2022 Jersey Shore Amateur Draft

The draft has always been one of GM Josh Swain's favorite events of the year and this year was no exception despite it's critical reception.  Many GM's raised concerns about lack of top end talent available in this year's draft, but Swain saw it differently seeing a draft that was high on middle round talent despite lacking superstar talent.  Here is what Jersey Shore came away with with the draft was done.

1.21 - OF Ed Murray - 18 years old - Broken Arrow High School. Murray is a 3 year High School starter who projects to be a corner OF in the bigs who's contact was ranked among the highest in this year's draft class.  While he displays little power and and patience at the plate is lacking, he rarely strikes out and speed + gap projects him as a 33-35 doubles a year guy in the future.  His final high school slash line was .451/.505/.595, while only striking out 18 times in over 100 games.  It may be awhile for him to mature and move up through the system, but projects out as a 2-slot hitter.

2.54 - SP Rodney Hall - 20 years old - University of Washington.  A 2-year full time starter pitching for UW, Hall throws 3 above average pitches while throwing in low 90's.  He projects out to be an innings eater with high stamina and while he never may be an ace, a ceiling of say a pitcher like Ron Eager could be in his future.

3.92 - SP Sloan Numbers - 18 years old - Dublin Jerome High School.  Dipping back into the HS pool for the third pick, the D-Bags selected 3 year high school starter Numbers.  While he won't overpower you and hasn't developed an "out" pitch yet, he does throw 4 pitches and has shown his strength in control.  He projects out to be a mid-low end starter at the time.  Jersey scouts hope that when he grows into his 6'5" frame he can add a couple MPH to his fastball and improve his K numbers, but that's just a hope.

4.124 - C Greg Lee - 18 years old - Broken Arrow High School.  Lee was a bit of a head scratching pick just because so little was known about him.  In 3 years in high school he only played in 25 games and only appearing in 1 game his senior year.  Jersey held a private workout and found he had a good swing and great fundamentals behind the plate, but just very, very raw.  He doesn't project to have much power, but as a 4th round pick if they can find a spot starter at catcher in the future, this pick could be worth it.

5.152 - SP Matt Johnston - 18 year old - Madawaska Valley High School.  For the 4th time in 5 picks Jersey went with a HS player, and this being the third starting pitching as well.  Johnston actually pitched out of the pen his sophomore and junior years before starting this last one.  He is a big kid sitting at 6'2", weighing 220 pounds and throws 3 pitches.   None of his pitches are dominant but knows how to pitch low in the zone and keep the ball on the ground.  His lacking of an out pitch could hold him back, but if he improves could be a low end rotation type guy.

6.180 - CF Jeff Bane - 18 years old - Sante Fe High School. Didn't sign and will attend college next season

7.208 - SP Enrico Lozano - 20 years old - Georgia Tech University.  College starter that will be converted to a reliever.  Only throws 2 pitches and lack in speed only hitting 90 or so on the gun

8.236 - SS Mitch Thomas - 20 years old - University of Oregon.  Top end speed and who's top attribute is his glove and not hit bat.  Needs to limit K's because he doesn't walk much, projects out to be a utility type player.

9.264 - SP Bryan Glover - 18 years old - Billings West High School.  Didn't sign and will attend college next season

10.292 - CF Mark McDonald - 21 years old - Ohio State University - Can play all over the diamond, but specialized in the OF.  Has top end speed and can steal bases at will.  Was 20/22 in SB's in his last season at OSU.  Won't make it far with the bat.

Hopefully a couple of these names will rise through the ranks and being playing nightly in Jersey someday.  The current Jersey Shore roster contains 5 former 1st round picks (Bryant 2010, Schroeder 2014, Brodeur 2015, Martin 2017, Carter 2018) while 2016 1st round pick SP Ciottone is AAA and 2013 Coker and 2011 Doyle are on other rosters.  When will Murray join these ranks? Only time will tell.

GO D-BAGS 

D-Bags Owner Seung-min Kim Dies; Son Takes Over

A sad day in the midst of a great season happened this past week as the Jersey Shore D-Bags announced the passing of the only owner this franchise has ever seen.  Seung-min Kim died of natural causes in his Manhattan penthouse early Sunday morning on June 5th.  His wife reported he was up late with the BSA network on when he never came to bed.  She found him dead in his favorite easy chair.

