Tag: Shorebird of the Year

Well, at least the Shorebirds weren’t dead last in the league this year. Thanks to the Greenville Drive for holding our team up in the standings because of the Drive’s absolutely putrid first half.

Still, by finishing 54-82, the Shorebirds eclipsed the 80-loss mark overall for the fourth straight year – but they at least won 2 more games than they did in 2012, so there’s that. And once again, it seemed like the culprit was an offense which rarely fired on all cylinders despite a .248 team average which was eighth-best out of the 14-team league, to wit:

• 532 runs made them 12th in the league. Oddly enough, they were ninth in hits with 1126, but those hits didn’t always convert.
• They finished 11th in the loop with 209 doubles, but tied for third with 33 triples.
• Their 57 homers ranked 11th in the league. By comparison, Joey Gallo of Hickory hit 38 by himself, including five in the final rain-shortened three-game series against the Shorebirds.
• They finished tied for 11th in RBI with 484.
• Delmarva ranked 11th in total bases with 1572, over 300 behind league-leading Hickory.
• They drew the second-fewest walks in the league with 390, although adding a few rainouts back to our schedule would have bumped us up to our seemingly common 11th or 12th rank.
• One somewhat bright spot: the Shorebirds struck out 1,067 times and that was fifth-best.
• They were second to the bottom with 102 steals, and only Lakewood had a worse success rate than our 66.2% clip.
• In on-base percentage and slugging percentage, they were – you guessed it – 11th and 12th respectively.

In short, our hometown team was offensively challenged once again. Only one player finished with a batting average over .300 and Christian Walker was in Bowie by season’s end, having played in just 31 games here early on.

Throughout the year, the pitching seemed to decline in league ranking, and you’ll never guess where the team ended up in ERA. Their 4.27 collective mark was…12th of 14.

• Just six shutouts pitched was second-least in the league (Greensboro had five.)
• Greenville held the Shorebirds off the bottom in saves; they had just 24 to the Drive’s 23. Of course, that has a lot to do with winning only 54 games.
• They allowed the third-most hits in the loop, giving up 1,162 while getting only 1,126. That wasn’t as bad as being outscored 649-532. (Surprisingly, the Shorebirds were 10th in runs allowed but twelfth in earned runs, or third-most if you prefer.) They only allowed 95 unearned runs, which put them in the middle of the pack. Overall, fielding was around league average.
• Delmarva also allowed the fifth-fewest home runs, which seems to be a function of playing at Perdue Stadium. They were just four off the lead (Lexington gave up 62, we allowed 66.)
• Ranking eighth in hit batsmen belied finishing 11th in walks allowed. Had the Shorebirds played a full schedule they may have been worst, finishing with 494 in 136 games vs. Greenville’s 508 in 138 games. There were a couple guys who could have easily put the team over the top.
• The Shorebirds were one of just three teams to not strike out 1,000 batters, finishing 12th with 995, just 8 ahead of Lakewood. If not for Parker Bridwell and his 144 punchouts (second in the SAL) they would have been deep in last.
• Lastly, and predictably, the team’s WHIP (walks + hits/innings pitched) total was 12th best.

It all fits a team which really didn’t have a lot going for it this season – few really hot prospects or high draft choices, and for the first time in my memory no June draft pick made it to Delmarva.

But there is help on the way, hopefully. After enduring a similarly wretched string of last-place finishes over the last half-dozen years, Aberdeen secured only its second winning season in twelve seasons of existence, clinching its first-ever division title in the process. Seeing how mediocre IronBird teams tend to become equally pathetic Shorebird squads in many cases, the hope for the reverse being true for Delmarva in 2014 is there. Even the Gulf Coast League Orioles were decent, finishing a square 30-30 on the season.

On the other hand, the next level up is suffering from our ills. Frederick also finished second-to-last in the Carolina League at 61-78; however, Bowie wrapped up a level season at 71-71 while Norfolk just missed the International League playoffs with a 77-67 mark, losing the tiebreaker to Rochester. It appears the Orioles’ system may be beginning to stabilize after a number of down years and hopefully it will reflect in an improved record next season.

Of course, the question for my 22 Shorebirds of the Week is how they will impact the organization going forward. It’s time to review their 2013 exploits.

April 4 – Mychal Givens

The grand experiment in placing Mychal on the mound seemed to work relatively well. After a very promising beginning, it looked bleak for a time as Mychal missed a month of the season early on and again on his return when Givens was hammered in Greensboro for 6 runs in 2/3 of an inning. But on the whole Mychal improved as the season went along, finishing 2-3 with a 4.22 ERA overall with a very respectable WHIP of 1.21 in 28 appearances. And after having a nearly even strikeout-to-walk ratio in the first half, Mychal cut down on the free passes to the extent that his ratio ended up 36 strikeouts to 19 walks in 43 2/3 innings. After three seasons as a shortstop who only hit .225 with Delmarva overall, his route up the Orioles ladder will be that of a bullpen mainstay.

April 11 – Adrian Marin

The 19 year old shortstop played well in his first full professional campaign, settling in at Delmarva and getting into 108 games. Marin put together a nice season, hitting .265/4/48/.667 OPS overall; however, Marin got off to a slow start (.214 in April) and tired out in the end (.205 in August and September.) In the middle he hit close to .300, giving Shorebird fans an exciting glimpse of what the Orioles thought they saw when he was drafted in the 3rd round. It’s pretty likely that Marin will be given every opportunity to win the starting shortstop job in Frederick next spring, and I decided he was my Prospect of the Year.

April 18 – Christian Walker

Of all the players who played at Delmarva this year, Walker did the best job of moving up the system. Until a late-season injury sidelined him, Christian was using his bat to speed through three stops on the docket, hitting .353/3/20/.894 OPS here with Delmarva in 31 early-season games before being promoted to Frederick and putting up .288/8/35/.822 OPS numbers there in 55 games. The move to Bowie was a little more difficult on Christian, as he hit only .242 with just one RBI in 17 games with a more pedestrian .641 OPS. While there’s a chance he could stick at AA, I think he’ll be sent back to Frederick to begin the 2014 season, particularly since he’s not a versatile player (all of his fielding appearances came at first base) and the Orioles are fairly set at that spot for a few years. In the end, Walker could be auditioning for other teams to give him the big break.

April 25 – Creede Simpson

For Creede, the 2013 season was a mixed bag, punctuated with a trip to the disabled list which cost him a month – not so good when you’re hitting well over .300 as he was. After a solid first half with a .295/4/21/.828 slash line, Simpson tailed off as the season went along to finish with marks of .248/9/49/.719 OPS – however, the home run and RBI numbers were still both good enough to be tops on the team. One asset Creede brought to the table, though, was the ability to play all around the diamond as he played 35 games at first base, two at second, three at third, 35 in left field, and 11 in right. That versatility will likely allow him to move up next year and perform many of the same roles at the next level.

May 2 – Torsten Boss

The .238/7/45/.690 OPS batting line is probably not what Boss was looking for as his 2013 showing with Delmarva, but he was really heading in the wrong direction at the end of July when his average was a puny .219. Returning after a few days out, Boss finished strong, hitting .305 in his last 23 contests to push his average back up. He was also quietly one of the top power producers on the team, finishing fourth in home runs and third in runs batted in. However, one drawback on Torsten’s record is that of being one of just two players to strike out over 100 times this season as he fanned 106 times in 106 games. Boss may move up for 2014, but thus far the Orioles can’t be all that pleased with a .244 career batting mark.

