Midwest League 2001

Burlington Bees

Post-Season Profile

The Burlington season started well, but by summer's end the Bees were just going through the motions. The promising offensive squad fizzled around mid-season, partly because of call-ups. Two or three good pitchers and a fine defense aren't enough to carry a team.

The best hitters got promoted; what was left after the All-Star break was a motley crew with mixed talents. (I covered this in July.) Chad Santos started strong, but didn't contribute much in August. By season's end, Ben Cordova was probably the team's best hitter--decent on-base skills, but only limited power.

Runelvys Hernandez is a promising talent; he throws strikes and dares the batter to hit. Zach McClellan also had a good season in the rotation, and reliever Jeremy Hill had a great season out of the bullpen. With better support, these guys would star.

Season Summary

• Second Half: 25-43, .368, 7th place, 17.0 behind
• First Half: 30-36, .455, 4th place tie, 16.0 behind
• Pitching: 55-79, 4.53, 29 saves, 809 strikeouts
• Hitting: .248, 620 runs, 81 HR, 101 steals (67% success)
• Errors: 162 (1.21 per game)
• April: 12-11 (.522)
• May: 11-15 (.423)
• June: 13-14 (.481)
• July: 11-17 (.393)
• August: 7-20 (.259)
• September: 1-2 (.333)

• Best Player on the Team: Starting Pitcher Runlevys Hernandez

• Best Starting Pitcher: Runelvys Hernandez (3.40, 7-5, 100 strikeouts)
• Bullpen Stopper: Jeremy Hill (1.51, 0-2, 12 saves, 66 strikeouts)
• Strikeout Pitchers: Runelvys Hernandez, Jeremy Hill
• Control Pitchers: Runelvys Hernandez, Ian Ferguson, Jason Fingers, Micah Mangrum

• Best Hitter: Chad Santos (.252, 16 HR, 83 RBI) or Ben Cordova (.294, 6 HR, 44 RBI)
• Home Run Leader: Chad Santos (16)
• High Batting Average: Byron Gettis (.314)
• High On Base Percentage: none notable
• High Slugging Percentage: Byron Gettis (.514), Walter Scott (.532)
• Notable Baserunners: Ben Cordova, Justin Gemoll, Jon Guzman, Billy Keppinger, Tom Lora, Alejandro Machado
• Notable Batting Eye: none notable

July Profile

Give Manager Joe Szekely some credit: He's getting a credible season from a team with very little talent.

This team has two good starters--Rynelvys Hernandez and Zach McClellan. Jeremy Hill--a catcher when he played at Lansing--has been exceptional in the closer role. Mike Stodolka's pitched well. No one else has shown much.

The offense isn't intimidating. Chad Santos has power and some plate discipline, while Ben Cordova and Darren Fenster have good batting averages but show little power. Tom Lora and Jon Guzman are excellent baserunners, but can't hit.

Also worth watching: Relief Pitcher Dusty Wrightsman.

June Profile

The Burlington pitching improved in June; there are now some good hurlers in Bees uniforms. On the other hand, the offense has been hurt by the mid-summer callups; unless someone emerges, this team's not going to score many runs in the second half.

Chad Santos has developed into a solid offensive force, with good power and some patience at the plate. Tom Lora and Jon Guzman are excellent baserunners, but don't hit well enough to cause serious problems.

Michael Stodolka and Zach McClellan have developed into fine starters; from the bullpen, Jeremy Hill and Jason Fingers have been posting some impressive outings.

Notable mid-season losses: Byron Gettis, Scott Walter, & Micah Mangrum.

May Profile

The Bees have a decent offensive squad, and play acceptable defense. They're afflicted with a weak pitching staff, though, and it's costing them wins.

Outfielders Byron Gettis and Ben Cordova are good hitters--not stars, but valuable--and the team gets decent production from Scott Walter, Justin Gemoll, and Juan Guzman (the shortstop, not the outfielder). Jon Guzman (he's the outfielder) and Tom Lora are adequate hitters and basepath threats.

Micah Mangrum's a very good pitcher. Joey Baker's a league-average pitcher. Jeremy Hill has lots of potential. Beyond these? Let's not go there.

April Profile

The Bees have been pretty average, so far. Something interesting's bound to happen before the season ends, but I don't have any predictions.

Pre-Season Profile

Manager

This is Joe Szekely's second season as a minor league manager. In 2000, at Charleston, West Virginia, Szekely was a fairly conventional manager.

First Round Draft Selections

• none.

Team Age Information

• Average Team Age: 21.3
• Pitchers: 21.6
• Hitters: 21.0

• Oldest Player on the Team: Wes Wilkerson (born 9/11/76)
• Youngest Player on the Team: Brian Bass (born 1/6/82)

The average player in the Midwest League is 21.6 years old. Average ages were calculated from the opening day roster; age as of July 1, 2001.

This website has more information about team ages.

Where they played last season

This is a brief portrait of how the team was put together. These summaries are based on the team's opening day roster and will not be revised to reflect roster changes.

Last year, the Royals system waa weak in the lower reaches. Spokane, the best of last season's bunch, forms the heart of this team, with the help of a number of "repeaters" from Charlie West.

Team           League             W/L     Place    Hitters Pitchers
                                         (Teams)
Wilmington     Carolina (A+)      63/76    7(8)       2       0
Charleston WVA South Atlantic (A) 53/80   14(14)      6       4
Spokane        Northwest (A-)     38/38    5(8)       7       7
Royals         Gulf Coast (R)     20/4-   11(13)      1       3

There was some player movement in the Royals organization last summer, so a few of these players are counted twice in this chart. One of the new Bees played in another organization last summer. None of these players appeared above Class A.