Thomas is 3-1 and pitching to a 1.72 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 68.0 innings pitched. He’s gotten stronger as the season has gone, going seven innings or more in each of his last four starts in the month of April.

Peter Alonso

Peter Alonso – After missing the first 30 games of the 2015 season with a broken foot, Alonso responded by hitting .301 with 10 doubles, five homers, 32 RBI and 33 runs scored. Now, healthy and even more productive in the middle of the order, the big junior first baseman from Tampa, FL is having a big season for the Gators.

In the team’s 4-1 win against the University of Georgia last Saturday, Alonso went 2-for-4 with a two-run shot and scored twice as Florida took two-of-three against the Bulldogs. He leads the team in all major offensive categories, including average (.347), doubles (11), homers (nine) and RBI with 41.

Alonso is a College PREP alum, having attended the May 2010 event in Tampa, FL and later attended the 2010 Arizona Freshman/Sophomore Fall Classic and 2011 Team One South events.

Reid Humphreys – This junior Bulldog does it all for Mississippi State, currently one of the top two-way players in the country. He has 19 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings and notched his fifth save of the year over the weekend in a 2-1 victory over LSU. With the bat, Humphreys is hitting .328 with the team-lead in doubles with 15 and RBI with 34. He also has four homers and is second on the team in total bases with 71.

In January of 2012, we saw Reid at an Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout & College PREP event in Jackson, MS and was a 2013 graduate from Northwest Rankin High School in Brandon, MS.

High School

Chris Bashlor

Chris Bashlor – Bashlor is a catcher/third baseman and currently a senior at Calvary Day School in Richmond Hill, GA where the right-handed hitter is putting together a monster senior season.

Bashlor is hitting .661 with 30 runs scored, 10 doubles, a triple, two homers and 18 RBI. Bashlor was a 2012 Under Armour Southeast Championship participant and in 2013 was a Pre-Season All-American where he showed as a solid catcher behind the plate and bat with his plus bat speed. Chris has committed to Lipscomb University.

Conner Uselton – The 2016 Under Armour All-American continues to have a fine season with the bat and on the mound for Southmoore High School in Oklahoma City, hitting .483 with seven doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 32 RBI and 10 stolen bases. The outfielder attended the 2015 Futures Texas event and showed off a fantastic toolset across the board, leading to his selection to play at Wrigley this coming July.

Uselton is also dominating on the mound as well, going 2-0 with two saves and 26 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings pitched.

Triston Casas

Triston Casas – This fantastic freshman helped American Heritage High School in Pembroke Pines, FL upset Archbishop McCarthy (the No.1 ranked team in the state of Florida) by hitting a three-run homer to get the scoring started.

We saw this exciting player at the 2014 Under Armour Memorial Day Classic and a month later at the Southeast Championships as a solid two-way potential-type player with a solid approach at the plate and a good mix of pitches on the mound. Last November, Casas also attended an Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout in Davie, FL.