The Machine that is Tuscaloosa

When you think dynasties you think the Murderer's Row and the Yankees of the 20's and 30's, the Celtics of the 60's, the Showtime Lakers, Steel Curtain Steelers, Jordan's Bulls, the late 90's Yankees, and most notably the Hendersonville Hitmen the modern era.  A little less talked talked about modern dynasty is what is  going on for Jersey Shore's AAA affiliate in Tuscaloosa.
Tuscaloosa is most well known for the the powerhouse that is the Alabama Crimson Tide of the collegiate football world, but in the last 9 years, the Trout Slayers of Tuscaloosa have donned the championship hats and shirts 5 times and are set to tangle this week with the Trenton Stars in a best of 5 series aiming for their 6th title in 10 years.  

In this being the 10th year of the modern BSA, Tuscaloosa has won 8 division titles and made the playoffs as the Wild card team the 2 remaining years.  This season with their 108 wins it marked the 6th time they eclipsed the 100 win barrier and marked the 3rd straight year they have seen over 1 million in attendance for the season.

In a league and for a team that is very much offensive based, the Trout Slayers feature a player who has taken International league hitting to new heights and that player is 25 year OF Juan Mendoza.  Originally a 2nd round pick of the Jacksonville Jackhammers way back in the 2014 season, Mendoza was signed and then released nearly a month later and say as a free agent for 3 weeks before Jersey offered him a minor league deal and was sent to A ball Manhattan. Always projected as a power prospect, he didn't show it until the 2016 season hitting 26 HR in A ball and a combined 22 HR between A and AA the following year.  2018 was a stellar year for Mendoza as he bashed 39 HR and drove in 135 runs to go with 100 walks in AA Gainesville before being promoted to AAA to finish the 2018 season.  2019 Mendoza finally was put on the 40 man roster and was invited to Spring Training for the D-Bags where he struggled in 31 AB, only hitting .161 with a single HR.  Being sent back to AAA gave Mendoza a push.  He hit double digit HR in every month except September and had his banner month in August.  In 106 AB in 28 games he 17 HR, 45 RBI, walked 22 times on way to a slash line of .349/.461/.858.  He won player of the month for both June and August and sprinkled in 3 player of the week awards in their as well. This season he set the ITL record for SLG (.713), OPS (1.97), Total Bases (430), HR (72), RBI (185) and WAR (9.8).  Those are some big numbers.

Not only did the 2019 feature the record breaking Mendoza, they also had Tadahisa Kisuki, a very possible next star in Jersey at 1B, who hit .366/.452/.561 and 3B Xin Zhang who added 25 HR and hit .322/.431/.552.  Not only could they hit they had four 16 game winners led by top prospect Ramon Ruiz who went 21-4 in 28 starts with an ERA of 2.91 and a WAR of 6.9 and not to mention one of the best bullpens in the ITl. While Trenton does have a very stacked roster, the Trout Slayers have a very good chance to add a 6th title to their wall.

Many of Jersey Shore players past and present have been part of championship teams and added to the storied past which is Tuscaloosa.  From that first Championship year in 2010 which featured players such as: former MVP Ricardo Vargas, long time major leaguers David Pena, Damien Balmforth, Sergio Rodriguez, Jugurtha Wemusa and Jose Reyes to long time Jersey bullpen arms such as Jaime Saenz, Lucio Tapia and Jose Ruiz.  The 2014 Championship team featured former ROY Adam Morrow, 5-time All Star Matt Doyle, Jersey starter Alberto Perez, Jersey starting pitchers Sergio Martinez and Greg Schaefer and current bullpen arms Jose Ruiz and Yin-zhen Zong.  

With Jersey's long time strategy to build within and through the draft, it is evident to this how many home grown players have come up and won in the Jersey system playing together.  This can only mean a championship is coming to Jersey......right?

GO D-BAGS

Prospect Breakdown; Meet SS Lawrence Schroeder

 

Growing up in Fontana, California had it's perks.  Hop on I-10 for an hour and be in Hollywood, take a little more time and head south and be in Redondo Beach.  Great weather for the beach, for surfing, for people watching, this was after all Southern California. What Lawrence Schroeder liked the most though is being mere minutes from the Little League baseball facility in San Bernadino, California.  For a week and a half every summer the West Regional tournament was held in San Bernadino.  Though Schroeder never had the chance to to participate he loved watching the kids from all over the western side of the country play baseball. He was especially envious of those last 4 teams who's games are always televised on ESPN and ESPN2.  Playing baseball on TV what a thrill!

Schroeder was always athletically talented.  His father was 6th round draft pick in the NFL and played parts of 2 seasons.  His mother a high school track star.  He excelled in basketball in high school, maturing early hitting his 6'3" height when he was just a sophomore in High School. He made the baseball team as a Junior and quickly became one of the better players on the team.  His high school coach said he was always one of the first ones are practice and almost always the last one there.  The kid loved to practice, loved to get better and it helped the guys around him want to get better too.  

