Seals starter Austin Bibens-Dirkx was signed by the Chicago Cubs on Friday and will be assigned to their Peoria (Ill.) Chiefs farm team in the Class A Midwest League. He'll be a teammate of major leaguers Aramis Ramirez and Reed Johnson in a matter of hours, as both Cubs will be on a rehab assignment in Peoria this weekend. Bibens-Dirkx had only 8 appearances with the Seals, but he caught the eye of more than one major-league scout. He was 2-2 with a 3.70 ERA and was leading the Golden League in strikeouts with 54 in 48 2/3 innings.
Our post on June 3rd ("M's May Have Given Up Too Early on Bibens-Dirkx") was perhaps right on the mark. The Seals will definitely miss Bibens-Dirkx, but it's great to see him get another shot at making the big leagues. Best of luck, Austin!
Taking Bibens-Dirkx's roster spot was Eziequiel Ruvalcaba, who was re-signed after being released on June 20th. Ruvalcaba was 0-1 with a 12.60 ERA in 9 relief appearances. Apparently, he has been working on his mechanics and his velocity is back up into the low 90's.
The other most likely Seal to get signed by a major-league organization would be Isaac Hess, but a big-league team's legal and medical departments will have to sign off on that one before it can happen. Hess was signed by the Padres for a few hours this spring until the medical report on his artificial hip was delivered to the team. Hess has plenty of talent to get signed and hopefully it will happen for him. Until that time, be sure to get out and see him pitch while we are lucky enough to have him take to the hill at Royal Athletic Park.
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