Bees Announce First Signing of 2018 Season

By Bob Phillips

NEW BRITAIN—Spring can’t be that far away, right?

The New Britain Bees have signed outfielder Ryan Kalish—the first player inked by the team for the 2018 campaign. This will be Kalish’s maiden voyage in the Atlantic League—widely regarded as the top independent baseball circuit in the U.S.—and his 10th season in pro ball overall. Last season, Kalish began the season with Iowa of the Pacific Coast League, the Chicago Cubs top minor league affiliate. There he hit .368 in 21 games, earning him a call-up to the majors. He appeared in seven games with the eventual World Series Champion Cubs before an injury ended his campaign.

The 29-year-old outfielder began his professional career in the Boston Red Sox organization. Selected in the ninth round of the 2006 amateur draft, Kalish broke into the majors in 2010 with the BoSox, batting .252 with 4 homers and 24 RBIs. He also proved himself to be more than adequate on the base path, scoring 26 runs and stealing 10 bases in 53 games, being named the Red Sox Rookie of the Year in the process.

After missing much of the 2011 campaign with shoulder and neck injuries, the Northridge, Calif., native made it back the big leagues with Boston in 2012. Injuries once again robbed Kalish of the 2013 season, but after signing with the Cubs in 2013, Kalish hit .261 with AAA Iowa, and returned to the majors in 2014, hitting .248/.295/.347 for the Cubbies. Overall, Kalish has a major league statline of .245 (batting avg.), 27 extra-base hits, 36 RBIs, 52 runs scored and 16 stolen bases. His minor league numbers are .278 BA, 53 homers, 256 RBIs, 320 runs scored, 112 stolen bases, and a .363 on-base percentage.

“We’re excited to announce our first signing of the year, which means that baseball season is getting closer,” Bees General Manager Brad Smith said. “Ryan brings Major League experience to the club, and is the first step in our quest to capture an Atlantic League Championship in 2018.”

After the City of Bridgeport chased away the Bluefish by deciding to convert the Ballpark at Harbor Yard to a completely unneeded music amphitheater (on which construction has not yet begun, and in this reporter’s humble opinion, likely never will), the Bees are Connecticut’s sole members of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball—widely regarded as the No. 1 independent minor league baseball circuit in the United States. The Bluefish, meanwhile, will spend the entire 2018 season as a travelling roadshow called the “Road Warriors” before settling in a new state-of-the-art stadium in High Point, NC, in 2019.

Over 38 million fans have attended Atlantic League games since its inception in 1998, and over 900 players and 50 managers and coaches have joined MLB organizations directly from the ALPB.

—with staff reports