The North Carolina Aviators Thread

[Chappy]

Le?n Becomes First Aviator


The North Carolina Aviators have selected starting pitching prospect Norberto Le?n with their first pick in the AFBL dispersal draft.  Norberto is a bit undersized for a starting pitcher, but is extremely bright and should be able to overpower hitters with his excellent fastball nonetheless.  Norberto is also good with a chance to be great with the curveball and changeup, and mixes in a sub-par slider to catch batters off guard.  In addition to that, scouts expect him to have elite stuff when he peaks.  At 23, the young righty should be a fixture in the Aviators rotation for years to come.

The Aviators held the 2nd overall pick in the draft (the Oregon Explorers selected SP Ant?nio Lozano first overall), and now must begin the long wait for their 2nd pick, which comes 31st overall.

[Chappy]

Aviators Claim Hicks in Second Round

North Carolina's AFBL franchise has selected what they hope will be their lead-off man for the next decade in New Orleans native Ed Hicks.  The 24-year-old outfielder may not be a 5-tool player, but he's expected to be an on-base machine and combines youth with the ability to contribute immediately.

Hicks is among the fastest players in the league, and will take away many hits in the outfield.  He's very bright and among the hardest working players out there, which lead Aviators scouts to believe he will be an outstanding member of the team.

[Chappy]

Aviators Look Towards Future with Third Pick


With the 34th overall pick in the inaugural draft, North Carolina gambled on a 17-year-old pitcher from Idaho.  Don Wilson, who has made a name for himself striking out airmen on the Air Force base where he resides, is a lanky 6'3", 170 pound righty who throws four pitches including what some scouts call the best change-up in baseball.  However, he's not yet consistent with either his change or his splitter, so he is still a bit of a gamble at this point.  After all, striking out Air Force members is one thing, but fanning professional baseball players is another. 

Still, he's a likable guy, a hard worker and a leader in the clubhouse...  and everyone in Charlotte is hoping he'll be leading in the big-league clubhouse as opposed to the AAA clubhouse come opening day.

[Chappy]

Aviators Add Southpaw with Fourth Pick


NC continued to focus on young starting pitchers today when they selected the quick-witted, hard working, 24-year-old Jeremy Guy with the 63rd overall pick in the inaugural AFBL draft. 

Guy, much like 1st round pick Le?n, lacks the size you'd like to see from a top of the rotation starter, but don't be fooled.  He's a real innings eater who can take you deep into the game and give your bullpen some rest.  Scouts say he has a good Fastball and a good Forkball, but it's his Slider that really impresses them.  He also has a pick-off move that can catch the swiftest of runners off guard. 

Guy is the first left-handed player taken by the Aviators.

[Chappy]

Fifth Pick Spent on First Aviators Infielder


23-year-old Jorge 'Curds' Campos from Cuba City, Wisconsin, becomes the fifth player selected by the Aviators. 

Campos is a good defensive SS with blazing speed on the basepaths.  He is among the game's elite small-ball players; a master of stealing, baserunning, sacrificing and bunting.  As pesky as they come once he gets on base, Campos also has great bat control and knows how to put the ball in play.  He lacks power, but is a good gap hitter and should be intimidating near the top of the order nonetheless.

[Chappy]

Aviators Pick Up Fourth Starting Pitcher


With their 6th round pick, #95 overall, North Carolina went again with a starting pitcher.  With SP's among 4 of the team's top 6 picks, NC will have a deep rotation but could struggle getting any run support for these arms. 

Pat Thompson, AKA "Big Boots Thompson", is a big 23-year-old farm boy from Wyoming who throws an assortment of pitches to keep batters guessing.  He appears to be another innings-eating southpaw, along the lines of fourth pick Jeremy Guy.  Big Boots appears to be slightly more of a finesse pitcher than Guy, while Guy is slightly more of a power pitcher, which is ironic because Boots is about 5 inches taller and 25 pounds heavier.  Still, the talent difference is minimal.

[Chappy]

With Seventh Pick, Aviators Finally Add Slugger


Worried that there'd be nobody to hit the ball out of the park, North Carolina drafted left-handed slugger Jos? Ch?vez with the 98th overall pick. 

Ch?vez, a nearby Virginia native, is an extremely smart hitter with a lot of power.  While not exactly tough to fan, he makes good contact for a power hitter, especially against right handed pitching.  At 31, Ch?vez is the oldest player taken thus far by the Aviators.  Scouts like his work ethic, and think that it will add a couple of seasons to his career. 

[Chappy]

Memorial Day Draft Round-Up; Aviators Add Six

(L-to-R) Joe Haines, Rory White, Steve Wright, Kurt Clay, Jes?s F?lix, and Daryl Clark joined the Aviators today.

