Times Herald Record: "College experiences aid Renegades' pitcher"
William Montgomery, sports writer for the Times Herald Record in Middletown, N.Y., wrote about former Bentley pitching ace Rob Finneran, who is now in the Tampa Bay Rays' organization with the Hudson Valley Renegades. His story appeared in the Aug. 5 edition of the paper and online at www.recordonline.com
FISHKILL — At first glance, Rob Finneran is just another in a long line of slim chance pitchers spending a summer in the Hudson Valley Renegades' bullpen.
Finneran is from a small school, Division II Bentley University in Waltham, Mass. He missed two seasons in college with arm injuries. He barely made the cut for professional baseball, taken in Round No. 37 out of 40 in the June draft.
Despite the long odds he faces in earning a promotion to one of Tampa Bay's full-season affiliates in 2013, Finneran's college experience give him three distinct advantages over his peers.
First, the silver lining in missing two full seasons of college baseball is that Finneran has fewer innings on his arm than most of his peers.
"You could almost say it's like a fresh arm," said manager Jared Sandberg. "He didn't have that year pitching his freshman year. After that, he had Tommy John. I think he's got a fresh arm."
Finneran followed strong seasons in his sophomore and junior years with Tommy John elbow surgery. He sat out what would have been his senior season in 2011, but came back for a graduate year and had another sharp campaign this spring. His elbow finally at full strength, he started attracting scouts to Bentley's games.
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