Larsen has good first pro season

Aaron Larsen began his minor league baseball career this year with the Arizona League affiliate of the Oakland Athletics and posted impressive numbers.

Larsen, a right-handed pitcher, had a 5-2 won-loss record and a 2.89 earned run average for the Phoenix-based club. In 37 1/3 innings he allowed 25 hits, ten walks, and two hit batters while striking out 31 opponents. He appeared in 14 games, starting four of them, and only allowed three home runs.

“It was real good,” he said of his first professional season.

Larsen also started two games for Oakland’s Kane County Cougars affiliate in the Midwest League, losing his only decision while posting a 7.94 ERA in 5 2/3 innings. Larsen allowed ten hits, including three home runs, while walking three and striking out five opposing batters in the full-season Class A league.

Larsen began 2010 with the Bethany College baseball team. His 13 pitching appearances with Bethany produced a 1-4 record and a 3.25 earned run average, and he struck out 62 batters in 44 1/3 innings. Larsen was a shortstop as well as a pitcher for Bethany, and at the plate during 2010 he batted .326 with 31 runs scored and 24 runs batted in. He earned second-team Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference honors both as a starting pitcher and as a shortstop and also received the KCAC’s Gold Glove award as a shortstop.

The statistics do not include a summer league game June 1, in which Larsen pitched a no-hitter to close out his college career.

Larsen was on Fallbrook High School’s varsity baseball team for four years prior to his 2005 graduation and did not play any other high school sports. Larsen was primarily an outfielder and pitcher at Fallbrook High School and occasionally played shortstop.

Larsen started his college activity at Mount San Jacinto College, although he redshirted in 2006 and did not start his collegiate baseball career until 2007, when he was with Valley College in San Bernardino.

Larsen then attended Lee University in Tennessee for one year and was a shortstop on the baseball team. He transferred to Bethany for his final two collegiate years and baseball seasons. Larsen graduated from Bethany on May 23 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business.

The professional baseball draft was held June 7-9, and selections for the 31st through 50th rounds took place on the final day. Larsen was taken by the A’s in the 34th round with the 1,025th overall pick. “It was just kind of nerve-wracking waiting until the third day and wondering if it was truly going to happen or not,” Larsen said of being drafted. “Once it happened, it was very exciting.”

Larsen signed with the A’s on June 11 and reported to camp in Arizona the following week. He was assigned to the Arizona League team to begin his minor league career.

Larsen wasn’t told that he initially would be a set-up reliever, but professional organizations now pay attention to high school and college innings during the year in their efforts to avoid overload on young pitching arms. “The majority of the new guys are relievers,” Larsen said.

The concern about Larsen’s total innings for the year led to the decision to place him in the bullpen when the short-season rookie league started play but to provide him with starting assignments near the end of the season.

Larsen transitioned from collegiate to professional opposition. “It was definitely a different ballgame,” he said.

He also noted that his entire day was spent at the ballpark during the season. “That’s your entire life,” he said.

Larsen is not slated to participate in winter league competition and will likely return to Arizona for spring training in February.

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