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It was sort of an odd year for the Baysox. They were in the hunt for an Eastern League playoff berth down to the wire, but faded. This is understandable, however, as they were distinguished by a seeming lack of true standout performances. Bowie served as a prime destination for rehabbing vets and dead end organizational filler alike, though also featured two of the youngest players in the league.
The Good
L.J. Hoes: Hoes struggled upon his promotion in late May, but adjusted nicely. He had a great July where he posted a .349/.405/.519 slash and finished with a .305/.376/.412 and a nice 10.9 walk rate. Hoes is quick, but stealing bases has never really been his calling card. Although he swiped 16, he was nabbed 7 times. He is still only 21, but spent a lot of time in left field and there is concern how his skills will play there ultimately.
Joe Mahoney: While not exactly building on his excellent 2010, Mahoney continued to show promise in 2011. In between bouts with the injury bug, Mahoney had 41 extra base hits in 358 plate appearances, though his walk rate was a sort of weak 7%. Mahoney is 24, but Brandon Snyder should be concerned nonetheless.
Caleb Joseph: In addition to taking one of the best headshots in Baysox history, Joseph showed major improvement behind the plate and modest improvement at bat. He threw out 38% of baserunners up from 27 and 26% in his previous two seasons. His walk rate improved and K rate declined for the 4th straight season. Of course, Joseph is 25 and was repeating at Bowie.
Cole McCurry: McCurry had a great, brief run at Bowie in which he struck out 44 in 33.2 innings. He also walked 14 and allowed no home runs. His promotion to Norfolk did not go as swimmingly.
Steve Johnson: Johnson made 10 starts at Bowie and struck out more batters than innings pitched and had a solid FIP of 3.83. The fact that he allowed 7 home runs in 58 innings, though, suggests he'll need to make some adjustments if his goal is to pitch at OPACY.
The Bad
The continued presence of Mitch Atkins, Ryohei Tanaka and Pedro Viola.
The Meh
Tim Bascom: Had a great season, but really should as a 26 year old in his third stint at AA.
Brandon Waring: Brutal looking numbers, but Waring was incredibly unlucky (.265 BABIP) and showed a dramatically improved k rate (down 5% from last year). Still, it wouldn't have been unreasonable to expect a bit more production from a 25 year old repeating at AA.
Pedro Florimon: A constant target of derision for his stranglehold on a 40 man roster spot, Florimon had a solid season at Bowie. He walked in 10% of his plate appearances and posted a .268/.344/.397 slash. It was his third tour at Bowie, but his first full season. He'll be 25 in the 2012 season.
Oliver Drake: After dominating at Frederick, Drake made six brutal starts and six good starts at Bowie. The good news is that he seemed to adjust, the bad news is that his best numbers seemed to come in a month where batters had a .265 BABIP against him.
Xavier Avery: We constantly hear about his tools and how raw he is and how his strike zone judgment is improving. He IS 21 and his walk rate and k rate both improved, but he only managed to get on base about 32% of the time and that includes a .353 BABIP! It does bear mentioning that his speed is rated very highly and he stole 36 bases.
Greg Miclat: Stole 50 bases, was caught only 3 times and got on base 37% of his plate appearances. His power seems glaringly absent for a 24 year old repeating at AA, but he DID notch wOBAs of .366 and .391 in July and August.