North Carolina Aviators 2018 Thread

[Chappy]

Retirements Open Doors for Two
Pitcher Boots Thompson and Catcher Steve Wright have hung up the cleats, inciting a battle for the two vacated roster spots

For Tommy Blake and Bruno Bow, news of pitcher Big Boots Thompson's sudden retirement was not bad news at all; for these two pitchers who were on the outside looking in, it meant a shot at solidifying a spot within the Aviators organization.  But do either of these two pitchers have what it takes to make it in the big leagues?

Blake started last season in AA Greenville, where he was 3-1, 1.72 in 5 starts before being promoted to AAA Raleigh.  Just two starts into his AAA career, Boots was placed on the DL, giving Blake what he thought was a temporary assignment to the Majors.  Blake entered the rotation but struggled, and was moved to the bullpen to provide depth as other pitchers tried to fill in the whole in the rotation.  On the whole, his major league line was not a disaster; 3-5-0, 4.66 in 24 appearances (including 9 starts) and a WHIP of 1.64.  The 31-year-old throws 6 different pitches, with the Cutter being his best (7).  He is smart and REALLY wants to win, and has a work ethic worthy of the Aviator way.  Stamina is an issue, but he is probably better suited for the rotation than his competition, Bruno Bow. 

Bow is a 25-year-old hailing from New Canaan, CT, who began last season in rookie ball.  After going 8-2 in 14 starts for the Delray Beach Grasshoppers, he was called up to the single-A Outer Banks Privateers, where he struggled to a 4-5 mark with a 5.89 ERA in 11 starts.  With pitching thin in the Aviators system, Bow earned a September call-up, and pitched 5 innings over the course of 3 appearances, allowing 7 ER on 10 hits, walking 2 and fanning 2.  Clearly not ready for the show as of September, it's going to take a hell of a Spring campaign to get Bow onto the 25-man roster for opening day. 

That, or dare I say, another injury. 

FOUR players are dueling it out for 2 roster spots behind the plate.  Sid Matthews, Mario Melendez, Gravel Rhodes, and Sandro Rodriguez are all very similar according to scouting reports, and narrowing the field down to 2 will be a tall order this Spring.

The most experienced of these players is 32-year-old Sid Mathews, who logged 165 at bats for NC in 90 games last season (.206-2-15).  Once a pretty good defensive backstop, Mathews has seen his abilities deteriorate rapidly over the past 2 years, and now he's rated just a 1 at catcher (3 arm) by scouts.  Since his stick isn't that great, that means he's good at, well, nothing really.  Check that;  he can draw a walk.  Career line: .201-12-60 in 608 ABs.

Next up we have a pair of first round draft picks.  Mario Melendez (10th overall pick in 2014) and Gravel Rhodes (13th overall pick in 2013).  Let's start with Melendez, who has some big league experience.  The 24-year-old appeared in 39 games last season, posting a .181-4-5 mark in 94 at bats.  Prior to his call-up, he hit .284-16-65 in 95 games for the Raleigh Explorers.  Scouts tend to like Melendez, predicting him to be a good power-hitter with a great presence in the locker room and a leader on the field.  However, he doesn't appear to have a high ceiling defensively, which could be a problem.

Rhodes is a tad younger than Melendez at 23 years of age, and is a good defensive catcher with a great arm.  He does not quite possess Melendez's knack for the long ball, but has slightly better gap power and is much tougher to fan.  Rhodes was successful in AAA Raleigh, batting .313 with 6 HR and 24 RBI while fanning only 22 times in 115 ABs last season.  He also hit .329 in 252 bats in single-A OBX and .151 in 52 AA at bats.

The fourth and final candidate, Sandro Rodriguez, is a 25-year-old without the pedigree of Rhodes or Melendez.  He spent 2017 in Greenville (.278-10-69 in 103 games) and Raleigh (.264-2-10 in 22 games).  So, while he's young, lacks experience, and lacks potential, he might be the best player offensively AND defensively when looking solely at current scouting reports.  If Gravel and Mario fail to perform well this Spring, Sandro could be the stopgap even though he's not really a major league player long term.

