Bats pitcher Homer Bailey, seen here throwing in a Reds' spring training game,
will start on opening night for the Bats against the Columbus Clippers on
Thursday, April 9th at 7:05PM (AP photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
As the Louisville Bats baseball team gets ready to start the 2009 campaign, it hopes to build on the success it experienced last season, when the team won a franchise-record 88 games en route to an International League West division title. Although the team was knocked off in the first round of the Governor’s Cup playoffs by the Durham Bulls, there is still plenty of reason for optimism. If the cheap beer and fun-filled promotions aren’t enough to entice you to downtown Louisville for some games at Louisville Slugger Field this season, then perhaps the play of a team that tied for the best record in the league last season can.
Perhaps the most important cog returning to the team this year is manager Rick Sweet, who won International League Manager of the Year honors in 2008. This will be Sweet’s fifth year with the Bats, and in three of his four seasons with the club, the team has finished above the .500 mark, including last season, when they won 88 games. Sweet also had an 87-win season at the triple-A level in 1995 when he was manager of the Tuscon Sidewinders of the Pacific Coast League. Ted Power returns to the squad in his fourth season as pitching coach, and Smokey Garrett is back with the club for his seventh year as the team’s hitting coach.
One of the most promising signs for the upcoming season lies in the fact that the Bats return several of the key pieces from last year’s stretch run to the playoffs, when they went a franchise-best 18-7 in the month of August. Amongst the integral players who will begin the 2009 season on Louisville’s roster are several starting pitchers who were productive last season, including: Adam Pettyjohn, Matt Maloney, Ramon Ramirez, Justin Mallet, and Homer Bailey. Pettyjohn set the franchise record last year and led the International League with 15 wins, while Maloney was 4th in the league with 132 strikeouts in 140 innings pitched. Starting opening night for the Bats will be Bailey, who is considered one of the team’s top pro prospects after being selected 7th overall in the 2004 draft. In 15 starts with Louisville last season, Ramirez posted a 3.08 ERA, and spent some time towards the end of the season in the Reds’ starting rotation. Mallett spent most of last season with the Bats, and split his outings between starting and coming on in relief.
Coming out of the bullpen, the Bats will be without 2008 all-star closer Jon Adkins, but will return several arms who have gotten the team out of some late-inning jams. Bill Bray, a lefty who spent much of last season with the Reds, will be in the mix, as well as Josh Roenicke and Carlos Fisher. Roenicke, a right-hander, had a 2.54 ERA in 34 games with Louisville last season, striking out 43 batters in 39 innings. Fisher had a 1.04 ERA with the Bats in 14 appearances after being called up late in the season from double-A ball. Some new faces on the mound to start 2009 will be Pedro Viola, Sam LeCure, Robert Manuel, Ben Jukich, and Jeff Kennard. Manuel and Jukich both had brief stints with the Bats in 2008, but spent most of their seasons in Chattanooga at the double-A level. Viola and LeCure also spent last year in Chattanooga with the Lookouts, as LeCure was a starter with a 3.42 ERA . He may crack the starting rotation, and push another of the Bats’ pitchers to bullpen duty. Kennard spent last year in the Angels organization, mostly at the triple-A level.
In the outfield, the Bats will have a new look from 2008, as the only returner who played last season is Drew Stubbs, who is regarded as one of the Reds best young prospects. He will be back in Louisville after hitting .293 once called up to triple-A last August. Stubbs was the Reds 8th overall pick in the 2006 draft out of the University of Texas. Norris Hopper, who missed virtually all of last season with Tommy John surgery, will also start the season in a Louisville uniform. Hopper hopes to regain the form that allowed him to be a productive player with the Reds in 2007, when he batted .329 in 307 at-bats. Also added to the outfield is Wes Bankston, who made his major leage debut with the Oakland A's last July after hitting .280 and blasting 20 home runs with their triple-A affiliate in Sacramento. Jonny Gomes, who holds the Tampa Bay Devil Rays record for most home runs by a right-handed batter, begins his first year in the Reds organization, and will also vie for playing time.
Louisville returns several infielders from last year’s squad, including 2008 co-MVP, first basemen Kevin Barker. Barker led the Bats last season with 21 HRs and 77 RBIs. Third basemen Adam Rosales, who played more games than any other Louisville Bat last year before getting a late-season major league call-up, will be back with the team, as well as 2B Danny Richar, who was acquired at midseason last year in the Ken Griffey, Jr. trade. Luis Bolivar, a utility infielder who was second on the team in steals, will also return to the squad. New faces around the horn will be youngsters Chris Valaika, who was voted the organization's Minor League Player of the Year after hitting a combined .317 between the single-A and double-A level. Also new to Louisville will be Danny Dorn, not to be confused with Roger Dorn of the 'Major League' movies. Dorn spent most of the 2008 campaign in Chattanooga, hitting .277 with 21 homers, including four multi-HR games. Both players were selected by the Reds in the 2006 draft, and will be seeing their first action at the triple-A level.
Behind the plate to start the 2009 season for the Bats will be Craig Tatum, who was promoted to Louisville last August, as well as Brian Peterson, who spent most of last year in the Baltimore Orioles organization. Also figuring into the mix is the versatile Wilkin Castillo, who has played every defensive position on the field in his career except pitcher and first base. Castillo was acquired from Arizona in the Adam Dunn deal last year, and enjoyed a little bit of time with Reds towards the end of the season, as he hit .281 in 32 plate appearances.
Watching the Bats play early this season shouldn’t be a problem if you are in the Louisville area, as the team starts the year with a seven-game homestand. The team’s first game is tomorrow night, Thursday, April 9th, at 7:05 against the Columbus Clippers. After playing a series of four games versus the Clippers, the division rival Toledo Mud Hens will come to town for three, starting on Monday night. See a list of game-day promotions here, as well as the Bats season-long schedule here.
Did you like this article? Try: 2008 season recap
Comments
Do you really work with the bats? If you did, you would know that the roster you just copied from the bats site contains at least 2 released players (Aaron Herr, Ron Flores) and one retired (Tyler Pelland) and missing quite a few.
Greg:
My apologies on the errors in the story. I was indeed working with an out-of-date roster. Thanks for catching the mistakes, as I have now updated the article with information from the current roster. Their actual roster is still a few players short of the maximum 24, and is always subject to change. I wanted to personally let you know I had made the cnanges, but I don't think 'greg@fake.com' is your real e-mail. Don't worry, other readers can't see the address you enter, and I won't hit you with any spam.
Now you are using the courier-journal roster, which is 2 players above the maximum, as you said. Do you have any idea which players will be cut? I assume they have to be cut before first pitch tonight? Also, whats the plan with the weather tonight? Do they think it will affect the game? Thanks!
Not sure what the plans are on the rest of the transactions. I got the roster from the Bats media relations office, so any further changes are apparently still pending. Yes, I would assume they would have to be down to the roster limit before first pitch, but your guess is as good as mine as far what changes will be made. The weather is supposed to be pretty nice until the evening, when rain is in the forecast. Hopefully they will get the game in before the showers come, but we'll see. Thanks for reading, and be sure to tell any other Bats fans about the site. Any further feedback is welcome and encouraged.
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