His son, Seung-min Kim Jr. has been groomed to take over his position for sometime now.  Born in Atlantic City, Kim Jr. grew up playing ball and attended Rutgers, followed by Business School at nearby Penn.  He graduated with his MBA just 2 years before the BSA formed and his father purchased the D-Bags.  He was immediately hired and ran analytics behind the scenes but was always a clubhouse staple.  A person with a lot of power within the organization, but a young enough one to fraternize and see eye-to-eye with the players.  The transition should be an easy one for the franchise as in the past 1-1.5 years the Sr, Kim's duties became less and less as he spent less time at the ballpark and more time in the families vacation home in the Caribbean island of St. Marteen.  

While Kim Sr. was known through baseball circles as a cutthroat business man who always wanted results, the Jr. Kim has praised patients and will give the GM a bigger leash with the payroll.  It is a sad thing that Kim Sr. could never see his team bring home a championship as Jersey Shore made it to the World Series, only to come up empty both times.  Once to Hendersonville in an epic 7 game battle and the other just 2 seasons ago to the Boston Rebels.

For the remainder of the season the team will wear a patch on their left shoulder with SKS to commemorate the late owner.  At the time of his death, the Jersey Shore D-Bags currently sit atop the CL East division with a 3 game lead over rival Greenville and boast the best record in the CL at 41-16.

GO D-BAGS 

Jersey Rallies From 5 Down & Wins in Extras; Seattle Butt hurt in Process

The Seattle Pikes visited Jersey earlier this month for a 3-game set which the D-Bags would eventually sweep.  The middle game of the series was the game of the year for Jersey Shore and one of the biggest comebacks in team history.  Down 5 going into the bottom of the 9th, there was little hope for the home town team.  Especially considering a comment GM Kevin Carter made just days earlier on Twitter about "the great pen" Seattle is suppose to have.  The best part about the comeback is All-Star Jim Nelson retired Kisuki and Bryant back to back to start the inning with 2 outs.  Then all hell broke loose.

A single from Dodd gave an extra batter and the next man up was Francisco Torres would would take a 1-2 pitch and deposit it the Right-Center bleachers for a 2-run HR.  Still, the Bags would still trail by 3.  Seattle would go to the pen and bring in wonderkid Christian Escobar and his 99 MPH fastball.  Rookie Own Carter would leg out an infield single that "King" Martinez couldn't make a play in time with.  3B Fabrice Brodeur would then walk on 5 pitches to put the tying run at the plate, another rookie, 2B John Moore.  Moore would fight off 3, 1-2 pitches, fouling them all back before slicing a double down the left field line.  Both Carter and Broduer would score, making it a 1 run game.  Seattle would opt to leave Escobar in the game to pitch to SS Lawrence Schroeder, which would turn out to be a bad decision.  Schroeder would take a 2-2 pitch and knock it up the middle scoring Broduer.  The game almost ended when Moore, who was off with the pitch, came sliding home only be to be tagged out at the last second to send the game the extras.

Both bullpens would match each other until the 14th inning when Ricardo Berroa would walk, take 3rd on a single from Brodeur and score on an errant throw when he was sliding into 3rd base.  It was a walk off win but there was more talk about the HBP from Jersey closer Gerald Johnson that broke Seattle's DH Luka Lagerweij's hand in the 13th inning.  

Seattle GM Kevin Carter came out in the post game press conference and blamed the Jersey staff for intentionally hitting and hurting Lagerweij.  GM Swain had this rebuttle. "I completely respect Lagerweij's game.  I actually feel bad for the guy.  He has supreme power and he plays his home games in one of the hardest parks to hit a HR for a left-handed hitter.  One thing I don't respect though is showing up pitchers.  In the 1st inning he hit a 3-run HR.  Yes, our pitcher Garcia made a mistake and he capitalized on it, but you don't stand and admire your work, plus it was a 349 foot shot.  He acted like he hit 500 feet.  Our catcher Carter noticed he kept creeping closer and closer jamming the plate and our Manager Negrete told Johnson to brush him off the plate.  The ball tailed a little bit and got him on the hand.  No negligence.  Part of the game.  We hope for a speedy recovery and this conversation is over."

