So how did I do with my Shorebird guesses?

Well, I promised you several posts. Still working on odds and ends but for this one I’m going to go over just how well I guessed my Shorebird players.

You may recall I selected 25 players in the midst of spring training – 13 pitchers and 12 position players. So I’ll go through them in order and tell you where they are now.

Starting pitchers:

  • Gray Fenter is here and has made 2 starts among his three appearances.
  • The same goes for Hector Guance.
  • Matt Hammonds has appeared in long relief several times. He was also promoted to Frederick for one game.
  • Blaine Knight has made three starts for the Shorebirds.
  • Grayson Rodriguez has also made three starts for Delmarva.
  • Drew Rom has only made one start but appears to be the piggyback pitcher based on the length of his appearances.

So all six of them made the team, and except for Hammonds have made at least one start. The two starters I did not predict were a holdover from 2018 and a demotion who was here back in 2016: respectively, Nick Vespi and Ofelky Peralta.

Relief pitchers:

  • Ryan Conroy is listed on Aberdeen’s roster and has not appeared for a full-season team.
  • Nick Gruener has made four relief appearances for Delmarva, although he was stashed on the Aberdeen roster for a few days, too.
  • Tyler Joyner wasn’t on the team Opening Day but is here now, as he was assigned on April 10.
  • Kevin Magee is listed on Aberdeen’s roster and has not appeared for a full-season team.
  • Zach Matson was recently reassigned from Aberdeen as of April 18. So he’s a latecomer, too.
  • Victor Romero is on Aberdeen’s roster, too. He may be slow-played because he spent most of 2018 on the injured list.
  • Ryan Wilson is on Delmarva’s injured list and has yet to make an appearance.

I only had one of the seven relief pitchers correct for Opening Day but two others have arrived late to give me a total of 7 of 13 correct for Opening Day and 9 of 13 correct for the season.

The other Shorebird pitchers I did not predict are Matt de la Rosa (who jumped from the GCL and has also pitched for Frederick this season), Jalen Miller (who came in as a signee from independent league baseball and has already been released), and 2018 holdovers Tim Naughton and Jhon Peluffo. Peluffo has already been sent down in a paper demotion to Aberdeen.

Catchers:

  • Alfredo Gonzalez remains on Aberdeen’s roster and has not played any full-season ball this year.
  • Cody Roberts made the Opening Day squad and promptly got hurt. He’s on the injured list.

I got one out of two catchers correct, so the score is now 8 of 15 for Opening Day and 10 of 15 overall. Handling the catching duties now are 2018 holdovers Ben Breazeale and Daniel Fajardo. Breazeale was the one brought back to replace Roberts.

Infielders:

  • Seamus Curran is here and has been the primary first baseman.
  • J.C. Escarra skipped Delmarva and is Frederick’s primary first baseman.
  • Adam Hall is playing for the Shorebirds, tag-teaming with Cadyn Grenier (who was not promoted as I thought he would be) between second base and shortstop.
  • I’m not finding Zach McLeod on a roster so he’s either in extended spring or has been released.
  • Alexis Torres was definitely fast-tracked, jumping from Aberdeen at the end of last season to Bowie to begin his 2019 this week. This after just 2 games at Frederick last season being his sum of advanced-A experience.
  • Willy Yahn also jumped over Delmarva, splitting time between third base and second base for Frederick.

Aside from the aforementioned Grenier, other 2018 infield holdovers are Branden Becker and J.C. Encarnacion. Andrew Fregia was also not predicted, but he made the jump up from the GCL. Out of 21 players predicted so far, 10 of them were on the Opening Day roster and 12 have played here at some point.

Outfielders:

  • Jaylen Ferguson has not yet returned to Delmarva from Aberdeen.
  • Nick Horvath is here as the everyday center fielder.
  • Robert Neustrom flanks him as a corner outfielder, more often in right field.
  • Robbie Thorburn is listed as an active player for Delmarva but is not on the roster.

I was not expecting Will Robertson to come back here nor Doran Turchin to move up from Aberdeen.

Final stats: I got 12 players right for Opening Day and 14 so far this season. I think I have an outside chance at 20 which isn’t too bad. As for the Opening Day lineup, this was the actual one used:

  1. Adam Hall, 2b (right spot in order but wrong position)
  2. Cadyn Grenier, ss (I had Willy Yahn at 3b in #2 hole)
  3. Robert Neustrom, rf (had him batting fifth in my lineup, Escarra here)
  4. JC Encarnacion, 3b (he didn’t move up like I thought – he and Yahn flipped)
  5. Cody Roberts, c (I had Gonzalez in my lineup but Cody was on roster)
  6. Nick Horvath, cf (I had him batting fourth in my lineup)
  7. Seamus Curran, 1b (was sixth in my lineup as DH)
  8. Doran Turchin, lf (I had Thorburn in my lineup for LF)
  9. Branden Becker, dh (this was the catcher’s spot.)

Blaine Knight started in lieu of Matt Hammonds, but aside from that it wasn’t too horrible a prediction.

Next week opens up the Shorebird of the Month calendar. It’s going to be tough to choose a pitcher and position player from an abundance of riches on a 15-2 (!) team.

Update 5/18: Thorburn started on the first of May, Alexis Torres came back from Bowie a week or so ago and we picked up Ryan Conroy this week. So now 18 of 25 have played here for at least one game, with Ryan Wilson activated and pitching today.

Remaining players are Kevin Magee, Victor Romero, Alfredo Gonzalez, J.C. Escarra, Zach McLeod, Willy Yahn, and Jaylen Ferguson. Of those Magee, Romero, Gonzalez, and Ferguson are listed as active for Aberdeen, Escarra and Yahn are still with Frederick, and McLeod is presumably at extended.