May 9 – Branden Kline

Shortly after Kline was selected as a SotW, his season was ended by a broken ankle. In seven starts, Branden went 1-2 with a fairly pedestrian 5.86 ERA which belied his second-round selection and attendant prospect status. However, there were a few encouraging signs such as the solid 32:14 strikeout:walk ratio in 35 1/3 innings and two quality starts he put together, one being his season debut against Hagerstown where Kline pitched six innings of two-hit shutout ball, and an amazing 13-strikeout performance he managed in just 5 2/3 innings in his final start against Hickory. Branden is healthy enough now, though, to be a representative for the Orioles in the Arizona Fall League, where he will make up some of the innings and experience he lost this season due to the injury. Branden will be the only current Shorebird on that roster, which is mainly made up of players from high-A and AA.

May 16 – Nik Balog

Serving mainly as the designated hitter, Nik hit well enough to have one of the better offensive seasons from a Shorebird player. His .266/3/32/.684 OPS was fairly solid and he paced the team with 29 doubles. There was a reason he served as the DH, though – 8 errors in just 24 games in the field, mostly at first base, led the Shorebirds to exclusively DH Balog after July 6. This was a definite regression considering Balog made just two errors in roughly the same number of chances in 2012 with the GCL Orioles. Unfortunately, Nik is one who could get caught up in a numbers game as a non-drafted free agent who will be 24 by the time next season rolls around. It will be interesting to see if Balog lands in instructional league this fall to work on his fielding, since the bat was at least league average and he could serve as an organizational player down the line.

May 23 – Matt Hobgood

One of the comeback stories this year was the return of Hobgood to a league where he struggled in his first full professional season three years ago. Several procedures later, the results for Matt were good enough (7-3, 3.71 in 63 innings, featuring a 1.41 WHIP) that he was promoted to Frederick for the first time in mid-July. Appearing almost exclusively in relief (one start and loss for Delmarva), Hobgood still managed to pitch 63 innings here and an additional 30 2/3 at Frederick. His numbers for the Keys weren’t quite as sound, as he went 2-1 but had an elevated 5.58 ERA despite a lower 1.30 WHIP in the Carolina League. Matt will probably begin next year at that same level; although he’s certainly fallen behind a number of brighter prospects in the Orioles’ organizational pitching ranks, there’s still a pretty good possibility he could make it all the way up someday.

May 30 – Josh Hader

One of those brighter prospects threatening to pass Matt Hobgood was Josh Hader, a mid-round draft pick from 2012 and local Maryland product who still managed to be the team’s lone All-Star selection this season. In 17 starts, Hader went just 3-6 but had a low 2.65 ERA in 85 innings. All three of his Shorebird victories easily came within the definition of a “quality start”: six or more innings, three or fewer earned runs. Perhaps the only two quibbles were an inordinately high number of unearned runs pushing down his ERA and the fact he walked 42 in 85 innings, which is on the high side. But those flaws didn’t stop the Houston Astros from taking Hader as part of their booty for the services of Bud Norris (along with Shorebird of the Week Hall of Fame member L.J. Hoes), and Hader didn’t disappoint his new teammates on the Quad Cities River Bandits, pitching a one-hit gem over six innings in his debut. It’s likely Hader will have at least one more start as the River Bandits made the Midwest League playoffs.

June 6 – Tucker Nathans

One of two undrafted domestic free agents to make the ranks of Shorebird of the Week (the other being Nik Balog), Nathans took advantage of the opportunity presented to him after two seasons in the independent baseball ranks to first get a contract with a major league organization and then play well enough for a mid-season promotion to Frederick. Tucker’s 63-game stint with Delmarva featured a .271/9/38/.804 slash line, so when he advanced to Fredrick he kept the average over the last 45 games (hitting a robust .277) but only getting one homer, 18 knocked in, and a .699 OPS. Nathans was another player whose calling card was his versatility, as he played five different positions in a Delmarva uniform but went one batter at Frederick, adding center field to his repertoire for one game. Considering he’s a little older than his SAL peers – Nathans turns 25 in Novenber – it’s likely Frederick or bust next year.

June 13 – Lucas Herbst

Among those Shorebirds who would qualify for the league batting title, Lucas was the top hitter and put together a solid, consistent line of .276/5/41/.696 OPS for the Shorebirds. Aside from the anomaly of one September game where he was 0-for-5, the only “bad” month Lucas had was hitting .241 in July, and there are several of his peers who didn’t match that for the full season. While he slowed down some after a hot start, coming up May 4 and hitting .303 in that month, with 2 homers and 12 RBI, overall the season was a good positive step for Herbst and it should be enough to maintain his progress up the organizational ladder.

June 20 – Parker Bridwell

Parker was the typical Forrest Gump “box of chocolates” player, because you never knew what you would get. It could be the smooth 14-strikeout, no walk, two hit dismantling of Lakewood he put up August 16, which earned his SAL Pitcher of the Week honors a few days later, or it could be the bitter 10-hit, 9-run 3 2/3 inning outing against the same team May 21. But as the season went on the great performances became more prevalent – six of his eight quality starts occurred in the second half of the season, where he was 4-3, 4.07 compared to 4-6, 5.57 beforehand. The occasion of his SotW selection was immediately after his second-best start, when he eliminated Hickory from the first half title by giving up one run in eight innings, fanning 10. I would be surprised if he wasn’t a #1 or #2 starter for Frederick next season.

June 27 – Steel Russell

I thought we would see more of Steel in the second half, but instead he stuck to his usual diet of about 10 games a month in the lineup. Russell appeared in 42 games, hitting .236 in 140 at-bats with 14 RBI. While that doesn’t seem like much, it was a vest improvement from his 2012 season and showed he could hit a little bit. It may not get him much more than a backup role, either here or with Frederick, but Russell should be playing next year. Having Dad coaching at the big league level doesn’t hurt, either.

July 4 – Matt Taylor

Matt is the player one can point to and say that won-lost records for pitchers can be deceiving. While Matt was one of four pitchers in the SAL to have 13 losses (against only 4 wins) he was by far the best pitcher in the group in terms of ERA at 3.77 and WHIP at 1.41. Granted, he had a high number of unearned runs which held his ERA under 4 runs a game but a lot of those likely contributed to his record. In his second season with the Shorebirds, Matt improved on his ERA (3.77 vs. 4.33), his hits per 9 innings ratio (9.7 to 8.7) and pitched an eight-inning gem over Lexington on July 12, allowing but one hit. I can see Matt being placed in Frederick, although it was surprising a fifth-round pick repeated a level for a full year.

July 11 – Lex Rutledge

Given that Rutledge had a 4-3, 1.45 topline with a 45:16 strikeout:walk ratio in 43 1/3 innings (leading to a WHIP of 1.02) it was no surprise that he was promoted to Frederick shortly after being selected. What was surprising was the subpar numbers Lex turned in there, ballooning to a 7.82 ERA in 12 2/3 innings, allowing 18 hits and walking seven (although he fanned 15.) His Frederick WHIP was almost double that of Delmarva at 1.97. He went from being scored on in just six of 18 Delmarva appearances to giving up runs in five of nine at Frederick. But I don’t think Lex will be back; my inclination is to believe that he will stay with Frederick unless there’s a real numbers game among the staff there.

July 18 – George Barber

Aside from a brief two days at Bowie, Barber bounced between Aberdeen and Delmarva for the 2013 campaign – ironically, he was sent down immediately after I selected him and only played one more game with the Shorebirds the rest of the season. Unfortunately, his numbers were the opposite of what one might expect as Barber went 3-for-9 at Bowie (.333), 15-for-64 with Delmarva (.234), and 12-for-75 at Aberdeen (.160). As a composite, George hit .203/1/6/.531 with the one home run at Aberdeen. While George has a compelling comeback story, I suspect his playing days may be numbered based on age and performance. His 60-game trial I referred to ended up being 46 all told.

