Saturday, October 24, 2009

Boise Shadow Wolves S7 Wrap Up

The management and fans were all pleased with the results of the Shadow Wolves this past season. They got off to a slow start, but finished the season with 80 wins, just shy of a five hundred record. The Shadow Wolves also won the season series against the division rival Killer Whales, who were the best team in the AL. Boise finished second in the league in batting average, and third overall in RBIs. And the Wolves topped the league in stolen bases by a decent margin. This of course was in contrast to their pitching which was near the bottom of the league. The bright side is that the Shadow Wolves have a number of good pitchers that will be making the jump to the big leagues next year, and though they will likely lose a couple bats to FA, they will also see a couple future stars called up as well, includingThe Monster, Boise fan favourite.

In individual stats, early season callup Santiago Martin lead the team in batting average, followed closely by Hideo Nakano, who was finally able to negotiate a one year deal part way into the season. It remains to be seen whether he will return to Boise, or get picked up by some other club in the offseason. Martin also lead the team in HRs with 42. Add that to his eighteen in twenty games in AAA before being called up and he finished the year with a whopping 60 HRs. He also had 51 RBIs in AAA, which when added to his 99 in the bigs makes 150 RBIs on the season. His 99 RBIs on the big league club was second to Ryan Hamill who lead the team with 112 RBIs. Hamill was second to Martin in HRs with 33. Victor Flores, the other early season callup, also had a decent rookie season. He finished with a .287 average, 11 HRs, 74 RBIs and 43 stolen bases. Flores was second on the team in SBs behind Abdullah Dillon, who had 55 stolen bases for the Shadow Wolves this year.

On the pitching side, Pete Rubel had a decent season starting with a 14-9 record, an OAV of .269, a WHIP of 1.47 and a 4.37 ERA. He was also the only starter with a winning record. Armando Lopez had a great season in the set-up role with an OAV of .255, a WHIP of 1.41, and a team leading ERA of 3.17. Jaime Weaver was another set-up pitcher with a decent season. He had an OAV of .261 and an ERA of 4.03, with a team leading WHIP of 1.28. Late season addition (via trade) Don Wang looked good, and will likely challenge Alex Cornejo for the Closer spot next season.

Wolf Industries and the management group would also like to extend a big congratulations to the AAA, high-A, and low-A clubs for winning their respective WS titles. And especially to Santiago Martin, who easily won the voting for AL Rookie of the Year. He's going to have a long and productive career here in Boise, and we're sure this isn't his last award. The future is bright in Boise, and we all expect to see the Shadow Wolves fighting for a playoff spot come next spring.

Thank you.

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