Category Archives: From the Desk of Decal

February 24, 2014 · 7:00 am

This Week In Noise Nation – 2/24/2014

It’s a little late but here’s last week’s week in review:

Wow, we were busy. Here’s to another great week in Lehigh Valley sports!

Filed under CherylPursellsPhotos, Coca Cola Park, DiPro's Dish, From the Desk of Decal, Kram's Korner - From the Club Level, Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Noise Nation-Dan, Phantoms Hockey, Steel Hawks, Tales From the Porkside

February 20, 2014 · 10:49 pm

Looking Back 25 Years: When The Olympics Came To Quakertown

With Mickey Morandini set to join the coaching staff of the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs it reminded me of August 19, 1988, when the USA National Baseball Team came to Memorial Park in Quakertown to play an exhibition game against the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League All-Stars. It would be their final game in the USA before leaving for the Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. Although baseball was only a demonstration sport at that time, the USA team won the gold medal in Korea. It was likely the greatest amateur baseball team to ever play a game in the extended Lehigh Valley area.

Members of that team were:

Jim Abbott, LHP. Born without a right hand, he was the 1st Rd. pick of the California Angels in 1988. He threw a no-hitter for the Yankees vs. Cleveland on 9/4/93 and won 87 big league games.

Bret Barberie, IF. 7th Rd. pick by the Expos in 1988. The switch hitting infielder was a member of the inaugural Florida Marlins team and got the first hit ever by a Marlins player. Played parts of 6 seasons with the Expos, Marlins, Orioles & Cubs
Mark Beck, RHP. 16th Rd. pick by the Braves in 1989.

Andy Benes, RHP. Overall 1st Rd. pick by the Padres in 1988. 155 big league wins playing for the Padres, Mariners, Cardinals and Diamondbacks. Named Sporting News Rookie Pitcher of the Year. He was the starting pitcher in the first game in the history of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Jeff Branson, SS . 2nd Rd. pick by the Reds in 1988. Hit .260 with 12 HR for Cincinnati in 1995. In November, 2013 he was named as the new hitting coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Jim Campanis, C. 3rd Rd. pick by Seattle in 1988. Son of former major leaguer Jim Campanis and grandson of baseball executive Al Campanis.

Pat Combs, LHP 1st Rd. pick by the Phillies in 1988. In his first professional season (1989) he pitched at all 4 levels in the Phillies organization, Class A Clearwater, AA Reading, AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and for the Phillies where he went 4-0 2.09. He started 31 games for the Phillies in 1990 going 10-10 with a 4.07 ERA.

Mike Fiore, OF. 15th Rd. pick by the Cardinals in 1988 out of the University of Miami. After retiring from baseball he became a staff member for sports agent Scott Boras.

Tom Goodwin, OF. 1st Rd. pick by the Dodgers in 1989. Played parts of 14 big league seasons. 369 career SB. He is currently the first base coach for the New York Mets.

Ty Griffin, 2B. 1st Rd. pick (9th overall) by the Cubs in 1988. Played 9 minor league seasons. Never played in the majors.

Tino Martinez, 1B. 1st Rd. pick by Seattle in 1988. 339 major league HRs, 192 with Yankees. Finished 2nd to Ken Griffey Jr. for 1997 AL MVP. He resigned as the Miami Marlins hitting coach on July 28, 2013. In 2014 he will be inducted into the Latin American International Sports Hall of Fame.

Bill Masse, OF. 7th Rd pick by Yankees in 1988. Managed 9 years in the minors.

Ben McDonald, RHP. Drafted 1st overall by Orioles in 1989 draft. 78-70 big league record. He threw a complete game shutout in his first major league start. He retired prematurely after rotator cuff surgery in 1998.

Mike Milchin, LHP/1B. 2nd Rd. pick by Cardinals in 1989. 3-1 career big league record. He is currently managing partner of SFX Baseball Group, now Relativity Baseball, the agency that represents Tigers pitching ace Justin Verlander and AL MVP Miguel Cabrera, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks and Red Sox DH David Ortiz.

Mickey Morandini, 2B. 5th Rd. pick by Phillies in 1988. Played 11 big league seasons with Phillies, Cubs & Blue Jays. After coaching the Lakewood BlueClaws in 2013 he was named as bench coach for the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs for the 2014 season although rumors continue to circulate that he may join the broadcast booth of the Phillies for the upcoming season..

Charley Nagy, RHP. 1st Rd. pick of Cleveland Indians in 1988. 129 big league wins in 14 big league seasons. He was pitching coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks for past 3 seasons but was fired at the end of the 2013 season.