July 25 – Roderick Bernadina

As I pointed out in my feature about him, this season has seen Bernadina revert to more of his career means at the plate: the .238/2/29/.615 OPS was around the numbers he’s featured over his pro career. But this was a lost season in the sense that Roderick missed two significant portions of it and his injury at the end of July came at a time where he had hit .278 on the month – by far his best. Had that streak continued into and through August, Bernadina would have finished with a more respectable average in the .250 range; still, that would have been disappointing considering his splashy Shorebird debut month in August 2012 where he hit close to .300 for the period. He just might be one of those guys who repeats here to see if he reverses some other alarming trends, like a worse strikeout:walk ratio for 2013.

August 2 – Dennis Torres

In what was essentially his professional debut, I just missed on my prediction that Torres would pitch between 45 and 50 innings because he closed with 44 2/3. Many of them were pretty good, as Dennis wrapped up 2013 with a 1-3, 3.22 topline and 1.55 WHIP based on 41 hits and 28 walks allowed. That’s the key thing for Torres to work on, particularly as he allowed at least one free pass in his last eight appearances (11 in 15 total innings.) Because of his low-round status and a pretty good crop of pitchers coming up behind him, I think the range of possibilities for 2014 ranges from a release at the end of spring training to a repeat performance in our bullpen.

August 9 – Wynston Sawyer

Behind the plate, Sawyer ended up being the first Shorebirds catcher to actually catch in 80 or more games since Luis Bernardo caught in 81 back in 2009. At the plate Sawyer has a career-high .238 average and set career standards in at-bats, hits, and hit more home runs this season (8) than his first three pro seasons combined (6). And unlike previous seasons, Wynston only played a handful of games at first, allowing him to concentrate on the backstop position basically full-time. He may not yet have the bat for higher levels – although there were promising signs of development there with the .238/8/38/.720 OPS line – but I think Wynston will replace Michael Ohlman as the Keys’ predominant catcher next year.

August 16 – Mark Blackmar

When you go from 1-5, 6.84 as a starter to 3-4, 3.58 as a reliever, it’s clear the trend is toward the bullpen. Declining from a 1.92 WHIP and .357 average against as a starter to a 1.14 WHIP and .241 average given up out of the bullpen is clue number 2. With the drastic splits, one may as well toss out the overall numbers of 4-9, 5.53 with 110 hits allowed in 86 1/3 innings and focus on the bullpen figures, for that’s where Mark figures to toil hereafter. My guess is that Mark will be a repeater here, most likely given the role of pitching 2 to 3 innings per appearance.

August 23 – Bennett Parry

Bennett came all the way from being a late addition to the staff from extended spring training to reliever to pretty solid starter. It was a nice evolution from the lefty, who turned in a 2-2, 3.49 season with a WHIP of 1.30 and a very solid 52:22 strikeout:walk ratio in 59 1/3 innings with Delmarva. You knew he arrived when he twirled back-to-back 6 1/3 inning shutout performances against Kannapolis and Lakewood August 11 and 17, respectively. Since he’s not pitched a full season yet, Parry may start here in April and move up by midseason if his results are similar to this year’s.

August 30 – Greg Lorenzo

The last Shorebird of the Week is often the hardest to pick out. When he set the bar by hitting over .300 across three levels last season, we expected a better season than the .241/2/41/.604 one we received from Greg. Aside from a worse mark as a raw 18-year-old rookie in the Dominican League in 2009, the OPS was by far the worst in Greg’s career. Imagine how many he could have added to the 40 stolen bases he attained with an OBP of .350 instead of .281. He may not have threatened the 68 total which led the league, but 50 would have been in sight. He might be here for another season, at least to start, because he didn’t seize the opportunity to gain on the players ahead of him at the next level.

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As is often the case, I had a hard time deciding my Shorebird of the Year – the choice came down to three players. But I went with the one who had the lowest expectations coming into the season because he wasn’t even on the roster at that point.

This year’s Shorebird of the Year is outfielder Lucas Herbst, who beat out Adrian Marin and Parker Bridwell for the honor. It was the consistency I noted above that gave him the nod – Marin tailed off significantly in the last month of the season and Parker (who had some backing from readers of this site) had overall numbers which weren’t all that great. Yet Bridwell was second in the league in strikeouts, and I was fairly torn between giving it to him or Herbst before finally deciding on Lucas.

So that’s a wrap on the player side for 2013. Next week will be my picks and pans feature speaking as a fan, in December will be an expanding Shorebird of the Week Hall of Fame which should have a class of at least two players for 2013 (as Jonathan Schoop was called up for the September roster expansion) and sometime around the start of spring training I’m going to follow through on a suggestion from a comment and pick out 10 players I think may be new to Delmarva in 2014.

Just because it’s the off-season doesn’t mean the Shorebirds stuff is forgotten until April!

For the third season in a row the Delmarva Shorebirds were the worst team record-wise in the South Atlantic League. Just as we thought it couldn’t get worse after last season’s 55-85 debacle (which left us tied for the basement with Charleston) we plummeted even further to a 52-86 record. That’s three years in a row we’ve exceeded 80 losses, which had only happened once prior in the Shorebirds’ 17-season history (1999.) At least after that disastrous campaign, the Shorebirds won the league title in 2000 – but no such good fortune has more recently found its way to a team which has gone 7 seasons without even a playoff berth.

Once again, we can pretty much point to an offense which finished last in the league in batting average at .240, along with scouring the bottom in several other categories:

• The .240 overall average was last, although it was only so by a fraction of a point behind Augusta, which also hit .240 as a club.
• We were 12th of 14 in runs, scoring 567 times. Bear in mind the league’s best team scored 812, although only three teams exceeded 700 (or 5 runs per game.)
• We were also 12th in hits, but stayed out of the basement by just three base knocks.
• In doubles, we ranked 12th once again – but we were some distance ahead of the last-place Augusta team in that department.
• We were six behind the league’s next-worst team, finishing last with just 18 triples.
• Augusta also held us up in home runs; otherwise our 67 taters were only good for 13th place.
• The same goes for total bases, where we were 13th.
• The one offensive category where we performed well was drawing walks, where our 507 free passes ranked fourth in the league (and only one was intentional, which was last.)
• We were in the middle of the pack in striking out, finishing with the 8th most Ks.
• The Shorebirds were 11th in steals with 130 bags swiped, but I would argue they were the shrewdest baserunners since they were caught just 39 times. That was among the best ratios in the league.
• Mainly due to walks, our on-base percentage ranked 10th of 14.
• On the other hand, our slugging percentage and OPS were next-to-last as Augusta held us up again.

All in all, the numbers and rankings were very similar to last year’s punchless offense.

Pitching was better but still pedestrian, with an ERA ranked ninth among the 14 SAL squads. If not for the Dylan Bundy effect of 30 shutout innings, we would have slipped a spot or two. But a 4.36 overall ERA placed us ninth.

Other team pitching numbers reflect an average to slightly below staff overall:

• While we had the third-most complete games in the league (just 4) we had the fewest shutouts with two.
• Without a true closer in the bullpen (or many leads to protect) we were last in the league with 27 saves. One pitcher from 2011 (David Walters) had more than this year’s team did.
• We allowed the eighth-fewest hits, with 1184.
• Unfortunately, those people seemed to score more as we gave up the fifth-most runs with an even 700. (That’s just over five per game.) We allowed only the 7th highest number of earned runs, though – that differential of 125 runs was second-worst in the league, one behind West Virginia.
• It follows, by the way, that we committed the second-most errors in the league, ahead of only West Virginia.
• While we were near the bottom in home runs hit, we allowed the ninth-most with 89.
• We plunked the third-highest number of batters and allowed the fourth-highest number of walks. But we had the third-fewest strikeouts in the league, even with Dylan Bundy.
• With all that, our WHIP of 1.43 was just 12th.

