Guyer, Doolittle Added to 40-Man Rosters
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Former Virginia players Sean Doolittle and Brandon Guyer have been added to the 40-man rosters for the Oakland Athletics and Chicago Cubs, respectively. The two join former Cavaliers Ryan Zimmerman (Washington), Mark Reynolds (Arizona) and Javier Lopez (San Francisco) on current Major League Baseball 40-man rosters.
Guyer was named the Cubs’ 2010 Minor League Player of the Year. He batted .344 in 102 games with the double-A Tennessee Smokies in 2010, hitting 13 home runs, 39 doubles, six triples, driving in 58 runs and stealing 30 bases.
A right-handed batter and fielder, Guyer was named the Southern League Offensive Player of the Week for July 26-August 1, batting .524 (11-for-21) with eight runs, three doubles, a triple, a homer, eight RBI and two stolen bases during the stretch. Additionally, he recorded a season-high, 18-game hitting streak, July 26-August 18. He batted .471 (33-for-70) with nine doubles, five home runs, 21 runs scored and 24 RBI during the run.
A Southern League postseason All-Star, Guyer helped Tennessee to 86 regular season victories – the most in franchise history – and a post-season berth.
A fifth-round draft pick in 2007 after playing at UVa from 2005-07, he also played 19 games for the Tigres de Aragua in Venezuela in the fall and batted .348.
Doolittle, considered one of the Athletics’ most promising prospects, has struggled with knee injuries the past two years. He missed the entire 2010 season while rehabbing a second knee surgery performed in July but is expected to try for a healthy 2011 campaign.
Doolittle has moved to the outfield since pitching and playing first base at Virginia from 2005-07. He was limited to 28 games in 2009 following a 2008 season that saw him lead the A’s farm system in hits (153) and doubles (40) while also ranking third in RBIs (91), fourth in walks (63) and fifth in home runs (22).