Shorebird of the Week – May 21, 2009

Cole McCurry shares a light-hearted moment with Sherman before a recent contest.
Left-handed starter Cole McCurry follows through on a delivery during an April game where the Shorebirds hosted Lakewood.

Working on his third tour of duty with Delmarva, it finally appears that Cole McCurry is becoming the solid left-handed starter the Orioles perhaps envisioned as a sleeper pick when he was drafted back in 2007. Hailing from a small college (Tennessee Wesleyan), it’s likely that Cole was thought of as an organization player when he was picked in the 43rd round that year. (Along with fellow pitcher Oliver Drake, McCurry is the lowest draft choice on the Shorebirds roster.)

After pitching well in a brief cup of coffee with the Shorebirds at the tail end of 2007 (2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 2 starts covering 10 innings), SAL batters seemed to catch up with him last season as Cole struggled to a 2-6 mark and a 6.51 ERA before being reassigned to Aberdeen to round out the season last June. There he performed significantly better, ending up 8-3 with a 2.76 ERA and being selected as a Mid-Season All-Star in the NY-Penn League.

Cole might garner another All-Star appearance based on his performance for Delmarva this season. Thus far his 2-2 record is somewhat deceiving as he’s sporting a 1.93 ERA and 1.10 WHIP based on seven starts, three of which would be considered “quality” starts (less than 3 earned runs allowed in 6 or more innings.) More importantly, the WHIP he’s amassed so far in 2009 is very close to the 1.09 WHIP that Cole allowed in Aberdeen last season, which means his performance here should closely mirror his All-Star statistics from 2008. McCurry has cut well down on the number of hits he’s allowed while maintaining the potential for punching out batters – over his pro career he’s averaged nearly a strikeout per inning –  thus getting out of tough innings.

Since he won’t turn 24 until after the season, McCurry could still be on track for advancement up the Orioles organization with a continuation of his pitching prowess in 2009. Coming off his worst start of the season (allowing 4 earned runs in 4 innings Sunday at West Virginia) it will be interesting to see what type of effort Cole puts up in his next start tomorrow or Saturday.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.