Honey Hunters sign RHP Chase Ingram and C Jonah Girand.
Girand last played in the Diamondbacks organization while Ingram played for the High Point Rockers
to help with the absence of Norberto Susini (placed on reserve list today) and the lack of pitching depth, Gastonia has signed Chase Ingram and Jonah Girand.
Ingram was a 6th round draft pick by the Mets in 2015 and spent 2 years in their farm before leaving professional baseball until 2020. In 2020, he went 2-1 with a 3.04 ERA and 11.0 K/9 in the AABC (indy league that started solely because of the pandemic). In 2021, Ingram played in the Frontier League and posted a 5.79 ERA in 51.1 IP as a starter. After this, he would play for the High Point Rockers and would struggle there, primarily as a reliever. He posted a 9.45 ERA in 6.2 IP as a Rocker. Given how he’s served as both a starter and reliever in his career, I am not sure what role he will hold in Gastonia.
Girand hasn’t played too much professional baseball yet. He was a Florida Gator for the 2018 and 19 years but has only played 15 combined games of professional baseball since 2019. In 2021, he slashed .167/.318/.167 in 6 games for the Diamondbacks AA affiliate. Before this, he slashed a combined .231/.375/.538 in 16 combined plate appearances for the Tigers’ rookie affiliates. Though he doesn’t seem to be an amazing hitter, he always seems to manage to have a decent OBP.
Overall, I think both players will contribute to the roster. Given how there’s only one active catcher on the roster now, excluding Girand, he should get at least a few games behind the plate for the rest of the season. For Ingram, he will for sure contribute in some way, whether that be as a starter or a reliever.