USA Baseball Logo
The USA Olympic Team will begin play on Wednesday August 13th when they open up round robin play against South Korea. It will be the first game in the Olympics for Team USA since their Gold Medal victory over Cuba in the 2000 Olympics behind the right arm of Ben Sheets. We break down the position players today with some background information. We will be checking out the pitchers on Sunday as we continue our preview of Team USA. They open play on Tuesday when they play South Korea at 6 am Eastern time.
Outfielders
Dexter Fowler is a 6’4 175 pound center fielder out of Atlanta GA. He is currently in Double A Tulsa which are affiliated with the Colorado Rockies where he is hitting .337 with six homers and 61 RBI including 20 stolen bases.
John Gall is 6’0 195 pound outfielder from Stanford CA. He is currently a member of the Triple A Albuquerque Isotopes who are a member of the Florida Marlins minor league system. He is currently hitting .313 with 12 homers and 74 RBI. He played for Stanford University doing his college days.
Matt Laporta is a 6’2 210 pound outfielder/first baseman out of Port Charlotte Florida. He played for the University of Florida before being drafted in the first round by the Milwaukee Brewers. He was recently traded to the Cleveland Indians as the centerpiece of the C.C. Sabathia trade. He is currently with Akron which is a Double A affiliate of the Indians. He is currently hitting .212 with a homer and seven RBI in 14 games. He played for Huntsville before the trade where he hit .288 with 20 homers and 66 RBI in 84 games.
Nate Schierholtz is a 6’2 215 pound outfielder from Reno Nevada. He played his college baseball at Chabot Community College in California before being drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the second round in the 2003 MLB Draft. He is currently a member of the Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League where they serve as an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. He is having a stellar season where he is hitting .314 with 15 homers and 65 RBI.
Infielders
Brian Barden is a 5’11 185 pound shortstop from Templeton CA. He played his college baseball at Oregon State bringing them back to the national stage. He is currently a member of the Memphis Redbirds where he is hitting .295 with nine homers and 35 RBI.
Matt Brown is a 6’0 200 pound third baseman from Bellvue WA. He is currently a member of the Salt Lake Bees out the Pacific Coast League where they are an affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He is having a very good year where he is hitting .326 with 21 homers and 67 RBI. He has played in five games in the Majors this year with a .077 average with two RBI.
Jason Donald is a 6’1 190 pound shortstop out of Fresno CA. He played his college baseball at the University of Arizona in the powerful Pac-10 conference. Donald is currently a member of the Reading Phillies in the Eastern League as they are affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He is hitting .308 with 14 homers and 54 RBI.
Mike Hessman is a 6’5 215 pound third baseman originally Fountain Valley CA. He is currently playing with the Toledo Mud Hens of the International League where they serve as the Triple A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. He is only hitting .265 on the year but has 32 homers on the season with 66 RBI. He was drafted in 1996 by the Atlanta Braves in the 15th round.
Jayson Nix is a 5’11 185 pound second basemen from Dallas TX. He is currently playing with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox where they are the Triple A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. He is hitting .300 with 17 homers and 49 RBI. He is the younger brother of Lance Nix who plays with the Texas Rangers.
Terry Tiffee is a 6’3 215 pound third basemen out of North Little Rock AR. He played his college baseball at Pratt Community College in Kansas where he was selected in the 1999 MLB Draft in the 26th round. Tiffee is currently a member of the Las Vegas 51s which are the affiliated with the Dodgers organization. He is hitting .375 with eight homers and 62 RBI.
Catchers
Lou Marson is a 6’1 200 pound catcher out of Scottsdale Arizona. He was selected in the fourth round in the 2004 draft and is currently a member of the Philadelphia Phillies organization where he is assigned to the Reading Phillies who act as the Double A affiliate. He is currently batting .319 with five homers and 46 RBI.
Taylor Teagarden is a 6’1 200 pound catcher from Dallas TX. He played for the Texas Longhorns where he was a stellar catcher including winning several conference awards. He was selected in the third round of the 2005 MLB draft. He is currently on the Oklahoma Redhawks who are the Triple A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. He is currently hitting .234 with six homers and 15 RBI in 53 games.