Jim Poole, LHP. 9th Rd. pick by Dodgers in 1988. Relief pitcher spent parts of 11 seasons in the majors from 1990-2000. He was the losing pitcher in Game 6 of the 1995 World Series when David Justice hit a 6th inning homerun and the Braves defeated the Indians by a 1-0 score and won the World Series 4 games to 2.

Doug Robbins, C. Orioles 10th Rd. pick in 1988.

Scott Servais, C. 3rd Rd. pick by Astros in 1988. Played 11 big league seasons mostly with the Astros and Cubs. He is currently the assistant general manager for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Dave Silvestri, SS. 2nd Rd. pick by Astros in 1988. 336 career at bats over 8 big league seasons. He managed 2 seasons of minor league baseball.

Joe Slusarski, RHP. 2nd Rd. pick of the Oakland A’s in 1988. 13-21 career record over 7 seasons.

Eddie Zosky, SS. 1st Rd. pick by Blue Jays in 1989. Played briefly in the majors during the 1990’s.

Ed Sprague, 3B. 1st Rd. pick of Blue Jays in 1988. 152 career HR, 36 in 1996 for Toronto. His father was a big league pitcher in the late 60’s and early 70’s. He has been the baseball coach at Pacific University since 2004.

Robin Ventura, 3B. 1st Rd. pick by White Sox in 1988. In 1987 he had an NCAA record 58 game hitting streak while playing at Oklahoma State. He had a 16 year big league career with 294 HR, 18 of them grand slams. He also won 6 Gold Gloves at third base. He is the current manager of the Chicago White Sox.

Ted Wood, OF. 1st Rd. pick of Giants in 1988. Played briefly in the majors from 1991-1993 and played professional baseball in China and Korea for several years.

By the way, the Olympic team defeated the ACBL all-star team that night in Quakertown in front of a sold out crowd, by a score of 19-1. Starting pitcher Joe Slusarski threw 5 no-hit innings and catcher Scott Servais had 6 RBI’s. Robin Ventura chipped in with a grand slam and Tino Martinez also homered for team USA.

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October 17, 2013 · 3:18 pm

Phillies Transactions (10/16)

Outrighted by the Phillies to Triple-A Lehigh Valley: LHP Cesar Jimenez, RHP J.C. Ramirez, and outfielders Roger Bernadina and Casper Wells.

Bernadina hit just .187 in 75 at bats for the Phillies after being acquired as a free agent on August 21st from the Nationals. He had hit just .178 for Washington in 2013 after hitting .291 in 2012. Casper Wells was acquired off the waiver wire from the White Sox on August 8th. He had just 1 hit in 24 at bats with the Phillies.

Jimenez was 4-2 3.12 in 66.1 innings with the Ironpigs in 2013. He threw just 17 innings for the Phillies and was 1-1 with a 3.71 ERA. J.C. Ramirez is still only 25 years old and was 4-2 4.71 with the Ironpigs last season. In his time with the Phillies he was 0-1 7.50 in 24 innings. He was one of the players acquired when the Phillies sent Cliff Lee to Seattle in December, 2009.

The Phillies currently have 30 players on their 40 man roster with another 6 on the 60 Day Disabled List (Adams, Horst, Kendrick, Lannan, Pettibone, Howard).

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October 4, 2013 · 7:51 pm

You Traded Michael Young For Who???

The UCLA Bruins baseball team had a dominant pitching staff in the 2010 season. Their pitching took them all the way to the final game of the College World Series where they dropped an 11 inning heart-breaker to the South Carolina Gamecocks by a 2-1 score. In 2011, two of the pitchers from that UCLA staff were selected first and third in the MLB draft. The first to go was Gerrit Cole, now in the starting rotation for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the winner of Game 2 in the 2013 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals. With the third pick, the Arizona Diamondbacks selected Trevor Bauer from UCLA. In December, 2012 Bauer was traded to the Cleveland Indians in a blockbuster 3 team deal. Surprisingly, neither of those aces was the pitcher to start the 2010 College World Series Championship game for UCLA. That honor went to a 5’9″ left-hander by the name of Rob Rasmussen.

As a high school pitcher in Pasadena, California, Rasmussen compiled a 4 year record of 38-2 with a 1.04 ERA. In 248.2 career innings in his high school career, he allowed just 37 earned runs while racking up 492 strikeouts. His 12-0 record in his senior year earned him first team All-State and third team All-American honors. But, because he had already made a firm commitment to go to college, he wasn’t drafted until the Dodgers took a chance on him in the 27th round of the 2007 draft. As expected, he passed on the Dodgers offer and went to UCLA.

