Midwest League 2001

Peoria Chiefs

Post-Season Profile

A weak team; a worse record. The Chiefs had a handful of good players, and got a remarkable performance from Christoper Morris. But the most interesting Peoria news came from the front office...

Chris Narveson was probably the best pitcher in the league; but he got promoted after 8 starts and wasn't a serious candidate for any postseason honors. Jeremy Cummings and Jeremy Cook also pitched well, though they're not star quality players. But there wasn't any depth in the pitching staff.

The hitting was worse. Christopher Morris stole 111 bases, and Chris Duncan hit well after returning in mid-season. Tim Lemon has lots of talent but isn't a real ballplayer. John Gall is a solid first baseman. And J.D. Drew put on a terrific 3-game rehab show. That was it.

The team's getting a new ballpark for 2002, and a new management structure in the front office. Perhaps the Cards will send a real team, too.

Season Summary

• Second Half: 29-39, .426, 6th place, 13.0 behind
• First Half: 28-42, .400, 8th place, 20.0 behind
• Pitching: 57-81, 4.38, 30 saves, 878 strikeouts
• Hitting: .247, 599 runs, 83 HR, 249 steals (72% success)
• Errors: 236 (1.71 per game)
• April: 8-14 (.364)
• May: 14-17 (.452)
• June: 8-19 (.296)
• July: 14-13 (.519)
• August: 12-16 (.429)
• September: 1-2 (.333)

• Best Player on the Team: Starting Pitcher Chris Narveson

• Best Starting Pitcher: Chris Narveson (1.98, 3-3, 53 strikeouts)
• Bullpen Stopper: Jeremy Cook (3.71, 14 saves, 3-7)
• Strikeout Pitchers: Chris Narveson, Carmen Cali
• Control Pitchers: Chris Narveson, Jeremy Cummings, Jeremy Cook, Matt Vriesenga

• Best Hitter: Chris Duncan (.306, 13 HR, 59 RBI)
• Home Run Leader: Tim Lemon (15)
• High Batting Average: Chris Duncan (.306), John Gall (.302)
• High On Base Percentage: none
• High Slugging Percentage: Chris Duncan (.529), John Gall (.473)
• Notable Baserunners: Chris Duncan, Christopher Morris, Shaun Boyd, Tim Lemon, Mike Floyd
• Notable Batting Eye: none

July Profile

This team may be even worse that its record. It's worth going out to see Christopher Morris on the basepaths--he's going to crush the MWL stolen base record.

Jeremy Cummings is a solid pitcher, and would be winning big on a team with an offense. Somehow Carmen Cali's won seven games in relief. This staff's not bad, but there's no promise. And they get little help from the offense.

Christopher Morris is having a special season: Go see him. He'll put on a show. John Gall's playing excellent ball, and Ryan Hamill and Chase Voshell are valuable.

Also worth watching: Third Baseman Gabe Johnson.

June Profile

The Chiefs were bad in the first half; so far, the second season's been worse. Something's gone wrong with the St. Louis farm system, and the results have been painful in Peoria. The Chiefs' defense is awful, the pitching's so-so, the offense is non-existent.

Christopher Morris has developed nicely; he's now hitting quite well and is making an assault on the MWL stolen base record (which is 98, by the way.) Chase Voshell and Chris Duncan hit well, but there's nothing beyond these three. Nothing.

There are no bad pitchers on this team, but neither is there much quality now that Narveson's been promoted. Starter Jeremy Cummings shows some promise....

Notable mid-season losses: John Gall & Chris Narveson.

May Profile

There's some talent on the Chiefs roster, but Peoria's team isn't of championship caliber. In general, the pitching is decent, though there's no clear star. The best hitters on this team have obvious weaknesses. Although there's a lot of speed in the lineup, getting runners on base is a definite team weakness.

Shortstop Chase Voshell and first baseman John Gall are hitting over .300, but haven't shown any power. Tim Lemon has power and speed, but swings at almost every offering from the pitcher. Christopher Morris can run like the wind--too bad he can't hit.

Chris Narveson is something special, I suspect, but he's handicapped by a weak defense and a weaker offense. Josh Axelson has had some fine outings, but isn't consistent. The other starters are mostly adequate, and the bullpen has some very fine arms.

April Profile

A couple of the 2001 Chiefs have decent speed, and the pitching staff is pretty stingy with walks. On the whole, though, this has been a rather dull team.

Pre-Season Profile

Manager

This is Joe Hall's first season managing in professional ball.

First Round Draft Selections

• Shaun Boyd (2000; 13th selection)

Team Age Information

• Average Team Age: 21.8
• Pitchers: 21.5
• Hitters: 22.0

• Oldest Player on the Team: Roddy Friar (born 5/10/76)
• Youngest Player on the Team: Chris Narveson (born 12/20/81)

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.

The 2001 Chiefs are based on last summer's New Jersey team, with a contributions from Johnson City and a handful of Peoria holdovers.

Team           League            W/L     Place    Hitters Pitchers
                                        (Teams)
Potomac        Carolina (A+)     62/76    8(8)       0       0
Peoria         Midwest (A)       63/74  T10(14)      2       2
New Jersey     New York-Penn (A) 31/45   12(14)      7       8
Johnson City   Appalachian (R+)  24/44    9(10)      5       5

Several of the new Chiefs played for two teams last season and are counted twice in this table. One of these players has no professional experience; none have played higher than Peoria in the system.