Wilhemsen is an intrersting story. Tom Wilhelmsen 19 years old signs with the Brewers. He impresses right away in A ball. Then Bod-A-Bing Bod-A-Bang he gets popped for smoking pot. 20 years old and the rug gets pulled out from underneath him and he is suspended for a year. But this didn't stop old Tom. He promptly quits baseball and becomes a bar tender. Party on dude! Well not promptly, but it sounds like he only made a half-hearted attempt to come back, and ultimately Tom left for the greener pastures of the bar scene. Now I'm not one to criticize here, because hey... chicks, booze & $250K signing bonus. Well I'll just say if I was 20 yrs. old I might be tempted as well. You guy's probably heard the gig. Baker did a feel good story on Tom last March. PBNW chimed in recently as well.
So 5 years of bartending pass by and Tom decides he wants to pitch again. How bout that. All you have to do is hurl it 95 and you're gifted. You're in. You get a second shot. And Jack is familiar with the guy so Tom has a few connections as well.
Can I just take the short cut and call him a reliever with a power arm. At 27 He's got very little time left to make up for baseball on the back burner. If he continues to progress and gets the oppturnity to fast track in the bull pen.... he won't pass it up.... I suspect. Not to mention the AFL is typically used to prep high leverage relievers.