Photo Credit: Mick Lite/Gateway Grizzlies

As part of a recently-begun weekly look-in at the many independent baseball leagues across the country covered and streamed on its platforms, FloBaseball’s new Player of the Week series highlights the best of the best from indy ball over the week that was.

Collin Sullivan, a right-handed pitcher for the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League, is this week’s nominee.

Here’s a look at Sullivan’s week, along with his background and a peek into his independent league season to date: 

Career Look-Back

New to independent baseball but well-versed in the professional game, Sullivan, a 6-foot-1 hurler from Massachusetts, played five seasons of college ball at South Florida and earned All-American Athletic Conference Second Team honors during his final season there in 2021, which boosted his stock enough to see him picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks on an undrafted free agent deal. 

Now, that's how you make an entrance!

D-backs prospect Collin Sullivan starts his pro career with NINE PERFECT INNINGS across two starts for Low-A Visalia. pic.twitter.com/WsDa6Ca2IF

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) August 14, 2021

Making it as high as High-A across his two seasons with the D-Backs, his release by the organization prior to the 2023 campaign was the Grizzlies’ gain, being picked up by the team in early April and thriving — right along with the club — ever since in his new home. 

The Frontier’s current leader in both wins (eight) and strikeouts (102) as of this writing Thursday evening, Sullivan has been sensational for West Division-leading Gateway as its ace with just a 2.66 ERA and 24 walks given up across 81⅓ innings, with his strikeouts per nine innings rate of 11.29 being the best in the league on top of it all. 

Named a Frontier All-Star earlier this summer, Sullivan has serious Pitcher of the Year potential (for reference, last year’s winner, the Quebec Capitales’ Miguel Cienfuegos, went 10-2 and only had 106 strikeouts in 131 innings) as the Grizzlies, who haven’t won the Frontier in 20 years, have serious say in the conversation of who the Frontier’s championship favorites are.

BREAKING: we will send 7 players to the @FLProBaseball All-Star Game, the most players of any club! Congratulations to Abdiel Diaz, Gabe Holt, Andrew Penner, Jairus Richards, D.J. Stewart, Collin Sullivan, and Peter Zimmermann! #GrizzUP🐻

Read more: https://t.co/xeiaV5MWSc pic.twitter.com/eXWhG2nGz5

— Gateway Grizzlies (@GatewayGrizzlie) July 3, 2023

Standout Performances 

Sullivan was dynamite in his last appearance against the Joliet Slammers on Wednesday, helping lead Gateway to a 7-2 victory on the road and keep the hard-charging Schaumburg Boomers (currently a game back of the Grizzlies in the West standings as of this writing) at arm’s length in the division title race. 

Through the first five innings, Sullivan had a no-hitter going, and Gateway overall got seven frames of shutout ball from him in the circle as he gave up just three hits with eight strikeouts to go with it before being relieved. It was a fantastic bounce-back night for Sullivan as he had had a rare shaky start in his previous outing after giving up five earned runs off of eight hits in 3⅓ innings against the Windy City ThunderBolts on July 27 — a game that the Grizzlies, led on offense by former FloBaseball Player of the Week Peter Zimmerman, still won 12-7 — and was a big performance for division-title purposes, too; the Washington Wild Things had defeated the Boomers on the same night, and with Sullivan pitching the Grizzlies to a victory, it meant that they took sole possession of first place in the West, as well. 

How To Watch Independent Baseball In 2023

Atlantic, Frontier, Pioneer, and the Coastal Summer Plain League, as well as the Florida Collegiate Summer League, are all streaming on FloBaseball and the FloSports app. Replays, highlights, and more news can be found on the site. 

Independent Baseball Schedule

Check out the schedule on FloBaseball to see where your favorite teams in the Atlantic, Pioneer, Frontier, Pioneer, Coastal Summer Plain and the Florida Collegiate leagues are playing.