Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger
June 14, 2014: Palm Springs, California – Aurora opened 2014 with a 19-9 mark for April, followed by a poor 14-13 May that found them sitting six games back of the Bears, who were 39-15 as of June 1st. Typical of the Borealis, as the days warm, so does their play. Bakersfield has started June at 5-8. Aurora has closed the gap to two with a 9-4 start to the summer. Highlighting Aurora's recent stellar play was a 3-game sweep of Crystal Lake, concluding with Franky Chávez’s outstanding 8-inning, 4-hit performance to outpitch Bryan Stewart, whom Aurora chased in the 6th after scoring 7 runs.
Aurora's success has stemmed from improved play throughout the lineup. En-guo led the way offensively with a .390 average and 5 2B, while José Rivera hit .327 with 7 2B. Javier Muñóz has taken hold of the DH spot, spelling the injured Steve McDonald with a .326 average, 2 HR and 10 RBI despite a disturbing 17 K in 43 AB. Muñóz has replaced a horribly slumping Ken Coleman, who, at .176 and one for his last 26, has been returned to Thornton to find his misplaced stroke (infielder John Davis has been recalled to take his place).
Outfielders Brad Cain (.306, 4 HR, 8 RBI) and Cory Pierce (.318, 5 HR, 7 RBI) and catcher Bob Keller (.295, 5 HR, 10 RBI) joined the hit parade. The big story is the (apparent) replacement at catcher of Wilson Berry for Keller. Keller is hitting .324 on the season with 13 HR and 28 RBI in 41 games compared to Berry's .278 with 3 HR and 24 RBI in 40 games).
Perhaps not coincidentally, Aurora's surge may be related to improved play from Mark Richardson. Ice Cold has a .291 average in June, raising his season mark to .257. Making actual contact has been a major reason for this improvement. Richardson struck out 42 times the first two months of the season but only four times thus far in June. The result? 4 2B, 3 HR and 11 RBI. Al Edwards’s average may be down (.255 for June), but with 11 R, 5 HR and 15 RBI, he has been a major offensive cog driving Aurora’s rise in the standings.
The hitters have not been the only group to show a marked improvement over the first two months of the season. Chávez (2-0 with 20 shutout innings) was not the only pitcher to turn things around. Juan Silva, on a six game win streak, was 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA, striking out 13 in 14 innings. Kojima was a tough 1-1 in 21.7 IP, giving up eight runs in three starts. Aurora pitchers, who had a respectable 3.81 ERA in April and a horrid 4.26 in May, have posted a 2.37 ERA in June. With games at Bakersfield and vs. Fargo over the next two weeks, it looks like middle relief needs to pick up the pace and pitch more zeroes if Aurora is to continue their solid play.
Speaking of the Bears, despite the efforts of Carlos Guerra (.326) and Alfredo Vega (.293), Bakersfield has struggled this month, hitting a paltry .206 and being swept in a four-game series vs. Palm Springs. The Bears’ offensive numbers have slid since the season’s first month. Aurora is 1-5 thus far against the Bears (including a three-game sweep on the Front Range in May). That is a deceiving statistic, though. The teams continue a trend that is age old for these two Desert Hills rivals: close games (4-1, 2-1, 5-4, 5-3, 4-3, 2-1). The only win was a 5-4 victory where they chased Markus Hancock in the 6th inning. Hancock is scheduled for the series finale vs. Kojima. Aurora will need to score more than two runs a game if they are going to turn the tide against the Bears and move into first place.
Introducing the Class of 2014
The 2014 PEBA Draft was held last week. Aurora had eight selections in the first two rounds. With the 12th pick in the draft, acquired from Connecticut during the Winter Meetings in the Roger Jordan trade, Aurora selected OF Jacob Lilly, an outfielder from Northwestern. If the name seems familiar, that would be because Lilly is the half-brother of PEBA and Bakersfield star OF Pat Lilly. The younger Lilly was a career .342 hitter at Northwestern, with 35 HR and 137 RBI in 166 collegiate games. Those HR numbers are a little deceptive; he has hit 26 in the past two seasons. Jacob is a speedy OF who covers a lot of ground. He has played primarily LF for his career, which seems a waste of his speed and range. Lilly is a gregarious fellow and was an Academic All-American the past two seasons. With a young outfield already at Aurora and Luis Reyes in the wings, I wouldn't expect to see Lilly rushed to the big leagues. It's believed that Lilly is asking $5M as a signing bonus.
Aurora's second selection in the first round, courtesy of Arlington for signing Orlando “Crabby” Ramos, was CL Nolan Kuhn from Villanova. "Sleepy" is a powerful force on the mound. At 6'4" and 230 lbs., Kuhn delivers a dominating fastball that has been clocked over 100 MPH, and a wicked slider. Aurora's scouts have compared Kuhn to their own Bryant Burris. Nolan is described as being highly polished for a college player. The only knock on him is controlling the high heat he brings to the mound. Kuhn has a career 2.76 ERA and 49 saves for a Villanova club that won 104 games in his four years. He struck out 176 in 114 IP. Teams hit a miniscule .202 against the man who will no doubt be known simply as Sleepy. Kuhn is expected to ask for $1.1 M to sign.
With their own first round selection, Aurora took right-handed SP Clarence Flores out of Georgetown. Selecting three college players in the first round set the tone for the Aurora draft, as they selected almost exclusively college players. Flores also represents the type of player we've seen Aurora take in the past – smart and hard-working. Not an overpowering pitcher, Flores works at keeping batters off balance, featuring an excellent change and a sly screwball that keeps left-handed hitters on their toes. Clarence has a career 26-10 mark with a 2.92 ERA in 50 college starts. Teams hit .221 against him with 359 K and 87 BB in 336 IP. Aurora drafted four starters last season, all still residing at Mokule'ia, and we can expect Flores to fit right in, along with #39 overall pick Sam O'Farrell and 8th round pick Burt Johnson. Flores is expected to get a $1 M bonus to sign.
Aurora had three supplemental compensation picks for the losses of Octávio Pexego, Augusto Quiñones and Orlando Ramos. With those picks Aurora took SS Nick Giles out of Arizona, the aforementioned Sam O'Farrell from Southern Miss, and C Juan González of Oregon State. Giles is a speedy, slick-fielding SS that adds to what may be Aurora's weakest organizational position. It may be that he is the team’s future at SS. Scouts envision him anchoring an infield that includes Bobby Watson (class of 2011) at 3B, Riley Cole (class of 2012) or John Foster (also C/O ’11) at 2B, and Rod Johnson (class of 2010) at 1B. O'Farrell is another hard-throwing lefty featuring a slider and change to complement his dominating fastball. Unlike Kuhn and (to a lesser extent) Flores, Sam is a little raw and will benefit from a year or two at Mokule'ia. González, from the Sierra Nevada town of Strawberry, is a career .299 hitter who Aurora felt was the best catching prospect. He is considered a work in progress, and with Keller, Vinson, Bruce and Sergio López ahead of him, it may be a while before he gets a chance at Aurora – if at all.
