The pipeline of standout Sussex County Miners pitchers getting back to the minor leagues continues.
Former closer Ryan Newell is the latest Miners pitcher to move closer to the major leagues when he signed with the Tampa Bay Rays organization earlier this week.
Newell joins a list of five other former Sussex County pitchers, including starter Tyler Alexander and reliever Alex Demchak, who have signed with an affiliated club after a stint at Skylands Stadium.
“Ryan was a guy who was touching 99 miles an hour pretty consistently last year with a 90-plus mile an hour slider, that’s signable pretty much anywhere,” said Bobby Jones, Miners manager and director of baseball operations. “There’s not a lot that needs to go on to figure out if he can play.
″ … As long as he can throw strikes and he can continue doing what he was doing while he was here, he’s going to be just fine.”
The 28-year-old right-hander, who previously spent six seasons in the Miami Marlins organization, was the Miners’ most reliable arm out of the bullpen last season.
Newell ranked second in the league with 19 saves on the way to helping Sussex County win a second straight Can-Am League regular-season title.
He did not allow an earned run over his final 17 regular-season appearances and closed the season with a 1.75 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched.
Newell struck out the side in eight separate games.
Jones said that a big development over the course of the season for Newell was commanding more 4-seam fastballs as opposed to his initially preferred 2-seamer, which had more movement.
“I was very adamant that he got to the 4-seamer because I felt like, obviously, it would change his game because the 4-seam is more about command,” Jones said. “He was getting the movement (on his 2-seamer), but a lot of times it was running back to barrel. Guys who weren’t really good would get enough of him to have some success.
“When he went to a straight 4-seamer, it really eliminated balls running back over the barrel or guys having an opportunity to barrel him up when really he had them buried. I think he’s on his way.”
After the Can-Am League season, Newell registered nine saves for Venados de Mazatlan in the Mexican Pacific Winter League.
Jones believes that last season’s experience facing the same five Can-Am League opponents series after series will work to Newell’s advantage as he branches out to take on broader competition in the minors.
“I think that is one of the more underappreciated things about the old Can-Am League,” Jones said. “Yes, it was a smaller league, but it made you grow your game. People saw you a lot, so it made you really grow your game. It made you really rely on the things that made you successful. Those lessons will play well for him down the road.”
It is still undetermined where Newell will start the 2020 for the Rays organization, but Jones believes that ending up with Tampa Bay could work to his benefit.
The Rays are known for a heavy reliance on their relievers when they platoon a number of pitchers from the opening pitch during their “bullpen days.”
Whatever role Newell finds himself in, Jones believes he has the command and velocity to excel at the next level after his time with the Miners.
“I think he’s a bullpen guy,” Jones said. “Today in this game, teams have four or five different closers, they just have different levels of experience early in the game. He has closer stuff. Would he be a closer in the big leagues right now? No, he has no experience to do that. But does he have the stuff? Yes. What happens down the road, happens.”
The original article written by Andrew Tredinnick can be found here:
https://www.njherald.com/sports/20200317/former-miners-closer-joins-rays-organization