Midwest League 2002

The Best Players

This is just my opinion. Feel free to disagree.

By the end of May, we've begun to understand the 2002 League. April's new faces have started to show talents and skills and aptitudes. We've attached names to faces, and can tell the guy in the next seat about each player's quirks.

At the League level, the we've made similar progress. We've figured out it's a year with strong pitchers, that the Cards have finally sent a championship-caliber team to Peoria, that Dontrelle Willis might be a special talent.

Here's my take. These guys are the players to watch when their teams come to town....

As long as I'm offering opinions:

• Best Player? It looks like Kane County Pitcher Dontrelle Willis.
  • He's been our Most Exciting, too.
  • I might choose Matt Yeatman (Beloit) and Angel Guzman (Lansing) before any position players.
• Best Position Player? Cougar First Baseman Jason Stokes.
  • The Marlins are still doing something right.

Everyday Starters

Here are the players I'd use every day. A complete roster, with full statistics, is presented at the bottom of the page.

• Batting Order
  • Shin-Soo Choo, OF, Wisconsin
  • Jeff Mathis, Catcher, Cedar Rapids
  • Jason Stokes, 1B, Kane County
  • John Knott, OF, Fort Wayne
  • Brad Nelson, DH, Beloit
  • Todd Self, OF, Michigan
  • Greg Dobbs, 3B, Wisconsin
  • John Nelson, SS, Peoria
  • Brooks Conrad, 2B, Michigan
• Starting Rotation
  • Dontrelle Willis, Kane County
  • Angel Guzman, Lansing
  • Matt Yeatman, Beloit
  • Jay Richardson, Quad City
  • Jon Asahina, Kane County
• Short Relief
  • Chris Schroder, Clinton
  • Eric Brown, Lansing

Disclaimer: This isn't a list of prospects. It's a list of players having excellent seasons; most of them are "prospects," but that wasn't a consideration.

Best Players for 2002

If I could pick a team of 25 players (perhaps to play a Sally League All-Star team), these are the guys I'd select:

	CATCHERS           Tm  Bats Pos  G  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB  AVG  OBP  SLG
	Jeff Mathis        CR  R    C   46 183 37 63 20  1  6  33 17 33  3 .344 .400 .563
	Joe Mauer          QC  L    C   40 145 21 44  7  0  2  25 28 19  0 .303 .414 .393

	INFIELDERS         Tm  Bats Pos  G  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB  AVG  OBP  SLG
	Brooks Conrad      MIC B    2B  46 173 36 48 10  6  5  31 19 37 10 .277 .351 .491
	Greg Dobbs         WIS L    3B  45 159 27 50 12  1  5  33 22 25  7 .314 .391 .497
	Scott Hairston     SB  R    2B  46 160 30 46 11  1  5  19 20 28  7 .288 .377 .463
	Brad Nelson        BEL L    1B  46 180 31 55 16  1 10  52 10 37  2 .306 .347 .572
	John Nelson        PEO R    SS  42 143 23 38 14  2  4  16 15 36  6 .266 .335 .476
	Jason Stokes       KC  R    1B  36 130 24 46  9  0  9  32 12 40  1 .354 .397 .631

	OUTFIELDERS        Tm  Bats Pos  G  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB  AVG  OBP  SLG
	Shin-Soo Choo      WIS L    OF  46 163 36 50 10  2  4  24 25 31 12 .307 .426 .466
	John Knott         FTW R    OF  37 126 19 42 12  3  3  18 17 33  2 .333 .411 .548
	Tim Lemon          PEO R    OF  43 167 26 48 17  1  4  26 13 45  7 .287 .339 .473
	Jesse Roman        PEO L    OF  37 127 22 33  7  1  6  21 19 27  3 .260 .356 .472
	Todd Self          MIC L    OF  44 154 29 40 13  2  6  29 24 39  3 .260 .372 .487

	
	PITCHERS           Tm  Th W L  ERA  G GS CG SHO SV IP    H  R ER BB SO OpBA
	Stephen Andrade    CR  R  0 1 0.46 17  0  0   0 10 19.2 10  1  1  3 33 .149
	Jon Asahina        KC  R  5 1 1.98 11  1  0   0  4 36.1 18  9  8  9 32 .146
	Eric Brown         LAN R  2 1 0.92 16  0  0   0 13 19.2 11  3  2  3 19 .164
	Angel Guzman       LAN R  5 2 1.89  9  9  1   0  0 62.0 42 18 13 16 49 .195
	Tyler Johnson      PEO R  5 1 1.89  8  7  0   0  1 38.0 28 12  8 16 51 .204
	Jay Richardson     QC  R  4 0 2.58  7  7  0   0  0 38.1 27 14 11 13 35 .190
	Russ Rohlicek      MIC L  4 1 2.72  9  9  0   0  0 56.1 47 19 17 10 41 .225
	Chris Schroder     CLI R  0 1 0.45 17  0  0   0 15 20.0  8  2  1  9 31 .121
	Luis Torres        CLI R  5 1 3.73  7  7  0   0  0 41.0 29 17 17 14 41 .195
	Rusty Tucker       FTW L  3 1 1.19 19  0  0   0  9 22.2 13  7  3  5 32 .163
	Dontrelle Willis   KC  L  4 2 1.73  9  9  2   1  0 57.1 36 13 11 12 46 .182
	Matt Yeatman       BEL R  6 1 1.30  9  9  1   0  0 48.1 35 11  7 20 51 .200

Notes

• It's a pitcher's year. There are around twenty excellent pitchers; since I'm trying to build a hypothetical 25-man team, I limited myself to a dozen. Leaving South Bend's Edgar Gonzalez out was particularly painful, as I think he's our league's best prospect.
• Stokes is an easy choice as the strongest hitter. Nelson and Mathis have also hit well, but aren't in his class.
• I left off all the steals leaders, because:
  • None of them are having an overwhelming season, and
  • Many of the guys I've selected are quite speedy.
• No one whose primary position is Designated Hitter seems particularly noteworthy this summer.

Of course there's room for disagreement. That's what makes this fun.

• These are my May 25 opinions, and are subject to change. I won't post updated opinions on this page, but may post them elsewhere on the site.
• Stats shown are through May 24, 2002.