Staying in it Until the End
The 2014 season was the Baysox 22nd at the class Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, but it ended like the 21 previous seasons - without an Eastern League Championship.
The Baysox hovered around a .500 record throughout the season and remained in the playoff race until the final weekend of the year, but were never able to get over that final hurdle. The Baysox finished 72-70, marking the eighth consecutive season with a record of .500 or better.
Baysox Manager Gary Kendall became the first manager in franchise history to return for a fourth consecutive season at the helm as he inherited a squad with a few familiar faces but also a lot of new names to the organization. Pitching looked to be the team's strong point as three of the Orioles top 11 prospects opened the season in the Baysox rotation (LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP Tim Berry, RHP Zach Davies).
April
As the season began, the Baysox heralded pitching rotation was struck with the injury bug and it turned out to be the offense that was going to be the team's early season strength.
Rodriguez and Davies each struggled with injuries early in the season, forcing bullpen arms to fill in the starting rotation early in the season. Rodriguez missed more than a month in April and May while recovering from a knee injury and Davies was limited to four starts in April and missed nearly the entire month of May with shoulder problems. It was righty Matt Bischoff who filled in admirably, making six starts in April and May after previously spending the majority of his professional career in the bullpen.
The Baysox offense did not get off to a slow start, leading the league with .305 batting average (the team's highest for a month since 2008). The Baysox were also among the leaders in all of Minor League Baseball, scoring 134 runs in 25 games with 58 doubles and 127 RBI.
At the conclusion of the month, seven Baysox players were batting above .300 - Dariel Alvarez, Ronald Bermudez, Buck Britton, Niuman Romero, Garabez Rosa, Sharlon Schoop and Christian Walker. Alvarez and Rosa led the way with 20 RBI each and Alvarez strung together an 15-game hitting streak to open the season.
May
May was the month of Walker and his hot bat. As a whole, the Baysox offense slowed after the fast April start, but Walker was just discovering his power. The first baseman hit nine home runs and had 27 RBI on the month to give him 14 homers and 46 RBI on the season.
Walker's impressive play earned him Eastern League Player of the Week honors twice during the first two months of the season. Walker, along with Alvarez and his 43 RBI through the first two months of the season, established themselves as two of the most dangerous hitters in the league.
Early in the month of May, the Baysox lost infield staple Britton to a Triple-A promotion, leaving the team searching for speed in the lineup and reliable lead off hitting. It was a combination of two new faces to the Orioles organization that answered the call in K.D. Kang and Bermudez. The outfield duo hit a combined .308 (50-167) in 38 games batting lead off in May and June.
The Baysox concluded the month of May at 29-25, which was good enough for a second place tie in the division and five games behind Akron for first place. It was a position the Baysox would be in for most of the season.
June
The Baysox pitching finally began to click in June and much of that was thanks to Double-A veteran Tyler Wilson, who was the backbone of the staff early in the season. He went 5-0 with a 2.65 ERA in five starts in June and finished the season tied for the Baysox lead with 10 wins, despite a promotion to Norfolk at the end of the month. Wilson also struck out 91 batters in 16 starts to place him among the league leaders at the time of his promotion.
Davies also began to turn things on for the Baysox in June, earning the first of two Eastern League Pitcher of the Week Awards June 24 after throwing 13 shutout innings over two starts. That kicked off a stretch for Davies where he went 9-2 and allowed more than two earned runs in only two starts.
Reliever Oliver Drake also established himself as one of the most dominant closers in Minor League baseball with 10 saves in 10 opportunities in June. He converted 15 consecutive saves from May 22 to July 20 and 15.2 consecutive scoreless innings over 15 games from May 22 to June 30. He finished the season with a league-leading 31 saves in 35 opportunities.
June was the Baysox best month of the season as the team went 16-12 and was a season-high eight games over .500 for the last time July 5.
July
After a strong June, July was the worst month of the season for the Baysox. Alvarez was selected to represent the Baysox in the MLB All-Star Futures Game and the Eastern League All-Star Game, where he was joined by Berry, Drake, Walker and Rosa.
While five players went to the All-Star game, only three came back as Baysox high-powered hitters Walker and Alvarez were promoted to Norfolk following the game. The Baysox had trouble recovering from their loss, going 11-18 in July for the worst record in the league.
Reinforcements came in the form of a young outfield duo in Mike Yastrzemski and Glynn Davis. Yastrzemski, the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, and Davis, the Pasadena, Md., native, had impressive Double-A debuts. Yastrzemski had four hits in his debut and led the team with four triples in 43 games. Davis hit .313 in 26 games with the Baysox after the All-Star break.
In the bullpen, RHP Steven Hensley and LHP Jason Gurka continued to be reliable arms for the Baysox. Gurka did not allow an earned run in eight games in July and Hensley pitched to a 1.76 ERA in 15.1 innings of work over the month. On the season, the two trustworthy Baysox relievers went 6-1 with 117 strikeouts in 67 games.
August
The Baysox turned things around in August, going 16-13, but still fell short of the playoffs by one game. Akron lost 13 of their last 16 games to close out the season, but the Baysox were unable to close the gap. Bowie lost two games in a four game series against Altoona to end the season when a sweep would have put them in the playoffs.
Romero was the most consistent Baysox hitter all season and nothing changed for him in August as he finished the year second in the league with a .320 batting average. Romero also led the league with 154 hits, a .417 on-base percentage, 86 runs scored and 84 bases on balls.
Romero was one of four Baysox players (Walker 1B, Alvarez OF and Drake RP) to be selected to the Eastern League Season Ending All-Star team, a new franchise record for most Baysox representatives in one year.
Catcher David Freitas and first baseman Chris Marrero, who really struggled throughout the season, started to turn things around in August. Marrero hit .312 with six home runs and 25 in 26 games, including a pair of grand slams, to help boost the Baysox offense. Freitas hit .364 in 14 games during the month after hitting .210 through the first four months of the season.
Baysox Baseball - We'll Knock Your 'Sox Off. The Baysox 2014 season, their 22nd as the class Double-A Affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, has concluded. The Baysox open the 2015 season on the road Thursday, April 9 at Richmond. To keep up with Baysox news during the offseason, visit baysox.com.