While a successful crop of Shorebirds moved up in 2011 to Frederick and won a league title (and now have Bowie in the Eastern League playoffs) we’re not seeing a lot of help from the lower levels of the Orioles system. Like Delmarva, Aberdeen finished with their league’s worst record (28-48) and the Gulf Coast League Orioles were last in their division at 25-35. Even the Dominican Summer League Orioles team was under .500 at 34-36.

The trend of poor records continues with Frederick, which ended up missing the Carolina League playoffs and finishing with the loop’s worst record at 62-77. Better news was found with Bowie, a playoff team at 78-64, and Norfolk, which finished just 5 games off the International League wildcard at 74-70. Both of those teams struggled early but found their stride later on with help from some former Shorebirds.

But the other purpose of this post is to provide the wrap on how the 22 players who were selected as Shorebird of the Week fared for the year and pick a Shorebird of the Year. We start way back on what was supposed to be Opening Day in April, but turned out to be a pre-season pick by one day as Game 1 was rained out.

April 5: Glynn Davis

My first SotW pick of the year was a mainstay in center field throughout the first 2/3 of the year before bouncing back and forth between Frederick and Delmarva at season’s end. For the Shorebirds, Davis ended up playing in 101 games, hitting .252/0/25/.644 OPS here while in Frederick his numbers were very similar: .256/0/4/.651 OPS in 22 games. Between the two teams he stole 37 bases as well. I see no reason why Glynn couldn’t start at Frederick next year since it seems he adjusted well to that level; obviously the question for him going forward is whether he can tack on enough points to the batting average and on-base percentage to make up for the lack of power. But there is a role for a speed guy in center field that Davis can fill.

April 12: Sammie Starr

A fan favorite, Sammie set out to prove you don’t need to be an imposing physical specimen to play solid baseball. While the batting average was a little bit lacking, Sammie showed a little bit of power and certainly was a versatile player for Delmarva; he played 56 games at second base, 39 at shortstop, and 10 at third base during 2012. With all that moving around, perhaps it’s not surprising that Sammie hit .238/4/41/.673 OPS for the season here. At season’s end Starr was rewarded with two cups of coffee: two games at Frederick where he went 1-for-4 and one game with the Norfolk Tides where Starr was hitless in four at-bats. He also earned the distinction of setting an International League record by being the 75th player used by Norfolk during the season (and was given uniform #75).

Unfortunately, that seems to be the type of move the Orioles make with a player who’s nearing the end of his playing career. Sammie was one of the older Shorebirds, turning 24 at the end of May, and he’s competing for space with a number of more highly-heralded players up the chain as a 34th round pick. I would be pleasantly surprised to see him make Frederick next year but unless he has a breakout .270 or .280 type season I think that may be all for him, if he even gets that far. Then again, Sammie has already defied a lot of odds so why not?

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

April 19: Dylan Bundy

If you were to point out a possible factor in the Shorebirds having their best attendance since 2002 I would say it was the extra hundreds who attended every time Dylan made a home start. And he rarely failed to amaze, whether it was retiring the first 26 SAL batters he faced until Hagerstown’s Billy Burns drew a walk off him in his home debut, or going 30 innings over 8 starts without allowing an earned run. It was inevitable Bundy would be promoted, and he was after his May 20th start.

Between all three levels Dylan was 9-3 in 23 starts, allowing just 67 hits in 103 2/3 innings, striking out 119 and walking just 28. While he couldn’t keep up the microscopic 0.23 WHIP he compiled here at Delmarva, he has a 1.32 WHIP in his 3 Bowie starts. That’s perhaps a little better than league average, and bear in mind here’s a 19-year-old who is in his first professional season pitching against guys who may have tasted the big leagues. It would shock me more if Dylan didn’t make an Orioles debut in 2013 than it would to find him as the #3 or #4 starter next season out of spring training. Dylan is easily my Prospect of the Year.

April 26: John Ruettiger

Here was a Shorebird who made his debut late in the 2011 season and played well enough to get on the map insofar as Orioles’ prospects are concerned. John parlayed that good finish into an even more sensational start and was gone to Frederick after hitting .305 while swiping 10 bases in 26 games here. Although he also played briefly at Bowie (.240/0/1/.585 OPS in 9 games) Ruettiger was also impressive with Frederick, getting that first pro home run out of the way and hitting .274 with the Keys. With 16 steals in his 64 games there, John ended up with 28 on the season.

Depending on how he does in spring training, Ruettiger could break camp with the Baysox or – similarly to this year – play briefly at Frederick before departing for the Eastern League on a more long-term basis. The .284 lifetime hitter should continue to move up the ladder, although the competition will be more difficult considering the Orioles have a surplus of good, young outfielders at the high end of the chain.

May 3: Trent Howard

I picked Trent just in time, as he was off to Frederick before his week as SotW was up. A good 2-0, 1.93 start in 6 games here, though, turned into more pedestrian numbers with the Keys: 4-10 with a 4.83 ERA in 21 games, 18 of them starts. In particular, Howard became prone to giving up the longball, allowing 15 home runs with the Keys. Otherwise, his numbers were relatively comparable, with a good strikeout:walk ratio of 16:7 here becoming 70:26 with Frederick. More hits allowed raised his WHIP from 1.20 here to 1.35 in the Carolina League.

Still, it’s not a stretch to believe that Trent will be part of an 2013 Frederick rotation which will likely sport several others from Delmarva.

May 10: Nicky Delmonico

Perhaps the most highly-touted prospect on the Shorebirds not named Bundy, Nicky was the team’s lone All-Star selection and earned it over the first half. But the wear and tear of an entire season of pro ball along with a balky knee may have sapped him toward the end, as he faded from a .262/6/43/.778 OPS at the All-Star break to a .249/11/54/.762 OPS final mark in 95 games. He only hit .218 after the All-Star Game.

Assuming he’s healthy, though, it’s possible the Orioles could push him ahead to Frederick. While the average wasn’t there, Nicky was beginning to find more of a power stroke toward the end and he could be a force to be reckoned with for either the Shorebirds or Keys – or both.

Other honors: Nicky was an SAL All-Star, the Shorebird Fan Club’s first half Player of the Half, and Mountaire’s Most Valuable Player.

May 17: Gabriel Lino

Obviously it was a tale of two cities for Lino: after he played 56 games for us, hitting .218/4/18/.622 OPS, Gabriel was involved in the trade with the Philadelphia Phillies for DH Jim Thome. Starting in July, he was now part of the enemy Lakewood BlueClaws, where he hit .227/3/14/.682 OPS in 37 games.

Given the fact I don’t know the catching depth of the Philadelphia organization, I can’t say for sure whether we will see Gabriel or not when Lakewood comes to town in 2013. If he were still with the Orioles, I would say another season at this level wouldn’t hurt since Lino will still be 19 on Opening Day next year. Then again, perhaps that’s why the Phillies wanted him.

May 24: Mychal Givens

After playing overseas last offseason, the former 2nd round draft pick may have felt he had something to prove this year with the Shorebirds. Givens hit .243/2/27/.635 OPS in 100 games, but came on toward the end of the year to salvage a decent campaign – he was only hitting .231 at the end of July. One area where he showed vast improvement was his batting eye, as Givens walked 39 times while striking out 49 – compare that to 35 Ks and 11 walks in 210 at-bats last season (when he hit .195 with Delmarva.)

