Mobile BayBears 2003 Team Preview
Published on January 22, 2003 under Southern League (SL1)
Mobile BayBears News Release
By Tom Nichols
Greetings to BayBears fans everywhere! With the start of major league spring training only about a month away, here are my best guesses on how the 2003 opening day roster will shape up.
My first impressions of this team are very positive. While we won't have the big name starting pitching prospects of 2002, the 2003 BayBears model should be a much better balanced ball club. In fact, I think our roster going into 2003 is as balanced as we have had in Mobile in several seasons. We should be a better hitting club than we have been since 1999, our bullpen looks very deep, and our starting rotation has some potential but looks like the biggest question mark.
Infield
First baseman Tagg Bozied (pronounced BO-zayd), a Padres third round draft pick in 2001, joined the BayBears midway through last season and initially struggled to make the adjustment to Double-A pitching. But he had a good final month and despite finishing with a batting average of just .214, he hit nine home runs and drove in 32 runs in 60 games. Add those power numbers to what Bozied posted during the first half of the '02 campaign with Lake Elsinore, and you get some impressive stats. Overall, Bozied hit 24 home runs and drove in 92 runs in 2002 between the two Padres' farm clubs. Then, he followed that by hitting 12 more homers and driving in 39 more runs to lead the prospect-laden Arizona Fall League in both categories while batting .275 in 39 games. Bozied could be one of the Southern League's best power hitters in 2003.
Our second baseman in 2002, Bernie Castro, will be battling for a Triple-A job in spring training. The Padres are pretty well stocked with Triple-A infielders (former BayBears Jake Thrower, Donaldo Mendez, Alex Pelaez, probably Ben Risinger, and veterans Chris Sexton, Mario Valdez and Homer Bush), so it would not be a surprise if Castro returns to Mobile. Castro's game is based on his tremendous speed. He is solid defensively despite a below average arm and is a prototypical lead-off hitter. He hit .260 with 53 stolen bases in 109 games for the BayBears in 2002.
Our shortstop in 2003 should be the Padres first round draft pick from last June, Khalil Greene (Clemson University). Green hit .317 with nine home runs in 46 games with Lake Elsinore in his first partial year of pro ball last summer. However, since the BayBears inception in 1997, only one player has done what Greene will try to do in 2003, and that is to play as high as Double-A Mobile in his first FULL season of pro ball. The only other player to do it was Kevin Nicholson in 1998. Nicholson, like Greene, had been a first round draft pick the previous summer. Kevin struggled in '98 before making great improvements in '99 and earning the BayBears co-MVP honor that season. The BayBears shortstop at the start of the 2002 season, Donaldo Mendez, moved up to Triple-A at mid-season and should return there. Luis Lorenzana, who became the starting shortstop after Mendez moved up, will be battling for a utility job with the BayBears in 2003. Lorenzana hit .243 for the BayBears last season.
Padres 2001 first round draft pick, Jake Gautreau (Tulane University), will be a starter somewhere on the BayBears infield in 2003. If Castro makes the Triple-A roster, Gautreau will be the Mobile second baseman and play the position he played in 2002 at Lake Elsinore. If Castro returns to the BayBears, Gautreau will play third base, where he played in college. Gautreau hit .286 with 10 home runs and 62 RBI at Lake Elsinore last season.
If Gautreau winds up at second base, former Birmingham Baron Danny Bravo would be slated to be the BayBears third baseman. Bravo was acquired midway through the 2002 season by the Padres to fill a need at Lake Elsinore, where he batted .287. Bravo is a versatile player who has plenty of Double-A experience.
Speaking of versatility, there is also an outside chance that Ben Risinger, the BayBears 2002 Most Valuable Player, could be squeezed out of the crowded Triple-A infield picture and return to Mobile. Risinger hit .288 for the BayBears last season, playing third base, catcher, shortstop, second base, first base, and left field. The odds would seem to favor Risinger making the Triple-A team, however.
Bobby Scales could return to Mobile. His primary position is second base, but he can also play third or the outfield. Scales will be hoping to make the Triple-A roster, but again, there are a lot of infielders in the Triple-A picture. Scales hit .276 with the BayBears last season.
