September was a do or die month for the D-Bags. They entered the month down 5 games and needed a great Sept to have a sniff at the playoffs, or so they thought. After their best month of the season going 17-9, they ended up a staggering 8 games out of the division when it was all said and done. Greenville hit their stride at the right time went 20-7 for the month and ran away with the division.
Players of the Month
With the team playing so well it was hard to choose just a couple of players for POTM, but here they are:
Mike "Coffin" Bryant: 9 HR, 27 RBI, .375/.425/.702. 25R. After displaying some power during the summer, we finally saw the top prospect and former first round pick break out. He homered once every 10.5 AB, drove in 27 runs in 25 games and killed opposing pitching. Hate to pre-mature call him a star, but it seems he is destined for big things in this league.
Milliard Cross: 5 HR, 20 RBI, .433/.520/.750. What happened to Cross after July? He more than doubled his HR and RBI and hit 400 over the past 2 months of the season. He went from guy who played when someone needed a rest to starter. By far the best month of his career
Scott Powers: 5 XBH, 19 RBI, 15 BB, .340/.427/.436, 6 SB. After stepping his game in August, it was September that really showed why Jersey dealt the talent they did for Powers. He was an on base machine hitting leadoff, getting on base at a .420 clip. Look for this not to be his last time in the POTM column.
SP Hector Hernandez: 3-2, 2.12 ERA. Hernandez's best month of the season. 4 of 5 Quality starts and one of his losses came in a great performance where he gave up 1 ER. Hernandez is a pending FA, so this might be the last time he graces the POTM.
MR Jose Gomes: 1 Save, 13.2 IP, 21 K, 1.42 ERA, .55 WHIP. Gomes was nearly unbelievable in September, and ask any Jersey fan and you will hear, "About time!" After a season in which Gomes struggled , for him, he put up his finest month by far. One bad inning he gave up 3 of his 7 baserunners all month long. Under the radar, the D-Bags signed Gomes to a 5 year deal.
MR Jamie "Mungo" Saenz: 1 Save, 13.2 IP, 16 K, 1.32 ERA, 1.02 WHIP. Much like Gomes, Saenz was dominate in the late innings. The month completed his best season so far and helped the D-Bags hold the lead in many of their winnings during September.
Roster Changes, Questions and Answers
We didn't see too many changes to the roster this month. Sergio Rodriguez, Joe Hernandez, Edgardo Gonzalez all got a hand full of AB's during September and all showed promise. All 3 have a shot at making the active roster next season.
Being in end of the season we will likely see a lot of change to the roster. Several big names players have yet to sign a contract extension which would make them FA's in just weeks time. These players include SP Jose Brito, SP Hector Hernandez and C Jorge Lozano. Lozano had a career year and as much as everyone in Jersey would love to see him stay, he is 32 and wants a big contract and rumors have it Jersey doesn't have the money. The same goes for Brito who was very solid this year and the loss of both Brito and Hernandez would put a big dent in the Jersey rotation.
Speculating into the future, Lozano's role can be filled by Mario Ramirez who tore up AAA pitching this year and has shown he can hold his own against ML pitching. The SP isn't so easy projected. Greg Shaefer was having a good year before going down with an injury, he would be slotted to join the rotation and you have to think another SP would come via trade or free agency. Unless there are some big moves there seem to be starters slotted at every position, which can never be considered a problem.
The D-Bags fell 1 win short of their 2nd straight 90 season, but yet finished with their 4th straight winning season. Maybe next year will be Jersey's first trip to the playoffs, only time will tell. For now look forward to any moves Jersey makes during the off-season!
GO D-BAGS
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