Much was made of the offseason decision to shutter the O's Appy League operations at Bluefield and it was thought that Aberdeen and the GCL squad would suffer as a result. I don't know that that's necessarily the case, but what I DO know, is that some previously unheralded international talents made their presence felt at the GCL in 2011. The GCL O's finished first in their division with a 38-22 record and finished with the second best wining percentage in the GCL with a .633.
With an average age of 20.3, the O's were on the older side of the league in 2011. They were near the top in doubles and triples, neart the bottom in pretty much everything else offensively. Their staff had the best ERA, WHIP and Ks and was within a couple home runs of allowing the fewest.
Take a look at the entire staff. I'm not really doing them justice below, but Jaime Esquivel, Mark Blackmar, Matt Bywater, Miguel Chalas and Juan Guzman are also worth tracking.
THE GOOD
Gabriel Lino: A Venezuelan with developing (but not awful) defense and a good eye combined with solid pop. Lino was 18 during the 2011 season. Slash: .282/.371/.462, CS: 28%
Roderick Bernadina (OF): The 18 year old brother of Nat Roger Bernadina showed slightly more advanced tools than the elder Bernadina at the GCL level. Young Roderick walked 22 times in 219 PA and led the team with 21 XBH. Slash: .239/.341/.413
Manuel Hernandez (OF): The Guatemalan teen slugged over .400 with a respectable OBP. Hit 11 doubles and 4 triples. Slash: .275/.356/.404
Jerome Pena (IF) and Cam Edman (C): A couple 2011 draftees that looked good in limited reps, but probably should given age. Edman (.299/.407/.481) had two passed balls in 16 games; Pena (.266/.358/.362) had a .358 WOBA in August.
Eduardo Rodriguez (SP): The 18 year old Venezuelan struck out 46 in 44.2 IP and had a 55% GB rate. The 1.81 ERA and 1.01 WHIP weren't too shabby either, but beware the .250 BABIP! FIP: 2.63
Sebastian Vader (SP): In his second crack at the GCL, 19 year old Vader halved his walk rate and boosted his GB rate by 15 percentage points with only modest slippage in his strikeout rate. FIP: 2.85
Cameron Coffey (SP): Big lefty with an injury history repeating at GCL, was 20 during the season. Struck out 26 in 36.2 IP. FIP: 2.65
Jose Nivar (RP) and Luis Bernardo (RP): The two converted field players had successful debuts on the hill. Nivar struck out 19 batters in 19.2 IP and Bernardo only walked two batters in 20 IP.
THE BAD
Billy Rowell (meh): Mustered a .749 OPS in 17 games. Proof of the pudding in the eating.
Thomas Winegardner (SS): I don't really know anything about him, but 12 errors for a 21 year old shortstop sporting a .461 OPS at Low A ball? Eeesh.
THE MEH
Greg Lorenzo (OF): Hit 6 triples and stole 8 bases, but also got caught 8 times and did not even get on base 30% of the time.
Michael Mosby (3B): Led the team with 7 home runs and walked 23 times in 205 PAs, but struck out 36 times. His fielding at the hot corner appears to be improving, but it would have been hard to fall below a .906 FPCT.
Doug Bream (1B): I'm guessing Doug is related to Sid? Don't know if he has a defensive rep, but his bat did not impress.