There are some guys who have things click into place two to three years into their pro career. Considering this was Mychal’s third chance at Delmarva (7 games in 2010 and 57 in 2011) perhaps he should have done better. The Orioles will have a longer leash for Givens considering their investment, but if he does no better with the Shorebirds next year that may be the end. But if Mychal does like John Ruettiger did and carries a fine finish over into 2013, he may finally break through and look like a player who warranted a second-round pick.

May 31: Eduardo Rodriguez

One of several fine young (under 20) starting pitchers to grace the Shorebirds’ staff this season, Eduardo’s 5-7 record belied a solid campaign. In 22 games and starts, Rodriguez had a nice 3.70 ERA and a 73:30 strikeout:walk ratio, leading to a 1.24 WHIP. (His final start was a poor one; it actually jumped his ERA from 3.23 to 3.70.)

They took things quite easy with Eduardo, never pushing him past 5 innings. And with the six-man rotation the Shorebirds used it kept his arm relatively fresh and set him up for something closer to 120-140 innings next season. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t debut with Frederick, but he may be ticketed for there after a few starts with the Shorebirds as well. He was actually promoted to Frederick in the waning days of the season but didn’t appear with the Keys.

June 7: Connor Narron

Connor spent the entire season with Delmarva, and while his batting line of .232/10/58/.633 OPS may not be all that impressive, it still represents his best professional season by far. As a regular player Narron has gone from .164 to .211 to .232 over three seasons, and he’s a former fifth-round pick who’s the son of a big leaguer. He’ll get chances.

Besides the fact he drew the team’s lone intentional walk this year, it’s worth noting that Narron was the team RBI leader with 58 and finished behind Brendan Webb and Nicky Delmonico for the team home run lead (each had 11.) Since Narron essentially repeated a level between 2010 and 2011 I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t do the same next year here. It would be nice to have a threat to hit 20 or more home runs and as Connor develops that’s in the realm of possibility.

June 14: Matt Bywater

Matt wasn’t here long in this tour of duty with Delmarva, but what he did in that month was impressive – 17 1/3 innings of 8-hit ball, walking five while fanning nine for an 0.75 WHIP. We were the sandwich stop for Matt between two stints with Frederick, where he finished 1-2 with a 5.67 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 46 innings. But the garnish was a late-season start with Bowie where Bywater shut out Harrisburg on 2 hits over 5 innings. So I would guess Matt is beyond Delmarva; he’ll sink or swim as a pitcher with Frederick considering he turns 24 next season.

June 21: Devin Jones

It turned out to be a season almost neatly split in half for Jones, who was promoted in mid-July to Frederick after posting a 2.65 ERA, 51 strikeouts, and a 1.10 WHIP in 54 1/3 Delmarva innings exclusively as a reliever. The only bad stat: a 1-6 record.

But when Devin went to Frederick he was inserted into their starting rotation and spun a fine 7-1 record in 9 starts, with an equally fine 2.80 ERA – but only 29 punchouts in 54 2/3 innings. All told it was an excellent season for Devin, who showed his versatility on the mound and probably gave to Orioles no reason to send him back here. Presumably he will be back in Frederick, although there’s the outside chance he could see Bowie. It would be quite a jump, but guys who walk only 23 in 109 innings have a fair chance of making it.

June 28: Miguel Chalas

Miguel was one of the few pitchers who spent the entire season at Delmarva, and he led the team in victories with nine. But he had seven shots at that elusive tenth win and went 0-3 with a 5.71 ERA in those starts – that led him to his final pitching line of 9-8 with a 5.02 ERA and 1.51 WHIP. Perhaps his worst enemy was hits allowed, as he allowed a team-most 128 hits in 113 innings. I can see him being on the cusp of either promotion or retention with Delmarva, because he faded in the stretch and at just 20 years of age another year of SAL experience wouldn’t hurt him.

July 5: Brenden Webb

In his second tour of duty with the Shorebirds (after a full season here in 2011) Brenden improved in every meaningful offensive category despite missing the last month of the season due to his promotion to Frederick. For the Shorebirds he hit .251/11/48 with an outstanding .878 OPS fueled by a team-leading .422 on-base percentage. (The .457 slugging percentage also led the team among qualifiers.) His 87 walks were second in the SAL, with only league MVP Matthew Skole of Hagerstown having more.

Nor did Webb really slow down at Frederick, hitting .270/3/13 with a stellar .882 OPS in 23 games. Combined with the fact he’s compiled 30 outfield assists over the last two seasons, Brendan has the chance to be an up-and-coming outfield prospect in the Orioles system if he continues this trend.

July 12: Zach Davies

Another in the stable of good-looking young pitchers, Zach was one of three Shorebirds to make their pro debut with the team this year (Dylan Bundy and Nicky Delmonico were the others.) While he was by far the most unheralded of the trio, Zach put together a nice season: 5-7 with a 3.86 ERA in a co-team leading 114 1/3 innings. Considering he wasn’t among the starters at the beginning of the season, though, the fact he led the team in innings pitched meant he gave the team more innings per start – often Davies would put together a quality six- or even seven-inning start. Zach also led the team with 91 strikeouts.

Maybe the only worrisome stat is allowing 46 walks, but Davies had fairly consistent numbers whether starting or in relief, and throughout the year. He was a steady presence on the staff and probably deserves a promotion despite his young age (he’ll be 20 next February.)

July 19: Zach Fowler

While the 2012 Shorebirds didn’t possess a true closer, Fowler tied for the team lead in games finished with 14 and picked up 2 saves. He pitched well enough here (a 3.18 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and 42:13 strikeout to walk ratio in 45 1/3 innings) to get a chance to pitch for both Frederick and Norfolk – ironically both of his pitching victories came out of his three appearances with the Tides, where he allowed four earned runs and nine hits in eight innings.

Fowler didn’t fare as well with the Keys, going 0-1 with a 6.55 ERA in seven appearances covering 11 innings. He biggest problem there was allowing 17 hits in those 11 innings. But because it was a small sample size, he may get another shot at Frederick to begin 2013. Another factor is his age: at 24 next spring, he would probably be a little old for Delmarva, so Zach is one of those guys who may be an odd man out at the end of spring with a poor performance.

July 26: Wynston Sawyer

Sawyer hit 10 points below his career average coming into 2012 – it was easy to calculate because Wynston hit .231 in both his previous professional seasons. But considering Sawyer nearly evenly split duties between catcher (40 games) and first base (35 games) his versatility somewhat makes up for his subpar offensive numbers (.221/2/49/.608 OPS.)

It would almost certainly be to his benefit for Wynston to repeat at Delmarva since he was the easiest catcher of those who played the position regularly to steal on. It may be that playing behind the dish isn’t Sawyer’s destiny but if it’s not he will have to improve on his offensive performance. Delmarva will probably be the place Wynston sorts it out.

August 2: Michael Ohlman

Michael made lemonade out of the lemons he was presented this season. After a car accident sidelined him out of spring training, Ohlman got back into action in mid-June by opening with the Gulf Coast League Orioles and hitting .276 in 8 games. On his return to Delmarva, Ohlman gave the team some much-needed offensive punch by hitting .304/2/28/.868 OPS in 51 games.

Meanwhile, after serving as strictly a designated hitter for his first month back, Ohlman worked his way back into the backstop rotation and played 14 games behind the plate. Overall, it was a successful return from adversity for Michael and something to build on for 2013. My guess is that he’s ticketed for Frederick.

