Monday, September 23, 2013

The Quad Cities River Bandits Season in Review

Quad Cities didn't exactly struggle in the first half of the season as they managed a .551 win percentage, but that was only good enough for fourth place in a very strong division. In the second half, they had an excellent .623 win percentage which was good enough for second place in the second half. It also gave them a second place record for the full season. They quickly dispatched the first place team, Cedar Rapids, sweeping them in the Semi-Final Series before taking on and defeating Beloit in the Division Championship Series. In the best-of-five Midwest League Championship Series, Quad Cities defeated South Bend on the road in the first two games before completing the sweep at home. Here is how their 2013 season compared to the 2012 campaign. Note that all 2012 numbers are for the Lexington Legends, the Astros Full Season A affiliate prior to their move to Quad Cities this season.

2012 Win Percentage - .500
2013 Win Percentage - .587

2012 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential - 691 - 664 = 27
2013 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential - 636 - 559 = 77

2012 Team ERA & WHIP - 4.24 & 1.387
2013 Team ERA & WHIP - 3.62 & 1.316

2012 Team Batting Line - .252/.344/.380
2013 Team Batting Line - .247/.338/.362

Once again, pitching was one of the biggest strengths of the team. Out of 16 teams, the River Bandits staff ranked fourth in ERA and sixth in WHIP. They were third in strikeouts while allowing the fewest free passes in the league. Here are a few individuals who contributed to the team's success.

Because of the tandem rotation, injuries, promotions and early shutdowns, no one on the team pitched enough innings to qualify as a league leader, but the two that came closest to qualifying were RHP Vincent Velasquez (21) and RHP Lance McCullers (19). Velasquez' 3.19 ERA at Quad Cities would have put him in the top 10 in the league and his 1.118 WHIP would have landed him in the top 5. McCullers' 3.18 ERA was also top-10 worthy and his 1.347 WHIP would have put him in the top 20. The most interesting stat (to me) is that Velasquez was tied for second in strikeouts and McCullers was tied for fourth in strikeouts in the league, and the pitchers that they were tied with pitched approximately 40 more innings each than did Velasquez and McCullers.

22-year old RHP Daniel Minor was next on the squad in innings pitched and put up a solid, albeit unspectacular, 3.71 ERA and a 1.419 WHIP in his 31 appearances (12 starts), but his splits show that he was very effective in his 19 relief appearances as he compiled a 7-1 record with a 2.44 ERA and a 1.333 WHIP.

23-year old lefty Joe Bircher and 22-year old lefty Brian Holmes missed large chunks of the season due to injury, but both had good seasons. Bircher had a 4.15 ERA and a 1.292 WHIP in 14 games (10 starts) and had a very impressive 0.90 ERA and 1.100 WHIP in two postseason appearances, getting a win in one of those games. Holmes made 10 starts in 15 games with a 2.49 ERA and a 1.158 WHIP. In his final four appearances after coming back from his rehab, he had a 0.77 ERA ad a 1.071 WHIP.

Two stalwarts of the bullpen were LHP Mitch Lambson (23) and RHP Jamaine Cotton (22). In 41 appearances, Lambson had a 3.03 ERA and a 1.206 WHIP. In four postseason appearances, he had a very stingy 0.00 ERA and 0.300 WHIP and struck out nine batters in six and two-thirds innings. Cotton appeared in 26 games (five starts) with a 4.77 ERA and a 1.507 WHIP. He fared much better when used exclusively as a reliever, particularly long relief. In August and September, he had a 0.78 ERA and a 0.957 WHIP in nine relief appearances (23 innings). In the postseason, he made two long relief appearances and put up a 0.00 ERA and 0.158 WHIP with 10 strikeouts in six and a third innings.

Several pitchers were promoted from Quad Cities to Lancaster, such as right-handed relief pitcher Michael Dimock who had a 3.09 ERA and a 0.771 WHIP in 10 outings before his promotion. I will talk about him more in my Lancaster review. Three others who had been used as part of the tandem rotation early in the season were also promoted to Lancaster -- RHP Jordan Jankowski (24), LHP Colton Cain (22) and RHP Mike Hauschild (23). Jankowski was used exclusively out of the bullpen after the promotion, but Cain and Hauschild were used as starters at the higher level. Their stats at Quad Cities and their season stats, including Lancaster, are shown below.

