2022 St. Louis River Walkers: Two years without a postseason

[rink23]

Walkers news:Player development report for Oct. 1

[rink23]

Record: 86-75, 3rd, 9 GB Des Moines
Alex Faedo pitched seven shutout innings and Rhys Hoskins had four hits and four RBIs to lead St. Louis to a 9-3 win over Des Moines at Labatt Park (Montreal).
The River Walkers seized control of the game with a six-run top of the third inning.
Rookie catcher Michael Amditis pretty much got things rolling with his first major league homer, a two-run shot, off Des Moines starter Dane Dunning to make it 2-0.
Hoskins had a two-run double later in the inning. Nicky Delmonico contributed the other two, hitting his team-leading 28th homer of the season.
St. Louis' lead would be 9-0 by the time Des Moines got its three runs in the bottom of the eighth.
During that span, Faedo would pitched seven shutout innings allowing just four hits while striking out five and walking three.
The Walkers would use four relievers to close it out.
All three Harvesters runs were charged to Hunter Purdue who allowed three hits and a walk in his third of an inning on the mound.

[rink23]

The St. Louis River Walkers have announced that it has agreed to a two-year contract with left-handed reliever Brad Hand.
The 2022 season was the first in St. Louis for the 32-year-old Hand, with one game left in the season he has appeared in 83 games posting a record of 5-1 with two saves and a 2.00 ERA.
In 63 innings, Hand has struck out 74 with a WHIP of 1.06.
The contract is worth $1.9 million in both 2023 and 2024, but the Walkers own a buy out of $250,000 for that second season.

[rink23]

Record: 86-76, 3rd, 10 GB Des Moines
Pinch-hitter Alec Bohm hit his first career major league homer, a three-run shot, and Nick Pivetta and three relievers combined on a three-hit shutout as St. Louis ended its season with a 3-0 loss to Des Moines at Labatt Park.
It happened quickly.
Logan Warmoth and Alfredo Rodriguez opened the bottom of the sixth with singles off River Walkers starter Argenis Batista.
Bohm then hit the second pitch he saw 387 feet over the wall in left field for the only runs of the game.

Pivetta (14-6) allowed just two hits while striking out nine and walking two in his six innings.
Jandel Gustave, Ken Giles and Edwin Diaz all handled an inning apiece to close it out.
Diaz earned his 16th save in the process.

[rink23]

The Ann Arbor Wolf Pack dropped their regular-season finale 2-0 to Grand Rapids, but still will advance to the playoffs after Detroit fell to Indianapolis 8-2 in its final game of the regular season.
The outcomes left Ann Arbor at 82-80, a single-game better than Detroit.
With the win, the Wolf Pack advance to the American League championship series where they will meet Akron.
The Flying Feet (107-55) will own home-field advantage in the best-of-five series.

[rink23]

MBL news: Standings and American League final leaders

[rink23]

MBL news: National League final leaders

[rink23]

Walkers news: Final statistics for 2022

[rink23]

Player of the Year: Bo Bichette: The 24-year-old second baseman played in 151 games, batting .271 with 20 home runs and 62 RBIs. He scored 80 runs and stole 15 bases. He boasted an on-base percentage of .355 and a slugging percentage of .453.
Starting pitcher of the year: Kyle Hendricks: The 32-year-old right hander led all of baseball with 21 wins and was 21-6 overall in 33 starts. He boasted an ERA of 3.06 in 200 innings. He boasted a WHIP of 1.03 and struck out 193 batters.
Relief pitcher of the year: Tommy Kahnle: The 33-year-old right-hander converted 28 of 30 save opportunities while going 3-1 with an ERA of 1.06 in 44 total appearances. He pitched 42.1 innings, striking out 50 while putting together a WHIP of 1.13.

[rink23]

MBL news: 2022 Championship Series matchups

[rink23]

The owner of the worst record of the four playoff participants, the Ann Arbor Wolf Pack eliminated the team with the best record, the Akron Flying Feet, with a 5-4 win in Game 5 of the American League championship series.
The contest went into extra innings, and the Pack won it in the 10th.
Ann Arbor had jumped out to a 4-2 lead,only to have Akron tie it in the bottom of the ninth on a solo homer from pinch-hitter Logan Davidson.
But Ann Arbor retook the lead in the top of the 10th -- Cameron Maybin with an RBI single off A.J. Minter -- and Phil Bickford tossed a spotless bottom of the 10th to seal the win.
Ann Arbor's Noah Syndergaard was player of the game with a seven-inning effort on the mound during which he allowed one run on four hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Jonathan Lucroy of the Feet was named MVP of the series, as he batted .353 with three homers and six RBIs.
However, all of those homers came in an 8-5 victory in Game 5.

[rink23]

Des Moines poured across seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning , giving itself a 9-3 lead, and then held on for a 9-7 win over Madison in Game 4 of the National League championship series.
With the win, the Harvesters claimed the NL title and will advance to the World Series where it will face the Ann Arbor Wolf Pack.
Des Moines will own home-field advantage in the best-of-seven series.
Harvesters catcher Carson Kelly was named series MVP after batting .375 with three homers and six RBIs.

