2002 Scouting Report

Quad City River Bandits

End of Season Profile

The River Bandits rode a handful of very strong players to a successful season. They played particularly strong ball in June and July, then tailed off a tad as the season ended. This was a team with a strong defense. On the basepaths, the Bandits were the MWL's least aggressive nine.

The pitching staff developed into a crew with strengths and weaknesses; a solid pitching rotation and a terrific set of closers were afflicted with an often dreadful middle relief crew. J.D. Durbin ranked with the best starting pitchers in the league, and Sandy Tejada's season was nearly as strong. After Josh Daws was promoted, Matt Vorwald and Jannio Gutierrez shared the closer role--where all three excelled.

Outfielder Jason Kubel matured into one of the MWL's best hitters as the season progressed; Kubel's August was particularly impressive. Catcher Joe Mauer, as expected, showed why the Twins invested the first 2001 draft pick in him, and was selected as the MWL's top prospect. First baseman Stephen Tope, outfielder Brett Tamburrino (originally this team's second baseman), and backup catcher Bryan Kennedy all contributed. Beyond these few, the team wasn't particularly dangerous.

A strange thing: Although all teams change somewhat over the course of the year, few change as much as Quad City's nine. In some places they improved; in others, they lost ground....

The River Bandits used 20 position players and 21 pitchers.

Unless otherwise indicated, all statistics on this page are through the end of the season.

Season Summary

• Second Half: 40-30, .571 (3rd place, 4.0 behind; playoff qualifier)
• First Half: 31-35, .470 (4th place, 10.0 behind)
• Pitching: 71-65, 3.47, 39 saves, 1090 strikeouts
• Hitting: .256, 592 runs, 79 HR, 71 steals (63% success)
• Defense: 132 errors (0.97 per game); .697 defensive efficiency
• April: 10-13 (.435)
• May: 14-13 (.519)
• June: 15-11 (.577)
• July: 15-12 (.556)
• August & September: 17-16 (.515)
• Playoff Round One: 0-2, .000

Leading Players

• Best Player on the Team: Outfielder Jason Kubel

• Best Starting Pitcher: J.D. Durbin (3.19, 13-4, 163 strikeouts)
• Bullpen Stopper: Josh Daws (2.43, 1-3, 17 saves, 36 strikeouts)
• Strikeout Pitchers: Josmir Romero, J.D. Durbin, Jannio Gutierrez, Matt Vorwald, Josh Daws, Travis Bowyer, Jason Miller, Eric Lohse
• Control Pitchers: Sandy Tejada, Josmir Romero, J.D. Durbin, Jason Miller, Eric Lohse

• Best Hitter: Jason Kubel (.321, 17 HR, 69 RBI)
• Home Run Leaders: Jason Kubel (17)
• High Batting Average: Jason Kubel (.321), Joe Mauer (.302)
• High On Base Percentage: none
• High Slugging Percentage: Jason Kubel (.521)
• Notable Baserunners: Brett Tamburrino, Jesus Merchant, James Tomlin, Garrett Jones, Barry Quickstad
• Notable Batting Eye: Joe Mauer, Jake Mauer, Seth Davidson

July Profile

This is an interesting team. The River Bandits are succeeding this season with a league-average offense, a league-average pitching staff, a strong lineup core, and an excellent performance on team defense. The team's offense has stepped up its performance in the second half, which has bolstered the team's success.

Outfielders Jason Kubel and Stephen Tope, second baseman Brett Tamburrino, and catcher Joe Mauer are the heart of this team. The first three have been much improved in the second half, and are largely responsible for the team's leap into contention. This team has no bench.

Starters Sandy Tejada and J.D. Durbin are strong pitchers; the rest of the rotation's collapsed. This team's got a wonderful bullpen, with the talent distributed among a half-dozen pitchers.

The Bandits have scored 444 runs; their opponents have scored 419 runs.

June Profile

The Bandits had a strong June, but the theme hasn't changed: The hitting's very bad, while the pitching's very good. Joe Mauer continues to develop into a fine ballplayer, too. If I thought QC could develop a couple more hitters, I'd be more comfortable with their prospects for holding off the Kernels.

Notable Midseason Loss: Closer Josh Daws.

Worth Watching: Spot Starter Travis Bowyer.

May Profile

Win a couple, lose a couple. I think it's going to be like this all summer. It should be fun to watch Joe Mauer develop, though.

The Bandits feature a very stingy pitching staff--they're quite good at getting hitters out, and lead the league in strikeouts. The defense is terrific, and the baserunning, while conservative, has been very effective. But these guys aren't going to win a lot of ball games unless the offense learns to score runs.

The QC pitching staff's a little fly-ball prone, and it's cost them a bit. But it seems to be paying off, on the whole; this staff's doing its job. While Jay Richardson, Sandy Tejada, and Colby Miller are very different pitchers, they've been about equally effective in starting roles. The Bandits feature the league's strongest bullpen; though closer Josh Daws has been the star, none of these guys have hurt the team.

The hitters aren't doing the job. This team's last in runs scored--deservedly so, because they're not getting on base and they're not showing any power.

April Profile

The 2002 River Bandits have pretty good pitching and are playing excellent defense, but haven't yet generated any serious offense. Nearly every pitcher's thrown well; reliever Jannio Gutierrez, in particular, was very successful in his April outings.

Pre-Season Profile

Manager

This will be Jeff Carter's third season as a manager, and his second in the MWL. He's a fairly conventional Midwest League manager.

First Round Draft Selection

• Joe Mauer, 2001; first player selected

Team Age Information

• Average Team Age: 21.2
• Pitchers: 21.3
• Hitters: 21.1

• Oldest Player on the Team: Catcher Brian Kennedy (born October 4, 1978)
• Youngest Player on the Team: Joe Mauer (born April 19, 1983)

The average player in the Midwest League this season is 21.6 years old. Average ages were calculated from the opening day roster; age as of July 1, 2002.

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.

Minnesota's built this year's Bandits around last year's Elizabethton pitching staff, which ought to work well. The hitters were collected from all over the Twins' low minors system.

Team            League             W/L     Place    Hitters Pitchers
                                          (Teams)
Fort Myers      Florida State (A+) 68/69  T7(12)       0       2
Quad City       Midwest (A)        80/57   5(14)       3       3
Elizabethton    Appalachian (R+)   41/22   1(10)       9       5
Twins           Gulf Coast (R)     32/26   6(14)       1       3

There was only slight movement within the Twins organization last summer so only a few players are counted twice in this table. One player on this team did not play professionally last summer.