Shorebird of the Year – a 2009 season wrapup

As a lot of Shorebirds found out this year, a 140-game schedule needs to be treated as a marathon and not a sprint. It seemed as if the team, which started out pretty well in April and May and contended for the division title in the first half, ran out of gas toward the end and slumped to a 66-70 record overall. I’m certain part of that was losing a number of key players down the stretch but the chinks in the armor were apparent earlier on.

Overall that 66-70 record placed Delmarva in 10th place leaguewide among a cluster of teams with similar records. If you look at the offensive statistics, though, you can see where Delmarva may have lost a lot of games.

• Batting average: .248, 13th of 16 teams in the league.
• Runs: 537. While they finished 15th out of 16, the ranking is slightly deceptive because they only played 136 of 140 scheduled games – second lowest in the league (Hagerstown played just 134). Had they played 140 games, they would have scored 16 more (at 3.95 runs per game) and ranked 12th. Still, it’s much lower than last year’s 4.57 runs per game output.
• Doubles: 183, last in the league (Lexington had 186 in 140 games.)
• Triples: 33, 12th.
• Home runs: 49, last in the league (Hagerstown and Charleston has 55 apiece.)
• Walks: 375, 12th of 16 in the league.
• Strikeouts: 1066, 8th most of 16.
• Stolen bases: 181, 3rd. Team speed was a definite asset.
• OPS: .651, 14th in the league. On-base percentage was 13th while slugging percentage was dead last.

The pitching was much more noteworthy; that is if you consider more toward league averages noteworthy. The 3.70 overall ERA ranked 8th in the loop. Some of the other numbers and how they compared to the rest of the SAL:

• Shutouts: 6, tied for 12th.
• Saves: 34, 11th.
• Hits allowed: 1058, a total which was lowest in the league. It was 37 less than Lake County, who played one more game overall.
• Runs allowed: 563, 5th best in the league. 474 earned runs was 6th best.
• Home runs allowed: 60, 4th.
• Walks allowed, 459, 2nd most. Only Lake County (461) allowed more.
• Strikeouts: 1056, 11th.
• WHIP: their 1.32 WHIP tied for 9th.

Obviously allowing a higher than average number of walks but the lowest number of hits made for an average overall result, just in an unusual way.

As I noted last season, there were a number of also-rans in the system below us and the same was true in 2009. Of the four feeder teams, only the Gulf Coast League Orioles finished above .500 (30-26) while the Orioles’ Dominican Summer League entry, Bluefield, and Aberdeen all finished under break-even. None made their league’s playoffs, and systemwide Bowie was the only other team besides the GCL O’s to finish over .500 (73-69). Needless to say, the Orioles chain seems to be lacking in overall talent in comparison to its peers.

But there are some good individual players and the Orioles just need their cream of the crop to be superior to see success. Here’s how the 22 players I picked as Shorebirds of the Week ended up faring for the season.

April 9: Brent Allar

For a comeback season, Brent put together a decent 2009 campaign. The velocity was there for the hard-throwing Allar but at times his control deserted him – most tellingly Brent allowed 55 walks in 67 innings pitched, which is way too high. Overall Brent finished 1-5 with a 4.70 ERA, so the occasions where he was dominating were overshadowed by those where he struggled. Because he’ll be 25 before next season starts, if his career continues it may well be a tryout in Frederick.

April 16: Joe Mahoney

At this time last year I noted, “I’m counting on Mahoney to provide the power and anchor first base in the 2009 Shorebird lineup.”

He accomplished about half of that, playing much of the year at first base. But he surprised observers by going 29-for-30 on the basepaths, showing an uncanny knack of knowing just when to steal a base. However, he hit just 7 home runs and didn’t lead the team in that category.

Overall it was a successful 2009 for Mahoney, hitting .281 with 7 homers and 54 RBI to go with the 29 steals. In a late-season cup of coffee at Frederick, Mahoney hit .267 (7-for-30) with one homerun and 5 RBI. Ironically he was caught on his lone steal attempt there. 2009 should be a good enough season overall to propel Joe to a more permanent home in the Carolina League come 2010.

April 23: Richard Zagone

It turned out Zagone split the season almost evenly between Delmarva and Frederick, with 13 appearances at each site. Here Zagone was 4-5 with a 4.66 ERA and in Frederick he was 1-3 with a 5.10 ERA. The biggest difference was hits allowed – Zagone allowed 59 in 63 2/3 innings here and 70 in 67 innings in the Carolina League. Richard should anchor the Frederick rotation in 2010.