August 9: Roderick Bernadina

At first Roderick skipped over Delmarva because he was promoted from Aberdeen (where he hit .259/0/14/.631 OPS in 30 games) to Frederick, where he struggled to finish 1-for-13 in four games. That short detour may have eliminated a future slump, though, because upon his arrival in Delmarva Roderick started hot and parlayed that beginning into hitting .298/2/12/ .765 OPS in 31 Delmarva games. Bernadina slumped at the end, though, breaking an 0-for-13 string with a pair of hits in the season finale.

Still, this was Roderick’s best season as a professional and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him as a player counted on to provide offense for the 2013 Shorebirds based on his month of playing here.

August 16: Eric Wooten

Eric came out of nowhere (well, two weeks in the Gulf Coast League where he wasn’t scored upon in 14 innings) to be a valuable pitcher for Delmarva down the stretch. Amassing 39 innings for the Shorebirds as a long reliever and spot starter (two starts), Eric gave up 37 hits but only 6 walks while striking out 30. By the numbers, he finished 2-3 with a 3.46 ERA.

I think there’s a chance Wooten starts at Frederick but more likely he will make his full-season debut here next year.

August 23: Greg Lorenzo

Another player who started the season in the Gulf Coast League, Greg managed to hit .300 across three levels: .316 in 25 games at the GCL level, .317 in 9 games at Aberdeen, and .333 in 19 games with the Shorebirds (24-for-72.) That’s a vast improvement from the .232 mark he posted in 48 GCL contests last season.

While he doesn’t have a great deal of power (15 extra-base hits in 189 at-bats overall) he can steal a base (16 this season, including six with the Shorebirds.) I would anticipate Greg also making his full-season debut here next year.

August 30: Bobby Wilkins

My comeback kid of the year, Bobby was out of baseball in 2011 and bounced around a lot this season. Beginning with Aberdeen on June 21, he jumped to make one appearance with Delmarva June 24, found time to go to Frederick for one game on July 3, returned to Aberdeen until July 27, then finally settled in with the Shorebirds for the last month.

After all that, he pitched well for the Shorebirds, only allowing earned runs in one of his nine appearances (he allowed one unearned run on three occasions.) Overall with Delmarva Bobby pitched 11 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out four for a 1.59 ERA and 0.88 WHIP.

It’s fair to say that Bobby is in the same category as an undrafted free agent, and as I said in my SotW profile he’s probably looked at as organizational depth moreso than anything. Since he’s already turned 23 and been waived by one organization, the chances are he either has to make Delmarva next year or find another team. Even if he makes it there will be a pretty short leash on Bobby.

So now I have reviewed the 22 Shorebirds of the Week and have to pick a Shorebird of the Year.

As it was last year, there were guys who could have easily won had they stayed all year – Dylan Bundy is a no-brainer, but had John Ruettiger, Justin Dalles, or Trent Howard continued on their starts and not been promoted they had a chance. The opposite is true for end-of-season guys like Michael Ohlman, Roderick Bernadina, or Greg Lorenzo – an earlier promotion to Delmarva may have given them the honor. Mikey Planeta also could have won, but he was injured before I could give him an unprecedented third Shorebird of the Week title.

In reality, though, the decision boiled down to five players. Two pitchers – Eduardo Rodriguez and Zach Davies – overshadowed the rest by having solid and consistent seasons. Among position players, the most solid cases could be made for Glynn Davis, Nicky Delmonico, and Brenden Webb.

With a lot of good – but not great – players to choose from, one has to look at intangibles. Delmonico was the team’s lone All-Star but he really didn’t have a good second half and then was injured.

Both pitchers had good seasons, with Rodriguez having just a little bit better of a campaign than Davies overall. But neither were near the top of the league in any particular category.

Glynn Davis is a good story as a Maryland native and undrafted free agent, but he tailed off near the end as well.

On the other hand, Brendan Webb had a season where he improved as time went on, played solid defense in right field, and was a catalyst for the team’s offense in a number of different and varied ways, whether through the power of a team-leading 11 home runs, speed of 18 stolen bases (second to Davis’s 29), or guile of simply getting on base. As I noted above, Webb was second in the league in walks to the league’s MVP and it’s worth pointing out he got on base a team-leading 42.2% of the time.

Because of all those areas where he excelled, I decided Brendan Webb was the best choice for Shorebird of the Year.

So there you have it, another year in the books. It took me a lot longer to put this together than I thought (so I missed my usual 7 p.m. deadline) but that’s a lot of information to relate from a 138-game season.

On April 4 I start worrying about the 2013 version. Enjoy the rest of baseball season, and remember: football season doesn’t begin until the World Series is over.

Ooooooooh, did it get ugly at the end.

You know, when the Shorebirds began the season 16-9 I figured we’d have at least one half of playoff contention. But the Orioles minor league geniuses decided to promote most of our best players to Frederick, allowing them to have a playoff squad and, well, as you can see by a 55-85 final record we got the crumbs. It was even worse than last year’s 59-81 mark, which we managed in much the same fashion: a poor second half.

At one point, we had a reasonably good offensive team, but in the end the batting was offensive.

• Our overall team average was dead last in the league at .242, a full six points behind the next-worst team.
• We scored 582 runs, which was 12th of 14. Bear in mind that the two teams behind us played one and three fewer games, respectively.
• We had just 217 doubles – again, last in the league by 12.
• We also had just 20 triples, which trailed the 13th place team by one.
• Our 60 home runs were – surprise! – last in the league. The next worst team had 63.
• One bright spot was drawing 500 walks, third best in the loop.
• Our 1,051 strikeouts were sixth most in the SAL.
• We stole 108 bases, good for 11th place.
• Given the poor power numbers it’s no shock that our OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) was dead last at .659 – next worst was a .682 mark.

It goes without saying our offense was one of the most punchless in memory – remember, when the season started we had Kipp Schutz (who hit .381 with Delmarva,) Jonathan Schoop (.316) and Manny Machado (who was hitting .333 before injuring his knee) to anchor the lineup. By the end of August, the team as a whole barely exceeded the Mendoza line for the month.

Likewise, the pitching was in shambles too. Our 4.74 team ERA was second-to-last in the loop, topping only Asheville (which plays in a hitter’s park.)

• Our five shutouts tied us for 12th place.
• We tied for fourth-best with 38 saves.
• We allowed the second most hits with 1,318 (Asheville allowed the most.)
• It follows that we tied for second with Rome in allowing the most runs, 760 (Asheville gave up the most.) We had second all to ourselves with 648 earned runs, though.
• We were 7th out of 14 in allowing 106 home runs.
• Allowing 516 walks was fourth most in the league.
• On the flip side, striking out 988 batters was second-fewest (Augusta fanned 962 as a staff.)
• Leading only Asheville, our 1.49 WHIP (walks + hits/innings pitched) was 13th.

On top of all that, our fielding percentage ranked just 10th of 14 teams and we committed the third-most errors. Add it all up and it’s not hard to see why we finished 30 games under break-even.

So will we get any help next year? It’s not too likely since Aberdeen finished at the bottom of the New York-Penn League with a 24-51 record. But the Gulf Coast League rookie affiliate won its division with a 38-22 record, which may help us for later in 2012 or even 2013 – they had exceptionally good pitching.

On the other hand, the aforementioned Frederick Keys made the playoffs with a league-best 80-59 record and AA Bowie just missed their playoffs with a 75-66 record. (Norfolk was like us, resting among the International League bottom feeders with a 56-87 mark.)

But the other purpose of this post is to provide the wrap on how the 22 players who were selected as Shorebird of the Week fared for the year and pick a Shorebird of the Year. We start way back on Opening Day in April.