Just when you thought the Aviators had rounded out their starting rotation, they took (surprise!) another starting pitcher.  35-year-old Joe Haines was brought in to mentor the NC staff.  Haines throws five pitches but has really made a living off of his change-up.  Although he was the fifth starter taken, Haines will likely be the opening day starter if he is healthy come the start of the season.

With the rotation taken care of, NC used their 9th round pitch to get more power.  1B Rory White, 30, has a reputation for simply slaughtering RHPs.  He struggles vs lefties in comparison, but can still hold his own if a suitable platoon partner is not found. 

35-year-old Steve Wright was taken next.  The catcher, who is likely to be named team captain, packs a lot of punch and should be good for 25-35 homers this season.  Unfortunately, he's near the end of his career.

In the 11th round, the Aviatros returned to drafting youth with 26-year-old second baseman Kurt Clay.  Clay is known more for his glove than his bat, but he should at least be capable at the plate. 

NC added another slugger in 33-year-old Jes?s F?lix with their 12th pick.  F?lix might be molasses on the basepaths, but he's got a giant bat, although much like Rory White he does more damage to RHPs than LHPs.  F?lix, a LF, rounds out the Aviators outfield along with RF Jos? Ch?vez and CF Ed Hicks.

With the 194th overall pick NC finally chose an arm for the bullpen by taking Daryl Clark.  Clark, 26, is has a live arm and a dominating fastball that blows batters away.  He also has solid control and gets good movement on the ball.  Whether he is capable of closing won't be known until Spring.

[Chappy]

Aviators Add Depth

The "Third Day" of drafting started with NC adding another reliever in Lou Roberts (pick 223) and a potential starting third baseman in Eddie Kinlaw (pick 226), both age 27.

In the 16th and 17th rounds, the Aviators picked up 28-year-old Randy Duke, another quality reliever out of Chattanooga, TN and 36-year-old Juan Malovos, a veteran of the Cuban leagues who has the accuracy of a marksman.

With the 287th and 290th overall picks, NC drafted flexible outfielder Benjamin Barbier, a power-hitting Canadian, and Jake Norton, a five-position player who also has the ability to hit the long ball.

Two more relievers were taken in the 20th and 21st rounds, both of them strikeout artists.  37-year-old Sandy McCoy was taken with the 319th pick and 33-year-old Luis Mercado was taken at #322.

The Aviators turned their focus to younger pitchers starting in the 22nd round.  19-year-old Horace Cornett, a 3-pitch southpaw reliever was added at #351.  Pick #354 overall was used to draft 25-year-old Ken Kerfoot out of London, Ontario.  25-year-old Hector Silva was taken at #383, and 27-year-old SP Augusto Rivera was taken at #386. 

The Aviators are expected to turn their attention back to position players as the draft nears its end.

[Chappy]

Small Camp? Aviators Only Invite 31 Players to Spring Training

The Aviators coaching staff was very candid with the press following the reporting of pitchers and catchers to their Delray Beach, FL complex.  "We don't have a lot of time to learn about these players, so we wanted a reasonably sized pool", general manager Chappy told the handful of reporters gathered to hear about his young franchise.  "We basically trusted our scouts to find us the top two at each position along with the top six starting pitchers and the top nine relievers, and from there, we'll trim it down to 25.  In fact, we'd like to have our 25 sorted out after the first dozen games so we can use the second half of spring training to work on team chemistry".

The biggest surprise in store for the early followers of this team?  Two of the first six players drafted by the Aviators are not in camp.  Third pick Don Wilson and sixth pick Big Boots Thompson are across town working out with the minor leaguers. "Yep, those two are likely to start the season in AAA," Chappy said.  "We love what they will bring to this organization down the road, but we don't want them to be part of this initial whirlwind.  We're taking it slow with them."

[mikezone13]

How many injuries until your young hurlers get thrown in to ML action?

[Chappy]

Let's see... it would take 2 at this point.  But if a lot of things go wrong they could make it sooner, lol.

[Chappy]

Aviators Trim Roster to 25 Early

Expressing a desire to build chemistry early, the North Carolina Aviators have trimmed their 40-man camp roster down to 25 members with a dozen games still remaining on the Spring Training schedule.

Pitchers Tommy Blake, Luis Mercado, Augusto Rivera, and Ken Kerfoot have all been assigned to AAA along with outfielder Jeff Phillips and infielders Ed Moser and Dan Bell.  Moser was not on the original camp roster but had been called up to replace an injured player.

