Buffalo Bisons Season Re-cap

For long-suffering Buffalo Bisons fans, 2018 was full of promise and potential.

With an Opening Day roster that featured more prospects than previous editions of the Bisons, it looked like the team’s playoff drought, which stretched back a dozen years, would be coming to an end.

Such was not to be the case, however.

Buffalo opened the season with Danny Jansen, Ryan Borucki, and the returning Rowdy Tellez.  But SS Richie Urena and OF Anthony Alford opened the season on the Disabled List, and despite the addition of Sean Reid-Foley in June and Vladimir Guerrero Jr in late July, the Bisons never really hit their stride, and finished a disappointing 61-77 on an 11 game losing streak.

The snowy northeastern April weather didn’t help.  The Bisons had their opening series in Rochester snowed out, then rainouts in the middle of the month forced the cancellation of games for five straight days, and the doubleheaders began to pile up as a result.

Buffalo pitchers didn’t miss a lot of bats, finishing last in the league in strikeouts, and an offence that ranked toward the bottom in most team categories couldn’t bail them out.

Making out a lineup was a daily problem for Manager Bobby Meacham.  The Bisons used 73 different players, and made a total of 257 roster moves, the most since the club became a Blue Jays affiliate in 2013.   

In terms of prospects, Jansen was easily the team MVP, and earned an August promotion to Toronto.  It’s unlikely he’ll be back, and the same case could be made for Borucki. Reid-Foley continued his strong start at New Hampshire over to Buffalo, and while he’ll make a strong bid for a starting job next spring, he could return to AAA for more seasoning before he sticks for good.  After starting the season on the DL, Urena rode the QEW shuttle most of the season, never really settling in at the plate with Buffalo. For Alford, it was a similar story.  After a rehab stint in Dunedin, he did not produce at a level similar to last year. Jonathan Davis rode a strong Arizona Fall League showing into a hot start with New Hampshire, and earned a promotion to the 40-man after a strong performance at Buffalo. Guerrero was all but on his way to Buffalo when he was sidelined for a month by a knee injury in July, but showed why he was the Minor League Player of the Year when he returned.

Although they’ve seen this story before, Buffalo fans should take heart in the fact that the core of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, a group that has won two titles over as many seasons, should arrive in Buffalo early next April.  Guerrero should be part of that group, but his presence on the Niagara Frontier will likely be brief. Rumours suggest that Manager John Schneider will move up with this group, and Meacham will likely be assigned somewhere else in the organization.

Buffalo Stats

Advanced Hitting

Name Age PA BB% K% AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO BABIP wOBA wRC+
Alberto Mineo 23 15 13.3 % 0.0 % 0.462 0.533 0.692 1.226 0.231 0.417 0.536 250
Steve Pearce 35 15 20.0 % 6.7 % 0.364 0.533 0.636 1.170 0.273 0.333 0.512 233
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 19 128 11.7 % 7.8 % 0.336 0.414 0.564 0.978 0.227 0.323 0.428 175
Teoscar Hernandez 25 18 0.0 % 38.9 % 0.278 0.278 0.667 0.944 0.389 0.333 0.408 161
Danny Jansen 23 360 12.2 % 13.6 % 0.275 0.390 0.473 0.863 0.198 0.292 0.386 146
Randal Grichuk 26 9 11.1 % 33.3 % 0.250 0.333 0.625 0.958 0.375 0.250 0.378 141
Gunnar Heidt 25 70 10.0 % 38.6 % 0.286 0.357 0.460 0.817 0.175 0.471 0.365 132
Dwight Smith Jr. 25 361 12.2 % 14.7 % 0.268 0.358 0.413 0.771 0.145 0.302 0.348 120
Rowdy Tellez 23 444 9.0 % 16.7 % 0.270 0.340 0.425 0.765 0.155 0.298 0.341 115
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 24 156 2.6 % 21.8 % 0.293 0.321 0.449 0.769 0.156 0.345 0.340 115
Billy McKinney 23 72 11.1 % 22.2 % 0.203 0.292 0.453 0.745 0.250 0.222 0.329 107
Dalton Pompey 25 168 8.3 % 24.4 % 0.255 0.325 0.393 0.718 0.138 0.317 0.322 102
Darnell Sweeney 27 332 9.3 % 34.0 % 0.236 0.311 0.411 0.722 0.175 0.339 0.322 102
Jonathan Davis 26 202 5.9 % 20.3 % 0.249 0.308 0.389 0.698 0.141 0.295 0.315 97
Tim Lopes 24 385 6.8 % 15.1 % 0.277 0.325 0.364 0.689 0.088 0.322 0.311 94
Jason Leblebijian 27 324 11.1 % 30.2 % 0.220 0.315 0.362 0.677 0.142 0.295 0.310 94
Anthony Alford 23 417 7.2 % 26.9 % 0.240 0.312 0.344 0.656 0.104 0.327 0.300 87
Reese McGuire 23 369 8.9 % 20.9 % 0.233 0.312 0.339 0.651 0.106 0.281 0.298 86
Michael De La Cruz 25 50 12.0 % 34.0 % 0.186 0.286 0.349 0.635 0.163 0.308 0.288 79
Roemon Fields 27 367 7.9 % 21.8 % 0.238 0.307 0.305 0.612 0.067 0.305 0.281 74
Ian Parmley 28 124 3.2 % 24.2 % 0.263 0.293 0.339 0.632 0.076 0.352 0.281 74
Gift Ngoepe 28 159 15.7 % 39.6 % 0.168 0.304 0.252 0.556 0.084 0.299 0.269 66
Richard Urena 22 268 4.5 % 17.9 % 0.216 0.250 0.344 0.594 0.128 0.246 0.263 61
Gio Urshela 26 91 4.4 % 9.9 % 0.244 0.275 0.279 0.554 0.035 0.269 0.252 54
Danny Espinosa 31 60 5.0 % 25.0 % 0.232 0.271 0.286 0.557 0.054 0.317 0.247 50
Devon Travis 27 64 3.1 % 10.9 % 0.210 0.234 0.274 0.509 0.065 0.222 0.231 39
Jon Berti 28 8 0.0 % 37.5 % 0.250 0.250 0.250 0.500 0.000 0.400 0.226 36
Andrew Guillotte 25 11 0.0 % 36.4 % 0.091 0.091 0.091 0.182 0.000 0.143 0.082 -63

