Royals on the Farm 9/7 -- Bees on to finals

AA - NW Arkansas: done at 75-65

Tops in OPS (min. 150 ABs and on roster)

OF/DH Cory Aldridge .269/.361/.497, .858 OPS, 23 RS, 6 2B, 1 3B, 10 HR, 40 RBI, 25 BB/37 K, 2/6 SB, 1 E in 49 games and 167 ABs -- wonder if he'll be back in '09
1B/3B Juan Richardson .296/.370/.474, .844 OPS, 90 RS (led team), 146 H (led team), 36 2B (led team), 2 3B, 16 HR, 82 RBI (led team), 54 BB/93 K, 2/7 SB, 7 E in 133 games and 494 ABs -- will the Royals keep hold of him? Be interesting to see what he'd do at Omaha. Better than some of the other filler they've had, I'd figure.
3B Ed Lucas .304/.372/.415, .787 OPS, 38 RS, 10 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 30 RBI, 29 BB/47 K, 14/21 SB, 8 E in 79 games and 270 ABs -- floundered in chance at Omaha in inconsistent playing time, solid bat for NWA
OF Brian McFall .241/.329/.454, .783 OPS, 42 RS, 16 2B, 2 3B, 18 HR, 61 RBI, 39 BB/103 K, 7/13 SB, 2 E in 106 games and 348 ABs -- probably should be back in AA next year, but we'll see
IF/OF Irving Falu .301/.367/.384, .751 OPS, 57 RS, 11 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 42 RBI, 38 BB/31 K (nice), 11/20 SB, 4 E in 101 games and 362 ABs -- quietly had pretty good season, although no one number is very flashy....more BB than Ks is always nice

others of note.... it should be noted that 1B Kila Ka'aihue hit for a 1.086 OPS with 26 HR and 79 RBI for NWA before getting the call to AAA and was obviously the NWA player of the year. He still led the team in HR, batting, OBP, SLG and in BB with 80 (26 more than anyone else on team).... 2B Marc Maddox .738 OPS (30 2B, 48 BB/73 K, 15/27 SB, 10 E, hit .283 in 127 games and 453 ABs, decent year).... OF Jose Duarte .663 OPS (19 2B, 10 HR, 50 BB/91 K, 18/26 SB, 5 E in 133 games and 528 ABs, OBP only .313 in leadoff slot, like I've noted before, 50 points more in OBP and 50 more points on his .350 SLG and he's a much hotter prospect).... 3B Mario Lisson .658 OPS (hit .225 with .284 OBP, 23 2B, 14 HR, 65 RBI, 33 BB/105 K, 31/37 SB, 23 E in 130 games and 476 ABs, we'll see if he holds on to that 40-man slot, hit lower than .205 in three months, boosted numbers by hitting .269 in August, also hit .269 in May, will (I figure) likely repeat AA).... LF Ovandy Suero .641 OPS (led team with 42 SBs and 5 3B).... C Adam Donachie .609 OPS (at one time I thought he had promise, hit .212, slugged .299, 13 XBH, 7 E in 91 games and 264 ABs, catchers take up bottom three slots on team in OPS)

Tops in WHIP (min. 20 IP)

Tim Hamulack 0-1, 1.96 ERA, 0.61 WHIP, 6 SV, 2 HRA, 1 BB/23 K in 18 games and 23 IP -- 30-something journeyman pitched well for the Naturals, gotta love the BB/K
Chris Hayes 5-2, 1.64 ERA (led team), 0.94 WHIP, 12 SV (led team), 4 HRA, 13 BB/39 K in 40 games and 65 2/3 IP -- submariner also pitched well, should move on to Omaha
Gilbert de la Vara 3-0, 2.76 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 2 SV, 0 HRA, 15 BB/21 K in 21 games and 32 2/3 IP -- BB/K not favorable, but other numbers were solid
Chris Nicoll 4-1, 3.09 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 3 SV, 2 HRA, 8 BB/55 K in 19 games (1 start) and 43 2/3 IP -- K rate and K/BB stellar, solid all around season, hopefully shoulder problem not serious
Jarod Plummer 4-1, 4.19 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 3 SV, 12 HRA, 15 BB/65 K in 29 games and 58 IP -- unfortunate DUI arrest late in season, served up some longballs but otherwise had good numbers, hopefully back in 2009

others of note.... Carlos Rosa posted an 0.82 WHIP and 7 BB/42 K in 45 innings before moving up to Omaha.... Greg Atencio 1.27 WHIP (3.81 ERA, 4 HRA, 25 BB/63 K in 27 games and 54 1/3 IP, bounced between Omaha and NWA).... Dan Cortes 1.35 WHIP (10-4 (tied team lead in wins), 3.78 ERA, 13 HRA, 55 BB/109 K in 23 starts and 116 2/3 IP, team pitcher of year, looked dominant at times, hopefully starts '09 in Omaha).... Blake Johnson 1.44 WHIP (10-9 (tied team lead in wins), 4.85 ERA, 20 HRA (led team), 31 BB/87 K in 26 games (25 starts) and 143 IP, pretty mediocre AA debut).... Rowdy Hardy 1.45 WHIP (6-11, 4.97 ERA, 14 HRA, 31 BB/87 K in 28 games (27 starts) and 155 2/3 IP, struggled in AA, but K/BB was solid, alternated bad months, April/June 6-plus ERA, August 5-plus ERA, May, July ERA under 4).... Blake Wood 1.48 WHIP (5-7, 5.30 ERA, 2 shutouts and 2 CG, 7 HRA, 32 BB/76 K in 18 starts and 86 2/3 IP, those numbers but two complete game shutouts, if he can iron out the wrinkles over the offseason could move up to Omaha).... Julio Pimentel 1.56 WHIP (7-13 (led team in losses), 5.38 ERA, 17 HRA, 52 BB/115 K in 28 starts and 157 1/3 IP (led team), disappointing year, numbers skewed up by 8-point ERA in May and 6-point ERA in July, had a 3.55 ERA in 5 August starts, probably should be back in AA next season)

A - Burlington: Bees 2, Cedar Rapids 1

1B Taylor 2-3, RS, SB, CS, E -- .400
LF Walton 1-3, 2B, RBI (2), K -- .286
2B Giavotella 1-2, BB -- .250
3B Moustakas 1-3, picked off -- .143
DH C. Robinson 0-3 -- .385
RF Van Stratten 1-3, RS -- .200

Cota 7 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 7 K, WP -- W, 1-0, 1.29 ERA, has to feel good for Luis
Sisk 2 IP, 4 K -- SV, 3, 0.00 ERA, can't say enough about how he's pitched for Bees

*** Luis Cota and Brandon Sisk combined to hold the Kernels to 3 hits as the Bees punched their ticket to the MWL Championship Series. Cedar Rapids scored a run on 2 hits off Cota in the 2nd but Nick Van Stratten hit a run-scoring single aided by a Kernels error in the bottom of the inning and Jamar Walton hit an RBI double to make it 2-1 Bees. Cota dodged some trouble in the 7th and Sisk struck out 4 over 2 perfect innings to make the 2 runs stand up. Kernels SP Michael Davitt went the distance with 8 IP of 2 ER allowed. Three Kernels had a hit each.

The Bees move on to the MWL Championship Series against the winner of the South Bend-Dayton Eastern Division finals. South Bend took game 1 but game 2 was rained out today.