Through Saturday May 28th, Jersey Shore sits with a 35-16 record which is the best in the CL, and that's after a current 4-game losing streak.  With 3 games left in May, the D-Bags need to win 2/3 for a 20 win month.  They finish a quick 2-game tilt with Vista before finishing the month with 2 @ division rival Chicago.

Ramos-Bryant-Bags Off to Hot April Start

April has come and May begins tomorrow and the Jersey Shore D-Bags can look back with an approving look on their face after going 17-9 and ending the month tied atop the standings with the reigning BSA champs Greenville 84's.  The team tallied that record despite only playing 10 of their first 26 games at home.  For once the pitching has led the team.  The club's ERA sits 2nd in the CL while the offense doesn't trail far behind finishing the month 5th in CL in runs scored.

The pitching staff was led by staff ace Jose Ramos who is hoping to bounce back from his down year last year after finishing 2nd in Cy Young award voting in 2020.  Ramos started 6 times for Jersey in April and won all 6 starts, giving up more than 2 ER only once and went 8 innings in every start except a rain shortened start vs Springfield.  He finishes the month with a 1.93 ERA, 1.01 WHIP to go with a an excellent 5 K/BB ratio.  In his last 2 starts he beat 1st place teams St. Charles and Toronto as well.  

On the offensive end of things, it's but who else, Mike Bryant leading the team in almost every category.  Reigning MVP Dave Dodd had a slow start and is starting to pick things up, but it's Bryant who has been Mr. Consistent thus far for the Bags.  He has played in all 26 games so far and finishes April with a slash line of: .377/.431/.726 to go along with 5 doubles, a triple, 10 HR and 28 RBI, good for 2.1 WAR in the first month alone.

Look ahead to the May schedule, we have inter-league play starting where the Bags will travel to the bayou for a 3 game set with New Orleans before welcoming the Maui Tropics to town for a 3 game set.  May will also feature the first of 17 games between Jersey and Greenville when Jersey travels to Greenville to play a 4-game tilt on May 23rd.

GO D-BAGS

Tracking Mikey Bryant's Assault on the Record Books; Volume 5

For the 5th straight year we will track where and how high 2B Mikey Bryant climbed in the career leaderboards. The superstar and everyone's favorite player turned 34 during Spring Training and as heads towards the Twilight of his career, he will try to keep up with a league that is focused on the young star.  Last season Bryant played in his 9th season in the BSA and 2022 will mark a decade for him in the big leagues.  While his power numbers dropped a bit, we saw Bryant's hits and average tick back up.  His .337 average was the 2nd highest of his career, while his slugging was the 2nd lowest.

Falling from 40 to 31 HR and keeping his doubles the same in 45 more AB could be a little troubling going forward but the increase in hits and average might bode well for him as he hits his mid-30's.  His 103 RBI is the lowest in his career for a full season, while he reached the 125 run mark for the 4th time in his career.  Overall it was a successful season for Bryant as he saw his teammate Dodd win the triple crown and MVP in a season where Jersey struggled and missed the postseason.


After failing to hit .300 in 2020, Bryant's .337 this past year raised his career average from .3246 back up to .3267.  Paco Rosas who is in the prime of his career continues to rake in Greenville and increased his lead to 8 points. Rosas sits at .3351.  We will see if Bryant can stay on top of Adam Mason who he currently has a 3.1 lead on for 2nd all time.  Bryant who had been 2nd all-time in OPS since creating this tracking report was finally passed by Rosas as he had a giant 2021.  He remains 7 points ahead of Mel Fields and 11 points ahead of next active member Yokoyama

Ever since we started tracking Bryant has been the king of slugging and  that didn't change despite the worst slugging percentage for a full season in his big league career.  He was once the only player in BSA history to have a career slugging over 600, but those times are gone as Bryant now sits at .581.  After his moster season, teammate Dave Dodd has taken over 2nd place 11 points behind Bryant.

Bouncing back in a huge with hits he has moved from 27th all the way up into the Top 15 while surpassing 1800 career hits.  With a Bryant like season he should hit the 2000 hit mark by the end of 2022.   Bryant surpassed the 300 2B mark and ended the season just outside the Top 30 career wise. 2021 ended a 5 year run of leading the BSA in total bases as he finished 3rd with 372.  That number is good enough for 12th and a good season should put him in the Top 10 at the end of the year.

