Shorebird of the week 8-30-2007

A dirty David Cash trots back to the dugout during an early August game.

My final Shorebird of the Week for the 2007 campaign is outfielder David Cash. Like the team, of late he’s been slumping (going into last night’s game he’d been mired in a 1-for-20 streak) but overall he hasn’t put together a bad year. For the season he’s hitting .257 with a homer and 50 RBI in 107 games. And both he and the team at-large broke out of their slumps last night as Cash went 2 for 5 with a double and triple while the Shorebirds beat last-place Hagerstown in a laugher, 14-1. (It also marked the debut of two new pitchers we may see in the final homestand, Cole McCurry and Mick Mattaliano.)

Indeed, the Cash name should sound familiar to baseball fans as his father played in the big leagues during the 1970’s with the Pirates, Phillies, Expos, and Padres. At the time his son was drafted, the elder Cash worked for the Orioles so it can be argued that our Cash’s 40th round selection in the 2006 draft was a favor to dad.

But while dad was an infielder, this season David’s played the outfield. David was drafted as an infielder but has undergone a position change as the Orioles look to utilize his speed (Cash is second on the team with 20 stolen bases.) And being only 21 Cash has the potential to become comfortable in the position for a season or two in the lower reaches of the organization while the Orioles management waits to see if the bat is there for advancement. It’s likely to be a tossup whether Cash moves up to Frederick or anchors the 2008 Delmarva outfield. Since David’s average backslid somewhat from his 2006 Aberdeen numbers (he hit .297 for the IronBirds last year) my guess is that he’ll be here to start next year.

With all 22 of the year’s SotW honorees now selected, next week I’ll wrap up how they all did during the 2007 season and select my Shorebird of the Year for 2007.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.