Other honors: Zagone was a SAL Mid-Season All-Star just before his promotion to Frederick.

April 30: Ron Welty

Ron put together a great offensive season for Delmarva in 2009, hitting .290 in 121 games. His 10 home runs and 67 RBI led the team as well, thus Welty turned out to be a Triple Crown winner for the season. The only knock on Ron is that he tailed off toward the end of the campaign, but it was still an outstanding year.

Frankly it was surprising that Ron wasn’t among those called up to Frederick at season’s end, but I suspect he’ll have his due in 2010. After all, he doesn’t turn 22 until January so he’s a little ahead of the league peer group here and would similarly be in the Carolina League next year.

Other honors: Welty was both a SAL Mid-Season and Postseason All-Star along with a Player of the Week selection on June 15. Mountaire selected him as their Batter of the Year, and the Shorebirds Fan Club picked him as their Player of the Half for the first half.

May 7: Eddie Gamboa

Eddie ended up with a perfect season record-wise, 11-0 between three stops. He was 6-0 with a 1.86 ERA here and left for Frederick after the midseason break. Yet those were his worst numbers!

With Frederick Eddie was untouchable, going 4-0 with an 0.55 ERA in 33 innings.

With Bowie Eddie gave up three unearned runs in 12 innings, thus he was 1-0 with an ERA of zero in seven games.

Nowhere did Eddie give up more hits than innings pitched and he maintained a rate of just under 1 strikeout per inning at each stop. If Baltimore gives him a cup of coffee before the season ends he’ll be the first Shorebird to make the jump all the way to the Show in one season (not counting rehab stints like Luke Scott’s this season) since Jim Hoey in 2006.

May 14: Xavier Avery

The speedy Avery did reasonably well in a season one year removed from his high school days, hitting .262 in 129 games with 2 home runs, 36 RBI, and 30 stolen bases. Definitely it was a season of ups and downs for Xavier, who hit only .185 in April but followed it with a .340 May. After the All-Star break he hit just .245 but finished strong with 6 hits in his last 16 at-bats.

Averys going to Instructional League this fall for further work, so don’t be surprised if he doesn’t return to Delmarva to begin 2010 – Xavier’s only 20 as of New Year’s Day so agewise he’s certainly ahead of schedule to develop for the Orioles.

May 21: Cole McCurry

For a player to set a career record with Delmarva it’s likely they’ve spent plenty of time here. Col McCurry has been with Delmarva at least part of each of the last three seasons, but 2009 was a year he spent the entire season here and performed quite well. In fact, over the second half McCurry was downright dominant, finishing on a string of seven consecutive starts where he allowed just 3 earned runs in 43 1/3 innings. So the overall 6-9 record is quite deceiving compared to the body of work.

Cole led the team with 139 2/3 innings and 145 strikeouts against 46 walks. Since he’ll turn 24 later this month, it’s my hope that the Orioles will give Cole the chance to show his stuff at Frederick next year despite being such a low draft pick (43rd round). Certainly McCurry has mastered this level.

Other honors: Cole was selected by the Shorebirds Fan Club as their Player of the Half for the second half.

May 28: Oliver Drake

Drake pitched quite well early, but struggled more as the season went on. In each month of the season his ERA increased which wasn’t a good sign. Overall Oliver tied for the team lead in wins with 8 but also tied for the team lead in losses with 9. Essentially he wasn’t consistent from start to start, finishing with a 4.34 ERA.

On a better note Oliver still struck out 104 while walking 42. Job one for Oliver next year will be to cut down on the number of hits allowed, as he gave up 138 in 130 2/3 innings – that was most among Shorebird pitchers. I think that 2010 will find Oliver back here to pitch, although it may be back in the bullpen where he found success in 2008.

June 4: Greg Miclat

Miclat ended up a little bit of a disappointment on the offensive side, hitting just .228 in 400 at-bats and still seeking his first pro home run. When he did get on base, though, he was speedy enough to swipe 25 bases and worked well at advancing runners by striking out just 79 times all year with Delmarva.

In 6 late-season games at Frederick, Greg was 5-for-24 (.208) with a double, RBI, and stolen base. Given that Greg was a high draft pick (5th round) and will start the 2010 season at the age of 22, the Orioles may decide to challenge him with a promotion to Frederick to start 2010 despite the low batting average.

