Shorebird of the Week – April 3, 2008
When a guy has his own personal fan club, somewhere along the line you have to name him Shorebird of the Week – so why not right off the top to start the year with a bang! My first SotW for 2008 is infielder Pedro Florimon, Jr.
The Dominican native is beginning his fifth year in baseball, having started with the Orioles’ entry in the Dominican Summer League in 2004-2005 and working his way up the ladder once he came here to the United States. While there have been several of these seasons where Pedro has struggled at the plate (in 2007 Pedro hit just .197 here in 111 games and 371 at-bats, along with .213 and .200 marks in his two Dominican seasons over 330 at-bats) obviously the Orioles hope to see the 21 year old return to 2006 form, where he surprised observers by slapping the ball around at a .293 clip (66 for 225 between Bluefield and Aberdeen.) Last year Pedro did establish career highs in at-bats, home runs (4) and RBI (34) and was fourth on the squad with 16 stolen bases in his first full campaign.
This year will obviously be a key one for Pedro as he’s now relatively close in age to the league’s peer group. No longer will he have the excuse of being a little younger than the competition and maybe in a little over his head. But if Pedro can pick up the average to a more respectable level, the departure of fixture Miguel Tejada at the big-league level means the Orioles may be looking for another long-term fix at short and Florimon could get some notice.
Shorebirds open tonight!
And to get you ready for the season, I have two items today. The first is a roster report that the team prepared and secondly, this evening I make the 2008 debut of my Shorebird of the Week. So if you want to know the players, here’s a scorecard. I added the jersey numbers based on meeting the players last night at a dinner the Shorebirds put on for interested fans. (It was good.)
Any good team is based around its pitching staff, and the Shorebirds feature a troika of talented southpaws that will anchor a youthful rotation. Twenty year old Tony Butler (who will wear #45), a top-5 prospect in the Mariners organization, comes to the Orioles system via the Erik Bedard trade with the ability to reach the low 90s and devastate opponents with a killer curveball. Zach Britton (#22), another highly-touted lefty, ranks among the top young pitchers in baseball. Last season, Britton went 6-4 with a 3.68 ERA in Aberdeen while racking up a better than 2:1 strikeout to walk ratio. A third lefthander, Cole McCurry (#23), went 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in Delmarva at the tail-end of the 2007 season. These three prospects are joined by a bevy of right-handers who should bring skill and depth to the roster. Zach Clark (#12), Joe Esposito (#33), Cliff Flagello (#29), Sean Gleason (#10), John Mariotti (#28), Mick Mattaliano (#47), Jeff Moore (#31), Luis Noel (#27), and Bryan Parker (#37) round out the staff.
At the top of the lineup, former Ohio State center-fielder Matt Angle (#25) joins Delmarva with great potential not only to reach base, but also swipe many extra bases during the season. Angle stole 34 bases in just 66 games in Aberdeen last year while reaching base at an impressive .421 clip. Kieron Pope (#17), another highly-regarded prospect, is ready to refine his skills and contribute to wins, along with fellow outfielders David Cash (#30), Calvin Lester (#5), and Joe Nowicki (#18).
The infielders feature a sensational combination of defensive agility and offensive prowess. At first base, 6’7” Joe Mahoney (#48) and 6’3” Anthony Martinez (#35) obviously bring great size to the field, but they also should wield powerful bats at the plate. On the other side of the diamond, Matt Tucker (#9) and Pedro Silveren (#1) will likely compete for time at the hot corner. Up the middle, infielders Ryan Adams (#3), Pedro Florimon (#2), and Tyler Henson (#4) are expected to share time at second base and shortstop. All three players, each younger than 22 years of age, look to build upon successful 2007’s in the Orioles farm system. Behind the plate, Wally Crancer (#24), Brendan Monaghan (#15), and Jordan Wolf (#19) will share the opportunities to catch and handle the young Shorebird pitchers.
The new manager is Ramon Sambo (#16), while Kennie Steenstra (#21) remains as pitching coach and former Shorebird Ryan Minor (#44) is the new field coach.
Of the 27 players listed on the opening roster, only four spent extended time with the Shorebirds in 2007. Jeff Moore spent much of the year here before being placed on the disabled list, Pedro Silveren spent the first part of the season in Delmarva before a demotion to Aberdeen, while both Pedro Florimon and David Cash return for a second full season. We also saw a little bit of pitchers Zach Clark, Joe Esposito, Mick Mattaliano, and Cole McCurry at the tail end of 2007.
Hopefully the squad can improve on its break-even record last season and win the first SAL flag for our town since 2000. We’ll find out beginning tonight at 7:05 p.m. as the Shorebirds open against cross-state rival Hagerstown.
Well, despite the on-and-off rain we got the game in…unfortunately the Shorebirds lost 5-4 in a 14-inning marathon that didn’t end until almost 11:30. Because of the late finish, tonight’s fireworks show will occur tomorrow night (April 4th.)
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