I considered saving this recap for Halloween, because the Dragons season was a real horror show. Their win percentage extrapolated out to a 162 game season would've resulted in quite the benchmark record: 62-100. Well done, boys. As you'll see in Friday's rookie team recaps, there is a lot of promising young talent that should fill up this roster next year. That's a good thing, because the poor people of Dayton deserve better.
Overview
As mentioned already, the team record was abysmal. They were 53-85 on the season, which was brought down by a second half record of 23-46. They never had a winning month, and there was a stretch in July and early August when they went 1-18. Good lord.
League Leaders
As you can imagine, there weren't too many league leaders on the team. Henry Rodriguez was 8th in the league with a .307 BA, and 10th in RBI, with 78.
No Dragons pitchers made the top 10 in anything.
After the jump BK and I attempt to hand out some awards.
MVP:
'creds: Henry Rodriguez
BK: Henry Rodriguez
This was a pretty easy choice. And to be fair, H-Rod had a pretty solid year. He put up a slash line of .307/.337/.473 while playing solid middle infield defense, mostly at 2B. He actually reminds me of Brandon Phillips a little bit. Bit of a free swinger, but makes good contact even though he rarely walks. Has good power, especially for his size (he's only 5'10", 150), and a good defender. He also is very aggressive on the basebaths, having stolen 33 bases but also getting caught 13 times. He was only 20 this season, so if there's one prospect to keep an eye on from this team, it's probably him.
Honorable mention goes to Ryan LaMarre, this year's second round pick. He didn't really get enough time to qualify, but played pretty well, posting a .370 OBP and stealing 18 bases in 60 games. I'd like to see a little more power from a likely corner OF though.
Most Surprising Player
'creds: Chase Ware
BK: Cameron Satterwhite
Chase Ware, a 6'6" right-hander, was signed as an undrafted free agent last year, and pitched with mixed results in rookie ball last year. This year, working out of the bullpen in Dayton, he struck out a batter per inning while only walking 9 in 49 IP. He posted a 1.84 ERA and received a mid-season callup where he was reasonably successful in Lynchburg. He may or may not be a prospect, but his success this year was certainly surprising.
Cameron Satterwhite was signed as an undrafted free agent out of THE University of Cincinnati this season, and got off to a scorching hot start. He cooled down considerably, but still was able to post a productive season after not being deemed worthy of a draft pick through 50 rounds.
Most Disappointing Player
'creds: J.C. Sulbaran
BK: J.C. Sulbaran
This was a pretty easy call too, despite the relative disappointment offered by the entire team. Many in Redsland thought J.C. was going to be the second coming, but he has done nothing but underachieve since his big splash in the World Baseball Classic. Injuries, mostly blister issues, limited him to 15 starts and 79 IP this season. In those innings he posted an ERA of 4.99 and walked over 5.5 batters per 9. I'd say next season is a make or break one for him.
Honorable mentions go to two players: Chase Weems--He was the cornerstone in the Cherry Hudson Jr. trade. I expected bigger things! Also, some hack named Orlando Cabrera was only given 1 game and 3 ABs, but couldn't manage a hit in any of them....pitiful.
Sleeper
'creds: Mark Fleury
BK: Chase Ware
Fleury was last year's 4th round pick, so it's not like he's been completely under the radar, but up until recently he had been largely a disappointment. But he turned it on at the end of the season enough to post a final line of .255/.352/.433. Note the difference between AVG and OBP. Dude has some serious plate discipline, and is also a solid defensive catcher. Certainly nowhere near the level of our top catching prospects, but not a guy to sleep on.
I was surprised by Ware, and BeeK doesn't want you to forget about him. If he can sustain his bullpen success into the higher levels of the minors, he could enter into the bullpen conversation relatively soon.