Jersey Shore - April 2013

Normally when a season starts the D-Bags stumble out of the gate only to rite the ship later on in the season.  Not this year as the Bags starter April out with a bang, compiling an 18-10 record including a 10-1 home record where their only home loss came on the last home game of the month to Denver.  The run included average starting pitching, great bullpen help and some new found power along with the TL's top batting average.

Players of the Month:

MR Marv Williams: 1-0, 1.98 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 13K's.  Though I could have chose a number of relievers from the bullpen, I chose Williams because of the shock value.  Selected with a high pick in the inaugural draft, Williams failed as a starter and a reliever with the D-Bags. After an ERA over 5.30 last year in 15 games it looked as if his time had passed, until this year came around.  Williams dominated in ST, earning him the last spot in the bullpen.  April he posted an ERA under 20, seeing time in 20 of the D-Bags 28 games. Maybe his time to contribute has finally arrived.

CL David Morris:  1-1, 9 Saves, 0.69 ERA, 0.85 WHIP.  I couldn't help adding him as a POTW once again, his stats are ridiculous.  He did have one BS, which came in his first game of the season and was perfect from there on out.  He is making over $7 million this year, and was an All-Star last year, but this is what to expect out someone of his caliber.

C Jorge Lozano: 3 HR, 20 RBI, .408 BA, 1.081 OPS.  After splitting time with Ramirez last season Lozano won the job out of spring training and took off. He led the TL in batting average was all over the base paths with 40 hits, 10 BB"s compared to only 5 K's.  Is it a surprise he is in a contract year?

2B Marvin Taylor: 3 HR. .373/.453/.640.  The super multi use player jumped onto the scene in April.  He played mainly 2B with Fred Ross out of the lineup and was quickly moved to the 2 slot where he scored 14 runs and was on base all the time.  After posted a time low -7.9 VORP last year, the 27 year old seems to have found himself a starting job.

RF/CF Leon Foster:  7 HR, 26 RBI.  In the offseason Jersey wanted a right handed hitting power OF, they seemd to have found it.  Foster led the team in HR and was Top 5 in the league in RBI.  His average and K's were down, but he was brought in to produce runs and did exactly that in April.  First month, first POTW!

Roster Changes, Questions and Answers:

Well on the injury front, so far so good.  But we know that will not last all season.  The only injury the team has suffered was the one to Fred Ross in the off-season and Marvin Taylor has stepped in more than likely better what Ross could have put up.  There is a lot of depth in the minor leagues, so if any injuries do take place, there should be adequate backups.  

Not everyone tore April up like the POTM's.  OF Michael Paul had an atrocious start to the season.  The normal OBP machine started out 3 for 45 with XBH and 8 K's.  He split time with Ramon Tavarez, who didn't hit much better but did have a HR and 5 RBI.  Manny Romero who won one of the last spots on the roster had ample opportunity in April but struggled at a .200 Avg while slugging 2 HR.  SP Alex Torrez also struggled with a 5.60 ERA but managed to win 2 games despite 0 quality starts in 5 starts.

Jerry Paige and Greg Schafer are waiting in AAA for their shot at the rotation and Torrez among others could be at risk to lose their starting spot.  There are 5 regulars hitting over .300 in AAA and 5 regulars with more than 7 HR's in Tuscaloosa.  A many number of players could see action over the next month.

There are a lot of division games and a big series with LAB coming up in May.  While a winning percentage of .643 might not be obtainable, look for Jersey to have continued success as long as the starting pitching does not completely implode.

GO D-BAGS!

Jersey Shore - September 2012

Even though with the end of September we saw our D-Bags fall short of their first playoff spot, we did see another good month in September.  After a rocky start the D-Bags went on a middle of the month run and finished up with a 16-11 record for the month.  This marked their 4th straight winning month and in those months they played at a clip of .630.  If they would have played that well in April and May this team would have won 102 games.  Disappointing end to a magical run, but encouraging moving forward.

Players of the Month:

SP Jose Reyes: 3-2, 1.75 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 30 K's.  The season will be marred with "what-if's" for Reyes.  After suffering an injury last season which kept him out until the middle of June he rejoined the rotation and was the staff's best pitcher.  After 3 sub-par starts at the end of August, Reyes re found the magic in September winning 3 of his 5 starts and lasting into the 7th inning 4 times out of 5 tries.  A little more run support and help from the bullpen and he could have been 5-0.  Regardless he is a big reason that Jersey came so close this year to their first playoff berth.

MR Ciro Roghi: 1-0, 1.08 ERA, 8.1 IP.  Though 8 innings in a month is a small sample size, 1 ER in relief for the month is why he has a role on this team. Roghi finished up a fabulous rookie year with 2nd straight POTM award.  He allowed 1 ER in his last 17.2 IP.  Look for this lefty to be a staple in the pen for years to come.

MR Alonso Jiminez: 0.00 ERA, 9 IP, 6 H, 0 BB, 7 K:  Where did this kid come from??  Jiminez was Jersey's 2010 3rd round draft pick out of Michigan, and just two years later he was an intricate piece of the D-Bags late season bullpen.  He started the year dominating AA ball, moved to AAA Tuscaloosa posting big numbers and earned a September call up.  He racked up a 5.5 VORP in just 9 outings and it's looking like he could add to Jersey's already lethal bullpen.

3B Parker Morrow: .326/.391/.484. 4 HR, 13 RBI, 16 R, 2 SB.  Morrow capped his best season as a D-Bag with his 2nd best month and 2nd POTM award of the 2012 season.  This month included 7 multi-hit games including 4 with at least 3 hits.  He also had his first multi-HR game of the season on the 4th against Regina.  Morrow also picked up his 1000th VBL6 hit this month.  He finished the season with 1037 hits and only turns 28 this upcoming January.

LF Mason Bonniface: .313/.451/.438.  1 HR, 10 RBI, 18 BB.  Yes, that's right his OBP was higher than his SLG in the month of Sept. Bonniface's bat regressed this year and he had his worst season since his rookie year as a pro, but clogged the basepaths all month long.  Became the 25th player in league history to draw at least 104 BB's in a season.  Really bounced back after the beginning of the season saw him moved down in the lineup and had people questioning his talent.

2B Fred Ross: .378/.489/.595.  8 RBI, 9 BB, 1K, 4 SB.  Sure this screams small sample size considering he only played in 12 games, but filled a much needed void.  After trading 2B Nunez at the trade deadline to make way for uber prospect Antonio Ruiz, Ross was the fill in if needed and PR.  Antionio Ruiz gets injured and thrusted Ross into the starting position where he couldn't have done much better.  He hit the cover off the ball, hitting in 11 of the 12 games he played in Sept, and scoring in 7 of the 12. 

Roster Changes, Questions and Answers:

As always in September we see different new faces, some make a difference and some do not.  Alonso Jiminez stepped up from AAA to dominate out of the pen.  The loss of Antonio Ruiz allowed Fred Ross to step off and hit the cover off the ball.  Alex Torrez suffered a season ending injury mid-month and Rob Goodship jumped in to make two spot starts against Greenville and pitched brilliantly.  The kind of pitching that this team's front office thinks he can do in the future.

As always when a season ends means roster changes.  The team as a whole has 4 players whose contracts are ending and another 8 players who will be arbitration eligible when the season is over.  It will raise some interesting questions the team must make, especially considering the amount of talent this club has waiting in AAA this season.  This will be talked more in depth in the first off season report.  This wraps up the last monthly report for the 2012 season.  Look for our season in review report which will be out next month.

GO D-BAGS