COMMENTARY
Mound of ex-Bisons star worthy
Published: July 14, 2009, 11:51 pm
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It hasn't been much of an All-Star season in Coca-Cola Field. The Buffalo Bisons started 2-17 in their first year with the New York Mets and although they've been much better since (30-37), the only thing to look forward to is if we'll see Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado or Billy Wagner on injury rehab here.
The only former Buffalo players at the big show Tuesday in St. Louis were Boston knuckleballer Tim Wakefield and Cleveland catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez. But there are a few other ex-Bisons having good years too, especially since you could easily make the case that Seattle slugger Russell Branyan and Toronto shortstop Marco Scutaro should have been at Busch Stadium as well.
Ignoring guys who played here only on rehab, here's one corner's look at the Ex-Bison All- Stars to date:
Pitchers: Wakefield is tied for the AL lead with 11 wins, the same as teammate Josh Beckett. He's certainly not blowing people away but all he does is win (7-1 his last 10 starts). That's a long way from that 5-15 disaster he went through here in '94.
Among other starters, Fernando Nieve (3-3, 3.03 ERA) has done well in six starts for the Mets when they needed a boost. And Cliff Lee has been a horse for Cleveland (fifth in the AL in innings pitched) with a 3.47 ERA. But he's also 4-9 because the Indians have scored three runs or less in 10 of his starts.
Here's some bullpen names you may have forgotten also doing well: Edward Mujica (2.95 ERA in 40 games for San Diego), Danys Baez (1.57 ERA at home for the Orioles, .220 opponents avg. overall), David Weathers (3.26 in 35 games for the Reds at age 39), and Ron Villone (3.75 in 31 games for the woeful Nats).
Infield: Branyan's season is all about getting an everyday chance at first base. He already is close to career highs in hits (80), doubles (16), home runs (22), walks (45) and RBIs (49). Suddenly, at age 33, he's resurrected his career on a one-year, $1.4 million deal. He's probably going to get much more this winter.
Branyan is tied for second in the AL in home runs with 22, two behind Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena, and is fourth in the AL in slugging percentage (.573). He's also 17th in the majors in OPS (.956). For comparison sake, the guy just above him is Alex Rodriguez (.959) and the guy just below is Carlos Beltran (.952).
Sure he has 95 strikeouts but he's still hitting those majestic moon shots we saw here from 1999 to 2004. Said Mariners pitcher Jarrod Washburn: "If every punter got the kind of hang time Russell gets on his home runs, they would be happy. There's no one in this league even close to his height."
Scutaro has played at short in all but one of Toronto's games, committing just three errors while batting .289. He's also fourth in the majors in runs (64), behind only Albert Pujols, Chone Figgins and Dustin Pedroia. Scutaro trivia: He still owns the only walkoff grand slam in Buffalo (versus Syracuse in 1999).
Also in the middle, you could do much worse than Cleveland's Asdrubal Cabrera (.300 and just five errors at short, finally pushing Jhonny Peralta to third), or Angels utility man Maicer Izturis. He's batting .305, has a .773 OPS and has just three errors in 61 games.
Catcher: The Tribe has done a good job of reducing on Martinez's work behind the plate (45 games at catcher, 42 at first base). Tribe pitchers trust him implicitly and his power numbers have returned (14 homers, 59 RBIs) after last year's elbow trouble. Wonder if he gets dealt because, like Lee, he's a free agent after next year.
Outfield: Easily the weakest ex-Bison position. Cleveland's Shin-Soo Choo has been strong (.292-13-54, .403 on-base percentage). Another big year comes from Ryan Ludwick in St. Louis (.264-15-56), who has become the No. 2 threat in the lineup to that Pujols guy.
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