Making his second tour of duty with Delmarva after spending part of the season here in 2009, Brian Conley has played like a guy on a mission so far this season. Fans may recall he struggled at the plate while in a Delmarva uniform last year, hitting just .156 (10-for-64) in 29 games. The well-traveled Conley also turned in 4 games with Bowie (.143 with a hit in seven at-bats) and 31 games with Aberdeen, where he hit a much more respectable .263 in 99 at-bats.
But last year’s struggles seemed to have turned into this year’s successes as Brian has doubled his 2009 Delmarva average and then some so far, hitting .324 in 102 at-bats thus far and solidifying the right field spot for manager Ryan Minor. While Conley isn’t a power hitter, he has enough speed to be among team leaders with 3 triples and 7 doubles.
Perhaps the one knock on the Maryland native who attended Towson University is that he’s a little older than the league peer group – Brian turned 24 earlier this month. But the 17th round pick in 2008 hasn’t played anywhere for a reasonable length of time since his initial campaign at rookie-level Bluefield, so collecting a decent number of at-bats in one place may help him in the long run.
Yet if one of the outfielders at Frederick goes down with an injury or is promoted, look for Brian to perhaps continue his tour of Orioles’ affiliates by making his debut with the Keys.
