Aurora’s Bright Lights: May
Players of the Month
June 1, 2012: Bakersfield, California – The Aurora Borealis began the season playing .653 ball, only to find themselves 5.5 GB of a Tempe team that was as hot as it’s Sonoran Desert home. May proved to be a different animal as Aurora posted a 20-7 record (.740), picking up seven games on Tempe (13-14 in May) and moving into first place. The Borealis’ success came from two main areas: flexing their muscle – posting a team average of .328, 60 points higher than April – and shutdown pitching by the three-headed monster that is the backend of the Aurora bullpen: Bryant Burris, Francisco Garza and “The Vulture”, Juan Suárez.
Batter of the Month: When your team hits .328 with 45 HR, scoring 190 runs in a month, there are plenty of heroes. Chris Weaver hit at a .392 clip. Mark Richardson swatted 11 HR, 28 RBI and cut his strikeouts down. Quiñones hit .385 with 10 2B, 4 HR and 19 RBI with a number of clutch hits. But clearly, the choice here has to be Cory Pierce. Brought in when John Knight went down, Pierce has done nothing but torture SL pitching. With 8 HR (2nd on the team) and 24 RBI (also 2nd) for the month, Pierce hit a scorching .441, begging the question: What are baseball writers thinking when they named Bakersfield’s Pat Lilly Player of the Month for the SL? Pierce ended the month with a 12-game hitting streak where he was 30-55, a .545 shellacking of the leagues pitching.
Pierce’s arrival has created some roster difficulties for Aurora that still need addressing, because for now Pierce is in the lineup for good. Perhaps Pierce’s best game came May 22nd against Fargo’s “Jelly Roll” Tolbert. Aurora knocked Tolbert out in the fourth inning as Pierce had a 4-4 game with 2 HR and 4 RBI.
Florida GM Kevin Lewis was quoted as saying, “I believe it was in 2010 where Weaver had his dominating year. Then in 2011, Knight’s fast start had me calling him the next Pat Lilly. Now switch over to 2012 and it’s a different Aurora outfielder putting up Lilly-like numbers… pretty crazy, if you ask me, to watch three different Borealis outfielders taking turns at being the offensive juggernaut.”
Pitcher of the Month: The Aurora bats did their job of getting leads, but the opponents had a difficult time coming back as Aurora pitching was, for the most part, lights out. Speaking of lights out, in six starts, Bill Bradley threw 41 innings and struck out 68 while walking only 8, although the timing of those 8 was not the best and contributed to his two loses on the month. Francisco Garza, recently signed to a two-year extension, continues to mesmerize hitters as he struck out 10 in his 10 setup innings, with 7 hits and a solo walk.
My vote for the Borealis Pitcher of the Month goes to Bryant Burris, who is simply overwhelming opponents with his fastball. Burris failed to surrender an earned run in 18 relief innings, giving up 9 hits while striking out 26 and walking only 7. Aurora wanted to see Burris reduce the walks that haunted him in his rookie campaign and so far in 2012 he has done that, walking only 13 in 38 IP (and 54 K).
No game illustrates the Aurora bullpen’s dominance more than their tilt with Crystal Lake on the 28th. Kojima missed a start with a tender elbow, and thus a key matchup with the Sandgnats became a bullpen game. “Crabby” Ramos gave up a run in the first, and that was it as Burris picked up the win with 2 IP, 1 H and 3 K, while Lara, Johnston, Garza and Suárez closed the door on the Evil Empire.
Minor League Players of the Month: OF Michael Burton split time between AA and AAA, but neither level’s pitching has stopped his ascension towards Aurora as he’s hit at a .379 pace (.487 in 9 games at Thornton). The 25 year-old corner OF has shown an affinity for getting on base, as well, with an OBP close to .400. Possessing good speed, he has yet to incorporate that into his game.
Bruce Gilbert, the 23-year-old North Carolina native, continues to impress the coaches at AA. He sported a 5-0 record in 6 starts, posting a 1.90 ERA. The Gatineau right-hander held opponents under .200 (.199) while 
striking out 38 in 42 IP. Pitching in his 3rd full season of pro ball, Gilbert has shown great improvement at each step, from his start at Short Season-A ball through to AA. He looks to possibly begin 2013 at AAA.
Aurora’s A-ball club in San Luis Río Colorado is dominating their division and, along with El Cajon (Crystal Lake), dominating the league. Like Gilbert at AA, Chris Graves (5-0 with a 1.43 ERA in May) had a dominant month, but my choice for Player of the Month is Luis “Hugo” Reyes. Drafted in the 3rd round last season, Reyes looks to be moving quickly. After hitting .267 at SS-A, “Hugo” – or “Hurley”, as they’ve started calling him in the clubhouse – hit .391 for the month. A speedster who is still refining his base-running skills, Reyes has 15 doubles and leads the North American Farm Team Affiliation in hitting.
Coming Up: Over the next 11 days, Aurora has a three-game series with Crystal Lake, followed by a four-gamer with Tempe. Those seven days should determine who leads the division going into the All-Star break. Not to be forgotten is that Bakersfield, whom Aurora plays heading into the break, is only three games out. Once again, their pitching has been outstanding. Aurora hopes to miss Pedro Barrón this time around, as the Bears have won all three of his starts against Aurora. In those games, Barrón has a 1.37 ERA, a .269 OAVG and zero – that’s zero – HR allowed.