Cubs Minor League Baseball Blog

Jeff Beliveau – The top reliever on the squad, Beliveau struck out 69 with 13 walk in 57 innings.  He oddly gave up seven home runs though and fly balls are an issue.  He finished 6-1 and this was after he was lights out in Dayton.

Ryan Searle – Probably the best of the starters, Searle finished with a 3.51 ERA and a 5-3 record.  His rates weren’t that great and he had 66 strikeouts and 43 walks in 84 2/3 innings.

Jeff Stevens – Another hard thrower, Stevens struck out 52 and walked 16 in 41 2/3 innings.  he finished 3-0 with a solid 2.59 ERA.  Oddly he was death on left handed hitters and he held them to a .152 batting average against.

With only a handful of guys who played more then 90 games for the Smokies, there weren’t a lot of big number stats compiled.  Still, here are the best few hitters on this past season’s squad.

Ryan Flaherty – Out of players with more then 80 games, Flaherty led the team with a .907 OPS.  He was second with 14 home runs and he had a very nice 55/40 strikeout to walk ratio.  Flaherty is 25 but now that Aramis Ramirez is out of the fold, Flaherty could get his shot.

Rebel Ridling – Ridling finished with a team high 20 home runs and his 79 runs also led the team.  He was right behind Flaherty with a .887 OPS and he’s having a very nice showing in the Venezuelan Winter League.

Steve Clevenger – an interesting catcher, Clevenger walked 35 times and struck out 39 times.  He doesn’t have a lot of pop but a .295 average helped prop up his .812 OPS.  He’s having a tough time in the Dominican Winter League but he raked in 25 games when he was pushed to the PCL.