by Francis Ferry, NLN baseball beat writer
July 7, 2020: Aurora, Colorado – The Parent club may be having their struggles as the Dog Days loom on the calendar, but the Aurora Class of 2020 has seemingly adjusted quickly to professional ball and the balmy Hawaiian weather at Mokule’ia.
GM Will Topham was drafting from the unorthodox position of a rented houseboat on the Da Costakade in Amsterdam – doing double duty for his father, Aurora owner Michael Topham (Will was also doing liaison work for the family business – “A yet to be announced project for Golden Entertainment” was all he would say). Based on the results, I’d guess that the junior Topham spent little time in the Dutch ‘coffee shops’.
With the last pick of the first round Aurora selected 2B Pablo Medrano out of Rutgers, who he had hit .404 with 10 HR for his senior season. A career .385 hitter at the collegiate level, Pablo walked nearly three times more than he struck out – addressing a long standing problem for Aurora: drawing walks. Thus far at Mokule’ia he’s hitting .348 with 4 HR and he’s keeping that 3:1 BB:K ratio going. Batting second, he’s scored 26 runs on 20 games thus far. Medrano lacks good speed and his instincts on the bases may be poor, but Aurora foresees him as a potential #3 hitter with the ability to put the ball in play, with power and get on base.
Aurora had the 2nd pick of the 2nd round, thanks to a deal with Canton that sent SP Carlos Perez to the Longshoremen (currently with a 3-5 record and a 4.33 ERA and more BB than K). With the top echelon pitchers already selected, Aurora went for what they saw as the best option on the mound and took UCLA SP Jorge García. García struggled his senior year to a 3-5 mark and a 5.06 ERA after posting marks of 2.85, 3.12 and 3.29 his first three seasons. Over the course of his four years as a Chili Pepper, Jorge did not miss a start. The one positive sign on the year was with his walks and strikeouts where, despite throwing slightly fewer innings he set career marks for Ks and fewest BBs. Thus far for the Oceanic, García (Jorge) has made 4 starts and has a 1.37 ERA over 26.1 IP, striking out 29 and walking 5 – with no HR allowed. Jorge has decent velocity and tends to be mostly a fastball pitcher, though he does have a forkball and change in his repertoire.
With their own selection at the end of the 2nd round (53rd overall), Aurora took another second-bagger – an odd move that gives the team an overabundance of hitting from that position. Perhaps the team is seeking positional help with an eye on a future without John Foster? Jorge Díaz, out of Georgetown, is a slick fielder with a bit more base running prowess than Medrano and like Aurora’s top pick, he’s a hard working – leader type of a player. After impressive averages his first three seasons, 2020 was more of a struggle – if you consider .298 a struggle. His career highs in 2B, 3B and HR are reflective of the fact that 2020 was the first chance he had to start regularly since his freshman year. He’s been slow to get the season started – he was one of the last players to sign with the club, thus he’s been limited to 6 games – mostly at DH, where he’s hitting .364 with 2-2B and 5 RBI.
In the third and fourth rounds, Aurora went for a position of weakness in the system – catcher. Fernando Negrete, a strong-bodied catcher out of Northwestern, went as the 78th player selected. A defensive work-in-progress, Negrete is very bright, though quiet in the clubhouse and behind the plate, so he’ll need to hone those leadership qualities that all the best catchers have. Negrete checked in to Mokule’ia based on a senior season of .294 with 6 HR and 38 RBI, while throwing out 27% of base stealers. Since signing he’s hit .350 and already has 3 HR and 14 RBI in 14 starts.
Luis Villanueva, drafted in the 4th, hails from Stanford and is considered to be the better thrower, if not be the better catcher. Luis was the 102rd player selected after hitting .320 with 8 HR and 44 RBI on The Farm after red-shirting his freshman year and getting only part-time play his sophomore and junior years. Part-time play is what he’s looking at thus far with the Oceanic as Negrete looks to get the bulk of the playing time, but in 4 starts Villanueva is 7 for 14 with 3-2B and 5 RBI. With the catchers drafted the past couple of years not doing as well, don’t be surprised if Negrete doesn’t get a quick promotion so that Villanueva can garner more playing time.
With the last pick (#126), Aurora took LF Lawrence Justice out of Illinois. A career .346 hitter, Justice hit .369 his senior year with a .449 OBP which reflects his 33 BB and only 14 K. Considered to be an excellent base runner, with average speed, Justice stole only 11 bases in 15 attempts for a team that wasn’t know for running much. Justice was the last draftee to sign, but still has managed to play in 10 games, where he is 16 for 31 with 4-2B and a triple. He joins a team (and an organization) that has a strong outfield presence, but should he continue to put up those kinds of numbers, he’ll be pushing the higher level guys soon enough.
Coupled with last year’s top picks, Aurora’s recent draft record looks strong – in part to a propensity to pick up selections. Last years top pick, infielder John Dickson, is hitting .313 at SLRC after hitting .318 at A ball and .327 at S A post draft. Supplemental selection Pedro Ferringo has already been rocketed through the system after hitting .394 at A ball, .327 at Gatineau and .377 at Thornton. Thus far he’s struggling some (not too surprisingly) at .235, but has posted a .441 SLG. 19 year-old first basemen John Lawson is hitting .333 at Mokule’ia after a .271 start to his professional career. Outfielder Federico Olivas has followed up his initial pro season of .319 with 20-2B and 14 HR at S A with a .289 average with 12-2B and 4 HR in 30 games at SLRC. His year has been shortened due to a hamstring injury. Lastly, SS Rod Martin hit .328 at SLRC after signing in 2019 and thus far hit .373 at SLRC and .303 with 10-2B and 10 HR at Gatineau this year.
Not to be left out of the mix are recent acquisitions 2B Jack Speed (acquired from San Antonio), who is just that – pure speed with a .431 OBP to go with the .344 at Gatineau thus far, and OF Joe Kenny (free agent signing) who was hitting .359 in the CAAL with 18-2B, 6-3B and 5 HR before being promoted to AAA – where he’s hitting .304.
By the looks of it, OSA may have it all wrong. They list the Borealis as the 16th best minor league system, but upon closer inspection, they may indeed be much higher with many guys banging on that Front Range door sooner than later.
