Dec. 8, 2019

Benny Hayden

Gazette Staff

As the calendar is soon to turn to 2020, it’s time to look at the year that was in Badgers baseball in 2019.

The team finished with a 79-83 record, which was their best total since 2010, and the best under the current management.

But despite remaining in the playoff picture well into the dog days of summer, the Badgers still fell 10 games back of the division crown, marking the 12^th consecutive time the team has failed to make the postseason.

There were a lot of standout performances in 2019, as well as a lot of forgettable ones.
We’re sending the 2019 Badgers back to school in this report, assigning a standard letter grade on the A to F scale for all the players who suited up in Kalamazoo this season.

The letter grades take into consideration performance, contract, as well as expectation of that specific player and how they did or didn’t meet those expectations.

In this week’s edition, we’ll look at the hitters, sorted from least to most at bats during 2019:

LF – Francisco Debesa – F

It’s been a fall from grace for the 33-year-old outfielder, who had a breakout season in 2015 with Kalamazoo, batting .308 with 31 home runs. Things fell hard from there and his 2016-2018 seasons with the Badgers were characterized by poor performances and complaints over playing time.

He was signed and later released in 2019 by the San Antonio organization and surprisingly, with many outfielders going down with injuries, Kalamazoo signed him again on Aug. 4 to a minor league deal. He was eventually called up to the big league squad and hit just .160/.250/.160 through 50 at bats, with no home runs. He was subsequently released on Sept. 22.

3B – River Adkins – C+

Adkins has been the ultimate role player for Kalamazoo in recent years, perhaps the epitomy of a AAAA player. He spent the majority of his year in AAA this year, but when called up to fill in for Kalamazoo he hit for a reasonable .754 OPS.

CF – Ming-Feng Sima – C

Sima had a limited role coming into 2019 and didn’t do well in that position, hitting .244/.272/.333 in 78 at bats, before being released to clear a roster spot on May 26. That ended an eight-year union between the team and player that had seen Sima hit .283/.319/.354 through over 2,200 at bats.

“I feel hurt to be honest with you. This is the only organization I’ve known and I’ve given them a lot of good years. To be told you are no longer wanted or needed, it stings,” Sima said at the time following his release.

He subsequently was signed and released by San Antonio and is now currently in the Connecticut Nutmeggers organization.

RF – John Baker – B+

Considering Baker wasn’t even on the radar for a possible trip to Kalamazoo at the beginning of 2019, it must be considered a positive campaign.

He turned in one of the best minor league seasons of all time in Kalamazoo, with his .303/.384/.644 slash line at AA with 37 home runs earning him Minor League Player of the Year honours in the organization.

That performance earned him a trip to the majors late in the season and he flashed some of that power there, hitting 6 home runs through 92 at bats, with a .272 average. That was quite a respectable performance, but it also came with zero walks – he’ll have to find some more patience and an improved on-base percentage if he wants to stick with the big club in 2020.

C – Ray Tuff – D

Tuff wasn’t expected to be a huge contributor, as an infrequently used backup to Lorenzo Amador, and he did the job mostly as required, albeit with a decreased offensive performance.

In 2018 he OPS-ed .750 through 181 at bats with the Badgers in the same role. In 2019 that fell over 100 points, to .644. Needless to say his backup job will be in jeopardy this spring, especially with the recent Rule 5 pickup, Jeremy Steele.

1B – Jaime López – C –

López was part of the package that came to Kalamazoo on July 28 in the Chris Allen trade.

He was seldom used and provided adequate defense, with a below-average offensive contribution.

1B – Steve Collette – D

Collette has been in a back-and-forth playing time battle with Bill Farrell over the past several years, as the two have been shuttled back and forth between AAA and Kalamazoo .

It was Collette’s job to lose coming into 2019 after a 2018 in which he hit .306 with a .772 OPS. Lose the job he did, hitting only .253/.280/.400 before being outperformed by Farrell and demoted to AAA, where he spent the majority of the season.

RF – Michael Drew – A

Once regarded as a highly-touted hitting prospect who hit .370 in AA in 2016, Drew ‘s stock had fallen in recent years, thanks to a disastrous 2018 audition with Kalamazoo, where he hit only .194 through 62 at bats.

But injuries forced Drew back up to Kalamazoo late in the season in 2019 and he took advantage, hitting over .400 through the start of his call-up and ending up with an impressive .324/.365/.474 line with 5 home runs in 173 at bats.

He has now likely guaranteed himself a roster spot to being 2020 and could even get an opportunity to be a starter.

“I was seeing the ball and having fun. You’re going to have good results when you’re having a good time out there,” Drew said of his campaign.

2B – Carlos Rodriguez – B+

Rodriguez was in the midst of an all-star season when he was dealt from the Canton Longhshoremen on July 31.

He kept up his hot season in Kalamazoo, hitting .291 with a .377 OBP and serving as a table-setter for the Badgers offense.

The defence isn’t what it used to be, but Kalamazoo is going to continue to rely on Rodriguez for offensive contributions going forward.

LF – Keitaro Sato – D

Acquired in the Chris Allen trade, Sato has always been highly regarded by scouts, but hasn’t yet been able to put that in action.

He OPS-ed only .641 for Kalamazoo and was subsequently shipped to Japan in a trade.