 

[Chappy]

Aviators Announce Opening Day Roster
Melendez, Rodriguez earn roster spots at catcher

Effects of the Expansion Draft are still being felt a year later, as depth in the bullpen, behind the plate, and in the rotation is thinner than it's ever been in North Carolina.  Much of that also has to do with the injury and sudden retirement of Big Boots Thompson, long-time #3 man in the rotation for the Aviators.  Here's a look at who made the club, starting with the pitchers (all stats represent career 162 game averages unless otherwise noted).

ROTATION

SP1 - Norberto Leon - 29 years old

18-7, 3.03, 244 Ks (1xPOY, 3xAS)

SP2 - Joe Haines - 41 years old

15-8, 3.03, 199 Ks (2xAS)

SP3 - Don Wilson - 22 years old

12-12, 4.24, 191 Ks

SP4 - Jeremy Guy - 30 years old

11-13, 4.68, 192 Ks

SP5 - Tommy Blake - 32 years old

6-11, 4.27, 94 Ks

BULLPEN

MR1 - Bob Sturm - 30 years old

3-3-1, 2.75, 65 Ks

MR2 - Hector Silva - 30 years old

5-5-1, 3.29, 79 Ks

MR3 - Steve Scott - 36 years old

3-2-0, 4.34, 31 Ks

SU1 - Randy Duke - 34 years old

5-4-2, 2.80, 63 Ks (1xAS)

SU2 - Lou Roberts - 33 years old

4-4-3, 3.37, 62 Ks

CL - Daryl Clark - 32 years old

5-5-37, 1.80, 92 Ks (4xAS)

STARTING LINEUP

1 - CF - Crawdad Hicks - 30 years old

.309-1-45, 51 SB (2xAS)

2 - SS - Curds Campos - 28 years old

.298-4-66, 66 SB (3xAS)

3 - 2B - Juan Rodriguez - 30 years old

.276-10-78

4 - LF - Greg Smith - 25 years old

.299-39-132 (2xAS)

5 - 3B - Jesus Gutierrez - 31 years old

.261-24-83

6 - 1B - Rory White - 35 years old

.264-36-97 (2xAS)

7 - RF - Jose Chavez - 37 years old

.275-34-102 (3xAS)

8 - CA - Mario Melendez - 24 years old

.181-17-21

BENCH

CA - Sandro Rodriguez - 25 years old

.302-0-6 in 53 at bats this spring

IF - Kurt Clay - 31 years old

.255-6-42

IF - Ken Young - 31 years old

.176-0-6

OF - Billy Zimmerman - 38 years old

.203-8-23

OF - Cedric Carpenter - 33 years old

.201-5-17

OF - Jeff Phillips - 39 years old

.205-10-33

[Chappy]

Aviators Shake Things Up After Slow Start
All moves thus far internal, but club stresses they may talk trade if things don't improve

Two months into the 2018 season, the Aviators of North Carolina are a ho-hum 29-25, 5 games behind Virginia and 10 games behind West Virginia. 

The bullpen and an unusual lack of power are the main culprits, with NC 9th in the league with just 40 HR thus far.  30-year-old Hector Silva, who has a career 3.50 ERA, has an ERA of 6.84 this season, while Bob Sturm has an ERA of 8.10 so far, well above his career mark of 3.16.  Nobody can quite figure out why these to key members of the bullpen are struggling, but the team bullpen ERA, which is usually 1st or 2nd in the PL is currently 6th (4.27).

In order to shake things up, North Carolina has called up rookie catcher Gravel Rhodes, who was batting .309-7-27 in AAA Raleigh and veteran 1B Steve Livingstone, who hit 10 HR in 258 at bats in North Carolina last year and was hitting .302-12-43 in AAA Raleigh this year. 