Jordan Jankowski
Quad Cities - 26G/12GS 2.61ERA 1.071WHIP
Season - 37G/12GS 3.05ERA 1.082WHIP

*Colton Cain
Quad Cities - 23G/14GS 4.12ERA 1.454WHIP
Season - 28G/19GS 3.88ERA 1.401WHIP

Mike Hauschild
Quad Cities - 20G/12GS 2.92ERA 1.140WHIP
Season - 28G/19GS 3.50ERA 1.209WHIP

*It is noteworthy that Cain had an absolutely terrible April at Quad Cities. If you look at only the other three months that he was a River Bandit, he had a 2.58 ERA and a 1.241 WHIP.

2013 first round draft pick RHP Mark Appel (22) spent the bulk of his very restricted time at Quad Cities where he compiled a 3-1 record with a 3.82 ERA and a 1.182 WHIP in eight starts. For the season (including two starts at Tri-City), he had a 3.79 ERA, a 1.184 WHIP, struck out 33 and walked nine in 38 innings pitched.

LHP Josh Hader (19) was obtained in the Bud Norris trade with Baltimore in July, and subsequently made five starts for Quad Cities during the regular season in which he went 2-0 with a 3.22 ERA and a 1.164 WHIP. For the full season, he was 5-6 with a 2.77 ERA and a 1.258 WHIP. In the postseason, he was 2-0 with an 0.64 ERA and a 0.571 WHIP in two starts.

Several relief pitchers, such as Zach Morton, Patrick Christensen, Andrew Walter and J.D. Osborne had successful ends to their seasons with Quad Cities, but they were covered in the earlier season reviews.

If you've read this far, congratulations! Now let's take a look at the offense. The team batting average ranked 12th out of 16 teams in the league and the slugging percentage was 11th (which is reflected in mid to low rankings in doubles, triples and home runs). However, the team was third in on-base percentage and first in drawing walks. They were in the middle of the pack on strikeouts and were ranked fifth in stolen bases.

It should not surprise anyone that SS Carlos Correa, who just turned 19 on Sunday, ranked highly in many, many categories. His .320/.405/.467 batting line ranked him third in batting average, second in on-base percentage and eighth in slugging. He was tied for 13th in runs scored, tied for fifth in hits, and tied for sixth in doubles. Correa was fourth in RBI and 18th in walks. He ended the season with 33 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 86 RBI and 10 stolen bases.

OF Teoscar Hernandez, who turns 21 next month, ranked first in the Midwest League in runs scored, 13th in hits, and was tied for sixth in the league in triples. He also ranked at or around 20th in the league in slugging percentage, home runs and stolen bases. He led the Quad Cities crew in runs scored, triples, home runs and was second in stolen bases. Hernandez also led all Astros minor leaguers in outfield assists with 14. He finished the season hitting .271/.328/.435 with 25 doubles, nine triples, 13 home runs, 55 RBI and 24 stolen bases.

3B Rio Ruiz (19) started out slowly, but improved every single month at the plate, culminating in a red-hot August and September, including the playoffs in which he hit .370 with three home runs and seven RBI. Ruiz was tied for sixth in the league (with teammate Correa) in doubles and was second on the team in RBI and home runs.

Other players who ranked in the top 20 in the league were OF Danry Vasquez (19), 2B Austin Elkins (22) and OF Jordan Scott who turned 22 on Sunday. Vasquez ranked ninth in hits and 14th in batting average as he split his time between Detroit's Midwest League team and Quad Cities (after coming to the Astros system in the Jose Veras trade). Elkins was ninth in walks and 12th in OBP; and Scott was tied for 16th in triples and for 17th in stolen bases. Also of note is Roberto Pena's caught stealing percentage (52%) which led all of the Astros minor leaguers with significant playing time.

Several players had success at Quad Cities as they passed through, including Ruben Sosa (16 games), Luis Alvarez (13 games), Carlos Perdomo (5 games), Jon Singleton (6 games) and Joe Sclafani who led the team in OBP in his very limited time with the club (19 games). OF Dan Gulbransen (22) spent 15 games at Tri-City, 25 at Quad Cities and his final 16 games in Lancaster. As a River Bandit, he hit .284/.394/.386; for the season, he hit .321/.385/.502 with 15 doubles, one triple and seven home runs. 1B Jesse Wierzbicki spent the bulk of his season with Quad Cities, hitting .264/.358/.394 with 21 doubles, two triples, six home runs and 54 RBI in 87 games, before his promotion to Lancaster.

Seasons in Review for Other Astros Minor League Teams
DSL Season in Review
GCL Season in Review
Greeneville Season in Review
Tri-City ValleyCats Season in Review

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