Aurora’s Minor League MVPs
Aurora’s Minor League MVPs
October 1, 2012: Aurora, Colorado – The Aurora Borealis finished the 2012 baseball season with a 114-48 record, a game shy of the mark they posted last season, despite scoring 68 more runs than they did in 2011. This year’s model of the Borealis has a number of individuals who could vie for league honors. Batting champ Cory Pierce and “Ice Cold” Mark Richardson, the 2011 Royal Raker, are prime candidates. Octávio Pexego had an outstanding season – perhaps the best of his fine career. Lest we ignore the pitching staff, Kojima’s 20 wins and Bill Bradley’s 324 K are certainly worth recognition. Today, though, we’d like to recognize the future members of the Borealis as we take a look at the top players in Aurora’s minors for 2012.
Thornton (AAA)
Thornton disappointed this year by not winning their division, but then turned around and surprised many by winning the Rocky Mountain League title before losing to Raleigh in the Ambassador’s Cup. There are many potential candidates here, including Ken Coleman, last season’s MVP at Class Hi-A SLRC. Jetting right past AA, Coleman hit .289 with 16 HR and 93 RBI. Michael Burton, who split time between AA and AAA, hit .299 with 11 HR in 331 AB. This earned him a shot at the post-season with Aurora while Knight is on the DL. He may make the ML roster next season or in 2014. Tony Gordon had a superb season, his second as a starter, posting a 14-4 record and a 3.07 ERA. He struck out 159 in 146 IP and had an OAVG of .197.
All excellent choices, but this year’s MVP is En-guo Guao. Signed as a free agent in 2009, the speedy Taiwanese CF hit .320 with 15 HR and 94 runs scored. On base 40% of the time from the leadoff spot, Guao stole 33 bases, and in his brief time at Aurora during the playoff push, he hit .400 before a concussion ended his season. A 2012 AAA All-Star and Glove Wizard winner, Guao is slated to be in the big leagues in 2013. The only question is whether he’ll be starting next to Cory Pierce or not.
Gatineau (AA)
The Balloonists lost in the first round to Toronto this year despite winning 10 more games this in 2011, when they made it to the CAAL championship. Arvin Blanford hit .301 in 90 games for Gatineau and LF Edmund Hansen hit .296 and drove in 87. Brad Cain continued his impressive growth and movement towards the big club by hitting .297 with 87 RBI and 86 runs scored. Bruce Gilbert followed his outstanding A-ball experience with a similar job at AA, going 15-7 with a 3.13 ERA, striking out 156 in 164 IP. Opponents hit only .211 against the 24-year-old right-hander who may very well see AAA in 2013.
But for 2012, there is no question who the MVP is: catcher Scott Vinson. Vinson had a breakout season for someone who had 7 career HR in 441 professional AB and 19 total in his college career. Scott hit 22 for Gatineau and drove in 106 while hitting .304. He also scored 89 runs. Vinson hit .278 in a brief stint at AAA. Drafted in the 5th round in 2010, Vinson is a two-time All-Star: A-ball in 2011 and AA in 2012. It’s presumed that Vinson will continue to move up the ladder to AAA for his fourth professional season, and if he performs well there, he may just push Wilson Berry for the job in Aurora.
San Luis Río Colorado (Hi-A)
A 90-win club that lost in the Baja Cali finals to National City, this team hit .307 for the 2012 season. Astounding. As you might think, they have many great candidates for MVP on the offensive side. Dale Griffith, with a lot of unmet promise at SS-A, began to show it in 2012 with a .327 average and a .469 SLG. He also stole 16 of 19 bases. Christian Madden showed his 2011 season was no fluke, as he led the Rapidos Blancos with 11 HR while batting .317. Orlando López hit .333 with 21 2B, 5 3B and 2 HR, and Rod Johnson nearly doubled his power numbers with 26 2B and 6 HR while hitting .344. In 23 games at AA, he hit .378 with 3 HR.
Luis ‘Hugo’ Reyes, drafted in the 3rd round in 2011, hit .386 with an OBP of .452 and 27 steals. He continued that excellence by hitting .471 at AA in an abbreviated nine-game game tryout. Reyes, SLRC’s 2012 MVP, hit .344 his senior season at Rice, and although we won’t mistake him for Barry Bonds, he is making waves in the minors and may be at the major league level soon enough. He is expected to make the move to AA next year.
Mokule’ia (SS-A)
The Oceanic started the season poorly but improved their play so much that they won the Hawaiian League and will play Akutan Island today for the Pacific Pennant – a title they won last season as well. Pitching was a rough spot for Mokule’ia, but they did have some offensive players who put up big numbers. Catcher Roger Bruce, a free agent signee in 2010, got his first extended playing time after two years on the bench and hit .360 with 19 2B in 78 games. Riley Cole, this year’s top selection, hit .305 in 59 games, missing about five weeks due to injury. Last year’s 2nd round pick Bobby Watson may have only hit .258, but he led the team with 8 HR and showed improved power by hitting 17 2B. The top pitcher on the staff may have been Aruban Virgil van Horssen. The ASU grad was not impressive in college but posted an 8-5 record and 3.15 ERA as a starter after pitching in relief this past college season. Perhaps his most impressive number was the 4 HR he gave up in 117 IP after giving up 7 in 34 IP at ASU in 2012.
This year’s #2 pick, 1B Tad King is the Oceanic’s 2012 MVP. After showing improvement each year at Marshall, the lanky 1B hit .323 with 7 HR and a team-high 60 RBI, giving Aurora yet another hot-hitting 1B in their system. King follows in the footsteps of Bido, Coleman and Johnson.
Looking Ahead
As we look past the 2012 season, Aurora’s biggest weakness appears to be on the mound. Only a handful of pitchers warranted a look for MVP. I expect to see the Borealis making moves in the future to shore up this deficiency, both through trades and the 2013 draft. Having no outstanding reliever at AAA to call up here at the start of the playoffs to replace the injured Bryant Burris and Ángel Lara may very well be the cause of any post-season failure. That is a storyline to watch come Wednesday when Bill Bradley takes the mound against presumed starter Pedro Barrón and the Bakersfield Bears.