Jon-Mark Sprowl

Jon-Mark Sprowl

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 200 lb.

• School Shelton State Community College
• High School Bay High School

• Born August 1, 1980 in Tucson, AZ USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

The son of major leaguer Bobby Sprowl, Jon-Mark Sprowl made it to AAA.

Sprowl was picked by the Chicago Cubs in the 47th round of the 1998 amateur draft as a draft-and-follow pick. He hit .392/.483/.526 in his pro debut the next summer for the AZL Cubs. Had he qualified (he was 33 plates appearances shy), he would have been second in the Arizona League in average (.007 behind Juan Ventura) and first in OBP (by 43 points). His numbers fell off the next two years. In 2000, he played for the Eugene Emeralds (.235/.325/.286 in 40 G) and Lansing Lugnuts (0 for 4, 3 BB, 3 R). For the 2001 Lugnuts, he batted only .219/.311/.335 and allowed 24 steals in 26 tries as a catcher. He did pitch well in 2000-2001, giving up just one run in four innings.

Sprowl moved to the Arizona Diamondbacks chain and hit .278/.404/.417 as a backup catcher, corner infielder and corner outfielder for the 2002 Lancaster JetHawks. He had a better OBP than several future major leaguers who were teammates, such as Dan Uggla, Andy Green and Josh Kroeger. He was very good in 2003, spending most of the year with the South Bend Silver Hawks. Following a trade with David Dellucci and Bret Prinz to the New York Yankees for Raúl Mondesí, he was assigned to the Battle Creek Yankees. Between the two clubs, he produced at a .321/.425/.443 clip with 30 doubles, 71 walks, 77 runs and only 39 strikeouts. He had 18 passed balls and 13 errors and only threw out 22% of attempted base-thieves, defensive being the lone poor spot. He led the Midwest League in OBP (16 points ahead of Prince Fielder), was second in average (.006 behind Alberto Callaspo), was third in OBP (behind Fielder and Jayson Drobiak), tied Erick Aybar and Jared Abruzzo for 9th in doubles, tied Fielder for fourth in walks and tied for the most passed balls. That offensive performance won him honors as the MWL's All-Star catcher.

Jon-Mark's batting line for the 2004 Tampa Yankees read .256/.381/.324. He was a backup for Tampa the next year and fell to .228/.338/.321. He spent his final season, 2006, in the Chicago Cubs chain, as a utility man for the Daytona Cubs (.118/.164/.137 in 17 G; 3 R in 1 2/3 IP), West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (.205/.354/.231 in 26 G) and Iowa Cubs (1 for 8, 2B). Overall, Sprowl hit .270/.380/.33 in 505 minor league games, with 212 runs, 200 RBI, 82 doubles, 9 triples, 18 home runs, 247 walks and 209 strikeouts. He had a 6.35 ERA in his four pitching appearances, with 7 strikeouts and 5 walks in 5 2/3 IP. He fielded .988 at catcher (with 56 passed balls in 281 games), .981 in 39 games at 1B, played 26 error-free games in the outfield and fielded .625 in 8 games at 3B.

Sources: 2000-2007 Baseball Almanacs