Credit: Newark Bears

The Newark Bears completed their first trade ever with their friendly local rivals, the New Jersey Jackals, earlier in the week when the Bears acquired  starting pitcher Ryan Lobban in exchange for a player to be named later. Lobbon has shown potential to be an above-average pitcher in the Can-Am League.

In 2008 as a member of the Worcester Tornadoes, Lobban went 5-1 with a 3.11 ERA as a reliever. The following season in Worcester, Lobban converted to a starter and pitched quite well going 10-7 with a 3.56 ERA. He also struck out 74 batters in 121.1 innings pitched. Last season with the Jackals he regressed a bit and his ERA rose considerably to 5.56 in 18 starts.

You can never have enough pitching so if Lobbon can slot in as a middle of the rotation starter and put up numbers similar to like he did in 2008 and 2009, the Bears should be in pretty good shape in the starting pitcher category. Ryan Lobban is scheduled to make his season debut this Saturday in the series finale against the Rockland Boulders.

Little Known Fact: Ryan Lobban, a native of Saddle River, was recognized nationally in 2003 by Sports Illustrated as an up-and-coming sports star. Check it out here.