After an injury plagued 2008 season at UCLA he appeared in 18 games for the Bruins in 2009, 6 of those games as a starter. He was 4-2 with a high ERA of 6.75 but recorded 51 strikeouts in just 44.2 innings. He became the number 3 starter for UCLA in 2010 and started 19 games. He finished the season with an 11-3 record and a 2.72 ERA which was the fourth best ERA in the Pac-10. In 109.1 innings he recorded 128 strikeouts while walking just 35 batters. In game 3 of the NCAA Super Regionals, he threw a complete game 2-hit shutout while striking out 9 and walking just 1. That win over Cal State Fullerton sent UCLA to the College World Series for the first time since 1997. The Bruins advanced all the way to the College World Series championship game on June 29, 2010 where they dropped that heartbreaking 11 inning 2-1 pitcher’s duel to the University of South Carolina. Rob Rasmussen threw 6 scoreless innings while allowing 6 hits and striking out 5 in that game.

Rob Rasmussen was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 2nd round (73rd overall) of the 2010 draft. He signed with the Marlins in 2010 and played in the Marlins farm system until July of 2012 when he was traded to the Houston Astros in the deal that sent Carlos Lee from Houston to Miami. Then, in December of 2012 the Astros traded him to his hometown Dodgers in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher John Ely. In 2013, at age 24, Rasmussen struggled at the AAA level in the Dodgers organization going 0-7 at Albuquerque. He pitched well at AA, finishing 3-4 2.55 with Chattanooga in the Southern League and, in 81.1 innings, he allowed just 60 hits and walked 28 while striking out 76 batters.

Finally, the journey to the major leagues for Rob Rasmussen took another surprising turn when on August 31st of this year, his hometown Dodgers shipped him to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for veteran Michael Young. With the 2013 minor league season coming to a close, Rasmussen has yet to pitch his first game in the Phillies organization. He will likely begin the 2014 season as a member of the Reading Fightin’ Phils but it would not be a surprise if his journey takes him to the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs sometime during the upcoming season. But the fact that such a young and talented left-handed pitcher has changed teams 4 times in 4 seasons can certainly raise some questions regarding the reason for all the changes. Was he really in such high demand that 4 teams insisted he be included in trades? Or did all those teams get a good look at him and decide he wasn’t what they expected? I prefer to take a positive approach and assume that the reason he has been traded so often is because there is a high demand for a pitcher with his abilities. Hopefully the Philadelphia Phillies will turn out to be the final destination for Rob Rasmussen.

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September 3, 2013 · 3:16 pm

I Love Stats Like This

The Indianapolis Indians won the International League West Division with a record of 80-64. When they visited the Lehigh Valley to play the Ironpigs from May 2 to May 5, three of their starting pitchers were Francisco Liriano, Charlie Morton, and Gerrit Cole. While neither of those pitchers suffered a loss in that series, the Ironpigs won all 3 of the games they started. On May 3, Charlie Morton started and threw 3 hitless innings. The Ironpigs eventually won the game by a 7-1 score. On May 4, Gerrit Cole allowed 2 runs in 6 innings but the Ironpigs won that game in 13 innings by a 3-2 score when Leandro Castro drove home Cody Overbeck with the game winning run. Then on May 5, the Ironpigs faced Francisco Liriano. He allowed 4 runs in 5 innings but the Ironpigs managed another walk-off victory when Leandro Castro singled home Cesar Hernandez in the bottom of the 9th for a 5-4 Lehigh Valley victory.

Today, all three of those Indianapolis pitchers are in the starting rotation for the NL Central leading Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates currently have a record of 80-57. Liriano (15-6 2.57), Morton (7-3 3.00) and Cole (6-7 3.80) have combined to start 50 games for Pittsburgh and have a combined record of 28-16. So, 35% of the 80 wins by the Pittsburgh Pirates this year have come from the 3 guys who faced the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs in a 4 game series in early May. Pretty remarkable that the Ironpigs won all 3 of the games started by Morton, Cole and Liriano.

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August 19, 2013 · 12:10 pm

‘Mr. Baseball’, A Godsend To The Ironpigs

2013 was supposed to be the year the young arms in the Phillies farm system arrived in AAA. It was supposed to be a sneak peak into the Phillies future. But things never seem to go as planned. With Jonathan Pettibone and Tyler Cloyd being summoned to Philadelphia and Adam Morgan going on the DL, the young and promising starting rotation for the 2013 Ironpigs was suddenly in need of replacements. It was with little fanfare that the Philadelphia Phillies signed left-handed pitcher Greg Smith to a free agent contract on May 6, 2013. Smith had been signed by the Toronto Blue Jays in December but he never pitched in a major league or minor league game for them.

