Flames in MILB, MLB & Draft Recap

The 2025 MLB draft saw 2 Liberty Flames taken.  Cam Troyer was taken with the 374th pick overall which is a 12th round selection by the NY Yankees.  Cam signed and has debuted earlier this past week with the High A Hudson Valley Renegades where he's 2/11 with a 1 run scored.  Troyer's teammate Dylan Mathiesen would hear his name called just a few minutes later at pick # 383 in the 13th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Mathiesen was drafted despite having surgery prior to the draft.  Pitchers that get drafted very rarely pitch in MILB this year anyway but it could impact his start to the 2026 season.  The Pirates liked his stuff enough to go ahead and make the selection even with the injury.  

MLB

Mason Fluharty - Fluharty has made 44 appearances with the Toronto Blue Jays out of the bullpen with a 5.23 ERA.  He's averaged just over a strikeout per inning with 44 in 43 IP and he has a 1.23 WHIP.  Flu made the highlight rounds on Sunday with a 9 pitch punchout against Ohtani.  The Jays are in 1st place in the AL East and Flu is primed to play a role in the race for the pennant.  

Will Wagner -  Wags was dealt at the trade deadline from the Blue Jays to the Padres for Catcher Brandon Valenzuela.  He was optioned to AAA by the Padres after the trade but hit .237 with 7 RBI's in 132 PA's with the Jays before being dealt.  It's a tough blow for Will as the Padres are pretty well locked in at all 4 infield positions for this year but that could change with Luis Arraez a free agent after the year.  

MILB  

Fraser Ellard - Ellard has battled injuries so far in 2025 including a 60 day IL stint.  He has an 8.38 ERA in AAA Charlotte in just over 18 IP.  He has a 5.87 ERA in 7 2/3 IP with the Chicago White Sox.  I got to catch one of Ellard's games in Charlotte where he looked like his stuff was starting to tick back up.  This year has largely been lost due to injury for Fraser but there's still a good chance he can latch on as a LH reliever in MLB long term if he can stay healthy.  

Noah Skirrow - Skirrow was released by Philadelphia after Spring Training.  

Mikey Tepper - Tepper pitched 7 1/3 Innings for Wilmington in High A in the Nats system before going down to an injury that has put him out for the rest of the 2025 season.  

Dylan Cumming - Cumming is in High A Winston Salem which is a White Sox affiliate.  He signed with the White Sox after being released by the Giants.  Overall, he has a 4.96 ERA in 52 2/3 IP with 51 K's.  

Joe Adametz - Adamaetz is carrying a 5.55 ERA across 2 levels High A & AAA.  46 of his 49 IP were at the High A level which included 26 appearances out of the bullpen.  He also had a 1.34 WHIP and 36 strikeouts.  This is likely a key stretch for Joe where he will have to show he can be a quality option of the bullpen to continue to ascend.  

Max Alba - Alba is in AA with the Eerie Seawolves in the Detroit Tigers system.  He has a 4.15 ERA in 86 2/3 IP.  He has a 1.18 WHIP and 74 K's while working as a starter.  Alba has really come on since leaving the Flames.  Perhaps one of the bigger surprises of the former Flames.  

Cole Hertzler  Hertzler is at Low A Fayetteville in the Astros system.  Hertzler has also been injured for much of the year but has a .66 ERA in 3 starts in 13 2/3 IP with 19 K's in his limited work.  Hertzler is listed as the #28 prospect in the Astros system where all but 1 pitch has a 50 grade.  

Garrett Horn - Horn was traded to the Twins at the trade deadline for Danny Coloumbe who was fairly highly regarded.  Horn has a 3.49 ERA in 28 1/3 IP between Low A and High A Cedar Rapids where he currently resides in the Twins system.  He has 36 K's and 1.09 WHIP.  Horn got a bit of a late start to the season as he was recovering from TJ surgery.  G has had a great start to his career and I would be surprised if he's not in the Twins top 30 prospect list by the end of the season.  

Trey Gibson - Gibson signed a FA deal with the Orioles after leaving Liberty.  He's been a revelation the last 1.5 years to the point where he's ranked as the #19 prospect in the Orioles system by MLB.com and has been 1 of the fastest risers in the system in his time with an organization that desperately needs more starting pitching.  He has a 3.07 ERA in 91 IP with 131 K's between High A & AA.  He has a 55 grade Fastball and Slider per MLB.com which gives him a chance to have 2 above average pitches.  

Kane Kepley - Former Flame Kane Kepley is at Low A Myrtle Beach in the Chicago Cubs system after being drafted in the 2nd round 56th overall.  He transferred to UNC for his Junior season before being drafted.  He's off to a smoking start hitting .409 with a 1.081 OPS and 5 SB's in 22 AB's.  If Kepley stays anywhere in that vicinity he will be called up to High A in a a matter of days before the season ends. 

There's as much talent in MLB & MILB as Liberty has had since the early 80's and 90's and perhaps more.  There's also quite a few pitchers dealing with serious injuries that have drastically impacted their respective 2025 seasons.  Liberty had some serious pitching talent during the Scott Jackson era.  Liberty has had 4 players on MLB top 30 lists the last 2 years with more to come.