The Kansas City T-Bones have signed former first-round pick and Wichita State University standout Casey Gillaspie and left-handed pitcher Tim Hardy for the 2019 season.
Casey Gillaspie, a switch-hitting first baseman, was the 2014 first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in the June draft out of Wichita State University.
Gillaspie spent last season at AAA Charlotte playing in 71 games for the Knights, an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. He hit .220 with three home runs and 22 RBIs.
Overall at AAA, Gillaspie hit .307 in 47 games (55-179) with seven dingers and 23 RBIs.
Throughout his career he has been honored for his defensive work and his power hitting.
Gillaspie played three seasons at Wichita State, including his final year as a junior where he hit .389 with 15 home runs and 59 RBIs. He added 15 doubles and 58 walks while Collegiate Baseball magazine named him first team All-American, the first since pitcher Mike Pelfrey in 2005. Gillaspie’s honors did not stop there; he was named the Missouri Valley Conference’s Player of the Year, and he was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy, both national Player of the Year honors.
An Omaha, Nebraska, native, he attended Millard North High School where as a senior, he was the Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year in the state of Nebraska. The 6-4 switch hitter grew up a natural right-hander, but he took up the left side when he was 8 years old.
Baseball also runs in his family: his brother Conor was a former Major Leaguer, and his father Mark was an All-American outfielder at Mississippi State and an 11th-round selection by San Diego in the 1981 draft. His father had an eight-year minor league career that included one season with the Royals AA club in Memphis in 1989.
Left-handed pitcher Tim Hardy comes to KCK off a stint with the Houston Astros organization where he was the 18th round pick for Houston in the 2017 June draft out of Tusculum University in Tennessee.
Hardy spent two seasons with the Astros reaching low A Quad Cities in 2018. Hardy began last season at short season A Tri City in the New York-Penn League where the 6-7 left-hander went 2-2 with a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings. He struck out 26 walking nine and giving up just three earned runs. Hardy was four for four in save opportunities in his 11 relief outings.
He made one start while in Tri City. Hardy would finish the season at low A Quad Cities in the Midwest League. While in Iowa he worked in six games all in relief with a 2.84 ERA in 12.2 innings. He fanned 23 and walked six while giving up four earned runs for the Bandits. He lowered his season ERA over two runs from his rookie 2017 season.
During his two seasons at Tusculum University, Hardy finished with a 10-4 record with a 3.82 ERA. In his 32 mound appearances, he made 13 starts, including three complete games, one shutout and two combined shutouts. He pitched in 96.2 innings where he recorded 111 strikeouts against just 27 walks and limited the opposition to a .265 batting average.
In 2017 he went 9-3 with a 3.91 ERA in 78 innings with 94 punch outs. He redshirted his 2015 season and made 17 appearances with one start coming in the SAC Tournament championship in 2016. In his red shirt freshman season Hardy went 1-1 with a 3.44 ERA with 17 strikeouts against six walks and had a stretch where he did not allow a run in nine consecutive outings.
Hardy graduated from Central Academy of Tech and Arts in Monroe, North Carolina, where he was named All-Conference in 2013 and 2014.
Full and half-season 2019 ticket packages as well as mini plans are on sale online by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke’s Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale. See www.tbonesbaseball.com for more information.
Opening day for the T-Bones is set for Friday, May 17, at T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, when the T-Bones play host to the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks to open the 2019 season.
- Story from T-Bones