Head coach Lou Melendez has appointed former Major League Baseball relief pitcher John Foster as the Mustangs player development coach.
The 2014 season will be Foster’s third season as an assistant coach for the Mustangs. In 2012 season he served as the head coach of the Mustangs’ junior varsity team, helping many of his player’s get promoted to the varsity team.
Foster is responsible for assisting and evaluating players on their individual skills on the field as well as coordinating the development of players on both the varsity and junior varsity squads.
Foster retired from Major League Baseball in 2009 after pitching for the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers. He finished his career with a 7-2 record, 4.90 ERA, and 54 strikeouts in 60.2 innings pitched.
The 6’0’’ lefthander from Stockton, CA was drafted by the Braves in the twenty-fifth round of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major league debut for the Braves on May 14, 2002. In 2003 as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, Foster appeared in twenty-three games, posting a 2-0 record with a 4.71 ERA while recording 16 strikeouts in 21 innings.
In 2005 Foster returned to the Braves, making an appearance in sixty-two games. That season he posted a 4-2 record and a 4.15 ERA in 34 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out thirty-two batters, while holding batters to just a .213 average.
In 1999, Foster led Lewis-Clark State College (ID) to its tenth N.A.I.A. National Championship.