Rico Washington, picked up in the minor league Rule V Draft, could also add infield depth.
The BayBears catchers to start the 2003 season will probably be the same guys who finished 2002. They are Yamid Haad and Humberto Quintero, giving Mobile as strong a defensive duo behind the plate as the Southern League will see this year. Haad batted .283 in just 18 games with Mobile last year, while Quintero hit .240 in 37 games. Quintero's throwing was sensational at times last season. In the event that Quintero or Haad makes the Triple-A club, the Padres have former independent ball catcher Ryan Smith on hand as well.
Outfield
One of the keys to this year's BayBears success will be the level of improvement the returning players show from their 2002 performances, and the outfield is the best example of this. All three projected starters, Todd Donovan, Vince Faison, and Ben Johnson, played in Mobile last season. Faison and Johnson spent the entire season with the BayBears in a learning year for both.
Donovan, a speedy left fielder, was able to stay healthy for the last four months of last season after suffering through a couple of injury plagued years in the Padres organization. He broke his hand in spring training and got a late start with the BayBears, struggling to a .219 average in 33 games before being sent to Lake Elsinore, where he played very well. At Lake Elsinore, Donovan hit .296 and stole 26 bases in what amounted to a half season of action.
Faison inherits the center field job from Darren Blakely, who will be trying to make the Triple-A team after two years in Mobile. Faison is a former first round draft pick who has progressed slowly at the plate, but he made some clear strides in 2002 with Mobile. Faison hit .253 with seven home runs and then played well in the Arizona Fall League. Faison, who chose baseball over a football scholarship to play defensive back at Georgia, is a great athlete who could blossom in 2003. The Padres put him on the major league roster over the off-season, an indication of their confidence in his ability to continue to improve.
Johnson was the BayBears right fielder for all of 2002 and led the team in games played with 131. Like Faison, Johnson was one of the youngest players in the league last year in his first season at Double-A. Ben batted .241 with 10 home runs and 55 RBI.
The coaches will also have to find playing time for former Mississippi State standout John Knott, who can play first base or the outfield. Knott hit .333 in 37 games at low-A Fort Wayne last season, then was promoted to high-A Lake Elsinore and hit even better at .341 with eight homers and 73 RBI. He had the highest overall batting average in the organization. With Bozied firmly entrenched at first base, Knott will probably be stationed in the outfield in 2003.
Outfielder Shane Hopper, who can also play third base, is another possibility. He had injuries in 2002 and missed most of the season but is a good hitter. He will be involved in one of the many battles for jobs and could make the Triple-A club.
One last name to look for is outfielder Jason Bay. He joined the BayBears very late last season in a trade and was the club's best hitter in August when he batted .309 with four homers in 23 games. He probably will make the Triple-A club, but the Padres are taking a lot of outfielders to spring training and if they add one or two more in the next few weeks, someone could get bumped back to Double-A.
Starting Pitching
As I said earlier, I believe the biggest question mark for the BayBears heading into 2003 is starting pitching. This is in sharp contrast to 2002, when the BayBears had a prospect-filled rotation that was as strong as any in all of minor league baseball. The 2003 rotation could be just as good, but it will feature some inexperienced Double-A arms. It should be noted, with great irony, that the BayBears 2002 team ERA was actually better in the second half of the season than it was in the first half, which is highly surprising considering the fact that four of the BayBears original five starters (Jake Peavy, Dennis Tankersley, Ben Howard, and Eric Cyr) and reliever J.J. Trujillo all were promoted to the big leagues by mid-season and all were long gone for the second half. But the lesser known names who filled in performed very well.
Chris Rojas, Brad Baker, Blair DeHart, and Johnny Hunter, who combined to start 57 of the BayBears 140 games last season, are all in the 2003 picture. Three of those four should join top prospects Mark Phillips and Cory Stewart, both up from Lake Elsinore, to form the five man rotation.
Rojas led the BayBears in starts and innings pitched last season in a year that saw Chris go through some ups and downs. He enjoyed a near no-hitter in June but battled inconsistency all year and finished with a 6-8 record and a 5.19 ERA.
Baker joined the BayBears in a mid-season trade with the Red Sox. He went 4-4 with a 4.48 ERA in 12 starts. Baker was outstanding when he could throw strikes and hopefully will improve in that area in 2003.