April 7: Brian Conley

Brian, we hardly knew ya. After playing just four games for Delmarva this year and hitting .250 on 2-for-8 and 6 walks, the 2010 Shorebird of the Year was promoted to Frederick. Sadly, he played just 7 games for the Keys, going 2-for-15 (.133) before being released by the Orioles in late April. I couldn’t find any indication Brian tried the independent league route later in the summer, so it’s likely he’s called it a career.

April 14: Manny Machado

Most of the preseason buzz about the Shorebirds centered on the fact Machado was making his full-season debut here. Over the first month of the season Machado lived up to it, but an early May knee injury sidelined Manny for a month and robbed local fans of a number of chances to watch the Orioles’ newest sensation. After Manny hit .276/6/24/.859 OPS in 38 games with Delmarva (one of those six home runs being a memorable monster shot over the Arthur W. Perdue Stadium scoreboard) he was promoted to Frederick for the second half and hit .245/5/26/.692 with the Keys in 63 games – not exactly world-beating numbers but that and his prospect status are probably good enough to allow him to be on the cusp next spring of a promotion to Bowie.

Other honors: Manny was SAL Player of the Week on May 2, an SAL All-Star, and played in the Futures Game.

April 21: Jonathan Schoop

Lost in the preseason hype over Machado was another talented young player who outperformed Manny while he was here. Before being promoted in early June, Schoop was putting up a solid .316/8/34/.890 line in 51 games and he continued to outdo Machado with Frederick, hitting .271/5/37/.704 with the Keys in 77 contests. (It’s also worthy to note that in just 51 games Schoop ended up being our team home run leader with those 8.) I think he’s just as capable of having a sound major league career as Machado, so I’m selecting Jonathan as my Prospect of the Year. Like Manny, he could start in Frederick but I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Schoop’s in Bowie’s opening day lineup.

Other honors: Jonathan also played in the Futures Game and was Carolina League Player of the Week August 15.

April 28: David Walters

The first pitcher I selected, David also had the distinction of playing the entire season here. At first glance, his numbers weren’t much to write home about (1-6 record, 3.93 ERA, 35 strikeouts vs. 12 walks in 50 1/3 innings) except for that 30 saves, which led the South Atlantic League. One concern was that he allowed 62 hits, giving him a rather high 1.47 WHIP. Still, he succeeded more often than not in nailing down the save and was thus involved in over half of our 55 wins. He’s probably on track to take the job to the next level.

Other honors: David was an SAL All-Star.

May 5: Scott Copeland

It was a tale of two seasons for Scott. He actually struggled with Delmarva, making 20 starts and compiling a 5-9 record with a lofty 6.58 ERA, fanning 55, walking 46, and allowing 136 hits in 108 innings. But given the opportunity at Frederick Scott seized it, making his last 6 starts there after an early August promotion, going 3-2, 2.14 in 33 2/3 innings and giving up just 25 hits. It balanced out his overall numbers and most likely makes Scott an early candidate for continuing in his role with the Keys next season.

May 12: Kipp Schutz

Kipp’s departure shortly after his SotW selection began the exodus of the heart of Delmarva’s batting lineup. In 38 games here, Schutz achieved the gaudy batting line of .381/4/36/.997, leading many to ask where the heck did this guy come from? Unfortunately, his season turned around in Frederick and not in the way one would want – Kipp hit just .212/7/36/.612 with the Keys in 87 games there. My best guess is that he’ll repeat at Frederick next season since he doesn’t have a lot to prove at this level.

May 19: Ty Kelly

In his second season with Delmarva, Ty had a better overall stint and eventually led the team in a number of offensive categories. Kelly paced the team in at-bats, runs, hits, and total bases, also being near the top in several other hitting areas. As a whole, his .274/4/46/.697 line is rather good, particularly when you note he walked 67 times and struck out only 63. But he did lose a lot in the power categories of doubles and triples, going from 40 extra-base hits in 2010 to just 17 this year – an alarming and precipitous drop for just 15 extra batting average points. Having repeated at the same level this season and played a relatively identical amount overall, that could portend a player who’s reached his ceiling.

Other honors: Kelly was named an SAL All-Star and selected by both Mountaire and the Shorebirds Fan Club as their Player of the Year.

May 26: Mike Flacco

Mike extended a solid finish to the 2010 season with Delmarva through the first 2/3 or so of the 2011 season before finally being promoted to Frederick in mid-July. With the Shorebirds Flacco hit .273/5/41/.790 and led the team in doubles with 20 despite only playing 72 games – or about a half-season – here. His Frederick numbers weren’t shameful either as he batted .250/5/22/.773 in 50 contests there. That’s probably enough to keep him playing there in 2012 as Mike slowly advances up the Orioles’ system.

Other honors: Mike was the SAL Player of the Week May 23.

June 2: Jacob Pettit

Like Scott Copeland, Jacob took full advantage of a promotion to vastly improve his numbers; however, on the surface Pettit was more deserving than Copeland. Jacob worked to a 5-4 record and 4.42 ERA in 15 starts here, with a 1.47 WHIP in 93 2/3 innings based on 108 hits and 30 walks (with 65 strikeouts.) Yet Pettit was unbeaten in 10 Frederick starts, compiling a 7-0 record and sparkling 1.62 ERA. The difference? Allowing nearly one fewer runner per two innings, with a Frederick WHIP of 1.02. It’s not outside the realm of thought that an exceptional spring couldn’t get him to Bowie, but my guess is that he begins 2012 in Frederick to begin another playoff run.

Other honors: Pettit was selected to the SAL All-Star Game.

June 9: Michael Ohlman

The primary backstop for the Shorebirds, Ohlman began the season well at the plate before fading down the stretch. Still, he ended up with a .224/4/51/.627 mark and led the team in RBI – a much better second act than a 2010 season where he began here but was demoted to Bluefield after hitting just .174 in 34 games. Given the dearth of pure hitting catchers in the Orioles system, Michael could make a move up to Frederick for 2012 but may be kept here to get another year of experience first.

Other honors: Michael was picked as the fifth representative to the All-Star Game.

June 16: Mikey Planeta

Mikey spent his second full season with the Shorebirds this year, although he joined the team a little late thanks to an injury. Once he arrived in May, Mikey started out well but tailed off to a .220/2/23/.536 mark in 102 games. Unfortunately, those numbers are pretty close to his full 2010 season marks of .226/0/33/.545 in 117 games, so there wasn’t a lot of offensive progress made between the two seasons. With 29 assists over the last two seasons, though, the outfield arm may be what keeps Mikey in the system for a third tour with Delmarva.

June 23: Michael Rooney

Rooney was a player who went in the other direction this year, as he began in Frederick but got demoted to Delmarva for two months. Yet things worked out for him as he was back with the Keys at season’s end after a one-game detour to Bowie (where he went 0-for-2, striking out twice.) His 42 games at Delmarva were most successful, as he hit .253/0/9/.677 with the Shorebirds. Meanwhile, his two separate tours of duty with Frederick (40 games total) resulted in a .192/0/3/.496 line. But Michael filled a need with both squads as a versatile backup infielder, so he may well ride the shuttle between Delmarva and Frederick next season too.

June 30: Jarret Martin

There are two schools of thought when a pitcher leads the team in losses: either he’s not very talented or the manager has a lot of confidence in him to keep running the pitcher out there. Judging by the numbers and the fact Jarret was moved into the rotation in May, my guess is the latter. Martin was 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA this season, and while he allowed only 107 hits in 110 2/3 innings the primary concern going forward has to be his walk rate – Martin walked 65 batters, which increased his WHIP to a 1.55 mark. However, his free pass rate improved from season to season (from Bluefield in 2010) which signifies progress in that area and he led the Shorebirds with 97 strikeouts. I think Jarret is one of those guys on the cusp between staying here and moving up in 2012.

