O'Sullivan thriving in Los Angeles: Rookie righthander and USAB alum enjoying early success

In early June, most 21-year-old baseball players were eagerly awaiting a phone call notifying them of their selection in the MLB amateur draft as draft-eligible rising seniors in college. Sean O'Sullivan received a phone call of his own just a few days later. However, this one notified him not of a team drafting him, but instead of his promotion to the big leagues to make his major league debut in place of injured pitcher Ervin Santana.

O'Sullivan, a right-handed starting pitcher, was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the third round of the 2005 draft out of Grossmont, a junior college in California. He had long been on the radar of talent evaluators, having been recognized as the top 12-year-old player in the country in Baseball America's "Baseball for the Ages" series in 2000, as well as being named the 2004 high school player of the year. Through his junior season at Valhalla High in San Diego, O'Sullivan had produced monster numbers as both a starting pitcher and an outfielder with a powerful bat. He batted .472 with 22 home runs and 104 runs batted in over three years, in addition to his dominant 25-6 record, 1.87 ERA, and 219 strikeouts.

He was considered one of the best high school pitchers of the 2005 class, but struggled to meet lofty expectations during his senior season. Previously committed to San Diego State, former school of USA Baseball alumnus Stephen Strasburg (2008 National Team [Collegiate], 2008 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team), O'Sullivan instead decided to pitch at Grossmont, which would have allowed him to re-enter the draft in 2006 had he not signed with Los Angeles.

Because he did not sign until May of 2006, O'Sullivan first pitched professionally over a year after being drafted, starting 14 games for Orem of the Pioneer League and accumulating an impressive 2.14 ERA while walking just seven batters. He saw further success in his first full season at just 19 years old, with a 2.22 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 158 innings pitched for Cedar Rapid of the Midwest League in 2007. Pushed to high-A ball in 2008, O'Sullivan hit the first major bump of his career, watching his strikeout rate dip and his ERA climb to 4.73.

O'Sullivan began this season at AA Arkansas of the Texas League and was quickly pushed to Salt Lake City of the Pacific Coast League after just three starts. A combined 5.82 ERA at the two levels was an eyesore, but O'Sullivan remained poised on the mound, again showing very good control and solid strikeout rates. At both levels, he was again among the youngest pitchers at the level, and usually starting in parks favorable to hitters. There were plenty of reasons to believe that with continued hard work and skill development, O'Sullivan would soon be ready to fool major league hitters.

With an improved 3.00 ERA over his final three minor league starts, O'Sullivan was summoned to the big leagues to make a spot start for Santana on June 16 at just 21 years old, becoming the fourth-youngest American to debut this year. Two of the three youngest players are also alumni of a USA Baseball program: RHP Trevor Cahill, Oakland (2008 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team) and LHP Brett Anderson, Oakland (2004 16U National Team, 2005 18U National Team, 2008 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team). He shined in his debut, impressing observers with seven strong innings against the San Francisco Giants, allowing just five hits, one earned run, one walk, and striking out five to earn his first major league victory in his first attempt. Following a very brief layover in Salt Lake City, O'Sullivan's spot start quickly turned into a second and a third.

Facing the more potent offenses of the Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers, O'Sullivan posted his second and third quality starts in as many tries, giving his team five and six strong innings each time out, respectively. Though the Angels likely planned for O'Sullivan to return to AAA for more seasoning once their ailing staff got healthy, he has certainly given them reason to think twice. With a 3.00 ERA in 18 innings thus far, they may prefer to let O'Sullivan's performance dictate the level at which he pitches with a battle for the American League West division title at hand.

O'Sullivan played for USA Baseball's 16U National Team in 2003 and returned to pitch for its 18U National Team in 2004. In 2003, his .379/.455/.690 batting line was among the best on the team, and he added two home runs and nine runs batted in en route to Team USA's gold medal in the IBAF "AA" World Youth Championship in Taiwan. Battling through nagging injuries the following summer, he gave Team USA an impressive pitching performance in the bronze medal game of the IBAF World Championship, despite a team loss.

"He wanted the ball, wanted to be a bulldog, wanted to compete on the mound," said Team USA's Ray Darwin, general manager for both national teams at the time of O'Sullivan's participation and now the organization's current CFO. "I think he had positive effects from pitching in front of that crowd. It's clear that it's something that he wants to do. On the mound, he wants to meet those challenges."

O'Sullivan, a groundball specialist, throws a low-90s fastball with a reliable curveball and changeup. His success is as much about his solid stuff as it is his experience and knowledge of how to effectively set up hitters. While it remains to be seen what the future holds for him, he is certainly off to a tremendous start, especially when considering most players his age are getting ready to sign their first professional contracts over the coming weeks.