Delmarva Shorebirds 2019

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Ohfan67 said:

First team in pro ball to reach 40 wins this year. They are kicking rear end and taking names. 

The Sally League is really lopsided this year.   Three teams at .647 winning percentage or higher, one other team with a winning record, and 10 teams with a losing record.      The two other dominant teams are the Pirates’ and Rangers’ affiliates.  

[Yachtsman]

Won again. This is a fun team to watch.

[Enjoy Terror]

The O's cut Brandon Bonilla from the Shorebirds yesterday.

[Luke-OH]

Just now, Enjoy Terror said:

The O's cut Brandon Bonilla from the Shorebirds yesterday.

They need to find another guy with a crazy over the top delivery for me to be irrationally fond of now. Jack Ralston or Matt Cronin maybe. 

[Frobby]

The Shorebirds won their 45th game last night to improve to 45-14.   Per Steve Melewski, that win clinched the best half-season record the Shorebirds have ever had — with 9 games to go in the first half!    They lead their division by 6 games, so their magic number for the first-half division title is 4.

[Frobby]

Despite losing their third straight game, the Shorebirds backed into the first half division title when Greensboro lost last night.   It’s the first division title for Delmarva since 2005, which speaks volumes about how shaky the funnel of young talent into our farm system has been in recent years.    But, it’s great to have the playoff spot locked up with 5 games remaining before the all star break.    Then we’ll see who (if anyone) gets promoted for the second half.   

[LookinUp]

 

[Frobby]

By the way, the last Delmarva team to make the playoffs, in 2005, didn’t have a single offensive player who ever played a game in the majors.    The pitching staff had two: Kevin Hart, who we traded for Freddy Bynum before Hart ever reached the majors, and Radhames Liz.    Erik Bedard also pitched a rehab game for the Shorebirds that year.   

Just goes to show, making the MiL playoffs doesn’t mean you’ve got a lot of developing major league talent on your team.   But I think this year’s Delmarva team definitely has a few guys who have a shot to be productive major leaguers.

[Frobby]

Nice article here on the Shorebirds’ first half success:  https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2019/06/division-champs-delmarva-celebrates-clinching-a-playoff-berth.html

Coach Kyle Moore took special satisfaction in winning the first half crown because a lot of the league’s better players will get promoted in the second half, so the first half teams are stronger.   He’s expecting several Shorebirds to get promoted.   

[Enjoy Terror]

[Frobby]

The Shorebirds finished the first half at 48-21, winning the division by four games.    They didn’t exactly run through the tape, going 8-10 over the final 18 games after going 40-11 before that.   

Pitching and defense were the keys to Delmarva’s first half success.    They led the league in ERA (3.09), fewest runs allowed and strikeouts, and allowed the second fewest homers (only 34 in 69 games).    The defense led the league in fielding percentage, which I know is a crude measure of defense, but its essentially all we’ve got at the MiL level, and they had a pretty good edge on the next team on the list (.979 vs. .976).   

The offense also was .3 runs above average, good for 4th place, but really the success was about the pitching.   

[Enjoy Terror]

Nick Gruener took the hint from my above picture and retired today.

[Frobby]

The Shorebirds began the second half with an amazing 12-11 win in 10 innings, coming back from an 11-2 deficit after 6 innings by scoring 4 in the 7th, 4 in the 8th, 1 in the 9th and 1 in the 10th.   

[bobmc]

On 6/20/2019 at 10:52 PM, Frobby said:

The Shorebirds began the second half with an amazing 12-11 win in 10 innings, coming back from an 11-2 deficit after 6 innings by scoring 4 in the 7th, 4 in the 8th, 1 in the 9th and 1 in the 10th.   

ICYMI, Rich Dubroff has a nice piece with interviews from Delmarva coaches and players:

On Adam Hall:

Moore managed Hall last season with Aberdeen, and has him for the second straight year.

“He’s a young player from Canada, and you never know when those guys are going to get it,” Moore said. “When they get it, it usually moves fast for them.

“He may have come along a little slower than we wished, but in the second half of last year when he got hot, he sort of got it, and he’s been off to the races ever since.

Moore decided he needed to focus Hall differently, and he likes the results.

“Mentally, he set some different kind of goals that weren’t so batting averaged-based, high school-type goals,” Moore said. “We worked on his mental makeup and what he hopes to achieve at the park every day.

“When we got that right, his results took care of itself as opposed to coming to the park and trying to get three hits and trying to hit .300. He’s coming to the park trying to be a pro about everything he does.”

https://www.baltimorebaseball.com/2019/06/27/delmarva-shorebirds-magical-season/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[Legend_Of_Joey]