June has been a good month for former Rutgers baseball players in the Oakland A’s minor league system. As Ryan Lasko has caught fire at the plate, Drew Conover has also found his rhythm on the mound and put together the best stretch of his minor league career.
In his last three appearances, Conover has posted a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings. During that span, the 22-year-old has struck out 14 batters and held opponents to a .171 batting average. Due to his recent play, Conover’s ERA has dropped from 21.32 to 9.32
Over the last few weeks, Conover has been a productive arm while working out of trouble. The former 11th-round pick is still walking a lot of batters, but he has avoided big innings. That was not the case in May when he allowed 13 runs in 10.2 innings of work.
One reliever who could shoot up draft boards is RHP Drew Conover (@RutgersBaseball). Slingy arm action, Low 3/4 slot and throws a bowling ball sinker that’s been up to 97 and just dives into RHH hands. High spin SL is a sw/miss pitch with spin rate pushing 3,000
Top-8 round pot. pic.twitter.com/JY2Kb2rEPv
— Peter Flaherty III (@PeterGFlaherty) February 7, 2023
Additionally, after splitting time between the rotation and bullpen, Conover’s last three appearances have come as a starter. That is the longest stretch he has gone this year being used out of the rotation. During his time at Rutgers, the former Cape Cod League All-Star only made four appearances as a reliever.
While Conover is far from a finished product, he has shown he can work out of trouble. For Oakland, that is an encouraging sign as during the 2024 campaign, the New Jersey native has split time between Rookie Ball and Single-A. As he has faced adversity, Conover has gotten better.
For Conover the key will be building on his success as the innings pile up. Over the last few weeks he has shown how good he can be.