Former Cal State Stanislaus standout pitcher Andrew Stueve had an eventful weekend as he nears the end of his first professional season.  On Saturday, he was named the Pitcher of the Year for the Arizona Rookie League Royals after he appeared in 22 games and threw 43 innings to earn a 2.09 ERA while striking out 40 batters and collecting six saves.
Later on Saturday, he learned that he got promoted to the Wilmington (Dela.) Blue Rocks of the Carolina League, the Class-A Advanced team of the Kansas City Royals, who signed Stueve to a free agent contract in June.
On Sunday, the Blue Rocks played in Salem, Va., where Stueve arrived after the start of the game but became a key player as he pitched the eighth and ninth innings to pick up the 5-4 victory, finishing with three strikeouts and no hits.

Stueve capped off his career at Stanislaus with a 6-2 record. He had a 2.46 ERA and held his opponents to just a .219 batting average in 95 innings. He was then picked up by the Royals, becoming the fifth Stanislaus pitcher in the last four years to sign with a major league club.

Another Stanislaus pitcher has had a standout year in the minor league system. Marquis Fleming, a 2008 MLB First-Year Draft selection by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 24th round, had a stay short with the Triple-A Durham Bulls of North Carolina in July before going returning to the Montgomery Biscuits of Alabama.