Shorebird of the Week – August 13, 2015

Considering that Cam Kneeland came into the season with precisely two games played in the previous 18 months, it was little surprise he got off to a somewhat slow start, hitting only .191 as May came to a close. But the injury to Jomar Reyes back in June allowed Kneeland to play every day and the average began to climb – now he’s hitting a solid .258 with 4 homers, 47 knocked in, and a .728 OPS. And don’t look now, but he is second on the team in games played behind Elier Leyva with 88. In this season of attrition, one can call Kneeland a survivor.

But that label doesn’t just apply to 2015. Finding no takers in the 2012 draft – perhaps because the University of Massachusetts at Lowell isn’t a highly scouted location – Kneeland plied his trade with the Worcester Tornadoes of the independent Can-Am League. (One of his teammates: a 47-year-old Jose Canseco.) In 47 games there Kneeland only hit .236/5/25/.696 OPS. But when the Tornadoes blew out of town and landed in Quebec as the Trois-Rivieres Aigles, Kneeland ended up following them and was named the loop’s Rookie of the Year for hitting .306/9/62/.831 OPS in 99 games. On the strength of that season Cam signed with the Orioles in the 2013-14 offseason but only played in 2 games for Aberdeen (going 0-for-6) before being deactivated. Officially he was sent to the GCL Orioles but never appeared in a game for them.

With two seasons in independent baseball, Cam is 3 years older than league average (at 25) so the experts may chalk up his success as a matter of being more experienced than the average pitcher. But the numbers are good considering the year off, and line him up for a shot at further advancement down the road.

Kneeland reminds me of another former SotW, Tucker Nathans, who also hailed from the New England region, played for a small college (and went undrafted), then played in the Can-Am League before being signed. Nathans was a Carolina League All-Star this year and has since been promoted to Bowie. Both are the scrappy, utility-type players managers love for their flexibility.

Perhaps there is something to this formula of letting independent leagues be a long-term tryout camp, as the Orioles seem to comb through those ranks often to find players for Delmarva. There are a handful of Can-Am alumni in the bigs, and Kneeland is trying to join that select group.