2023 Aberdeen Ironbirds

[glenn__davis]

It is of course VERY EARLY in the season, but early on Aberdeen isn't doing anything to dispel that SAL is a hitter's nightmare.

Among regulars, Dylan Beavers leads the team with an .810 OPS followed by Isaac Bellony at .781.  The next highest is Noelberth Romero at .681.

Max Wagner and 2021 2nd round pick Reed Trimble are sporting a .248 and .238, respectively.

The Ironbirds return home this week, let's hope the bats can start to heat up a little.

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by glenn__davis

[Brooks The Great]

Does the Sally League use a specific baseball that's different from the other minor leagues? I know the minors in general use different baseballs than MLB.

[Frobby]

27 minutes ago, Brooks The Great said:

Does the Sally League use a specific baseball that's different from the other minor leagues? I know the minors in general use different baseballs than MLB.

AAA uses the major league ball these days.  The lower levels all use the standard minor league ball. 

[Just Regular]

Bencosme is 90th percentile youngest, and 80th percentile at BB/K ratio the first couple weeks for the league, but also looks like the bat is getting knocked out of his hands a little bit.

[Frobby]

The Ironbirds’ record stands at 7-10.  Their offense is tied for 9th/12 in runs/game at 4.59, 8th in OPS at .690.   The hitters are second-youngest in the league, at 21.7.  The pitching staff is 8th in runs/game at 5.82, 7th in ERA at 4.97.  The pitchers average 23.4, 5th oldest in the league.  Defensively, the team has the worst fielding percentage in the league at .962, and their 19% CS% somehow ranks 5th best in the league.  

Before the recent addition of Jackson Holliday, the offense has been led by Dylan Beavers (.921 OPS) and Jud Fabian (.769), with good contributions from the catchers, Adam Retzback (.927) and Silas Ardoin (.724) in more limited at bats. To date, Frederick Benscome (.622), Reed Trimble (.548) and Max Wagner (.457) have disappointed.

The leading pitcher has been Jean Pinto, with a 2.50 ERA in 18 IP over 4 starts while repeating the league.  Trace Bright (3.12) has been either great or awful depending on the outing.  The staff as a whole leads the league at 12.5 K/9, with decent H/9, BB/9 and WHIP, but somehow that hasn’t translated into run prevention.  Maybe the ERA will improve as the season proceeds.

 

 

[emmett16]

Anyone know why Aberdeen’s  game feed has not been available? Slightly frustrating 

[RZNJ]

27 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

Anyone know why Aberdeen’s  game feed has not been available? Slightly frustrating 

They’re on the road.  Wilmington has no game feed.

[Mooreisbetter27]

By my count, looks like Aberdeen had 9 stolen bases last night (and Jackson was caught 1 time so they attempted 10). That’s a ton of stolen base attempts.

[glenn__davis]

The Ironbirds returned home last night and had a rare but welcomed offensive explosion.  11 runs on 16 hits.

Max Wagner's bat seems to be slowly thawing.  Average approaching the Mendoza line, OPS up to .636.

Dylan Beavers with a 4-hit night, OPS at .825.

Jud Fabian with his 4th homer of the year, OPS at .718.

Some guy named Holliday hit his 2nd homer at high A with an OPS of .955.  He might be worth watching.

[Frobby]

I noticed that the Ironbirds have had a number of good pitching performances lately, and they have a few guys racking up K’s: 

Pinto 41 K’s in 26.1 IP (14.0 K/9)

Pham 34 K’s in 23.1 IP (13.1)

Federman 33 K’s in 23.2 IP (12.5)

Bright 30 K’s in 17.0 IP (15.9)

Long 29 K’s in 22.0 IP (11.7)

Lyons 28 K’s in 18.1 IP (13.5)

Indeed, the whole staff averages 12.6 K/9, easily tops in the Sally League.  The team ERA is down to 4.13, 3rd best in the league.

With Holliday now on the team, Bencosme heating up, and a number of hot pitchers, things are looking up a bit for the 13-16 Ironbirds.   

 

[Frobby]

The Ironbirds have been doing better since my April 28 post, with a record of 23-24, 16-14 since that post.  The pitching has improved a lot, going from 4.97 ERA (7th in the Sally League) to 4.01 (5th) over the last month.  Big contributors have included Jean Pinto (2.34 ERA), Alex Pham (2.21), Ryan Long (2.27) and Jake Lyons (2.56).   

Jackson Holliday has cooled off a bit the last 10 games or so, but his OPS still stands at 1.100.   Max Wagner has been on fire, raising his OPS from .457 as of April 28 to .774 now (he’s actually cooled off the last week).   Jud Fabian is up to .816 OPS, while Dylan Beavers has been scuffling, down to .670.  Creed Willems was promoted this week and will be interesting to follow.  
 

Edited June 2, 2023 by Frobby

[Mooreisbetter27]

I think Aberdeen is my most enjoyable team to follow right now because of all the positional talent. 

[86this]

I couldn't find a clip of it, but during Aberdeen's game last night with the game tied, in extra innings and a man on 3rd, a grounder up the middle that Holliday snagged and faked threw to 1st and gunned down the runner trying to score.  Reminded me a bit of Machado fake throw to 1st and back to Hardy at 3rd base that Gary Thorne called.

[Frobby]

Cooper Chandler has been pitching well of late.  A 2022 undrafted free agent out of Rice, the 24-year old Chandler has a 2.87 ERA, 1.195 WHiP, 9.6 K/9, 3.1 K/BB.   5 of the 12 earned runs he’s allowed came in his first game of the year.

The Ironbirds’ top four pitchers in IP all boast sub-3.00 ERA’s: Long (2.33), Pinto (2.34), Chandler (2.87) and Pham (2.90).  Their staff is 3rd in the Sally League in ERA (3.90), 1st in runs allowed/game (4.33), 1st in K/9 (11.8) and 1st in K/BB (3.0).   They get decent pitching most nights.

[Frobby]

As the Ironbirds emerge from the all star break and the end of their Jackson Holliday era, their record is a solid 41-37, including 18-13 since my last update on their record.  The offense ranks 4th of 12 with 5.24 runs/game, but 7th in OPS at .725.   The pitching ranks 3rd in ERA at 3.89, 4th in runs allowed per game at 4.44.   Besides Holliday (.940 OPS), Jud Fabian (.882), Alex Pham (2.45 ERA) and Jean Pinto (2.66) recently have been promoted.   

Among remaining players, 2022 2nd rounder Dylan Beavers (.771 OPS), 2022 4th rounder Max Wagner (.770). 2021 12th rounder Jacob Teter (.769) and 2021 overslot 8th rounder Creed Willems (.728)  have been offensive mainstays, but the big surprise has been undrafted free agent and former Terp  Max Costes (.801), who joined the team in May.

The current rotation in Aberdeen includes 2022 5th rounder Trace Bright (4.64 ERA), 2021 14th rounder Daniel Lloyd (4.45), 2022 undrafted free agent Cooper Chandler (3.13), 2021 17th rounder Ryan Long (2.52), and Kyle Virbitsky (4.71), acquired in the Darrel Hernaiz trade last winter.

It will be interesting to see if Aberdeen can weather the promotions of Holliday and the others, and maintain a winning record in the second half.  

Edited July 15, 2023 by Frobby