June 11: Luis Bernardo

Given the fact that none of the three catchers on Delmarva’s opening day roster hit above .200 in 2008, we weren’t expecting a ton of offense out of the backstop position. But Luis hit and played well enough to get the bulk of the work behind the plate during a season where five different players donned the tools of ignorance.

The .213 average in 82 games featured a home run and 25 RBI, along with Luis showing a good eye at the plate and striking out just 51 times in 253 at-bats. He also showed a pretty good arm behind the plate against opposing base stealers.

Since he is only 22 at the start of next year, the Orioles may allow the Dominican product another year here to work more with pitchers and try to improve his batting average. He seems like a prized catching prospect so the Orioles will give Luis every chance to succeed.

June 18: Kyle Hudson

Kyle is another highly-touted prospect in the Orioles chain, and his 2009 performance here likely punched Hudson a ticket to the next level. In essentially his pro debut, Kyle hit .284 with no homers but 21 RBI. (Kyle played only 11 games in 2008 due to injury.) The best part of his game was a total of 34 stolen bases between Delmarva and Frederick, where he was 5-for-20 (.250) in 6 tail-end games.

Possibly the only improvement Kyle could use is to develop a little more power, but those results will likely show higher up in the Orioles organization.

June 25: Ryan O’Shea

Ryan put together a workmanlike season for the Shorebirds (8-8, 3.60 in 25 starts with 100 strikeouts and 47 walks.) Alas, there wasn’t a lot of flash or sizzle in his stats and as a 27th round pick who turns 24 next season he may not get his due. Ideally he’ll ply his trade at Frederick next season since he pitched well enough here to deserve it.

July 2: L.J. Hoes

Much as Xavier Avery (see above), L.J. was playing his first full professional season just a year removed from high school. And like Avery, Hoes will make a stop in the Instructional League this fall.

The similarities don’t stop there as L.J. hit .260 with 2 home runs and 47 RBI along with 20 stolen bases. He was the youngest Shorebird so, like Avery, the Maryland native Hoes may return here to anchor the 2010 Shorebird attack. I believe he’s destined to be a replacement for Brian Roberts someday, so I’m naming Hoes my 2009 Prospect of the Year.

July 9: Brendan Monaghan

Out of the Shorebirds’ crop of catchers, Brendan turned out to be the best offensive weapon as far as average, hitting .222 in 39 games. But for the second year in a row he missed time with an injury and at the age of 24 the only thing that may save his career is his versatility – he played some outfield and served as the emergency pitcher to save the bullpen, allowing no runs in 3 appearances covering 3 2/3 innings. Unfortunately, Brendan has seen just 236 at-bats in two seasons here so bad luck has prevented him from taking full advantage of his opportunity as an undrafted free agent.

July 16: Brandon Cooney

I picked Cooney just before his promotion to Frederick, which was richly deserved after Brandon had amassed 16 saves with a 2-5 record and 2.89 ERA – the ERA steadily declined as the year went on. For Frederick Brandon picked up another 5 saves and allowed just 3 runs (1 earned) over 15 innings, resulting in a 0.60 ERA. Batters hit an anemic .140 in Frederick against Brandon, who’s seemed to find his niche as a closer and may get the opportunity to jump to Bowie or beyond next season.

July 23: Nathan Moreau

Another pitcher who put up solid numbers in a limited tour of duty with Delmarva, Moreau finished 5-3 with a 3.61 ERA, allowing 78 hits and 43 walks in 78 1/3 innings before returning to the University of Georgia for fall classes. I expect Nathan to anchor the 2010 Shorebird staff in order to work on reducing his walks allowed and spend a full season playing professional ball. A hot start may find him in Frederick by the midseason break.

Other honors: Nathan was selected as the SAL pitcher of the Week July 20th.

July 30: Tyler Kolodny

Tyler’s campaign was cut short in August with a wrist injury, which was unfortunate because the scrappy third baseman’s season was starting to pick up steam. At the All-Star break Kolodny was hitting just .206 but he finished strong and ended up hitting .223 with 9 home runs and 41 RBI in 107 games. Had he completed the last three weeks of the season he may have denied Ron Welty a Triple Crown by hitting 2 more home runs.

