Every decade or so, a diamond in the rough from the UH-Hilo baseball team is polished enough to become a candidate for the MLB draft.
Every decade or so, a diamond in the rough from the UH-Hilo baseball team is polished enough to become a candidate for the MLB draft.
Since the program’s inception in 1977, seven Vulcans have been drafted and signed with one reaching the big leagues in pitcher Tyler Yates, who spent five years with the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates.
The right-hander was drafted by the Oakland A’s in the 23rd round in 1998, and pitched for the Mets in 2004, the Braves for two seasons, and the Pirates for two years.
Yates credited then-UHH pitching coach Kallen Miyataki, the current head coach, for developing him into a draft product. Yates went undrafted out of Kauai High.
Oakland’s first-round pick in 1998 was left-hander Mark Mulder out of Michigan State. He pitched nine years in the majors, and was part of the A’s postseason run from 2000 to ’03.
In a five-year stint in the majors, arm trouble was always around the corner for Yates. He had Tommy John surgery in 2002 and ’09, and rotator cuff surgery in 2005 that put him on the disabled list for the entire season with the Mets.
His brother Kirby Yates, a pitcher in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system, had his share of arms woes, too.
He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 26th round in 2005 out of Kauai High, but didn’t sign. He went to Yavapai College, and missed the 2006 and ’07 seasons due to Tommy John surgery.
The younger Yates went undrafted in 2009, but signed as a free agent with the Rays. This year, he has split time between Triple-A Durham and the Rays.
The first Vulcan to be drafted was pitcher Derek Diaz by the Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth round in 1983.
The Valley Isle product from Baldwin High still holds several career school records, including winning percentage (18-6, .750), ERA (2.98) and strikeouts (211) from 1981 to ’83.
Diaz spent five years in the minors and reached Double-A ball.
UH-Hilo’s next drafted player was right-hander Louis Pakele by the then-California Angels in the 31st round in 1990.
The Waianae High product lasted two years in Single-A ball.
The Angels hit a pair of home runs in that 1990 draft. They selected outfielder Garret Anderson, who played 17 years in the majors, in the fourth round, and catcher Troy Percival, who was converted to a reliever and played 14 years, in the sixth round.
Ken Morimoto, an outfielder from the Garden Isle, was picked by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 28th round in 1995.
The Dodgers converted him to the infield, and he played four years in A-ball. He batted .235 in 763 at-bats.
From that 1995 draft, the Dodgers picked left-hander Onan Masaoka, from Waiakea, in the third round.
Masaoka pitched for the Dodgers in 1999 and 2000, and went 3-5 with a 4.23 ERA. He struck out 88 in 93 2/3 innings.
After Yates in 1998, shortstop Brandon Chaves was drafted by the Pirates in the 10th round in 2000.
The Hilo High graduate spent 10 years in the minors, and reached Triple-A with the Durham Bulls, the Rays’ affiliate club, in 2009. He played two years (2011 and ’12) in a foreign league in Italy.
Chaves has played independent ball for five seasons, logging time with the Camden Riversharks of the Atlantic League the last two years.
In Pittsburgh’s 2000 draft, the Pirates whiffed twice on Jose Bautista, who was selected in the 20th round out of a Florida junior college.
The Pirates exposed him in the Rule 5 draft (for those not protected on the 40-man roster) in 2003, and the Baltimore Orioles grabbed him. He then bounced around with several organizations.
In 2004, the New York Mets traded him to the Pirates. Four years later, the Pirates traded Bautista to the Toronto Blue Jays for a warm body and a can of soda. He then became a homer-hitting force for the AL East champions.
After Chaves, outfielder Brian Rooke was picked by Oakland in the 31st round in 2001.
Rooke, from Santa Monica, Calif., spent two years in Low-A ball. He finished with a .147 batting average in 109 at-bats.
The last Vulcan to be drafted was right-hander Lars Knepper by the San Francisco Giants in the 29th round in 2007.
Knepper, from Huntingon Beach, Calif., lasted one season. He went 1-2 with a 2.86 ERA in 44 innings in the Arizona Rookie League, and that was it.
Part of the reason for the early release was that the Giants drafted 17 pitchers ahead of Knepper, including first-round pick Madison Bumgarner.
In the most tragic tale for all the drafted players with Hawaii ties, Knepper died on Feb. 4, 2015, from sudden cardiac arrest. He was 28.
A website is dedicated in his honor: http://www.happinessforlife.net/