Shorebird of the Week – April 30, 2009

Things were looking up for Ron Welty even during the pre-season practice session.
Ron Welty's distinctive yet classical high-bat stance has paid him handsome dividends at the plate so far this year.

Perhaps he was a bit of an afterthought in the Orioles’ 2008 draft as a 22nd round pick, but so far Ron Welty has proven to be one of the few reliable bats in the Delmarva offensive attack this spring.

After a 4-for-4 performance yesterday against the Lakewood BlueClaws, Welty raised his average to a sparkling .309 mark and became the second Shorebird on the young season to crack double-digits in his RBI total. His .815 OPS mark is also second on the team behind Joe Mahoney, giving the Shorebirds a potent lefty-righty setup in the middle of the lineup.

With his 21st birthday in the recent past, the product of Arizona’s Chandler-Gilbert Community College may not be the most polished talent on the team but he has managed to hit well at both his professional stops – his numbers thus far are on a very comparable pace to those he achieved last season in 55 games at Bluefield. There he hit .314/3/34 with an OPS of .801 and perhaps the one knock on him was walking just 9 times compared to 49 strikeouts. So far in 2009 Welty’s been more selective and walked 8 times compared to 16 strikeouts.

If Ron can make a little better contact he promises to be a dangerous hitter in the middle of the lineup; one the Shorebirds faithful can rely on for clutch hitting. So far Welty’s been outstanding with runners in scoring position, hitting .368 (7-for-19) in those situations.

If he can hold true to prior performance, 2009 may be the one and only season we see Ron Welty in a Shorebirds jersey.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.