Pinstriped Prospects Highlight Winning Season
CHARLESTON, SC - Even though the 2014 Charleston RiverDogs fell just shy of the South Atlantic League postseason, a late push gave the RiverDogs their third consecutive winning season and a strong finish. Throughout the season, Charleston's success was highlighted by a veritable cornucopia of talented New York Yankees minor leaguers.
In April, the RiverDogs literally stole their way to a quick start. Charleston recorded enough stolen bases to lead all of affiliated baseball early in the year. Outfielder Michael O'Neill was a huge fan of this aggressive approach on the bases and ended his season as the organization's leader in stolen bases with 42 swipes.
"You can turn singles into doubles just because you can run," O'Neill said back in the early weeks of the season. "'Skip' (manager Luis Dorante) has been unreal about letting us run."
By May, it was obvious that the RiverDogs had a big one-two punch in the heart of their lineup. Infielder Mike Ford served as Charleston's regular cleanup hitter in the first half and made Charleston professional baseball history with a four-homer game on May 25 at Hickory.
Simultaneously, big New York Yankees prospect Aaron Judge was garnering a lot of attention himself.
Judge, the 32nd overall pick in last year's first round, produced regularly at the plate in his professional debut. In addition to a high batting average and several home runs, he was also a league leader in walks, runs and on-base percentage. He spoke highly of his mental approach.
"You're going to have those days when you go 0-for-4," he explained. "You're going to have those days when you go 4-for-4. It's just trying to keep an even keel. Everyone has the tools. It's just that mental side that everyone has to work on."
Ford and Judge were named South Atlantic League All-Stars in June along with starting pitchers Caleb Smith and Brady Lail. Smith posted a 23.1 inning scoreless streak and a then-Minor League Baseball-best 13-strikeout game at the Delmarva Shorebirds on April 24. Lail won six straight starts in the first half to set a modern RiverDogs record.
Another stellar member of the rotation was Luis Severino. After a strong first half with Charleston, Severino had already been promoted to the Single-A Tampa Yankees and the Double-A Trenton Thunder. He also pitched in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game and is now recognized as the parent club's best overall prospect.
"I do not really think I need to say much about him," former teammate Rookie Davis said about Severino's talent. "He has got one of the best arms I have ever seen."
With promotions and other roster moves, Charleston restocked with several new players. A trio of 2014 draft picks - left-handed pitchers Jacob Lindgren and Justin Kamplain and outfielder Mark Payton - joined Charleston. Lindgren and Payton had short but successful stints before receiving promotions. Lindgren was already entrenched in Double-A Trenton by September.
"It has been pretty hectic going all over the place, traveling to different places, and being on airplanes consistently," Payton said to RiverDogs broadcaster Sean Houston when he joined the RiverDogs. "But, it has been a fun time and an exciting time for me and my family."
As the calendar turned to August, a pair of middle infielders received their due recognition. Shortstop Tyler Wade earned the Larry Doby Award as Charleston's MVP in its 15-6 series victory in the inaugural Battle of the Palmetto State Rivalry Series against the Greenville Drive. Wade batted .366 against Greenville while collecting his first professional home run.
Second baseman Gosuke Katoh had an impressive turnaround to spark his second half. Katoh rebounded from an early-season slump with scores of strikeouts to record a 15-game hit streak, a 23-game on-base streak, and enough walks to rank among the league leaders. He finished the season with 71 bases on balls, trailing only Kannapolis's Danny Hayes's 73.
"Starting the second half, I just told myself, 'It is a new season,'" Katoh told Houston. "I got three days to just not think about baseball. When I came to the field, I was just ready to go, and I was locked in."
Charleston landed out of postseason contention in each half. A late first-half stumble dropped the RiverDogs to fifth place in the Southern Division before the All-Star break. In the second half, a few solid winning streaks left Charleston as the top contender before ending with a third-place finish. One of those streaks - five straight wins late in August - guaranteed a winning record.
"It was a positive year. With all the many players we had come through here and all the progress that guys have made, seeing those guys play well at the end of the year, that's what folks are going to remember," said RiverDogs manager Luis Dorante.
Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park was the place to be in 2014. A new video board and scoreboard treated fans during the entire year. Charleston even hosted a nationally-televised game on June 19 on the CBS Sports Network, rallying for a 10-7 win over Kannapolis.
Another highlight of the campaign came after the season when the league again recognized Riley Park as the "Best Playing Field" and as a result, Mike Williams, the popular head groundskeeper, earned the annual "Groundskeeper of the Year" Award. It marked the fourth time in six years that Riley Park and Williams have acquired the awards.
--RIVERDOGS--