With a down year in HR and RBI, Braynt finds himself in a tough position to climb in both categories.  He passed fellow veterans George Alston and Shizue Chouda this past year, but the only players within 40 HR are Cobra, Newell and Rivas.  This could be the 1st year where he stays stagnant in a category.  Sitting at 332 HR, Bryant has a chance to reach that magical 400 HR plateau late in 2023.  After becoming the 9th player to knock in 1000 career runs last time, he now sits 8th in the category.With Delaney's injury Bryant has a chance to pass him, but realistically no one else is within reach.  

If you are a Bryant fan, 2021 was very much a positive as his bat does not seem to be slowing down.  In a league where there is so much uncertainty after age 30, a strong season from Bryant at age 33 is a great sign.  Jersey rewarded him with a 2 and possibly 3 year contract last year which will keep him in Jersey at least through the 2023 season.  If Bryant can stay productive through these next 2 years, major milestones are in reach, but only time will tell.  

Current All-Time Rank.  (Previous 4 years are in parenthesis)  

BA: 2nd (2nd 2nd, 2nd, 1st): .3267

OPS: 3rd (2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd): .9644

SLG: 1st (1st, 1st, 1st, 1st): .5817

VORP: 8th (8th, 9th, 13th, 20th): 624.94

Hits: 14th (27th. 34th, 57th, 96th): 1831

Doubles: 29th (42nd, 57th, 82nd, NR): 335
Triples: 17th (28th, 46th, 75th, NR): 49

Total Bases: 11th (14th, 23rd, 41st, 73rd): 3260

HR: 8th (10th, 15th, 20th, 35th): 332

RBI: 8th (9th, 19th, 32nd, 53rd): 1128

Runs: 14th (22nd, 28th, 55th, 86th): 1027

WAR: 10th (11th,13th, 18th, 24th): 60.86

A Tale of Perseverance, Uncertainty and Dissapointment; The Javier Martinez Story

If I say the name Javier Martinez it might ring a faint bell in the back of some BSA owner's minds.  But I am not talking about the one who appeared in 435 games and once saved 27 games for the Sacramento Mentalists.  No, I am talking about the slick fielding middle infielder who was released by the Maui organization earlier this month.  The Martinez who spent the last 6+ seasons in Maui's AAA affiliate in Denver, the Mile High Broncos.  Martinez never received more than 200 plate appearances in any of those seasons, but kept coming back to spring training every year.  Martinez's story does not being there in Maui 6 years ago, not even close.  We must go back further....much further to tell his whole tale.

As a 21 year old in the first year of a crazy idea called the VBL, Martinez played for Indiana University in the year of 2007.  A star by no means, he got by with the glove.  While not having the strongest arm, he always had the softest hands, got to balls other players didn't and turned the double play almost poetically.  He was drafted in the 2007 amateur draft by the Shelton Mighty Smiths and would play most of his first professional season in A ball in the city of Gates Mills, a small suburb of Cleveland.  He would play 129 games in Gates Mills, hitting 25 doubles and racking up a 2.4 WAR before a trade that would send him to the Kansas City Kings organization.  The Kings would send him to AA Bakersfield where he would play out the rest of the 2008 season and start for the Saboteurs for the entire 2009 season.  While not with the bat, he was a key component of a Bakersfield team that would bring home Northwest League titles on both of those seasons.

As 2010 rolled around the rumors about the league getting a complete makeover turned to be true.  The cities scrambled and re-named and an expansion draft was held.  The now 24 year old Martinez would be selected in the 71st round by the newly named Quebec Les Capitales.  He would be assigned to AA Granby, a small town 150 miles outside of Denver.  Martinez would join a team that featured some names you might now know.  Former MVP Luis Padilla, SP David Evans and SP Mal Windham.  He would play in 100 games for Granby before a late season call up to AAA Montreal where he would struggle in the only 9 games he would see that season for a team that would finish an abysmal 19-143.  Would you believe that Cordell Gibson would be on that team and wouldn't see the minor leagues once sense?  

