John Salles (minors02)

John Gilbert Salles

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.

• School Fresno State University
• High School McLane High School

• Born August 11, 1967 in Fresno, CA USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

John Salles peaked at AAA. His father John Salles Sr. had also played pro ball. His son J.D. Salles played in college.

Amateur Career

John Jr. played for Team USA in the 1986 Amateur World Series. He tied Doug Kline for 16th in NCAA Division I with 113 whiffs in 1987. He was just getting going. In '88, he went 15-2 and struck out 152. He tied John Olerud, Eric Stone, teammate Rich Crane and Kirk Dressendorfer for 5th in Division I in wins (a third Fresno hurler, Erik Schullstrom, was only one win behind), led with 15 complete games, was second in innings pitched (177, 4 behind Linty Ingram) and was sixth in Ks (between Ingram and Gerald Alexander). He joined Andy Benes and Gregg Olson in being named the American Baseball Coaches Association All-American pitchers. Baseball America picked him second-team, behind Benes, Olerud, Olson, Dressendorfer and Ben McDonald. Fresno State made the 1988 College World Series but fell; it was the school's second time to a College World Series. As of 2008, he was third in Fresno State history in career wins (32) and 6th in Ks (338).

Pro Career

The Chicago Cubs took the righty in the 5th round of the 1988 amateur draft, right ahead of future major leaguers Joey Eischen, Mickey Morandini and John Valentin. He allowed seven hits, three walks and three runs in 2 1/3 IP for the Geneva Cubs that summer, with three balks. In 1989, he had a 9-8, 2.49 record for the Peoria Chiefs. He finished 10th in the Midwest League in ERA.

John kept on doing well with the 1990 Winston-Salem Spirits, going 14-5 with a 2.58 ERA. He was 6th in the Carolina League in ERA (between Ty Kovach and Mike Oquist) and tied for second in wins, two behind Frank Seminara. The league only named one All-Star starter and that nod went to Seminara. Among Cubs farmhands, he led in wins and was second to Kevin Coffman in ERA. The Californian made it to AA in 1991 and was 10-7 with a 3.00 ERA for the Charlotte Knights. He was 10th in the Southern League in ERA, right behind Tim Wakefield, having now made the top 10 in all three of his full seasons as a pro.

Things turned sour in 1992 when Salles made it to AAA - he was 4-9 with a 6.85 ERA for the Iowa Cubs while going 6-2 with a 2.41 ERA for Charlotte. He tied for third in the Cubs chain in wins (behind only Steve Trachsel and Ryan Hawblitzel) while tying for 8th in losses but his ERA for the year was 5.09 and he tied Jeff Hartsock for third-most hits allowed (177) by a Cubs minor leaguer (behind Trachsel and Hawblitzel again). He ended his career with the 1993 Orlando Cubs, going 11-9 with a save and a 4.38 ERA. He tied Mike Fyhrie, Rusty Kilgo and Oscar Munoz for 4th in the SL in wins but also allowed the most hits (203, 23 more than the #2) and most runs (103, one more than Tanyon Sturtze). He was 4th among Cubs farmhands in wins and 8th in strikeouts but allowed the most hits and was second to Derek Wallace in runs allowed.

He finished his minor league career at 54-40, 3.55 in 130 games (120 starts), with one save and three shutouts. In 788 1/3 IP, he allowed 825 hits and walked only 222 while striking out 442.

Sources

• 1988-1994 Baseball Almanacs
• 2008 Fresno Bee article
• 2012 article on the Salles family
• Defunct IBAF site