[rink23]

Des Moines put five runs on the board in the bottom of the third inning and added two more in the fourth, before hanging on for a 7-5 win in Game 1 of the Midwest Baseball League World Series.
Austin Meadows landed the big blow of the third inning with a grand slam.
Cody Bellinger did the bulk of the work in the fourth, with a two-run shot.
Jose Berrios was impressive on the mound, allowing one run on three hits over six innings.
Edwin Diaz got the final out of the eighth and took care of the ninth for the save.

[rink23]

Ann Arbor's Dansby Swanson cracked a two-run homer off Des Moines starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel in Game 2 of the Midwest Baseball League World Series.
But the Harvesters responded with four in the bottom half of the inning, and rode that to a 5-2 win, and a 2-0 series lead.
Cody Bellinger hit his second homer of the series in the bottom of the first, off Wolf Pack starter Jonathan Holder.
Carlos David Rodriguez added an RBI single later in the ininng, making it 4-2.
Keuchel rebounded nicely from the rough opening inning, lasting through seven and allowing just the two runs on five hits.

Jandel Gustave got the final two outs of the game for the save.

[rink23]

Moving the series back to Michigan did little good for Ann Arbor, as Des Moines took Game 3 of the Midwest Baseball League World Series, to go up 3-0 and within a victory of the title.
Tied 1-1, the Harvesters grabbed the lead for good in the top of the fourth against Wolf Pack ace Noah Syndergaard.
Austin Meadows drew a bases-loaded walk to score the first run.
Carlos David Martinez contributed the other two with a single.
Des Moines starter Nick Pivetta allowed two runs over five innings.
Leo Vazquez and Edwin Diaz worked two innings apiece to close out the win.

[rink23]

That was quick and relatively painless as Des Moines completed a sweep of the Midwest Baseball League World Series with a 3-1 win in Game 4.
The championship is the second for the Harvesters, who also took the title in 2020 when it defeated Indianapolis.

Des Moines reached the World Series in six games.

Tied 1-1, the Harvesters took the lead for good in the top of the seventh on a Carson Kelly solo homer off reliever Taylor Rogers.

A Rafael Devers solo shot an inning later, this one off Cam Bedrosian, made it 3-1.
Sixto Sanchez handled the mound duties for the first five innings for the Harvesters, allowing a single run on four hits.
Bryan Garcia and Edwin Diaz worked two innings apiece to close it out.

[rink23]

The Des Moines Harvesters down Ann Arbor with a four-game sweep.
John Lehto was named MVP after batting .500 with one homer, seven hits and an RBI.

[rink23]

Well, owner Bill DeWitt Jr. has given me his annual end of season report card.
Not a great one.
- Team did finish above .500, but didn't make the playoffs.
- Team did not re-sign Michael Conforto in free agency. May fault, wanted to see what his market was, however, he signed in the first days of free agency so a market never really was established.
- Attendance did not grow. Need to win more.
What he wants
- Achieve a winning record.
- Improve stolen bases. I trade, but the gosh dang A.I. didn't send the runner 60-70 percent of the time I told him to go.
- Increase attendance. Win more.
- Win a title between now and 2024, sounds reasonable.
Also
- Budget has been reduced from $250 milllion to $236M. Payroll from $205M to $200M.
- I have received a contract extension, one season at $1.8M.

[rink23]

Long-time pitching coach Mike Maddux has decided to retire after being with the team since its inception in 2018.
The River Walkers always seemed to have one of the league's best pitching staffs during his tenure.
Bench coach Clint Hurdle has been allowed to leave following the conclusion of his contract.
St. Louis failed to reach the playoff either of his two seasons with the team, although it did finish above .500 in both.
The team's lack of aggression on the bases, both in terms of steals and base running, was cited as a major factor in the decision.

[rink23]

The St. Louis River Walkers have announced catcher J.T. Realmuto will remain with the team for at least one season.
The 31-year-old Realmuto has spent the last two seasons with the River Walkers.
Realmuto signed to a two-year deal worth $1,250,000, the second season holding a team option.

In 2021, he served as the backup to Tucker Barnhart appearing in 81 games during which he batted .231 with 10 homers and 29 RBIs.
During the 22 season, Realmuto was expected to backup Austin Hedges, but ended up taking over the starting job in the second half after Hedges failed to produce anything at the plate.
He got into 93 games in 2022, batting .241 with seven homers and 30 RBIs.
Realmuto doesn't bring much with the bat but is well-above average defensively.
He is expected to either start in 2023 or serve as the backup to rookie Mike Anditis, who will probably go into spring training as the starter.
Also, the River Walkers announced that Gary Thurman will serve as their bench coach in 2023, replacing the departed Clint Hurdle.
It will be Thurman's first job in the majors, but he owns high rating for his ability to teach fielding and baserunning.