(Courtesy Southern Illinois Miners)
The Southern Illinois Miners announce that infielder David Nick and right-handed pitcher Zach Cooper have been picked up by the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays organizations, respectively.
Nick, who was picked up on Tuesday shortly before he was scheduled to start at second base for Southern Illinois against Gateway in a preseason contest, and the hard-throwing Cooper become the 33rd and 34th players in the history of the Miners to move on to affiliated baseball.
“I am very happy for both David and Zach,” Miners manager Mike Pinto said. “In their short time here, both guys showed why they belong in a major league organization. Both are not only talented players, but high-quality guys as well. We wish them the very best.”
Nick joined the Miners in April following five years with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Originally drafted from Cypress (CA) High School in the fourth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, Nick was an all-star in the Pioneer League in 2009 while being named by Baseball America as one of the league’s top-20 prospects. His most successful season was another all-star season with High-A Visalia in 2011 when he hit .300 with 35 doubles, five triples and 13 home runs, driving in 68.
He is also the fourth Miner to join the Braves’ system in the last two years alone, joining Brandon Cunniff, Race Parmenter and Pete Perez from 2013.
Cooper also joined the Miners in April, following two seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He attended Central Michigan University, and was originally drafted in the 15th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Cooper saw action in 56 career games, pitching 82 1/3 innings. In those frames, he had 64 strikeouts against 39 walks with a 2.84 career ERA.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2012 Frontier League Champions and have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception. They also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, please contact the Rent One Park box office at 618-998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website atwww.southernillinoisminers.com