CF – Nenad Santrac – F

Santrac has long been a thorn in the side of Badgers fans. Highly regarded by scouts, he’s never quite been able to make the most of his talents.

He had a breakout year in 2017 where he slugged 2017 home runs – in the process earning himself an over $10,000 arbitration award. But the production hasn’t followed in the following two years and Kalamazoo cut ties with Santrac after the season, not offering him another contract to go to arbitration.

While he would have been in line to make over $12 million through arbitration, Santrac is now without a job and reportedly seeking much lower than that in order to continue his PEBA career.

SS – Derrek Lollar – F

Another Badger who has failed mightily to live up to expectations. Lollar is one of the game’s premier defenders, but despite the expectation of offensive output, he’s been a big drain on the team when the bat is in his hands.

Lollar does have some power, he hit 16 home runs in 2018 and 8 before his demotion in 2019, but that’s about all he’s good for. With a batting average of .164, an OBP of .230 and an OPS of only .496, the Badgers decided they had finally had enough and optioned Lollar to the minors in 2019.

For what it’s worth, he fit in well with the team’s AA squad, showing he can in fact hit – if not at the PEBA level – putting up a .341 average and 1.154 OPS through a small sample of 41 at bats with that team.

While depth at the major league level is currently pretty thin for Kalamazoo on the infield, Lollar will have a tough time to regain a big league job in 2020.

“The kid can’t hit. We need players who can hit,” said vocal team owner Don O’Quinn at the time of Lollar’s demotion.

LF – Manny Womack – B –

Once regarded as one of the team’s top hitting prospects, Womack hasn’t yet become fully acclimatized to the PEBA level.

He was plagued by a couple minor injuries in 2019 and also struggled to get playing time behind before Chris Allen was dealt.

However, in part-time duty of only 301 at bats, Womack hit 15 home runs and had an OPS .785. He’s likely to get a bigger role in 2020 and the power numbers should continue to flourish.

LF – Chris Allen – A

The PEBA community was surprised when Allen signed a one-year contract for $13.5 million with Kalamazoo prior to the season.

It was a relatively low-risk move for the Badgers and it paid off, as Allen rewarded the club with a solid campaign that saw him belt 20 home runs in Kalamazoo to go along with a .865 OPS.

He was subsequently dealt to the Florida Featherheads, which netted Kalamazoo a return of five players which should pay dividends in the future.

2B – Gil Sterling – B+

Sterling continued to emerge as one of the game’s brightest young stars and while it was an injury-plagued season, when he could stay on the field, he was effective, OPS-ing .840 through 334 at bats.

He will continue to be a key cog in the franchise if Kalamazoo has any hopes of getting to the postseason.

3B – Larry Martin – D

Martin was signed on a one-year contract in the season, following a campaign in which he reached base at a .403 clip. Kalamazoo was expecting more of the same from him, but Martin regressed in most categories, his OPS falling roughly 70 points.

He was not offered a contract extension and is currently a free agent.

3B – Ralph Gunther – C+

Gunther was also signed on a one-year contract, although one much lower in value, $1.1 million. Expectations weren’t overly high for the former slugger, but due to injuries Gunther ended up playing a bigger role on the team than expected – he had the fifth most at bats on the team.

He excelled from a power perspective, knocking out 28 home runs, but the .248 OBP and 159 strikeouts left a lot of fans frustrated with his all-or-nothing season.

Gunther is currently testing the free agent market after reportedly wanting as much as $10 million a season to stay in Kalamazoo.

RF – Héctor García – B+

A burgeoning star, García was a consistent performer for Kalamazoo.

He actually regressed from a breakout 2019 campaign, but still posted a respectable .274/.372/.428 slash line, with 15 home runs.

The Venezuelan has been rewarded with a six-year, $52-million contract extension that will see him in Kalamazoo through the 2025 season and his expectations are high.

“I need to be better,” he said following the season and his contract extension. “I had a good year, but I know I am capable of more. I’m very pleased that the organization has such faith in me to set my family up for life like this.”

1B – Russell Guy – A-

While many young players struggle during their first taste of PEBA baseball, Guy thrived, posting a .296 average with 15 home runs and an .800 OPS. The ceiling is high on the 25-year-old and for the first time in several seasons, there is no question about who will be playing first base in the year ahead.

CF – Bill Meade – B

Meade continued to show improvement as he acclimatizes to PEBA, knocking out 18 home runs and posting a .777 OPS. He remains a defensive liability, but was pressed into action in the field at times during the year.

He is expected to continue to improve in 2020 and he’ll need to in order to justify the Badgers keeping him around as a DH-only type who likely isn’t going to hit 30+ home runs.

C – Lorenzo Amador – A

“Big Cheese” continued his maturation as a PEBA player and provided great clubhouse leadership for the team, while guiding the pitching staff.

He hit 26 home runs and also saw his OPS rise almost 100 points, to .832, while providing good defence.

The front office is reportedly trying to lock Amador up to a long-term contract, but the two sides haven’t been able to agree on terms to date.

Amador has established himself as one of the premier catchers in the league and he’ll be the centrepiece of any type of Kalamazoo effort to get back to the postseason.

“We’re not happy with our year because we weren’t playing baseball in October,” Amador said. “There’s a lot of belief in the room that we can get where we want to be and we’re going to keep working hard to get it done.”