Upon his senior year he was scouted by a few teams and eventually accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Virginia all the way across the country.  They were the only school willing to let Schroeder play both basketball and baseball for them.  He joined the Cavaliers baseball team in 2010, which was a team led by older players  In fact he was the only bat on the team who wasn't a junior and a senior. At first it was hard being the newcomer and by far the youngest kid on the team but in the end he learned more from those guys than any coach out there.  Though they lost to Nebraska 2-1 in the best of 3 series in the first round it was Schroeder's first taste of playoff baseball, and he loved it.  The pressure, everything on the line.  He played in 43 of the team's 48 games, leading the team in doubles and showing off his great eye at the plate.  He only hit .259, but his OBP of .385 was good for 4th on the team.

2011 was another Virginia team led by seniors, but Schroeder like his freshman year was in the thick of things.  He and current Austin River Shark Jerome Miles led the team and became one of the best 1-2 punches in the country.  Schroeder officially put himself on the national radar hitting .400, 9 HR, 17 2B with an OBP of .525 again leading Virginia to the playoffs, and again ending in defeat by way of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first round.

2012 was going to be their year.  Virginia named Schroeder team captain before the season started and a slew of young talented players led Virginia for a record of 32 victories which still stands.  The offense featured 5 players in double digit HR's including Schroeder who hit a career high of 14.  He also posted some very high numbers, which many are still in the top 25-30 in college baseball history.  He hit .404 with an OBP of .530 and an OPS o 1.284.  Not to mention that Lawrence had developed a very slick glove at shortstop.  Virginia made the playoffs again and rallied around Schroeder and Miles to knock off their ACC rival Duke in the first round of the playoffs 2-0.  They went on to play powerhouse UConn who led the nation in wins with 39 behind a big pitching staff, current ROY candidate Eliot Helen, former first round picks Ramiro Navarro and Jorge Torres.  Virginia took care of business 2-0, moved on to face Kentucky who they also swept to reach the championship in a bout against the Oregon Ducks.  The series was a joke with Virginia beating them 2-0 to win their first and only national championship.  Currently the 2012 Virginia team is on the 2nd team along with South Florida to sweept through an NCAA playoffs without a loss.  

For the next two years Schroeder would put up decent numbers but nothing compared to the magical summer of 2012. He was a highly touted and ranked prospect going into the 2014 draft, but on draft fell down the draft board and finally was picked by the Jersey Shore D-Bags with the 28th overall pick.  GM Josh Swain said "We were ecstatic and actually very surprised he fell to us.  He was Top 13 on our big board and just kept falling.  It's hard to find a SS with that good of glove/contact with some pop.  The fact he was about to 24 at the time of the draft was also enticing.  We felt he would be one of the faster movers in the entire draft and with need for a SS on the big club, it was a perfect fit."

Schroeder was dissapointed due to his drafted position but was also encouraged.  The 2014 season we saw the breakout of stars in Jersey as Mike Bryant and Matt Doyle lit up the CL with tape measure HR's and names being all over national publications.  "Being not far from Jersey while I was in school I saw them a lot.  They are one of the best team in developing home grown talent, so it really was an honor being drafted by them.  I knew if I was going to make the big leagues, this was a great place for me."

Schroeder signed a 1.29M signing bonus not a week after the draft and was sent to AA Gainesville skipping right over A ball.  While he didn't match his college numbers, he posted respectable numbers in the 67 games he played in with them, he hit 11 HR while hitting .254.  In the winter of 2014 really worked with Schroeder on evening out his swing to produce more line drives and helping him keep his weight back to try and help his power game.  His maturity was evident early on in 2015 as he smacked around AA pitching for 2 weeks and earned a surprise promotion to AAA affiliate Tuscaloosa.  He immediately took over the starting SS position for them, while getting some good time at 2B as well this season.  He has been everything he was advertised as with a slash line of .299/.353/.474 hitting 15 HR and driving in 80 runs in 111 games thus far this season. The one drawback is he striking out a lot, but plans to work on that in the off season. 

While Jersey has no immediate plans to call up Schroeder, his future is bright.  He was named the 31st best prospect before the season started and with his success in AAA so far, things are looking up.  But really should anyone be really surprised?  Even if Schroeder spends the rest of the season and 2016 in AAA, in 2017 we could be looking at a Jersey infield of Doyle, Bryant, Schroeder and Adam Morrow.  What do these players have in common?  All players drafted by Jersey, 3 1st round draft picks, Morrow being the only 2nd round pick of the bunch.   Did we mention 2013 1st round pick 1B/3B 21 year old Richard Coker is starting to tear it up in AA and talks of a promotion have been abound the Jersey clubhouse?  It could be something rare to see that many home grown players in one clubhouse and starting lineup.

For now we will monitor Schroeder's progress in AAA.  They have a 16 game lead in their division and well on their way to their 6th straight playoff appearance and could be on their way to their 4th title in 6 years.  Schroeder is excited to get back into some playoff competition but also added, " I want a shot at Greenville and Toronto!"  While we are excited he is anticipating playing against Jersey's biggest rivals, we will end in saying, young man your time will come.  

GO D-BAGS