University of North Carolina Athletics
Mike Bynum Turning Heads
August 1, 1999 | Baseball
August 8, 1999
By: Travis Everette, Carolina Baseball
Most anyone who follows baseball will tell you that a left handed pitcher doesn't necessarily have to be dominant to pitch in professional baseball. There's just something about that different delivery that drives hitters wild. So what happens when you get a lefty who's not just good, but downright awesome in his first few stints as a professional? You move him up of course!
That's exactly what has already happened to former Tar Heel Mike Bynum. Bynum, a hard throwing south paw and the 49th overall pick in June's Major League Baseball Draft, has been promoted to Class A Rancho Cucamonga of the California League. Since beginning his career in the Padres organization last month, Bynum has not allowed a single earned run. That's right, he has a nice little 0.00 ERA through 17 innings pitched. How's that for impressing your new bosses? Bynum's red hot streak didn't slow down after his promotion to the much more competitive California league. In his first start for the Quakes(Rancho Cucamonga), Bynum went five innings, allowed no runs, only one hit and struck out 10.
By the way, those of you wishing to congratulate Bynum on his meteoric rise through the Padres organization won't have to look far. As soon as his minor league season is over, Mike will return to Chapel Hill for the fall semester in order to finish his degree in Business Administration. So if you see him around town, you might want to shake the hand of the next San Diego pitching sensation.
