Ryan Spilborghs Highlights Week 8 of PBL Roundup Show

The eighth edition of the PBL Roundup Show had a heavy focus on the upcoming league tryouts and a look at the Northern Colorado Owlz. Hosts Thom Brennaman, Bill Bavasi, and Joe List were joined by the team of Syracuse University interns as well as a couple of the people in charge of the Owlz and some players who took part in the league’s tryout in Tucson, AZ this past spring.

List recently went out to Montana, and was a member of the Missoula Paddleheads’ roster for a game. List spoke about his experience being around the team and taking in a game, but he also had the opportunity to do play-by-play for an inning alongside Glacier’s broadcaster, Scot Gladstone. The crew watched back the video of List’s inning in the broadcast booth, and List spoke about the experience, including how he at one point lost track of how many outs there were.

With the first half of the season almost wrapped up, the crew discussed the pros and cons of having a split-season format, where the winner of the first half automatically gets a playoff spot. Bavasi said that he likes the format a lot for the minor leagues because it can allow you to rest some of your players in the second half.

Former Colorado Rockies outfielder and current broadcaster Ryan Spilborghs spoke with Bavasi about his playing career and how he got to where he is now. Spilborghs discussed the struggles he encountered when he first started playing in college, and how he was able to get back on track thanks to an older teammate. He also talked about how he got his broadcasting job because he was viewed as a nice person who builds good relationships with others. Spilborghs is also one of the owners of the Owlz, and he expressed his excitement about the new facility the team is building, Future Legends Sports Complex.

List spoke with Owlz general manager and former interim manager, Harrison Shapiro, about the current state of the team. Shapiro spoke about the ups and downs of the year, including the team changing managers. He also discussed his experience as a manager, where he only won one game. The new Owlz manager, Robby Bales, spoke with Brennaman about transitioning from coaching the team at the Colorado School of Mines to managing the Owlz. Bales said the toughest part of his job is managing day-to-day, and that he’s focused on helping every team he coaches win no matter who they are.

Syracuse interns Owen Trainor and Mathias Altman-Kurosaki put together a segment where they analyzed players from the Tucson tryout and players who’ve recently been signed by MLB teams. As of right now, over half the teams in MLB have signed a player out of the PBL, including Fox Semones, who was drafted by the Ogden Raptors after trying out in Tucson. Semones got the attention of scouts when ran the 60-yard dash in 6.3 seconds.

One player who signed after he tried out, Sam Troyer, joined the crew to discuss his journey to where he is currently. Troyer was on the Paddleheads last year, but was traded to a team in the Frontier League, which he said was a humbling experience, especially since he wasn’t playing every day in Missoula. This past year, Troyer was picked up by the Idaho Falls Chukars, and he
hit well before suffering an elbow injury.

The PBL Director of Baseball Operations, Aaron Bond, spoke with two other players from the Tucson tryout, Chase Wilkerson and Euro Diaz. Both players were drafted and signed by the Owlz, and said they had enjoyed participating in the camp. Wilkerson said that he thought he wasn’t going to play baseball again after college, but he signed up for the tryout after hearing about it. Diaz said after playing college baseball on some teams that struggled, the atmosphere is different playing for a professional team. Wilkerson and Diaz also discussed their favorite ballpark and the best heckles they’ve heard from opposing fans.

The show concluded with the latest edition of “Who’s on Durst?”. Comedian Will Durst spoke about how he sees every baseball season as a novel or a soap opera, because you never know what’s going to happen and what changes will be made.