Midwest League 2001

Clinton LumberKings

Post-Season Profile

Things got worse; basically, the LumberKings stopped winning games in August. Jason Bay had a great season, though.

Luke Lockwood pitched well all summer, but the team let him down badly. Josh Girdley and Ben Washburn were also effective. A few promising arms pitched a few innings. But there wasn't any depth to the pitching staff, and this was the only MWL team without an effective reliever in the bullpen.

Jason Bay sneaked into the batting title on the last day, and didn't play enough games to be a real MVP contender this summer. But folks have won our league's MVP trophy with similar seasons....

Brandon Watson and Phil Downing hit well in Clinton, as did Grady Sizemore until August. No one else hit well. When the L-Kings got on base, they generally ran, though.

Season Summary

• Second Half: 23-44, .343, 8th place, 18.5 behind
• First Half: 28-39, .418, 7th place, 18.5 behind
• Pitching: 51-85, 4.26, 20 saves, 853 strikeouts
• Hitting: .258, 591 runs, 59 HR, 175 steals (69% success)
• Errors: 191 (1.40 per game)
• April: 8-15 (.348)
• May: 10-17 (.370)
• June: 11-16 (.407)
• July: 14-14 (.500)
• August: 8-18 (.308)
• September: 0-3 (.000)

• Best Player on the Team: Outfielder Jason Bay

• Best Starting Pitcher: Luke Lockwood (3.31, 5-10, 114 strikeouts)
• Bullpen Stopper: no bullpen stopper
• Strikeout Pitchers: Benji Dequin, Chris Humrich
• Control Pitchers: none

• Best Hitter: Jason Bay (.362, 13 HR, 61 runs batted in)
• Home Run Leader: Jason Bay (13)
• High Batting Average: Jason Bay (.362), Brandon Watson (.327), Nick Dempsey (.304)
• High On Base Percentage: Jason Bay (.449)
• High Slugging Percentage: Jason Bay (.527), Phil Downing (.480)
• Notable Baserunners: Jason Bay, Brandon Watson, Grady Sizemore, Eric Miller, Clyde Williams, Bret Boyer, Craig Kerner, Denny Rombley
• Notable Batting Eye: none

July Profile

A bad team, having a terrible season. The pitching rotation is decent, there's one good hitter, there's a lot of basepath speed.

The starting rotation--Luke Lockwood, Jason Norderum, Josh Girdley, and Ben Washburn--isn't overpowering, but they do keep the team in the game. But there's no one in the bullpen you want to see pitch.

Jason Bay joined the team in mid-season, and has been on a tear. He's got some power, good speed, and generally excellent skills. Grady Sizemore and Brandon Watson are speedsters, though Sizemore's by far the more valuable player. Beyond these, there's little talent.

Also worth watching: Shortstop Eric Miller.

June Profile

This team played well for the first half of June, then collapsed completely. The LumberKings feature an adequate pitching staff, but there's virtually no offense. The defense is a little leaky.

Although Jason Bay's only appeared in 28 games, he's a strong hitter with good basepath speed. He's the team's only remaining hitter. There's a lot of speed in this lineup, but not enough to make up for the incredibly poor hitting.

The pitching staff's stronger, but only in spots. Jason Norderum, who pitched more than half of the MWL's only no hitter this season, is the best pitcher; Luke Lockwood and Josh Girdley keep the L-Kings in the game. A bunch of guys who've only thrown a few innings look promising. But there's not much depth here, and none of these pitchers are overpowering.

Notable mid-season losses: Phil Downing & Chris Bye.

May Profile

A bad team, a sad team. Montreal's sins have come to roost in Clinton. This team can't hit. The defense is a sieve. And the pitching's weak.

Brandon Watson, a slap hitter with speed to burn, is by far the most interesting player on the LumberKings roster. The only other offensive player worth mentioning is Phil Downing. When your slugger has four home runs, you've got a problem. Grady Sizemore and Bret Boyer have shown real speed.

Jason Norderum, Luis Torres, and Benji Dequin have pitched all right, but I've got no faith in them; none of them throw strikes. Luke Lockwood's had terrible luck, but isn't a strong prospect. The rest of the starters are worse. The bullpen's by committee--and about as effective as committees are reputed to be.

April Profile

Montreal's sent a young team to Clinton this summer. The LumberKings' offense has some speed, but hasn't yet shown much more. The pitching needs work. And the results, so far, have reflected those weaknesses.

Pre-Season Profile

Manager

This is Steve Phillips' second managerial season. Phillips was a very conservative manager with the Gulf Coast Expos in 2000. The team rarely ran; he authorized no intentional walks.

First Round Draft Selections

• none

Team Age Information

• Average Team Age: 20.8
• Pitchers: 21.4
• Hitters: 20.4

• Oldest Player on the Team: Jackson Crowther (born 9/14/76)
• Youngest Player on the Team: Grady Sizemore (born 8/2/82)

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.

Vermont had a good season last summer, and most of these players appeared there. Many also played in the Sally League last summer; that experience should serve them well in the MWL.

Team        League             W/L   Place    Hitters Pitchers
                                    (Teams)
Jupiter     Florida State (A+) 61/79 11(14)      2        1
Cape Fear   South Atlantic (A) 64/74 10(14)      7        7
Vermont     New York-Penn (A-) 45/30  4(14)      9        7
Expos       Gulf Coast (R)     17/43 12(13)      2        1

There was lots of movement in the Expos system last year; many of these players show up in two teams' counts on the table, and several are counted for three teams. One of these players spent last year on the disabled list. None of them have appeared above Class A.