It’s likely Tyler’s 2010 fate depends on how well he recovers, but my guess is that turning 22 by next year’s opener will mean Tyler repeats here starting in April.

August 6: Cliff Flagello

I correctly predicted last year that Cliff would be in Frederick for 2009, but there was a detour back to Delmarva for the second half. After being bombed by Carolina League batters (1-2, 7.55 in 31 innings where he allowed 41 hits and 25 walks) he returned here and had the same 1-2 record but a more satisfying 1.76 ERA, allowing just 10 walks and 19 hits in 30 2/3 innings.

His career, though, may be at a crossroads. He did well at this level two seasons in a row but his age (25 by opening day next season) and low draft status (25th round) coupled with his lack of success at Advanced-A Frederick may mean Cliff looks for a job next season. Hopefully that’s not the case.

August 13: Rodolfo Cardona

The versitile Venezuelan jumped over Delmarva to start the year, spending time in Frederick (10-for-42 or .238 with 1 RBI in 14 games) and Bowie (0-for-14 in 6 games) before settling back in at a more appropriate competition level for the 22-year-old who played at Bluefield in 2008. Here he got off to a hot start, hitting .350 in his first 8 games before settling down to final marks with Delmarva of .235 with a homer and 22 RBI in 46 games, while playing three infield positions.

The position Cardona plays next season may depend on whether one or more of the three predominant infielders at positions he plays (Kolodny, Miclat, and Hoes) move up. If none do Cardona may spend 2010 spelling them on a regular basis here as the utility player.

August 20: Elvin Polanco

Elvin spent 2009 in a platoon situation with Joe Mahoney between first base and designated hitter. Overall, Elvin was among the team power leaders in a .246/6/59 season.

But there are a couple items Elvin may need to address in a return to the Shorebirds – cutting down on the number of strikeouts (112 in 459 at-bats) and whether he should continue switch-hitting. Elvin hit a respectable .262 as a left-handed batter but just .205 as a righty. My guess is that Elvin could find himself in the same role next year with another large first baseman (and likely early-season 2010 SotW) in Mike Flacco.

August 27: T. R. Keating

Another mid-season addition to the Shorebirds, Keating excelled most of the times he was put in to serve as a middle to long reliever. Coming from extended spring Keating made 27 appearances covering 45 2/3 innings and allowed just 34 hits and 11 walks. It was a sub-1 WHIP that seemingly belied a 3.74 ERA. Throw in 43 strikeouts to show he has that capability and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Keating in a Frederick uniform next season. Since he turns 24 next week that’s likely the appropriate test for his age and experience.

September 3: Jacob Julius

Jacob served as the fourth outfielder and third-string first baseman this season for the Shorebirds. Add in a wrist injury which made him miss six weeks midstream and Julius only got into 57 games, hitting just .228/2/12 for the year – he did manage 13 extra-base hits out of 39 overall (8 doubles, 3 triples, and 2 home runs.) Another hopeful sign for his future is the fact he hit .265 after August 1st with more regular playing time, so despite the fact he would be one of the older Shorebirds in 2010 it’s not out of the question to see him here next year. Certainly he’s one of the most community-minded Shorebirds as you’ll note below.

Other honors: Mountaire selected Jacob as their Humanitarian of the Year based on his service to the community.

That’s how my 22 Shorebirds of the Week fared in 2009 – most did reasonably well but there were a few disappointments mixed in. But there’s one player who I feel exceeded expectations and until the very end of the season showed a remarkable consistency.

On a team which featured two outfielders drafted well ahead of him during the 2008 amateur draft, Ron Welty played himself onto the Orioles radar screen by being a league All-Star for the second season in a row. Ron showed the tools necessary to advance and can’t be downgraded for being older than the league peer group.

Being in a position where the Orioles are seemingly pretty well set for years to come (with Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, Nolan Reimold, and a resurgent Felix Pie all fairly young players) Welty could become one of those young prospects teams are interested in as a future trading deadline draws near, so he may never make it to Baltimore but he could reach the Show in a venue closer to his west coast home – only time will tell.

As I closed out my post last season, I wish nothing but the best to each and every one of the 2009 Shorebirds and thank them for making my second season as a season ticket holder a wonderful experience. Next week I turn my attention to the front office with my Shorebird Picks and Pans.

However, I also have a surprise up my sleeve for next week’s P and P post, so be sure to stay glued to this site as Shorebirds coverage continues.