Baltimore Orioles: Bowie Baysox Are Seeing Improvement After Slow Start To Season

Following a slow start to the 2019 season, the Bowie Baysox have seen their fortunes turn.  A good month of June so far has seen the Baltimore Orioles AA affiliate move to six games under .500.

The Bowie Baysox, the AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, started the 2019 season in dismal fashion.  The team was 4-16 when we examined them and their lack of offensive production.  Since that piece, the team has gone 28-22 for a record of 32-38 entering play on Friday.

The team posted a miserable 6-19 record in the month of April and improved slightly to 13-15 for the month of May.  It has been the calendar flipping to June that has seen a change in the team’s fortunes. The Baysox are 13-4 so far in the month.  The Baysox did start the month of June with a loss which extended a losing streak to seven games.  They snapped that streak the next night and haven’t looked back since.

Currently enjoying a three-game winning streak, the Baysox are coming off of a seven-game winning streak and in fact, have not suffered consecutive losses so far this month.

Collectively, the Baysox are slashing .237/ .306/ .357/ .662, a 46 point improvement in batting average over what they were hitting back when I first wrote about them.

Leading the way for the Baysox is shortstop Mason McCoy, who is hitting .329 with a home run, 11 RBI, 54 hits, 25 runs, seven doubles, four triples and three stolen bases since his promotion from Frederick (A-Adv.) in early May.  The team is 25-15 since McCoy’s promotion.  He has certainly provided a spark to the Baysox, one that was noted not long after he was promoted.

Recently named Eastern League Player of the Week and #4 prospect, Yusniel Diaz has had a hand in the team’s recent success as well.  In six games, Diaz went 8-22 (.364) with three home runs, 12 RBI, seven runs scored and three walks. He also hit home runs in three consecutive games (6/12-6/14) for the Baysox.

Outfielder Ademar Rifaela has been hot at the plate as well. In his last seven games, Rifaela is 13-31 (.419) with nine RBI, three triples, a home run and two runs scored.  His hot streak was good enough to earn a promotion to Norfolk (AAA).

Bowie ironman, infielder Rylan Bannon, who has appeared in 68 of team’s 70 games, is contributing a .280/ .365/ .407 slash line with 27 runs scored and 27 RBI to the effort as well.

Not to be overlooked in all of this is the contribution of the pitching staff which is led by win leader, Zac Lowther (13 games, 7-4 record, 1.95 ERA, 1.10 WHIP).  Alex Wells has been solid as well, with a 4-1 record, 1.92 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 10 games while Bruce Zimmermann (12 games, 2-1 record, 2.49 ERA, 1.12 WHIP) leads the staff with 70 strikeouts.

Coming out of the bullpen is 2018 organizational save leader, Tyler Erwin, who has a team high eight saves to go with a 3-3 record and 2.52 ERA.

All this adds up to a team on the rise and one that would like to continue its recent success.  The Baysox actually have a second chance this season as the Eastern League adopted the two-half format for the playoffs.  Bowie, currently 2-0 in the second half, still has a shot at a post-season berth.

It is far too early to project playoffs but the improvements the Baysox have made are noted and should they continue, the rest of the 2019 season will be fun to watch in Prince George’s Stadium.