Always a Bridegroom #6: 2019 Season ReviewThe club with the worst team nickname in the AFBL finished the 2019 season with a 65-97 record, bad enough for 4th place in the Patriot League South, finishing 16 games ahead of last-place Georgia Titans. The Bridegrooms have an average record of 68-94 in their first seven years of existence, and their 655 losses places them third in league history behind the Iowa Corncobs (715) and the New York Twin Towers (684). The 2020 season will be the fourth year of the franchise calling Maryland ?home,? which means that at the end of the year the club will have been in Baltimore about as long as they were in California.
And yet the club?s core identity as "lovable losers" is still the same or, likely, worse because of the nickname.
Sentiment from opposing fans is more along the lines of pity than anything else when they come to G & B & X & T & E Bank Park.
"I don't like to cheer too loudly for my club when I'm here," said a North Carolina Aviators fan who wished to only be known as "Tom" and who was visiting Maryland to see his club sweep the 'Grooms back in May. "I mean, we shut them out twice in three games. You kind of feel embarrassed rooting against them."
A couple of Maryland supporters groups have petitioned the club about changing the team nickname. ?Maryland Panic? seems to be one of the front-running names out there. Other names that have been bandied about with varying degrees of seriousness include: Monsters, Riders, Rollers, Bacon Jackals, Grinders and Horde. We?ll see if any of these will come up for legitimate consideration during the 2020 season as the club itself says they would consider putting it to a fan vote.
But back to 2019, it was a record-setting year for 27-year old 3B
Jose Ibarra, who set new Maryland single-season records for home runs (43) and RBI (106), becoming the first player in franchise history to hit over 40 home runs and the first player to ever top 100 RBI. Ibarra could have had even better numbers if a calf strain didn?t knock him out for several weeks at the end of August and beginning of September.
Jose Ibarra2019 was a big step in Ibarra?s development as he improved to .264/.303/.524 with 43 HR and 106 RBI in 561 at-bats compared to .239/.288/.406 with 24 HR and 65 RBI in 564 at-bats in 2018. A number of Ibarra?s teammates commented down the stretch that it was a ?joke? that the man who led the Patriot League in home runs (and tied the near-legendary
P.J. Foley for the overall AFBL lead) in 2019 wasn?t an All Star.
2019 was supposed to be ?next steps forward? for young starting pitchers
Tim Weaver and
Shawn Curran, with
Rod Pritchard expected to build on his solid 2018 season. But it didn?t quite work out that way.
24-year old Curran, was 10-7 with a 3.63 ERA (108 ERA+) in 2018 and 3-0 in Spring Training 2019 as expectations were building for Curran to be part of a strong one-two punch at the top of the rotation with Weaver. But Curran didn?t look like himself as the season started, getting hit hard and often and only making it longer than 5.1 innings pitched once in his first 6 starts. In mid-June the problem became clear, Curran had a bum elbow and tests revealed a torn ligament that sent him to the sidelines for at least a calendar year.
The injury to Curran has eerie similarities to that of 29-year old
Sonny York back at the end of the 2014 season. After being drafted in the 16th round of the AFBL Inaugural Draft, the then 23-year old York put together a promising 11-8 campaign in 2014, with a 3.78 ERA (105 ERA+) in 176 innings pitched before being lost for all of 2015 and a portion of 2016 with a torn flexor tendon in his elbow. York has been back but showing none of the promise he exhibited early in his career, posting a 5-14 record with 4.50 ERA in 2017, 1-6 with a 5.34 ERA in 2018 (after spending most of the year at AAA), and 7-16 with a 5.52 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in 2019.
Shawn CurranCurran finished his abbreviated 2019 season at 2-5, 5.08 ERA (82 ERA+), 1.56 WHIP, with 38 earned runs allowed in 67.1 innings and 13 starts, and everyone holds their breath that the young man can come back and realize his potential.
25-year old Rod Pritchard had an unremarkable season, going 7-12 with a 4.41 ERA (94 ERA+) and was relegated to the bullpen at the end of the season both to save innings in his arm and to audition others for his spot in the rotation. Pritchard, interestingly, took home the 2019 Best Fielder Award in the Patriot League at the pitcher position. Pritchard didn?t commit an error in 140.2 innings played, recording a clean 42 total chances with 12 put outs and 30 assists.
Tim Weaver, in his second full year at the AFBL-level, went 9-10 with a 4.15 ERA (100 ERA+), 1.25 WHIP, and 163 strikeouts against just 35 walks in 182 innings pitched. In a statement about how good Weaver is and how historically poor Maryland has been, Weaver?s 17 career wins place him 11th all-time in franchise history in that category.
32-year old
Esteban Osorid led the starting rotation in wins in 2019, going 10-11 with a 4.22 ERA (99 ERA+) and 3.7 WAR. 31-year old closer
Artie Gregory, who is 8th all-time in AFBL history in saves with 189, had a solid season with a 4-6 record, 2.60 ERA (160 ERA+), 33 saves (4 blown), 1.24 WHIP, 1.8 WAR and 84 strikeouts in 83 innings pitched. 23-year old
Enrico Leon was the star of the bullpen in 2019, posting a 3-0 record and 1.97 ERA (212 ERA+), 0.99 WHIP, and 57 strikeouts against just 14 walks in 68.2 innings. Leon, like Ibarra, felt like he was snubbed for the All Star team.
29-year old catcher
Willie Patton was again a mainstay in the heart of the Maryland lineup, going .284/.352/.531, .883 OPS (138 OPS+), 35 home runs, 89 RBI and 4.5 WAR. Time is running out for the star catcher to be part of anything meaningful in Maryland and he may be a huge trading chip in the off-season.
Manny Rosario25-year old SS
Manny Rosario showed some signs of improvement as the regular shortstop, raising his batting average and OBP slightly in 2019 from 2018. Rosario, who last season put together an (at-the-time) AFBL record 30-game hitting streak, was also excellent in the field at shortstop, committing just 3 errors in 633.1 innings, completing 61 doubleplays and showing range factor of 4.73 (+6.5 ZR).
27-year old
Jose Santana broke through with the big club in 2019 after being a 4th round pick in the 2013 Amateur Draft. Santana spent 5 full seasons in the minors before making the big club out of Spring Training this year as an outfielder/utility man. While he spent most of his time between center and right field, Santana also played left field, shortstop and second base in 2019. Santana, blessed with a very good arm, had a total of 11 outfield assists on the season (6 in RF, 3 in CF, 2 in LF).