Philadelphia Phillies Purchase Contract of Tyler Alexander - Sussex County Miners
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Philadelphia Phillies Purchase Contract of Tyler Alexander

Philadelphia Phillies Purchase Contract of Tyler Alexander

Becomes The Eighteenth Miner Since 2018 To Go From Sussex County To Affiliated Ball

June 28, Augusta, NJ – The Sussex County Miners announced today that the Texas Rangers have purchased the contract of 2B Trey Hair, making him the eleventh player to have his contract purchased directly from the ballclub.

Alexander has been one of the top pitchers in the Frontier League this season. Despite having a 2-3 record, “T.A.” led the league in strikeouts with 42, while also having the fewest walks issued among starting pitchers with just 2 bases on balls to opponents. Tyler’s 0.99 WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched) was 3rd among Frontier League starting pitchers, while his 36 1/3 innings ranked 4th in the league, and 2.23 ERA ranked 6th overall.

It’s all credit to the work ethic that Tyler put in from the beginning, something that was certainly noticed by Miners Manager and Director of Baseball Operations, Bobby Jones.

“The makeover that he’s made has been phenomenal,” Jones would say. “Not only as a person, but his work ethic has changed a lot. I mean, it’s a phenomenal transformation, and he’s reaping the benefits of it. It’s a blast.”

Despite the newest contract purchase, Jones knows that the work is not about to grind to a halt.

“Well, the work is not done,” Jones said. “You know me, it’s an every day thing for us. But Tyler moving on is a great day for the organization, and it’s an opportunity to create things for himself and for his family.”

Singings like Tyler’s, and Trey Hair’s two weeks ago, is what Bobby can continue to point to in providing a blueprint for the players to follow.

“Well, we talked about this in the beginning in the year,” Jones explained. “We talked about the standard, we talked about there being a bullseye on our back, and everyday getting better and better. We talked about a bunch of guys getting signed, yet still staying the course as far as winning goes. And so that compliments the guys. They’ve done a great job. I can only talk to them about it, but they’ve done a really good job of buying in and believing in the system and their seeing the results, and these guys get signed one after another and we continue to win.”

This now make it eighteen players that have been under a Miners contract that have gone on to affiliated ball since 2018, with ten of them coming in 2021 alone. The list includes such Sussex County fan favorites as David Rollins, Alex Demchak, Angel Reyes, and most recently Trey Hair just two weeks ago. Elsewhere in 2021, Mikey Reynolds, Frank Duncan, and Gavin Stupienski all signed with MiLB teams. Other players that recently signed with affiliated teams include Tyler Danish, Tyler Suellentrop, Stone Garrett, and Isaias Quiroz.

All of the singings makes Miners GM Justin Ferrarella proud of the development of the program in Sussex County.

“It just goes to show you that hard-work does in fact pay off,” Ferrarella would say. “Theres something about Sussex. It used to be a place no one wanted to be. Now when players get released we are one of the first calls. The culture has changed for the better. The facility has changed for the better. People have bought in to whats going on here. From the coaching staff, to the front office, and to all the staff that makes this place home for all if us. Theres something special here. And the fans, well they are just the best and the icing on the cake.”

The Miners skipper also echoed those sentiments about the organization.

“I think it’s a phenomenal number,” Bobby would add. “I think it’s great. There’s a time when people said we couldn’t win here. People said we couldn’t get good players, people said we couldn’t get guys signed. To see that change, it’s a reflection of what the whole organization has done. Not just on the baseball end of it, but the field looks phenomenal, Justin has done a really good job with the program. The Academy looks great, so Al (Dorso, Sr.) stepped up there, that’s our owner, and done a lot of good things there. I think there’s so much more for us where we can go and grow. The sky’s the limit, we’re still going, and it’s a great day for the organization.”

Tyler will be heading to Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Triple-A East of the new Minor League Baseball structure.

Photo Credit: Phil Hoops  Twitter: @HoopsApproved