Nobody knew what to expect from the 29 year old left hander, in fact, nobody knew anything about this Greg Smith guy. He was a 5th round draft pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005 out of LSU and made it to the major leagues 3 years later. His 8-18 career record didn’t open any eyes but the Phillies needed arms to fill a minor league pitching staff and Greg Smith was a pitcher looking for a job.

When Greg Smith was a senior in high school, he allowed just 1 earned run in 60 innings pitched. His 9-0 record and 0.12 ERA earned him the title “Mr. Baseball” in the state of Louisiana for the 2002 season. He became a standout pitcher at LSU and in 2005 became a team ace. He won 10 games for the Tigers that year and won 7 of his last 8 starts. During that stretch he threw 28.2 consecutive scoreless innings. He was the first LSU pitcher to throw back to back shutouts since Ben McDonald did it in 1989 (McDonald went on to be the overall 1st pick in the 1989 draft). Smith made the All Southeast Conference 1st Team in 2005 and was a 3rd Team All-American.

Although he had always been a starter, when he arrived with the Ironpigs, it wasn’t immediately clear if he was going to be a starter or a middle innings guy in the bullpen. He also spent some time as a starter at Reading before settling in with the Ironpigs. Although he was just 1-1 with a 5.29 ERA as a relief pitcher, Greg Smith has now made 11 starts for the Ironpigs and is 7-1 with a 1.68 ERA in those 11 starts. Factor in his relief appearances and his record with the Ironpigs is 8-2 2.43. He has walked just 9 batters in over 64 innings as a starter and has allowed just 3 home runs. His only loss came August 5 at Charlotte when he allowed 5 earned runs in just 3.1 innings. It has been his only start in which he allowed more than 2 earned runs.

With Ethan Martin now pitching for the Phillies I think it’s safe to say that Greg Smith has become the ace of the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs pitching staff. Not too shabby for a guy nobody heard of when he was signed back on May 6. At a time of the season when every game is important, Greg Smith has been a godsend.

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May 8, 2013 · 2:57 pm

The Newest Member of the Ironpigs

With Joe Savery joining the Phillies this week and Tyler Cloyd set to replace Roy Halladay in the Phillies starting rotation on Friday, the Ironpigs needed some pitching help. On Tuesday the Phillies signed 27 year old left-handed pitcher Bobby Bramhall and assigned him to AAA.

Bramhall actually pitched at Coca-Cola Park earlier this year when he was a member of the Syracuse Chiefs. On April 13th he entered a game in the 7th inning and threw a perfect inning, retiring Cesar Hernandez, Cody Asche and Darin Ruf on groundballs. It was a game the Ironpigs won 6-0 behind the pitching of Adam Morgan.

Bramhall was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007 out of Rice University where he was a teammate of Joe Savery, the guy he is replacing on the Ironpigs roster. Like Savery, Bramhall is considered a good hitting pitcher, playing several games in the outfield and at DH while in college. He has occasionally been used as a starting pitcher but he has been most effective facing left handed hitters coming out of the bullpen.

After missing the entire 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery, he pitched primarily for AA Jacksonville in the Southern League where he was 1-2 3.23 in 28 games. In 61 innings pitched he allowed 50 hits, walked just 18 and struck out 61 batters. It shouldn’t take too long until he sees his first action with the Ironpigs.

Here’s a good story from the Rice Owls official website:

http://www.riceowls.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/040407aaa.html

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May 2, 2013 · 1:50 am

The Indianapolis Indians and 240 Pounds of Cole

The Lehigh Valley Ironpigs had a taste of the Indianapolis Indians last week and came away with 3 losses and just 1 win. The month of April came to an end with Indianapolis as the only team in the International League to reach the 20 win mark. Their 20-7 record tops the Durham Bulls, leaders of the South Division with an 18-8 record and the North leading Buffalo Bisons at 17-7.

But if you think the Ironpigs saw the best that the Indianapolis Indians have to offer, you have another thing coming because on Friday night the Indians will be dishing out 240 pounds of Cole at Coca-Cola Park. In the June, 2011 Major League player draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates had the first pick and selected 6’4″ 240 pound right-handed pitcher Gerrit Cole from UCLA. Cole almost went unsigned but just 15 minutes before the August 15, 2011 signing deadline, an $8 million bonus was enough to get him to put his name on a Pirates contract.