Other honors: Jarret was the SAL Pitcher of the Week June 23.

July 7: Cameron Roth

Spending the full season with the Shorebirds, Roth provided effective long relief for Delmarva. His numbers weren’t overly special (going 3-2 with a 5.05 ERA, 57 strikeouts, 33 walks, and a WHIP of 1.51 in 82 innings) but he transitioned well between being a starter at Bluefield and pitching in relief with us this year. Like Jarret Martin, Roth is a pitcher who could find himself either at Frederick or Delmarva next year.

Other honors: Roth was selected by Mountaire for their Community Service Award.

July 14: Tim Berry

Tim was the one constant in Delmarva’s starting rotation, making 26 starts over the season. Set with a strict limit of 5 innings per start thanks to recent arm surgery, Berry managed to pitch through the five innings in the majority of his outings. Overall, he threw 116 2/3 innings, allowing 107 hits and 61 walks for a WHIP of 1.44. He only had a 3-7 record but was a very effective starter. Obviously the question is whether the Orioles will allow him to be stretched out more next season and let him go deeper into games – he could be a formidable starter if he’s retained here at Delmarva.

July 21: Brenden Webb

Brenden wasn’t one of the offensive stars of the team, hitting just .218/4/29/.632 in 400 at-bats. He led the team by playing in 121 games and had 16 outfield assists. He was the top Shorebird with 75 walks, but also had the most strikeouts (by far) with 152. In other words, nearly half of his 487 plate appearances ended in either a strikeout or walk. This may mean Webb is back here next year honing his pitch selection while trying to maintain his discerning batting eye.

July 28: Garabez Rosa

Another player demoted from Frederick at the season’s midpoint, Rosa came relatively close to the numbers he had in a full season here in 2010 (.262/3/32/.647 in 2011 vs. .251/5/44/.632 in 2010.) But the .212 start he had in 53 games with Frederick meant a return to Delmarva was likely, and he was the one moved aside for the progress of Manny Machado. There’s no doubt Rosa could return to the Keys next year and try to improve on his 2011 numbers, and that seems like the most likely course of action.

August 4: Joe Oliviera

Pinched for playing time in Frederick, where he gathered just 26 at-bats in a month’s time (hitting .308, though,) Joe was sent down for the second half and responded quite well. In 39 games Joe hit .252/2/20/.677, making him the best-hitting catcher on the roster. Because of that and a difference in age between him and fellow backstop Michael Ohlman he may be the one moved up to Frederick to begin 2012.

August 11: Jeremy Nowak

After spending a week with the Aberdeen IronBirds (a team he played for in 2010) Jeremy was promoted to Delmarva based on a .286 mark in 8 games (he hit just .179 there last year.) Nowak started out well here but faded down the stretch to a .234/3/21/.684 finish. Yet his promise seems to be in a gap-to-gap power hitter since he had 20 extra base hits out of 52 total. I could see him beginning next year here with a number 3, 4, or 5 spot in the batting order with his name on it because he’s a decent contact hitter with a little bit of speed (10 stolen bases in 62 games here.)

August 18: Matt Bywater

The first SotW to make his debut in 2011, Matt pitched 15 1/3 innings in the Gulf Coast League (no record but an 0.59 ERA and 0.91 WHIP) before jumping to Delmarva in late July. Yes, Matt is a little wild (32 walks in 45 1/3 innings) but he also has the sort of stuff which allowed him to strike out 68 batters in just over 60 total innings this season. His WHIP of 1.54 is pretty good considering his walk rate, and that tended to vary by start – when Matt was on he could be dominant and three times the bullpen lost his chance for that elusive first professional win. My bet would be that Matt gets that win early in 2012 as a member of the Shorebirds’ staff – since he was drafted in 2010 but didn’t debut until this season the Orioles may push him to a full-season team to start 2012, or perhaps hold him back for a few chilly April weeks. In either case, I think Bywater is ticketed here.

August 25: David Baker

To put it bluntly, had David been here all season we may have had a much better record. After 5 starts at Aberdeen (1-2, 2.45 with an 0.97 WHIP and 23/8 strikeout/walk ratio in 25 2/3 innings) it was clear Baker had earned a shot at the next level. He did well here, going 3-4 in nine starts. (From July 14 onward, that 3 wins tied him for the team lead with Luis Noel, who was pitching in relief at that point.) Baker had a 2.82 ERA for us, allowed only 40 hits in 54 1/3 innings, struck out 48 while walking just 19, and compiled a tidy 1.08 WHIP. To me, I think he deserves a chance at Frederick to begin next year as his first full-season team.

September 1: John Ruettiger

“Rudy” parlayed a 3-game, 6-for-13 stint in the Gulf Coast League into an assignment to Delmarva and became the first 2011 draftee to be selected as Shorebird of the Week. All told, for Delmarva John went 21-for-77 (.273) in 19 games, without a home run but knocking in 3. Generally he was the leadoff hitter but he only stole 1 base here, being caught 3 times. With just 90 professional at-bats, John will likely start here next season as he was an 8th round draft pick and the Orioles tend to move highly-drafted college players quickly. Don’t be surprised if he’s not moved along with a decent start to 2012.

I had a very difficult time picking a Shorebird of the Year because a number of players who excelled at this level didn’t stay long enough to really be considered part of the team. If early season SotW picks like Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, Kipp Schutz or a guy who I didn’t get a chance to select like Trent Mummey had stuck around into August and maintained their level of play this would be a no-brainer. The same goes for late-season arrival David Baker.

But I have to pick someone who played well and spent a significant amount of time here, and that trimmed the field to just two players: one pitcher and one position player.

To me, the top pitcher was David Walters. He didn’t have overpowering statistics, but one has to factor in that he saved 30 out of 55 victories. That’s 54.5% of our wins, and if you look at all-time save leaders for a single season they generally saved about 60 percent of a team’s wins – Walters isn’t all that far off and he was entrusted with a lot of leads.

On the other hand, the top position player was Ty Kelly. He was among the leaders in a number of offensive categories, and that’s what led him to get his player of the year honors from Mountaire and the Shorebirds Fan Club. (I voted for him in that balloting.)

But then I thought about expectations. On the one hand, Kelly is in his second year here and as I noted he regressed in some key areas. He was the real-life survivor of a number of player moves involving the names I mentioned above, meaning he’s not as highly regarded as those prospects. Kelly was a 19th round pick in 2009, so he was figured to have somewhat of an opportunity for advancement. Still, all told he had a pretty good year.

Yet David Walters was drafted – just not by the Orioles. Atlanta drafted him in the 47th round of the 2008 draft but Walters chose to return to school and was rewarded by not being picked in 2009. The Orioles signed a hometown product off the street that summer, so in essence Walters has been playing three seasons on an extended tryout. He’s found a role and seized it.

So it’s a tough call. I toyed for quite some time with the idea of having co-Shorebirds of the Year, but these intangibles finally led me to make a decision – you could say I changed my mind. Meet your 2011 Shorebird of the Year:

Because he was usually placed in a situation where the game was on the line and did so well at it he led the league in saves (by a wide margin, I may add) I decided that David Walters is a worthy 2011 Shorebird of the Year.

I hope everyone involved with the Shorebirds organization (an award-winning one, by the way) has a great offseason. I’m already pining for 2012 to begin because we have some payback for the last two seasons to return.

And if I could give an award for best feature coverage, Ben Hill would get it for this article. I remember seeing him last Saturday night at the game doing the first pitch and being the Rally Banana. His tour saved the best for last, I guess.