An interesting thing happened in 2011 as Martinez would sent to start the season in A ball Waterloo where he would play in 4 games before being shipped back to Granby where he would start 88 games despite struggling with the bat.  Near the trade deadline he was included in a trade with the Vista Panthers.  Now playing for his 4th franchise, the Panthers would send him to A ball affiliate Chula Vista where he would play 5 games before the organization felt he would be better used in AAA Santa Monica, which is 140 miles north on I-5.  Martinez would play out the last part of the season with Santa Monica playing in 21 games and posting an eventual -0.3 WAR with his newest team.  Turning 26 in the off season he was now no longer considered a prospect....if he ever was considered one, he would start the season in a new city, AA affiliate of the Vista Panthers, the San Diego Smashers.  He would travel the 133 miles back south down I-5 where he would be sparingly used during the season and only see 105 plate appearances in 28 games played. 

After the 2012 season he would become a minor league free agent and would eventually sign a minor league deal with the Denver Dynasty and would be assigned to AA Ocean Park, which lies in the southwest corner of the state of Washington.  This would make the 10th city that Martinez had played in since being drafted out of Indiana at the ripe age of 26.  2013 was an interesting year.  Lingering foot injuries would keep him sidelined for much of the season and whether or not he was in the doghouse of because of injury, he would see the field in all of 2 games during the entire season and not get an AB.  But Martinez did not give up.  

Before the 2014 season, the Denver franchise was bought by Glenn Polyn, who would relocate to St. Charles.  The AA affiliate of Ocean Park would move to Culver City, a suburb of the city of Los Angeles, and just 7 miles down the road from where he played 3 years earlier in Santa Monica.  As a full time starter in 2014 he put up his best season since 2009 in Bakersfield, which was coincidentally just 120 miles North of Culver City.  His 2 home runs would would bring his career total to 7, where his 1.3 WAR would place him 6th on the team.  His above average season would have the St. Charles organization assign him to AAA Vancouver for the 2015 season, just 320 miles North of where he spent 2013 in Ocean Park.  Injuries kept him out of the lineup for much of the season, but when he was healthy towards the end of the season he played well.  Hitting .318 in 44 AB.  His parent club the St. Charles Sheens were in need of a body when veteran 2B Jeff Haris went on the DL and something happened for Javier.  After 12 minor league cities, he was being balled up the bigs!  The 28 year old would see the bench taking everything in before he got his chance.  He was called to be a defensive replacement in the 8th inning of a tight game with his former organization, Vista.  He would play 2 defensive innings before getting his first career at-bat.  Never known as a wiz at the plate he took a few cuts and eventually hit a harmless grounder on the infield for an out.  Later that week, Harris would come off the DL and instead of sending him back to AAA, Martinez was traded to the Maui organization, where he would be sent not to Maui, but to their AAA team, Mile High.

That summer in 2015 would start a 6+ year stretch of Martinez playing for the team in Denver.  He was always used as a utility player, but always proving his worth with the glove.  Mile High would mark his 14th team with his 5th franchise.  As the Tropics struggled in 2019 and 2020, Martinez saw his playing time drop for younger players and as 2021 rolled around, Martinez was in his 14th professional season as a 35 year old.  While he play admirably this season in 41 games, compiling 1.0 WAR, the writing was on the wall.  He was released on August 11th.  Now we sit at August 29th, 80 days to Martinez's 36th birthday and his career BSA stat line looks like this:

1 G, 1 PA, 1 AB, .000/.000/.000.

He is one of only 3 players currently in the BSA to get a single AB and not get a hit.  The others being 34 year 1B Gerald Booth (currently a free agent) and 32 year old 2B Dennis Lowney (currently with Birmingham's AAA club).  Martinez is looking for a last chance.  Looking for a 15th team to join and looking for that first career hit.  With rosters expanding just this week, who will give him that chance?  His glove is still very worthy for a utility position up the middle, someone has to have room.  Will Martinez get the chance to get that first hit and retire after a long 15 year trek or will he retire with a single, hitless at-bat?

GO JAVIER

Gianluigi Ciottone; A Long Road to the Majors

With their 1st round pick and the 31st overall pick in the 2016 amateur draft, the Jersey Shore D-Bags selected SP Gianluigi Ciottone, a 4-year starter form the University of Nebraska.  Starting 42 games as the primary ace of the staff, Ciottone averaged over 11 K/9 while accumulating an ERA of 3.58 and a WHIP of 1.19. Ciottone was 22 at the time of the draft and while his third pitch (changeup) wasn't that strong, Jersey management viewed him as a mid-rotation starter who was matured enough to a candidate to shoot up the minor league ranks quickly and possibly see the major league roster in as little as a year.  They were wrong.

