Five Fun Facts on New Royal Farmhand Eric Basurto

by Freneau on May 14, 2009 10:30 AM EDT in Kansas City Royals News

The Ross Gload trade is now complete, with the Royals acquiring a young pitching prospect named Eric Basurto. Here's Five Fun Facts about Eric:

Eric was drafted in the 33rd round of the 2006 Draft (995 overall) by the Marlins out of Chabot College. (Though it sorta sounds like it, Chabot College is not in Tel Aviv, it is instead in northern California.) Basurto was also drafted by the Marlins the year before, in the 40th round, but did not sign.
As far as I can tell he is the first player to be drafted out of Chabot College. (Actually, this is dead wrong see the comments.)
In 62 career minor league innings, Basurto has posted a 2.47 ERA. He's walked and struck out many men of the minors thus far.
Basurto is supposedly the young man talking in this video.
In the original fanshot discussing the trade, the following comment was posted (thank you flipgatey3):

i played two years at chabot college with eric. goes by “big e” or “e.b.” one of the funniest people i’ve ever come across, and a great teammate to have. he was a starter my freshman year, and moved to closer my sophomore year and won the closer of the year award for northern california. had a 0 era going into the last couple weekends of the season. absolute competitor and always wants the ball, would go to the pen on his own as early as the seventh inning if anyone started got in trouble and would finish games.

i haven’t seen him throw since 2008, but i have to assume that he’s improved in the professional ranks, which was always his goal. at chabot, his fb topped out at 94-95, and he threw 99% fastballs. was working on a slider and had a pretty decent changeup that he showed every once in a while, but he loved throwing inside and just threw on people’s hands to get outs. just a bulldog. has a really live arm, and is the single most flexible person i’ve ever seen, can kick his legs far above his head. loves martial arts and has competed in some amateur MMA fights. absolutely loves competition.

i remember him having far better control than his peripherals from last year showed, but regardless of whether it’s measurable or not, he’s also one of those guys who really bears down with runners on base or when inheriting a jam.

Bonus fact: Ross is still Boss and Basurto WILL NEVER REPLACE HIM. No matter what he does.

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Comments

Ross may still be Boss

But it sounds like Basurto could kick his ass:

just a bulldog. has a really live arm, and is the single most flexible person i’ve ever seen, can kick his legs far above his head. loves martial arts and has competed in some amateur MMA fights. absolutely loves competition.

"Now…put that in your [BLEEP]ing pipe and smoke it." -Hal McRae

"I was doing this when BJ was in his father's nutsack." -Renzo Gracie

by Sweep_the_Leg on May 14, 2009 10:55 AM EDT reply actions

right up until someone sweeps Basurto’s leg

by benfunke on May 14, 2009 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Good stuff RR

I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal.

by kcscoliny on May 14, 2009 11:29 AM EDT reply actions

so which team will he report to?

by KC Masterpiece on May 14, 2009 11:34 AM EDT reply actions

The KC Star

said he would report to Idaho Falls.

by The #1 Bockel on May 14, 2009 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions

gracias

by Freneau on May 14, 2009 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions

I'd guess burlington or idaho falls

by Freneau on May 14, 2009 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions

Another instant classic RR post -- good work

I hope Eric is ready for what awaits him — maybe he got some veteran advice from the bigs before he left?

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

by Matt Klaassen on May 14, 2009 1:32 PM EDT reply actions

if nunez is any precdent

he’ll be promoted to the majors in a month

by Freneau on May 14, 2009 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions

the new leadership doesn't do that

…with pitchers

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

by Matt Klaassen on May 14, 2009 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Doesn't sound like Moose will be slamming Eric against any lockers

I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal.

by kcscoliny on May 14, 2009 2:24 PM EDT reply actions

chabot guys who made the bigs

bip roberts
darren lewis
dj carrasco
nate schierholtz

guys in the minors right now:
e.b.
danny mcdaniel (cubs)
justin friend (a’s)
rob waite (tigers)
johnny anderson (blue jays)

two more guys about to be drafted pretty high who played at chabot:
charlie ruiz (long beach state)
erick stavert (quack quack quack)

what’s interesting is that all of these guys are pitchers, and i played with all of them in my 2 years. ridiculous to think about.

"If you hit .440 with 20 bombs, you don't have to do s---. You don't have to bring a glove to practice, just hit and leave whenever you want. You can bring a 40 and smoke a cigarette and call me from the parking lot asking me what time the game is, and I'll tell you. You can even say 'F--- you, Steve!' Actually, don't say that, that wouldn't be very nice." -Steve Friend, Head Coach, Chabot College Gladiators Baseball

by flipgatey3 on May 14, 2009 3:42 PM EDT reply actions

Carrasco~!

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

by Matt Klaassen on May 14, 2009 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions

thanks...

can’t believe I whiffed on that one so badly

by Freneau on May 14, 2009 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions

aaron ledesma also

and brandon kolb

and i think i forgot some others

by flipgatey3 on May 14, 2009 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions

BIP!

Wow, blast from the past. I forgot how much I hated that guy.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on May 15, 2009 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Link

Here’s a link. A total of 17 Chabot College players played in the bigs.

To be fair to Royals Review, Baseball Reference and The Baseball Cube both have a pretty poor success rate keeping track of this kind of stuff.

by MikeGianella on May 15, 2009 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions

I hope Big E makes the Royals

just so he can do one of those flying spin kicks on A.J. Pierzynski next time he charges the mound. Maybe he can do some karate moves on the mound between pitches, like Elvis used to do between songs. That’d get some Mark Fidrych or Rob Dibble media attention.

You have to figure that the teammate who was kind enough to write in is naturally a little biased in favor of his friend, but if Basurto actually makes the Royals as a reliever in a couple of years, then this is another Dayton pitching steal, because he might have managed to swap Gload the Exploder for something pretty promising. Me, I’d have swapped Gload for what I could get down at the local flea market, so give Dayton credit for some negotiating skills, turning nothing into what might be something.

I had never heard of Chabot College before, and I thought I was pretty knowledgable about US universities.

It's pronounced Poo-ZHOLS in Catalan.

by Juancho on May 14, 2009 4:15 PM EDT reply actions