While at UCLA, Cole combined with current Cleveland prospect Trevor Bauer to form the best 1-2 pitching combination in college baseball. In 2010 Cole was 11-4 at UCLA while Bauer was 12-3 leading UCLA to a 51-17 record, best in school history. After Cole was selected number 1 in the 2011 draft, Trevor Bauer was selected two picks later. Bauer has already pitched in the majors, starting 4 games with Arizona in 2012. He was then involved in a big off-season trade that brought him to Cleveland where he just made his 2nd start of 2013, beating the Phillies Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Gerrit Cole is still waiting to make his big league debut.

Because of the late signing in 2011, Gerrit Cole didn’t make his minor league debut until the 2011 Arizona Fall League and then he began 2012 at Class A Bradenton where he went 5-1 2.55 before being promoted to AA Altoona in the Eastern League. He went 3-6 2.90 in AA and finished the 2012 season with 1 start in Indianapolis. He has made 5 starts with Indianapolis in 2012 and is currently 2-1 with a 2.31 ERA, but he has walked 15 in 23.1 innings which is a bit surprising because last year he walked just 45 in 132 innings. The scouting reports say he has a fastball that can reach 98 mph which goes well with a good hard slider. His curveball and changeup aren’t quite in the same category as his power pitches but they are improving. Besides being the number 1 prospect in the Pirates organization, he is also rated the 9th best prospect in all of baseball according to mlb.com and 7th best by Baseball America. If he continues to pitch well it won’t be long until he makes his first start with the Pirates, but, on Friday night he’ll be matched up against Tyler Cloyd in the Lehigh Valley. He’ll become the first pitcher who was selected first in the MLB Draft to start a game at Coca-Cola Park since Kris Benson pitched for the Ironpigs in 2008 and Bryan Bullington started a game for the Buffalo Bisons on August 11, 2008, coincidentally against Benson. Cole, Benson and Bullington were all drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Game 1 of the 4 game series on Thursday with the Indianapolis Indians is Dance Team Night and the game begins at 7:05. Fireworks will follow the 7:05 game on Friday night while the 6:35 game on Saturday is Hispanic Heritage Night in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. The first 3,000 adults 21 and older will receive a free Ironpigs Margarita glass courtesy of Metro PCS. The series finale on Sunday is at 1:35 and the first 3,000 adults 18 and older will receive an Ironpigs baseball cap courtesy of the National MS Society. It looks like it’s going to be a nice spring weekend so come out and cheer for the Ironpigs.

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April 27, 2013 · 3:55 pm

The Fastest Man in Baseball

Beginning Saturday evening, the Louisville Bats will be the opponents of the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs in 8 of their next 12 games. Much of the success of the Louisville Bats this year has to be credited to their pitching staff which has the 2nd best team ERA in the International League. But, the Bats currently have the worst hitting team in the International League with their team batting average at .201, just barely above the Mendoza line. Outfielder Felix Perez (.275) is the only player hitting over .240 with old friend Jason Donald next at .238. Louisville has scored the fewest runs, they have the fewest hits, the fewest RBI’s, the lowest on base percentage and the lowest slugging percentage in the league. However, even with the poor team offensive numbers, they can score runs in other ways, mainly because of one man.

At the top of their batting order is 22 year old switch hitting outfielder Billy Hamilton, the #1 prospect in the Cincinnati Reds organization. In case you don’t know him, Billy Hamilton was the 2nd round draft pick (57th overall) of the Cincinnati Reds in the 2009 player draft. He began last season playing in the California League where he hit .323 and stole an amazing 104 bases in just 82 games. But he didn’t stop there. He was promoted to the AA Southern League where he played in 50 more games. In those 50 games he hit .286 and stole an additional 51 bases giving him a 2012 stolen base total of 155 in 132 games. Everyone has heard the baseball phrase, “a walk is as good as a hit”, but in the case of Billy Hamilton, quite often a walk will turn into a triple because he is going to run and he is going to run often.

It could be advantageous to the Ironpigs that they are facing Louisville while they are in the midst of a team hitting slump. The lack of hitting has also affected Billy Hamilton as he is hitting just .213 in 75 at bats this year, but even with the low average he still has stolen 14 bases in 15 attempts this year which easily tops the International League in both categories.

I have mixed feeling going into the upcoming 8 games against Louisville. As an Ironpigs fan I always want to see our team win. But at the same time, as a baseball fan, I want to see Billy Hamilton run. Maybe we can win and throw him out a few times when he tries to steal. That would be perfect.

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April 19, 2013 · 1:08 pm

The Herd is Coming To Town

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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