2002 Scouting Report

South Bend Silver Hawks

End of Season Profile

The Silver Hawks returned to form this season, and again finished in the divisional and league cellar. For the first half of the season this team was merely bad; in the second half the Hawks collapsed and edged a very bad Wisconsin team for the MWL's worst record. Scott Hairston starred at second base, and the squad had some talent on the mound. South Bend's baserunning was about average, despite some capable baserunners. SB's defense was poor.

Manager Dick Schofield's pitching staff was fairly good. The rotation was decent, and the bullpen was better than that. Starter Edgar Gonzalez was occasionally brilliant. Closer Brian Bruney pitched extremely well; his problem was opportunity, not performance. Matt Wilkinson, who was used in all pitching roles, may be the best pitching prospect on this team.

Second baseman Scott Hairston had a brilliant season; this is a polished player with both speed and power. There wasn't much else, though: First baseman Kyle Nichols showed some power; outfielders Jarred Ball and Rich Barrett run well. No one else showed anything.

The Silver Hawks used 26 position players and 18 pitchers during the 2002 season.

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

Season Summary

• Second Half: 23-47, .329 (6th place, 19.0 behind)
• First Half: 29-40, .420 (6th place, 12.5 behind)
• Pitching: 52-87, 3.73, 25 saves, 928 strikeouts
• Hitting: .227, 526 runs, 63 HR, 90 steals (64% success)
• Defense: 165 errors (1.19 per game); .680 defensive efficiency
• April: 10-16 (.386)
• May: 9-18 (.333)
• June: 12-15 (.444)
• July: 9-20 (.310)
• August & September: 12-18 (.400)

Leading Players

• Best Player on the Team: Second Baseman Scott Hairston

• Best Starting Pitcher: Edgar Gonzalez (2.91, 11-8, 110 strikeouts)
• Bullpen Stopper: Brian Bruney (1.68, 4-3, 10 saves, 54 strikeouts)
• Strikeout Pitchers: Greg Perkin, Brian Bruney, Matt Wilkinson
• Control Pitchers: Edgar Gonzalez, Brian Bruney, Matt Wilkinson

• Best Hitter: Scott Hairston (.332, 16 HR, 72 RBI; 79 runs scored
• Home Run Leader: Scott Hairston (16)
• High Batting Average: Scott Hairston (.332)
• High On Base Percentage: Scott Hairston (.426)
• High Slugging Percentage: Scott Hairston (.563)
• Notable Baserunners: Scott Hairston, Jarred Ball, Rick Haydel, Heath Honeycutt, Rich Barrett, Jeisen Paredes, Kevin Brand, Mike Lopez
• Notable Batting Eye: none notable

July Profile

Despite the heroic efforts of Scott Hairston, the Silver Hawks are again the worst Midwest League team. Frankly, I'm tired of complaining about it.

Scott Hairston's a very talented prospect; MWL second basemen are rarely this good. No one else seems able to make an effective contribution.

The pitching's worse. I still like starter Edgar Gonzalez, and closer Brian Bruney's doing well.

Turns out the team's been unable to meet its lease payments for quite some time. And they've renewed their Player Development Contract with the Diamondbacks. I don't get it.

The Silver Hawks have scored 405 runs; their opponents have scored 524 runs.

June Profile

South Bend Second Baseman Scott Hairston's having a very fine season. And the Hawks have some talent on the pitching staff. But being a below-average team in a very strong division tends to result in very poor won/lost records, as the SB team is demonstrating.

Notable Midseason Losses: none.

Worth Watching: Utility Pitcher Matt Wilkinson.

May Profile

South Bend's fans--I once counted myself among them--deserve better than this. Last summer's SB championship series qualifier notwithstanding, it's become difficult to take the Diamondbacks' player development efforts seriously.

The Hawks are a below-average team which looks even worse because it's been performing poorly. The pitching staff's about average for the league; the hitters, with only a couple exceptions, are below par, and there's nothing worth mentioning on Dick Schofield's bench. South Bend's defense is the league's worst. There are a couple positives: There's a bit of power on this squad, and a lot of speed.

After a flashy April, starting pitcher Edgar Gonzalez had a less-impressive, but still solid, May. Fellow starters Ryan Holsten and Justin Wechsler have pitched well; Greg Perkin, who's probably got the best tools on this staff, has pitched horribly. Schofield's middle relievers are all right; his so-called closers are more likely to start fires than douse them.

On offense? Second baseman Scott Hairston's doing everything right; so is outfielder Jarred Ball. First baseman Kyle Nichols supplies some power. Past these three, things are pretty rocky. Most of the guys run if they find themselves on base--but they find getting to first pretty difficult.

April Profile

The Silver Hawks bring a weak offense and a sloppy defense, but there's some potential in the pitching staff. Edgar Gonzalez, in particular, looks like he might be the MWL's best pitcher this summer.

Pre-Season Profile

Manager

Dick Schofield managed at Springfield in the Frontier League last summer.

First Round Draft Selection

• Jason Bulger, 2001; 22nd player selected

Team Age Information

• Average Team Age: 21.9
• Pitchers: 22.2
• Hitters: 21.5

• Oldest Player on the Team: Matt Wilkinson (born October 5, 1977)
• Youngest Player on the Team: Lino Garcia (born October 12, 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.

The Diamondbacks have built this team mainly from players who appeared in their Yakima and Missoula affiliates last season.

Team         League          W/L     Place    Hitters Pitchers
                                    (Teams)
Lancaster    California (A+) 61/79   T8(10)      0       1
South Bend   Midwest (A)     70/66    6(14)      2       5
Yakima       Northwest (A-)  33/42    6(8)       6       6
Missoula     Pioneer (R+)    52/24    2(8)       8       5

Many--perhaps most--of these players played for two teams last season and are counted twice on this table; one played at three levels. Three 2002 Silver Hawks did not play professionally last season. One player appeared briefly in Triple-A ball.