Shuck Off to a Good Start in his Professional Baseball Career

From the Galion Inquirer (June 28, 2008)

J.B. Shuck has made a smooth transition from playing baseball in college to that as a professional player.

The 2005 Galion High School graduate was drafted by the Houston Astros three weeks ago. After signing a contract with the organization, he was assigned to the Tri-City Valley Cats of the Class A New York-Penn League.

Shuck is the starting centerfielder and leadoff hitter for the Cats and is the only player on the team to have played all 10 games.

The southpaw is batting .262 with 11 hits in a team-high 42 official at bats. He is second on the Cats in runs scored (8) and third in runs batted in (7). He has belted two doubles and a triple, walked three times and stolen a base.

Apparently the former All-Ohio player at Galion and 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Year at Ohio State University prefers to bat with runners on base. He is 7-for-18 (.389 average) with runners on and 4-for-24 (.167) with the bases empty. In addition, he is 5-for-13 (.385) with six RBIs with runners in scoring position.

In a 9-7 Tri-City victory over Oneonta on Thursday, Shuck was 2-for-6 including a pair of runs batted in with two outs.

His most productive game was on June 21 against Oneonta. That day he was 2-for-5 with a triple, a double, three ribbies and a pair of runs scored.

Tri-City is 5-5 on the season and plays out of the Stedler Division of the league. The NYPL consists of 16 teams in three divisions and squads are limited to having just four players who are 23 years of age or older on their roster. Shuck turned 21 last week.

Teams are scheduled to play 75 regular season games and the season ends in early September.

Tri-City plays its home games at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy, New York. The stadium seats 4,500. So far, the Cats have played eight of their 10 contests on the road.

One of Shuck's teammate is firstbaseman Phil Disher out of South Carolina. Disher has been red-hot at the plate going 16-for-36 (.444) with six doubles, a triple and three home runs for a slugging percentage of .917. He has driven in 14 runs and scored 10 in nine games.

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