Climbing the ladder
Jake Eaton was pitching against teams based in places like Roswell, N.M., Trinidad, Colo., and Alpine, Texas, last summer, which is to say his dream of making the major leagues had seen better days. But Eaton, three times ignored in the amateur draft, liked playing baseball well enough that he kept showing up for the Tucson Saguaros of the independent Pecos League, even if his paycheck was a mere $57 per week and players had to drive their own cars to road games.
Saguaros manager J.D. Droddy liked Eaton, a native of LaPorte, Ind., well enough to make him a key relief pitcher during the stretch drive of their season, which ended with the Pecos championship. It was not the most promising of matches because the Pecos is the lowest rung of the professional baseball ladder and its small ballparks and high-elevation cities make for inflated home-run totals for batters and earned run averages for pitchers, but Eaton stood out, which is something the 6-6 left-hander is used to doing.
Eaton impressed so much that this spring, when Droddy agreed to manage a fill-in travel team based out of Salina, Kan., after the American Association’s Laredo Lemurs folded at the last minute, he called upon the tall lefty reliever. Eaton signed on to pitch for a team that was thrown together at the last minute. But, hey, the price was right. His pay was upped to $100 per week with $120 to $140 each week in meal money.
“He needed a bullpen guy or spot starter,” Eaton said. “He saw me last year and remembered what I could do.”
Though Salina won only 10 of its first 68 games, Eaton continued to impress. He struck out 21 batters in 17 1/3 innings, playing against hitters with more professional experience than he had and were several years older.
Today, the 25-year-old Eaton is happier, a little wealthier and a small step closer to at least playing in affiliated minor-league baseball. The Wild Things, who were searching for somebody to fill a role as a left-handed setup reliever, acquired Eaton in a late-July deal with Salina and have been reaping the benefits.
In nine outings with Washington, Eaton has a 1-0 record and impressive 1.80 ERA. He has struck out 18 batters in only 15 innings. Eaton has been particularly effective against left-handed hitters, who are only 8-for-35 (.229) with 12 strikeouts against him.
“I heard that a Frontier League team was interested in one of our players,” Eaton recalled. “The next day, the manager called me into his office and says, ‘We traded you to the Washington Wild Things in the Frontier League.’ He said that it would be good for my career and that it is a good organization.”
Eaton won his first game for Washington Aug. 4 with a stellar outing against Lake Erie in the Wild Things’ 5-4 victory. He faced nine Crushers hitters and struck out six of them. Eaton retired all six left-handed hitters he faced, five via strikeouts.
In Washington’s thrilling 6-5 victory Wednesday night over Schaumburg, Eaton earned his first save after inheriting a sticky situation in the ninth inning and retiring two of the three batters he faced.
Eaton, who played at Anderson University, a Division III college in Indiana, is a late bloomer. He didn’t start dominating in college until his senior year (2016) and has been rapidly improving.
“I bet on myself this offseason, that I wouldn’t be in the Pecos League very long,” Eaton said. “I worked my tail off.
“I feel blessed with the situation, going from a team that wasn’t winning to one in the middle of a playoff race. Getting out of Tucson to Salina allowed me to be noticed.”
The Wild Things hope that Eaton will be a key player during the stretch drive – much like he was in Tucson – and can help them make the Frontier League playoffs for the first time since 2014.