Both C Steve Wright (wrist soreness, out one more week) and 3B C?sar Alfaro (fractured thumb, out   3 more weeks) have already seen the DL this spring, with Moser replacing Alfaro and Mike O'Brien replacing Wright.

There could still be some adjustments made prior to opening day, particularly in the infield where Jake Norton is the only backup for 2B, SS and 3B, but it will be based on the play over the next 12 days.

[Chappy]

Aviators Prep for Regular Season Opener

Well, prognosticators might have painted a grim outlook for North Carolina this season, but the Aviators put together a 15-9 spring to roll into the season opener with some momentum.

#2 overall pick Norberto Leon looks to be as good as advertised, posting a 2-0 record with a 0.90 ERA in 5 spring starts.  Closer Daryl Clark has been sharp as well, saving 8 games and posting a 1-0 record and a 0.60 ERA.

Here are the team leaders by category this spring:

Runs - Jose Chavez - 14
Hits - Kurt Clay - 25
Doubles - Jesus Felix - 4
Triples - Crawdad Hicks - 2
Home Runs - Rory White & Jose Chavez - 7
RBI - Jose Chavez - 14
Walks - Jose Chavez, Jesus Felix & Norm Hughes - 6
Steals - Curds Campos - 10
AVG - Cesar Alfaro - .452
OBP - Cesar Alfaro - .515
SLG - Eddie Kinlaw - .727
OPS - Eddie Kinlaw - 1.142

Wins - five tied with - 2
Saves - Daryl Clark - 8
ERA - Daryl Clark - 0.60
Games - Lou Roberts - 16
Starts - Norberto Leon & Joe Haines - 5
IP - Lou Roberts - 25 2/3
K's - Joe Haines - 25
WHIP - Norberto Leon - 0.35
OPP AVG - Norberto Leon - .079

[Chappy]

At Trade Deadline, Aviators in Top Wildcard Spot

The Ohio Knights lead the Patriot League with a 67-41 mark, 7 and a half games ahead of the NC Aviators.  Kentucky currently occupies the second wildcard spot, 3 games behind North Carolina. 

The season has been very streaky for the Aviators, who have mixed some 1-9 sims in with some 9-1 sims to make it really hard to predict how the team will fair as we enter the home stretch.

Here's a look at how our starting lineup looks today:

1 - Crawdad Hicks - CF - .315-2-34, leads team with 123 hits, Leads PL in OBP (.429) and Triples (7), 2nd in AVG and Steals (32).
2 - Curds Campos - SS - .254-0-36, leads PL with 52 steals.
3 - Benjamin Barbier - LF - .308-7-20, leads players with 100+ AB in OPS (952), entered starting lineup July 15 to replace Jesus Felix
4 - Jose Chavez - RF - .281-27-86, leads team in HR and RBI, leads PL in total bases (210)
5 - Rory White - 1B - .256-22-60, 2nd on team in walks (42), HR and RBI
6 - Cesar Alfaro - 3B - .214-10-34, leads team with 22 doubles
7 - Kurt Clay - 2B - .250-4-25
8 - Steve Wright - CA - .222-10-35, 2nd on team with 20 doubles

DL - Jesus Felix - LF - .269-15-59, 3rd on team in HR

It's a luxury to have had a guy like Barbier I could pull off the bench and insert right into the #3 spot to replace Felix, who has missed 2 weeks and will miss 3 more, but I'm not really sure I'll handle it if he is still leading the team in OPS when Felix gets back.  Perhaps Felix will have lost his starting job; too soon to tell.  White and Wright began the season horribly, but have hit well in recent weeks to pull their averages way over the Mendoza line.

...and the rotation...

SP1 - Joe Haines - 14-5, 2.56, leads PL in ERA
SP2 - Norberto Leon - 7-8, 3.63
SP3 - Jeremy Guy - 12-9, 3.80, leads PL with 2 shutouts
SP4 - Ed Walsh - 10-5, 4.67
SP5 - Big Boots Thompson, 4-1, 4.46 (only 7 starts)

We've shifted the order a lot, moved Silva to the pen, tried out Ron Stewart in the rotation, sent him back to AAA, promoted Big Boots from AAA, toyed with a 4-man rotation, and I think I've finally settled on a starting 5 I like. 

...and bullpen.

Long Relief - Hector Silva - 2-6, 4.40, started 7 games earlier in the season
Middle Relief - Randy Duke - 2-3, 2 saves, 3.15
Middle Relief - Lou Roberts - 2-2, 4 saves, 2.45
Setup - Juan Malovos - 0-2, 2 saves, 3.00
Setup - Luis Mercado - 1-2, 1 save, 3.23
Closer - Daryl Clark - 4-2, 25 saves, 1.45

Lookin' good!