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Three '09 Firebirds Finish Their Summers As Pros

August 29, 2009

By Tyler Maland

Orleans, Mass. - As the summer wound down and the major league signing deadline passed, the Orleans Firebirds saw three of their top 2009 performers ink contracts with professional teams.  Alex Hassan (Duke), Matt Packer (Virginia) and Jorge Reyes (Oregon State) have all played their last collegiate games and will now try their hands at the professional ranks.

Hassan, who was back for his second summer in Orleans, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 20^th round of the June draft and was the first Firebird to sign.  Hassan was a stellar two-way player in three years at Duke, and that success translated to the tough Cape Cod League, where he was the Firebirds’ closer and leading hitter for most of the 2009 season. 

Hassan hit .289 for the summer, holding down the middle of the order, usually as the designated hitter.  That was good for the second-highest average for a Firebird with more than 60 at-bats, and Hassan also led the team with 20 RBI despite not playing the last ten games.  He was equally lights-out in limited time on the mound, posting a 1.13 ERA in seven appearances with four saves.

After a tough 2008 summer in which he batted .208, those gaudy second-summer numbers earned Hassan a spot on the All-Star team and a chance to play at Fenway Park just before he signed with the Red Sox.

Hassan was drafted as a pitcher, but since then has been told by the Red Sox organization he will be groomed solely as a hitter and right fielder.  Filling one single role has been foreign to Hassan from his high school days at Boston College High through Duke and Orleans, but specializing has worked out just fine for him so far.  In 17 games for the short-season Class A Lowell Spinners, Hassan batted a team-high .350. 

His performance was so good so quickly that he has already earned a promotion.  After just three weeks in Lowell, Hassan has been bumped up to the Single A Greenville Drive, another Red Sox affiliate in the Atlantic League. 

The second Orleans signee was Packer, a 32^nd round pick by the Cleveland Indians whose stock only rose throughout his summer with the Firebirds.

The left-hander started the season in the bullpen, and quickly established a reputation as Orleans’s best middle-reliever.  Towards the end of the summer, when the Indians needed to see more of their prospect, Packer got the nod to start two games.  He was just as impressive in that role, allowing two total earned runs in those two starts.

Packer finished the summer with a 2-0 record in 11 appearances and 23.2 innings.  He gave up just 16 hits, and had a 29-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio with a 1.90 ERA.  Such a low ERA is nothing new for Packer, who led the nation with a 1.14 ERA in 2008, his sophomore year at Virginia.

Packer has been assigned to the short-season Class A Mahoning Valley Scrappers, and has given up three hits and one earned run in nine innings of relief so far as a professional.

Jorge Reyes was the San Diego Padres’ 17^th round pick, and finalized his deal on August 17^th, a day before the MLB signing deadline. 

The dominating right-hander had a stellar three-year career at Oregon State, which included the College World Series Most Outstanding Player award his freshman year.  Reyes had a solid junior season (6-2, 4.20 ERA) and had one year of eligibility left, but the 2009 summer in Orleans solidified his readiness for pro ball.

Reyes arrived to Cape Cod later than expected, but made good use of the six appearances he got.  He became the ace of an already deep pitching staff, posting a deceiving record of 1-2.  In the 34 innings Reyes pitched, he gave up just 19 hits, struck out 40 batters and walked ten, with a 1.06 ERA.

Reyes flaunted near-perfect stuff against the best college players in the country on two different occasions.  On July 26^th, he threw a one-hitter in eight innings against Harwich, taking a perfect game into the sixth inning.  In the Firebirds’ second playoff game at Bourne, Reyes gave up three hits and retired 19 straight batters at one point in what ended up being a 3-2 loss.

The Padres have assigned their most recent acquisition to the short-season Class A Eugene Emeralds, which play less than an hour down the road from Oregon State.  In his only start so far for the Emeralds, Reyes threw four innings and gave up four hits and one earned run.

For a complete list of former Orleans players now in the major or minor leagues, see the alumni link on the Firebirds homepage.