Midwest League 2007

The Best Players

Here's my annual late-spring list of the MWL's Best Players for the 2007 season. In the same way we all understand that Dayton's finally found a good team, we've begun to recognize the best individual players.

In late May the MWL office asks the League's managers to help select the mid-season All-Star Team. By this time they've seen most of the teams and players; moreover, about now the stats begin to make sense. A couple weeks from now the office will tally things up and President Spelius will announce the players who'll take part in the game.

Every May I do something similar. There's no All-Star Game attached to this list, and not a lot of glory. But it gives me something to think about. This page is strictly my opinion, as of May 25....

As long as I'm offering opinions:

• Best Player? Clinton Third Baseman John Whittleman.
• Most Exciting Player? Cedar Rapids Outfielder Chris Pettit.
• Best Pitcher? Beloit's Jeffrey Manship.

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. They're the players I want to see when their teams come to town.

Best Players for 2007

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

	CATCHERS           Tm  Pos  G  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB  AVG  OBP  SLG
	Justin Brashear    SB  C   27  94 20 25  7  0  3  10 23 21  1 .266 .415 .436
	Frank Curreri      SB  C   26  82  7 25  5  1  0  10 21 20  0 .305 .447 .390
	Matt Liuzza        LAN C   25  90 12 22  4  2  5  13  8 25  1 .244 .320 .500

	INFIELDERS         Tm  Pos  G  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB  AVG  OBP  SLG
	Brandon Buckman    QC  1B  45 180 25 63 16  1  9  40  9 28  1 .350 .383 .600
	Brian Dinkelman    BEL 2B  42 152 29 42  9  4  4  12 20 22  7 .276 .368 .467
	Justin Turner      DAY 2B  40 156 27 50  8  1  3  18 18 30  3 .321 .408 .442
	Chris Valaika      DAY SS  45 173 24 56 13  3  5  36 11 40  1 .324 .375 .520
	Daniel Valencia    BEL 3B  41 154 23 47  9  0  7  25 17 32  3 .305 .374 .500
	John Whittleman    CLI 3B  43 148 30 55 16  1  9  29 28 33  2 .372 .464 .676
	Johnny Woodward    BEL 1B  40 126 20 35 10  0  4  16 22 37  1 .278 .391 .452

	OUTFIELDERS        Tm  Pos  G  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB  AVG  OBP  SLG
	Gorkys Hernandez   WM  OF  40 147 23 46 10  0  1  21 14 26 20 .313 .380 .401
	K.C. Herren        CLI OF  39 137 15 47 10  6  4  21 12 24  3 .343 .400 .591
	Chritopher Pettit  CED OF  39 156 29 56 20  0  5  25 10 28 13 .359 .415 .583
	Travis Snider      LAN OF  36 142 20 50 12  4  3  32 11 30  3 .352 .389 .556

	
	PITCHERS           Tm  W L  ERA  G GS CG SHO SV IP    H  R ER BB SO
	PITCHERS           Tm  W L  ERA  G GS CG SHO SV IP    H  R ER BB SO
	Andrew Barb        WSC 2 0 1.74 19  0  0   0  7 20.2  9  6  4  9 28
	Christpher Cody    WM  4 3 1.56 10 10  0   0  0 69.1 50 15 12 11 70
	Robert Delaney     BEL 0 0 0.67 19  0  0   0 16 27.0 13  3  2  4 31
	Clayton Kershaw    GLL 4 2 2.79  9  9  0   0  0 42.0 30 15 13 27 61
	Jeffrey Manship    BEL 5 1 1.56  9  9  0   0  0 57.2 36 12 10  7 60
	Seth Overbey       LAN 1 0 0.00 16  0  0   0  7 24.2 12  0  0  4 21
	Omar Poveda        CLI 4 1 2.26  9  9  0   0  0 55.2 38 14 14 16 46
	Rocky Roquet       PEO 0 0 0.39 18  0  0   0 10 23.0 17  1  1 10 27
	Tim Schoeninger    CED 6 2 2.41  8  8  1   1  0 56.0 59 18 15  4 39
	Glenn Swanson      CLI 6 1 2.93  7  7  0   0  0 43.0 36 15 14  6 42
	Sean Watson        DAY 3 2 2.05  9  9  0   0  0 48.1 43 15 11  7 64

• 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 25, 2007.

• Batting Order
  • Justin Turner, 2B, DAY
  • Christopher Pettit, OF, CED
  • John Whittleman, 3B, CLI
  • Brandon Buckman, 1B, QC
  • K.C. Herren, OF, CLI
  • Travis Snider, OF, LAN
  • Justin Brashear, C, SB
  • Johnny Woodard, DH, BEL
  • Chris Valaika, SS, DAY
• Rotation
  • Jeff Manship, BEL
  • Omar Poveda, CLI
  • Glenn Swanson, CLI
  • Tim Schoeninger, CED
  • Sean Watson, DAY
• Short Relief
  • Rob Delaney, BEL
  • Seth Overbey, LAN

• Some of this is simple: It's been clear since April that Whittleman will be the player to others have to beat out to take the MVP title. The league has three excellent catchers (with two of them in South Bend!), so they're all here. On the other hand, there are more pitchers who could be on the team than I can fit into the roster.
• Frank Curerri, Glenn Swanson and Seth Overbey have already been promoted. Others on this list will certainly follow around mid-season.
• Of course there's room for disagreement. That's what makes this fun.

• Obviously, this is just my opinion. Feel free to disagree.