After being drafted he was sent to AA Gainesville where his current talent should have pushed him, but he was dominated.  He walked 6.5 batters per 9, which resulted in more walks than K's and led to a 2-9 record with an abysmal 8.02 ERA in 14 starts.  Perplexed by the results he started the 2017 in A Manhattan where he did walk 2 batters less her 9 while his K/9 nearly doubled.  He was still getting hit fairly hard but his BABIP of .354 led Jersey brass to believe it was more a defensive problem than Ciottone's pitching.  Towards the end of the 2017 season he was sent to AA and slotted in the bullpen to ease him into a starting role.  In 11 appearances at age 23, he pitched 12.2 innings, gave up 15 hits, 3 HR, 8 walks and struck out 10.  Good for a 7.82 ERA to finish out the year.  Again perplexed by these results he would again start the 2018 season in A ball.  He turned 24 during the 2018 season making him one of the older players in the league.  While he did improve on his rate stats, he still gave up more hits than innings pitched and was still walking over 4 batters per 9.  

When the 2019 season rolled around, management really had no other option than let him pitch in AA.  When he was drafted, ownership pictured him starting the season in the BSA already, while in reality he barely had any success, even in A ball.  His 24-25 year old season in AA he finally started to show some promise.  Maybe it was because he was taken completely out of a starting role.  He pitched 77 games out of the bullpen, mainly in the setup role.  In 90 innings he allowed 75 hits, 41 walks and struck out 108 batters.  While still walking 4.1 batters per 9 he was back up over 10K per 9 for the first time since college.  As the 2020 season rolled around, Ciottonne was now 25, in his last half a season considered a prospect and hadn't seen AAA yet.  At this point, a 1st round pick should be considered a bust.  Gianluigi would start the year in AAA as a member of the Tuscaloosa bullpen.  He would only see 6 games before injuries on the big league club pushed him into the starting rotation.  In 32 starts he would win 10 games while posting a 5.44 ERA to go along wit ha 1.67 WHIp and a .357 BABIP.  The good news was his walks had fell below 4 per 9 for the first time in his professional career while his K's stayed at 8 per 9.  Maybe there was hope.  He was added to the 40 man roster before the Rule V draft and would head back to AAA to start the 2021 season.  In 9 starts he would go 4-1 posting a 3.67 ERA (best ever since college) as well as lowering his walks to 2.8 per 9 innings.  When Jose Lara forgot how to pitch Jersey came calling and Ciottone would make his debut.

3 days after his 27th birthday and a month short of 5 years after being drafted, Ciottone started against Madison and while he didn't earn the win he pitched 6.2 innings giving up 2 runs on 8 hits while walking 3 and striking out 2.  He would go on to win his next 4 starts and would undeafeated in his first 7 starts compiling a 4-0 record.  Ciottone would  go through a rough patch in his next starts giving up at least 5 ER in all 4 going 1-3 before just last week having the best start of his career.  Against division rival St. Louis, the team Jersey is also chasing for the Wild Card, Gianluigi would throw his first career complete game, holding the Browns to 1 run on 6 hits, walking just 1 while striking out 4 in a 7-1 win.  In 12 starts for Jersey he has a record of 6-3 a 4.06 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.  

While it may have taken a lot longer than expected and while he isn't an ace the 1st round pick of 2016 looks like it is finally starting to pay off.  One interesting fact about Gianluigi is that since being draft in ever level he has never had a BABIP lower than .310 and has had a FIP lower than his ERA in every single stop he has made along the way.  That's 8 stops including this year in the BSA.  Does he have misleading numbers? Is the defense that bad?  Is he just unlucky?  It's really hard to say at this point.  If he keeps it up though he will find a spot in the Jersey rotation for the foreseeable future though.  He is set to pitch against the Titans in today's sim down in Toronto against a tough lineup.  With both teams looking for a win to stay in the playoff picture we will see how he succumbs to the pressure.

GO D-BAGS