Former Long Beach State closer Bryan Shaw was called up by the Arizona Diamondbacks last Friday, becoming the 14th former Dirtbag active in Major League Baseball — the most by any collegiate program — for the 2011 season.
Shaw also became the 40th LBSU player all-time to join the majors.
He joins the bullpen for the Diamondbacks after starting the 2011 season for the Mobile BayBears — a minor league Double-A affiliate — where he converted seven saves before moving up to Triple-A as a member of the Reno Aces.
The right-hander posted three saves in eight appearances for the Aces while striking out nine batters and walking just three in nine 2/3 innings pitched.
Shaw held a combined 4-1 record on the season to go with a 2.37 ERA in 30 1/3 innings.
The Livermore, Calif., native spent three years as the Dirtbags’ closer after joining the team as a freshman in 2006, making four saves in 22 appearances.
As a sophomore, he registered a 6-2 record with a 2.39 ERA to go with 11 saves to help lead the Dirtbags to a No. 1 postseason seed and a Regional hosting appearance in the NCAA Baseball Championship Tournament.
He matched those accomplishments in his junior year with the Dirtbags as he led them to another Regional appearance as a tournament host in 2008.
Shaw recorded a career-best 1.84 ERA over 27 appearances while tallying eight saves over 29 1/3 innings in his final year with LBSU.
He finished his collegiate career with 23 saves, ranking fourth all-time among LBSU pitchers to go with a 2.20 career ERA — second-best for any Dirtbag pitcher with a minimum of 100 innings thrown.
Shaw, who was selected in the second round by the Diamondbacks in the 2008 MLB draft, was among a group of LBSU 11 players — a school record — picked that year.
He also became the third player from that draft class to reach the major leagues, joining Washington Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Vance Worley.
Along with Adam Wilk, Shaw is the second former Dirtbag to reach the big leagues for the first time in 2011.
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