[Chappy]

Ten Players Change Teams in Washington-North Carolina Deal
Washington also picks up 6 future draft picks

The Aviators, 10 games out of first place and 2 games out of the wildcard spot, have made a massive move with a month left before the trade deadline.  Five new faces - a first baseman, and outfielder, and three pitchers - will make their was from Washington to North Carolina, while five now-former Aviators and six draft picks head west to Washington.    On their way to the Northwest are four top prospects; OF Alex Benson, OF Jesus Rosales, SP Julian Rivera, and RP Dan Woodward.  North Carolina's first three picks in each of the next two drafts are also now the property of the Resonance.

Here's a look at the players heading East:

1B Dax Rutherford will step into the starting 1B job immediately.  Just 23, he will take over for 35-year-old Rory White, who has seen a lot of decline in his game over the past two seasons.  White is hitting just .207 this year, though he does have 19 HR.  Dax, who absolutely hammers right-handed pitchers, is batting .262-9-23 but his numbers should improve in his new environment.  Rutherford is a significant upgrade defensively over White as well.

31-year-old Alvin Kane is well traveled, and has 133 HR in 721 career games.  He is batting .292-13-48 this season, and will slide into the starting LF role immediately upon arrival in Charlotte.  Kane hit 41 HR in 2015 while playing for Pennsylvania.  A twice-broken foot had caused him to fall out of favor in Pennsylvania, but he's rebounded nicely on the West Coast.  There should not be much pressure on Kane in the Aviators' powerful lineup.

31-year-old Ken Kerfoot becomes the first player in franchise history to be re-acquired by the Aviators.  Kerfoot was fresh off a 4-1, 2.62 season in the pen in NC when he was chosen by Washington in the expansion draft.  12-12 with 16 saves and a 3.75 career ERA as of today, Ken will provide some depth in a bullpen that has mysteriously struggled this season. 

Also adding depth in the pen is Hirohisa Sato, another Washington expansion draft selection.  Sato played ball for rival New Jersey prior to finding a home in Washington.  He is 14-21-24 with a 3.99 ERA in his big-league career, and should be able to relay all of New Jersey's secrets to our staff.

Finally, NC adds young H?ctor Trevino.  He was once a star for Souix City, taking home some pitcher-of-the-month hardware on multiple occasions before missing over a year to get his arm reconstructed.  Washington took a chance on him in the expansion draft, and while he hasn't yet found his groove, our scouts think he could be a 5th starter or good reliever in the near future.  He's been assigned to AAA Raleigh to start his NC career.  Trevino is 5-15-1 with a 6.81 ERA in his big league career, including a 3-1, 5.63 mark this season.

   

[Chappy]

Aviators Seek Return on Defensive Investment
Team wants to be better than 5th in PL in defensive efficiency

From the inaugural draft and on through the 3 trades made by NC in AFBL history, coach Chappy has always paid careful attention to defense.  Outfielder Jose Chavez and first baseman Rory White have always been weak links on the field, and now they ride the pine despite their big bats.  However, it has been noticed by team management that the Aviators have been floating between 5th and 8th in the PL in defensive efficiency this season.  Some of the blame falls on starting SS Curds Campos, who recently dropped from a 7 to a 6 at short.  But he's just one player;  perhaps now that White has been permanently replaced by Dax Rutherford at 1B things will look up for North Carolina.

Starters and Defensive Rating at current position:

CA - Sandro Rodriguez - 7
1B - Dax Rutherford - 8
2B - Kurt Clay* - 9
SS - Curds Campos - 6
3B - Jesus Gutierrez - 9
LF - Alvin Kane - 5
CF - Crawdad Hicks - 7
RF - Greg Smith - 7

* Starting for injured 2B Jose Rodriguez, who is rated 10 at 2B.

[mstreeter06]

Nice write up!