The Buffalo Bison, newly affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays, come to the Lehigh Valley fresh off a 27 run/29 hit game vs. the Syracuse Chiefs on Thursday. They are the top hitting team in the league with an amazing team batting average of .333, a team on base percentage of .406, a slugging percentage of .531 and an OPS of .937. They also lead the International League in home runs with 16, runs scored (85) and RBIs (82). That averages out to 7 runs a game. Those numbers sound more like a slow pitch softball team than a professional AAA baseball squad.
Their #1 catcher is 26 year old LH hitting Josh Thole. The former Mets backstop was traded to Toronto in the deal that sent Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey north of the border. He had 4 hits in the landslide win on Thursday, raising his season batting average to .393 with an OBP of .485. He has 8 RBIs this year and he is backed up by veteran catcher Mike Nickeas.
At first base the Bisons have old Ironpigs nemesis Mauro Gomez. Gomez is hitting .364 and 6 of his 8 hits this year have been for extra bases (3 doubles and 3 home runs). Also playing first base is veteran Luis Jimenez. Luis played for Tacoma in the PCL last year and after 12 games with Buffalo this year he is hitting .353 with 3 home runs and 13 RBI, thanks mainly to a 5 hit game on Thursday with a HR and 8 RBIs.
Things don’t get any easier at second base as leadoff hitter Jim Negrych comes to the Lehigh Valley with a .515 batting average and 2 HR. He has at least 1 hit in every game he has played this year. Mike McCoy and Eugenio Velez are the utility guys and can play just about anywhere on the field. Velez is hitting .344 with 2 HR while McCoy is chugging along with a .261 average.
Veteran Andy LaRoche is at third base and the veteran RH hitter has had his share of big hits against the Ironpigs while wearing a Pawtucket uniform. Andy hit his 4th HR of the 2013 season on Thursday and comes to the Lehigh Valley with a .279 average and 11 RBI. 25 year old Ryan Goins is the primary shortstop for Buffalo and he is hitting a solid .314. He doesn’t draw walks but he doesn’t strike out much either. Facing right handed pitching, his batting average is nearly 100 points higher than it is against lefties. He is rated the 18th best prospect in the Blue Jays farm system. Shortstop Munenori Kawasaki recently got the call to the big leagues when Jose Reyes had to be placed on the DL.
In the outfield, the mighty Bison have veteran Ryan Langerhans to go with youngsters Moises Sierra and former highly touted Phillies farmhand Anthony Gose. The left-handed hitting Langerhans hit is first 2 homeruns of 2013 on Thursday and upped his batting average to .333. The 230 pound right handed hitting Sierra had 6 hits in Thursday’s slugfest which raised his batting average to .395. Speedster Anthony Gose checks in with a .289 average and has only 2 stolen bases this season. One thing the Buffalo offensive attack seems to lack is overall team speed. They have 7 stolen bases this year with Eugenio Velez leading the team with 3.
A rainout and a doubleheader this week has the starting pitching a bit jumbled but it appears veteran righthander and former Ironpigs pitcher Dave Bush will start on Friday against Ethan Martin. Bush was in the majors with Toronto but was sent to Buffalo on April 9th. He has made 1 start for the Bisons and defeated Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, allowing just 1 unearned run in 5 innings. Another veteran who has been solid this year has been Claudio Vargas. He has made 2 starts this year and is 1-0 1.64 but has just 11 innings pitched. Justin Germano pitched well with Pawtucket last year and threw 8 shutout innings in a win over the Ironpigs on June 30th. He is 2-1 in 3 starts with Buffalo this year but his ERA is 8.44. 42 year old Miguel Batista has made 2 starts this year after signing as a free agent just 2 weeks ago but he has yet to make it through 3 innings in either start. His ERA is 12.00. Another of their starters, Ramon Ortiz, got called up to Toronto earlier this week. Edgar Gonzalez has also started a game for the Bisons but his ERA is 11.25. They also have Todd Redmond currently on the DL and it’s not known at this time when he will return to action. They have plenty of veterans in their bullpen including 2011 Ironpigs lefty Juan Perez. Other familiar names in their bullpen include Brad Lincoln, Buddy Carlyle, Bobby Korecky, Alex Hinshaw and Neil Wagner. Mickey Storey appears to have the best power arm in the bullpen with 12 strikeouts in 9.2 innings this year while Neil Wagner leads the team with 2 Saves. Also, Alex Hinshaw has not allowed a run this year in 5 appearances covering 6 innings. He has 8 strikeouts but has also walked 8. Perez and Hinshaw are the only 2 lefties on their staff.
It appears the best way to beat the Buffalo Bisons is to come out swinging and score as many runs as possible because it looks like they will score their fair share of runs. Overall, the Bisons are 8-4 and in their 4 losses their opponents have scored a total of 42 runs. They are coming off a 4 game sweep at Syracuse including the record setting 27-9 win over Syracuse on Thursday. Impressive as that is, I have to assume that the 19 mph wind blowing out to left field helped with some of that production. Buffalo has lost to Syracuse twice this year and once each to Rochester and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Hopefully the young Ironpigs pitching staff will be up to the task this week and slow down the hottest hitting team in the league.
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