LA MIRADA --- Minor League Baseball (MiLB) season is wrapping up, and as it concludes Biola Athletics would like to highlight three alums who are contracted with professional teams. Larson Kindreich, Troy Stainbrook and Kenny Carrillo are three Eagles' pitchers who are in pursuit of their major league dreams at the minor league level. 

Kindreich and Stainbrook are in the MLB Farming System, playing High-A ball and looking at their final two months of the season.

Kindreich, a 2021 baseball alum, is playing for the Rangers' affiliate, the Hickory Crawdads in Hickory, North Carolina. Kindreich has played in 14 games with 10 starts, posting a 4-2 record on the hill for the Crawdads in 2022. He has been efficient in 58 innings of action, holding down a 2.79 ERA. Opponents have struggled against the left-handed hurler, averaging a low .187 in the batter's box. Kindreich has also struck out 78 batters this season, making his career total 98 strikeouts in 66 innings.

Earlier in the season, Kindreich was a part of making Crawdad history. He was a member of the four-man pitching staff that combined to throw the team's first no-hitter since 2013 in their 4-0 win over the Bowling Green Hot Rods.

Stainbrook is also making a name for himself, but with the Washington Nationals affiliate. The 2019 baseball alum is contracted with the Wilmington Blue Rocks, based out of Wilmington, Delaware. The lefty has seen 28.1 innings of action throughout 24 games as a reliever in 2022. He has gone in and held the Blue Rocks' lead six times, picking up one save this season which gave him a career total of three saves. 

Stainbrook has racked up 33 K's this season, making his career total 92 strikeouts in 76.1 innings of work. In 2022, opponents have averaged .200 against him at the plate. 

Carrillo wraps up the Biola boys in the minors. Carrillo is a right-handed thrower and 2021 alum who has a signed a contract with the Mexican Baseball League's Tigres De Quintana Roo located in Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The Tigres De Quintana Roo are unaffiliated with Major League Baseball, but are equivalent to that of the Triple-A level minor league team.

MiLB Classification System Explained
The MiLB is composed of five major classes including, from lowest to highest, rookie ball, Class-A short season, Class-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. 

The rookie ball/Class-A short season have shorter seasons that are meant to ease players into the rigorous play of a professional baseball season. The next step, and first major step of becoming a professional baseball player, is Class-A (High-A/Class-A Advanced and Low-A/Class-A). Players at this level play a five-month season that is loaded with 132 games. These players are working on gaining experience and/or working out specific issues. Double-A and Triple-A are the most prestigious levels with the best talent who play the most games. At these two levels there will be players with Major League Baseball (MLB) experience, including MLB athletes who are rehabbing injuries.