The first place Washington Wild Things suffered a big hit on Tuesday when they lost one of their best players.
Twenty-five year old outfielder C.J. Beatty had his contract purchased by the Chicago White Sox, and is expected to be assigned to High-A Winston Salem — Beatty’s hometown.
Beatty was originally drafted in the 26th round by the St. Louis Cardinals back in 2009, but struggled with the bat and his lack of production caused the Cardinals to release him in March of 2011.
In just two seasons with the Cardinals organization, he hit a combined .244/.327/.415 with 10 homers and 53 RBI in split time between Rookie ball, Low-A and High-A.
However Beatty has spent the past four years in independent baseball leagues. In those four seasons, he’s hit a combined .299/.385/.521 while smacking 61 homers and driving in 243 runs.
Beatty opened up some eyes with the Wild Things the past two seasons.
He has hit in the No. 3 spot in the Wild Things’ batting order all season, is second in the league in home runs (18) and fourth in RBI (57). He has a .275 batting average and 15 stolen bases.
Last year with Washington, primarily as a second baseman, Beatty hit 18 home runs with 66 RBI a team-high 26 doubles.
While the Wild Things will certainly miss Beatty, as they entered play on Wednesday tied for first place with Southern Illinois in the Frontier League’s East Division, it is a dream come true for a player like Beatty who gets a second chance to potentially work his way towards the big leagues.
Beatty is the second Wild Things player to be signed by a major league team this season after outfielder Stewart Ijames was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks in mid-July.
Photo Credit: Jim McNutt / Observer-Reporter
