Eric Young Jr.
From BR Bullpen
Eric Orlando Young Jr.
- Bats Both, Throws Right
- Height 5' 10", Weight 180 lb.
- School Chandler-Gilbert Community College
- High School Piscataway Township High School
- Debut August 25, 2009
- Born May 25, 1985 in Piscataway, NJ USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Eric Young Jr. is the son of Eric Young and Eric Sr.'s high school girlfriend; Eric Jr. was born out of wedlock and his parents never married, but Eric Sr. remained active in his life from the time he turned seven. They spent their summers together and Eric Jr. developed a love for baseball.
Eric was taken by the Colorado Rockies as a draft-and-follow pick in the 30th round of the 2003 amateur draft. He was signed by scouts Mike Garlatti and Mike Ericson in 2004 and made his pro debut that summer. He hit .264/.407/.345 for the Casper Rockies and stole 14 bases in 23 games while getting caught once. Returning to Casper, he hit .301/.404/.438 the next year and stole 25 in 35 tries. He led Pioneer League second basemen with 22 errors.
Eric began to look like a prospect with the 2006 Asheville Tourists, producing at a .295/.391/.409 clip, scoring 92 times and stealing 87 bases in 118 tries. He led the South Atlantic League in steals, tied for third in runs and was sixth in OBP. In fact, he led all of the minor leagues in steals, 18 more than runner-up Darren Ford, but also was caught stealing more than anyone else, 8 times ahead of the runner-ups. He also led SAL second basemen in both putouts (267) and assists (369). Baseball America rated him as being the best baserunner and fastest baserunner in the SAL. He spent the winter in the Hawaii Winter League, hitting .287/.348/.366 for the Waikiki BeachBoys and going 14 for 19 in steals. He was 6th in the HWL in average and tied Ford for second in the league in swipes, six behind leader Nyjer Morgan.
Young hit .291/.359/.430 for the 2007 Modesto Nuts. He stole 73 bases in 91 tries, legged out 11 triples and scored 113 runs. He led Rockies minor leaguers in steals and runs and was one triple behind Anthony Jackson. He led the California League in triples, sacrifice hits (12), steals, times caught stealing and error at second base (25). He made the All-Star team at second, joining Aaron Bates, Chris Nelson and Chris Davis on the infield. Baseball America rated him as the #14 prospect in the Cal League, between Taylor Teagarden and Hainley Statia. They also rated him as the best baserunner, fastest baserunner and most exciting player in the loop. In all of the affiliated minors, he was 4th in runs (all 3 players ahead spent at least part of the year in the high-scoring Cal League, as did Young), tied for 8th in triples and second in steals (2 behind Ovandy Suero).
In 2008, Young put in a solid season in his AA debut, batting .290/.391/.392 for the Tulsa Drillers. He stole 46 bases in 62 tries, not even leading his own team (Corey Wimberly swiped 13 more). He had 231 putouts, leading Texas League second basemen.
Eric started 2009 with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, batting .299/.387/.430 with 10 triples, 118 runs and 58 steals (in 72 tries) in 119 games. At the time, he was easily leading the Pacific Coast League in steals (at least 15 ahead of Eric Patterson) and runs (at least 20 ahead of anyone else). That earned him a trip to The Show.
Eric Young Jr. made his major league debut with the Colorado Rockies in 2009, with the team in a tight race with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants for the NL West title and the NL wild card.
In his first game in the bigs, he led off for Colorado and manned center field, even though he had spent practically his entire career at second base. In his first MLB at-bat, he flew out against Clayton Kershaw. He got his first hit in the fifth inning, also off of Kershaw, but was promptly picked off of first base. He finished the game 1 for 4 and was replaced by Carlos González in center late in the contest.
Sources: 2005-2009 Baseball Almanacs, "Home Run Dads" in USA Weekend Magazine, Minorleaguebaseball.com, Hawaii Winter League site
