Catch Up With The Cajuns: Michael Strentz

Michael Strentz was one of the enforcers for Ragin' Cajun Baseball, and this grinder is letting the minor leagues know exactly how he plays the game.

Strentz, along with Jace Conrad, are often referred to as the most intense members of last year's historic Cajun Baseball team. Not only did Strentz gun down runners with a cannon from behind the plate, he let the rest of the team know when they were straying from the proper path. Head Coach Tony Robichaux makes jokes about the razor-sharp competitive edge all the time.

"With Jace [Conrad] and Mike [Strentz], I don't know if some of these freshmen might have been dead," Robichaux said to juxtapose the demeanor of his squads the last two seasons.

There was another thing Strentz was quite good at...crushing baseballs out of their stitches. He won the Home Run Derby on Fan Day his last year as a Cajun, and look at how he's doing in the minor leagues.

So it looks like pitchers are still making the mistake of serving Mike fastballs. Their fault.

Strentz sent six balls over the wall so far in his pro career, but the impressive portion comes down to simple contact. Catchers that are crafty with the bat go a long way, and the former Ragin' Cajun collected ten hits over the last eight games. Throw the short sample size aside. Strentz' batting average sits at .304, and he only has 58 strikeouts through 64 games and 245 at bats. With his vicious cut, those numbers lead to some quick advancement.

Austin Robichaux started off his journey with his catcher, playing with the Orem Owlz. Robichaux now plays for the full-A Burlington Bees, while Strentz finds himself behind the plate for the Inland Empire 66ers in beautiful San Bernardino. If things play out, they could both see each other again playing for the Los Angeles Angels.

He stills pays attention to his grinders. He coined the term "Water Hose Boyz" on Twitter, which is a term their former teammates like Tyler Girouard take a ton of pride in. Once a Cajun, always a Cajun, right?

Last, very important, note: Strentz is living on the West Coast now. How much andouille can you get your hands on around out there? Tasso would probably be outlawed. Cracklin? Out of the question. Somebody send this man a Cajun care package, pronto. He might die without it.