2011.04 - Buffalo Sauce - Batter of the Year

[mrbornac]

While the team was shut out this season a frightening 10 times, we do have a core of young batters.

Special consideration this year goes to the following hitters:

C Ernest Watts - Watts had a fantastic first full season, ranking 2nd in the league with 48 doubles, hitting .269 while trying to manage a struggling pitching staff. He also hit a respectable 16 home runs, and again, in his first full season, at the age of 23, knocked in 96 runs. This kid is the real deal, and we look forward to him collecting his extra base hits in a Bison uniform for a long time.

Rusty "Tree Trunks" Johnson - This huge man was called up on a lark, given the fact that he has such undenyable power, and he did not disappoint us at all, hitting a whopping 31 home runs in just 375 at bats. His .291 batting average was about 20 points higher then we expected, so with these numbers, it appears that Rusty will come in 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting. Can he keep up these kinds of power numbers over a full season? That remains to be seen, but so far, he has shown that the gamble in calling him up came up aces. Parenthetically, he did manage to hit 52 home runs last year, slamming 21 in just 37 games in AAA before being called up.

1B Greg Sharp - Although he was injured twice this year, Sharpie proved himself to be a power to be reckoned with when he was on the field, amassing 24 home runs and 71 RBI in just 80 games played. Batting .311 in half a season, combining with Trunks, they provide quite the combination at 1B/DH, providing some long ball power for a team that needs it to score.

OF Orlando Mercado - This native of Akron, OH had a great year on his own, winning the Rookie of the Month in April, and then going on to finish the year batting .289 with 30 2B, 5 3B, and 15 HR and 64 RBI to go along with 22 SB. Scoring 88 runs, including 81 from the lead-off spot, Mercado was a suprise spark to the team, and his good play kept some stars on the bench for longer periods of time then expected. He has made the immediate future in the OF tough to forsee, injecting himself into discussions about who to play where in 2012. If he can get the at bats in 2012 that he did in 2011, that means he is having another superb season in Buffalo.

Finally, the true best hitter for the Bison, again, in 2011, is

OF Carlin Adie - Again, for the second year in a row, Adie has proven that he is worth the money the Bison shelled out for him to come across the pond. It is hard to beleive, but he appears to be maintaining the great play that put him into both hitter of the year and rookie of the year discussions last season. His BA did drop to .260 from .292 a year ago, but he did still manage to have over 100 Runs, Walks, and RBI, to go along with another 32 home runs. If the Bison can keep some consitent starters both ahead and directly behind Adie, he could again challenge for the Hitter of the Year award by putting up truly gaudy numbers. That is something we would love to see in Buffalo.

[Al-Hoot]

Yay for Adie. I like that guy!