Washington Nationals Minor Leagues: Scott McGregor Will Play In Pan-Am Games For Team USA
Yesterday, Team USA released their roster for the upcoming Pan-American Games in Toronto. The baseball portion of the games, which begins on July 11, will feature prospects and players from 12 different MLB teams. The Washington Nationals will have one player from their organization who isn’t on their 40-man roster that will be their representative during this event.
While Lucas Giolito and Trea Turner will be in Cincinnati playing in the Futures Game on July 12, 28-year-old right-hander Scott McGregor will be playing in the Pan-Am Games for the United States. McGregor, who was a non-roster invitee for the Nationals this spring, is 4-5 with a 4.31 ERA in 14 starts for triple-A Syracuse.
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A few weeks ago, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports and MLB Network tweeted that Team USA wanted to use Lucas Giolito on their roster, but the Nats chose to keep the right-hander in high-A Potomac in order to track his progress:
USA Baseball has Lucas Giolito on interest list for Pan-Am roster, too, but Nats inclined to keep him on schedule with their affiliate.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 12, 2015
Team USA is made up of prospects that are not on their organization’s 40-man rosters, as well as players who have had Major League experience, such as first baseman Casey Kotchman and left-handed pitcher David Huff. This is an opportunity for these players to showcase their skills on a global stage and for the prospects on the roster, an opportunity to gain some valuable experience.
Plus, they get to play for Jim Tracy, the longtime manager of teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Colorado Rockies. Tracy reached the World Series in 2009 when he was the manager of Colorado after Clint Hurdle was fired in May of that season.
This season, McGregor has thrown 77.1 innings for the Chiefs, which is the most of any player on the roster, but he has also walked a team high 28 batters. In five starts during the month of June, he is 1-1 with a 6.57 ERA. In addition, he has given up ten home runs, which is tied for the second most in the International League. McGregor was a 15th round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2008 MLB Draft, but he has yet to play a game in the Major Leagues.
In the last Pan-American Games in 2011 in Mexico, Team USA reached the gold medal game, but lost that game to Canada, 3-2. This year’s competition will take place from July 11-July 19. The first game for the United States will take place next Saturday (July 11) against Puerto Rico. The seven countries in this tournament are the USA, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico.