Where are they now?: 2012 Arizona Wildcats baseball

How far up the minor league totem pole have some of the guys from 2012 made it?

It's been a down three years since the 2012 Arizona baseball team. That 10-0 run in the NCAA Tournament is the last time the baseball program has had a sniff of postseason play, and now Greg Byrne's out looking for a new coach.

With the MLB Draft coming up next week, there's no better time to check in on where some of those guys from 2012 are now, and how far up the minor league ladder they've made it.

Here's how the guys are doing, and hopefully we'll get one or two of them in the Major League's in September.

Pitching staff:

Kurt Heyer

The Friday night guy for three years in Tucson has spent the last two seasons splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. After starting 2015 at AA-Springfield, he spent the end of April and most of May at AAA-Memphis, but was recently sent back down to Double-A after his longest outing of the year on May 28th, where he threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit and no earned runs.

In total this year, Heyer's ERA is 3.33, which is the lowest year of his professional career, and much better than 2014's 4.84 ERA. He has appeared in 14 games this year, all in relief, putting together a 2-1 record, and also recording the first two saves of his career while in Springfield.

Konner Wade

Unlike Heyer, Wade still finds himself as a starting pitcher, albeit one that's struggling a little bit. Still in the Colorado Rockies organization, Wade has started nine games for the High-A Modesto Nuts this season, putting together a 2-5 record and a 4.66 ERA. The issue this year seems to be control, as his BB/9 ratio sits at 3.1, which is almost a full walk higher than last year.

Back on May 7th, Wade threw eight innings of shutout ball against the Bakersfield Blaze, and only allowed two hits and one walk while striking out a season-high seven batters. That's the only game he's given up less than two runs this year.

James Farris

Farris has been converted into a relief pitcher for the Class-A South Bend Cubs, who are obviously the minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. In 16 appearances, Farris has seven saves, and has struck out 31 batters in 22 innings. In his last 12 appearances, he's only given up one run and seven hits.

Tyler Crawford

People forget how important Crawford was in that National Championship run, being one of only two relievers that pitched at all in the postseason. He missed the 2015 season due to Tommy John Surgery that he had in the winter, but Andy Lopez said before he retired that Crawford is expected to be back next season.

Mathew Troupe

Of course the other reliever to throw in the 2012 postseason was Troupe, and there's a chance that he'll be back at Arizona next season, but he may not as well. That's another thing to keep an eye on this offseason.

Nick Cunningham

He was not good in 2012, allowing seven earned runs in four total innings during the season. But he's still in professional baseball, pitching for the Delmarva Shorebirds, who are the Mid-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. He has appeared in nine games, one of those being a start, and has a 5.31 ERA in 20 1/3 innings.

Infield:

Riley Moore

After playing himself off draft boards in 2014, Moore earned his way back onto the Arizona team for his senior year, having to earn Lopez' trust in the offseason. Well, Moore ended up starting 54 of the 55 games this year, and hit .306. It'll be interesting to see if a team takes him in this year's draft, or if he needs to find somewhere as an undrafted free agent.

Brandon Dixon

Dixon's another dude who wasn't very good in 2012, but laser eye surgery turned him into the Pac-12 Batting Champ in 2013. He spent the winter in Australia with Johnny Field, and has returned to America with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers in the L.A. Dodgers organization. In 48 games, he has a .261 batting average (53-203), but has struck out 60 times, and only drawn four walks.

In the field, he made the switch to second base in 2014, and his fielding has been much better there than it was at third base. That's a lot of strikeouts for a second baseman though.

Joseph Maggi

Maggi and Dixon split time at first base in 2012. Maggi just finished up what ended up being a pretty disappointing final two seasons at Arizona. He played in 24 games this year (six starts), and hit .226 (7-31). You will be remembered in an interesting way Joe Maggi.

Trent Gilbert

Gilbert is getting it done this year for the Beloit Snappers, who are the Mid-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. The second baseman is hitting .313 in 45 games played, and his slugging percentage is up nearly 170 points from last year to .438. He's hit three home runs, but has 13 doubles to go with his 39 singles, and has driven in 28 runs.

Alex Mejia

Much like Heyer, Mejia has split time between Springfield and Memphis in the Cardinal organization this season. He was moved up to AAA briefly in April, and was recently promoted to Memphis again, as his last two games have been at the Triple-A level. Overall this year, Mejia's hitting .283. The more surprising thing is that he's seen almost equal time all around the infield. He's played 14 games at shortstop, 12 at second base, and 11 at third base. So the Cardinals are certainly looking for him to fill a utility need.

Seth Mejias-Brean

The third baseman has spent this entire season at Double-A Pensacola, the affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. He's hitting .263 (41-156). His on-base percentage is higher than his slugging percentage, which is not exactly a good sign or something normal. He was selected for the Fall League roster last year though, so the Reds see something there.

Outfield:

Robert Refsnyder

As most people know, Refsnyder is no longer an outfielder, as he is a second baseman in the New York Yankees organization. It seemed like he was on the verge of breaking through to the Major League level last year, having hit .300 in Triple-A. He's dropped off a little this year, hitting .280, and his fielding percentage is also worse in 2015. It still feels like he'll be the first guy from the 2012 team to breakthrough though.

Johnny Field

Field plays for the Montgomery Biscuits, the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. In 48 games, he's hitting .283 for the Biscuits, and has played all over the outfield (25 games in right, 11 in center, 5 in left). That's almost right on his career batting average in the minors, and he's been the most consistent of any of the former Arizona players since turning pro.

Joey Rickard

Rickard also plays for the Biscuits, but has been the better Biscuit outfielder since getting promoted in the first week of May. Rickard is hitting .308 in 22 games at the Double-A level, and has also primarily been in right field (10 games). So there's a little Arizona-on-Arizona crime going on in right field in Montgomery right now.

So that makes it five guys currently in Double-A, and two in Triple-A. The sudden appearance of Mejia's versatility might help him get to the big leagues before Refsnyder, but it's not like the Yankees or the Cardinals have been struggling a lot this year. With only three former Arizona players having seen action in MLB this year (Mark Melancon, Nick Hundley and Preston Guilmet), we should start to see a few more trickle in over the next two or three years.

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