DeHart went 2-3 with a 4.45 in seven starts last season with the BayBears and missed time with injuries.
Hunter, who bounced back and forth all year between Mobile and Triple-A Portland, went 5-4, 3.40 in 14 starts with the BayBears.
Phillips, the Padres 2000 first round draft pick, is a left-hander with great promise but will have to improve his consistency. He went 10-8, 4.19 at Lake Elsinore last season and struck out 156 batters in 148 innings, but he also walked 94.
Stewart came out of nowhere to become a solid prospect in 2002. His quick emergence reminds me of the way Junior Herndon vaulted himself into prospect status in 1998 and Eric Cyr in 2001. These are pitchers that you did not hear much about until shortly before they got to the Double-A level with Mobile. Stewart started last season at low-A Fort Wayne and went 6-3, 2.39 before being promoted to high-A Lake Elsinore, where he went 5-3, 3.20. He averaged more than a strikeout per inning at both stops.
Bullpen
The bullpen should be deep with quality in 2003 for the BayBears. With the way the Padres utilize their bullpens in the minor leagues, you have to have at least four quality people in this area to win and one ineffective guy in the closer, set-up, or middle relief role can cost you a lot of games quickly. During the first half of the 2002 season, the BayBears blew a lot of leads in the sixth and seventh innings of games because their middle relievers were inconsistent. In the second half of last season, Dan Giese joined the club in a trade and Matt Hampton moved into a middle role and both were outstanding at holding leads for set-up man Bryan Gaal and closer Cliff Bartosh. Bartosh was near-perfect and the improved bullpen helped overcome the losses of Peavy, Tankersley, Bynum, etc.
The Padres have two outstanding young arms who will come up from Single-A ball to take over the critical closer role. Hard-throwing left-hander Rusty Tucker started last season at low-A Fort Wayne and was sensational, allowing just four earned runs in 31 relief appearances, posting a 5-1 record with a 1.01 ERA and 13 saves. He struck out 50 in 36 innings, walking just 10 and giving up only 19 hits. How about those numbers! Then he was promoted to Lake Elsinore and added 14 more saves with a 2-3 record and a 2.43 ERA.
Dominican right-hander Mike Nicolas, like Tucker, has a great fastball. He appeared in 65 games at Lake Elsinore last season and went 3-2 with a 2.91 ERA. In 77 innings, he gave up just 45 hits and struck out 121. Wow!
Bryan Gaal should be back as a set-up man or middle reliever. He was solid for the BayBears last season, going 4-1, 2.95 in 32 games. He had 15 saves at Lake Elsinore before joining the BayBears.
Ian Harvey was the surprise of 2002 for the BayBears. A former independent ball reliever, he became a starter by necessity with Mobile last season and went 6-1 with a 1.89 ERA in nine starts covering 57 innings. He does not throw hard but you cannot argue with those numbers. An afterthought in 2002, he deserves a chance to return in 2003.
Matt Hampton will either make the Triple-A team or return to Mobile. He went 6-5, 3.54 in 57 games last season and is another left-hander.
Dan Giese, as mentioned, joined the BayBears at mid-season. He was also very good, despite a deceptive 4-5 record. He had a fine 2.91 ERA in 32 games.
Likeable Texan Steve Watkins has spent the last two years with the BayBears and could return for a third. Mostly a starter last season, Watkins went 4-8, 3.78, but showed improvement from 2001.
Left-hander Andy Bausher is another possible returnee. He went 4-1, 3.11 with Mobile last season.
Chris Oxspring joined the club late and was impressive in six appearances. Todd Shiyuk also pitched in 10 games and will compete for a job.
On paper, that is one heck of a bullpen and as I said, in the Padres organization, you have to have a deep bullpen to win.
This looks like an outstanding ballclub. Keep in mind, however, that often times in the minor leagues, the team you have coming out of spring training barely resembles the team you have in September, when the playoffs are played. But the baseball fans of Mobile are ready for another championship run, and I like our chances with this team.
Southern League Stories from January 22, 2003
- Mobile BayBears 2003 Team Preview - Mobile BayBears
- Rays Name Minor League Staffs - Orlando Rays
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