Batted Ball

Name GB/FB LD% GB% FB% HR/FB Pull% Cent% Oppo% SwStr%
Teoscar Hernandez 1.00 20.0 % 40.0 % 40.0 % 50.0 % 63.6 % 27.3 % 9.1 % 17.7 %
Randal Grichuk 0.25 0.0 % 20.0 % 80.0 % 25.0 % 60.0 % 20.0 % 20.0 % 15.2 %
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1.96 29.0 % 47.0 % 24.0 % 25.0 % 44.1 % 23.5 % 32.4 % 7.2 %
Steve Pearce 0.20 40.0 % 10.0 % 50.0 % 20.0 % 50.0 % 20.0 % 30.0 % 6.2 %
Alberto Mineo 1.00 23.1 % 38.5 % 38.5 % 20.0 % 53.9 % 15.4 % 30.8 % 5.9 %
Gunnar Heidt 1.17 27.8 % 38.9 % 33.3 % 16.7 % 52.8 % 19.4 % 27.8 % 18.1 %
Jason Leblebijian 1.04 23.5 % 39.1 % 37.4 % 14.9 % 48.4 % 24.2 % 27.4 % 15.7 %
Darnell Sweeney 0.77 29.5 % 30.6 % 39.9 % 13.7 % 38.5 % 25.1 % 36.4 % 15.4 %
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 1.32 23.9 % 43.4 % 32.7 % 13.5 % 50.4 % 25.2 % 24.4 % 12.3 %
Dalton Pompey 1.65 15.1 % 52.8 % 32.1 % 11.8 % 26.6 % 34.9 % 38.5 % 9.5 %
Danny Jansen 0.81 24.2 % 33.9 % 41.9 % 11.5 % 53.8 % 23.3 % 22.9 % 4.4 %
Billy McKinney 0.46 12.8 % 27.7 % 59.6 % 10.7 % 37.5 % 31.3 % 31.3 % 12.0 %
Rowdy Tellez 1.03 19.9 % 40.7 % 39.4 % 10.2 % 36.5 % 29.1 % 34.4 % 9.2 %
Jonathan Davis 1.35 19.6 % 46.2 % 34.3 % 10.2 % 45.5 % 24.1 % 30.3 % 8.5 %
Reese McGuire 1.39 21.7 % 45.5 % 32.8 % 8.8 % 38.7 % 21.3 % 39.9 % 9.0 %
Gift Ngoepe 1.08 23.5 % 39.7 % 36.8 % 8.0 % 40.9 % 23.9 % 35.2 % 14.9 %
Dwight Smith Jr. 1.81 18.5 % 52.5 % 29.0 % 8.0 % 41.8 % 21.8 % 36.4 % 8.9 %
Richard Urena 1.09 19.3 % 42.1 % 38.6 % 6.4 % 42.8 % 23.6 % 33.7 % 12.0 %
Anthony Alford 1.38 21.4 % 45.5 % 33.1 % 5.9 % 43.6 % 23.3 % 33.1 % 12.4 %
Devon Travis 1.05 25.5 % 38.2 % 36.4 % 5.0 % 43.6 % 18.2 % 38.2 % 3.6 %
Roemon Fields 2.03 19.5 % 53.9 % 26.6 % 3.1 % 35.2 % 28.9 % 36.0 % 9.8 %
Tim Lopes 1.37 19.1 % 46.8 % 34.1 % 2.0 % 39.7 % 25.7 % 34.7 % 8.0 %
Gio Urshela 1.50 27.6 % 43.4 % 28.9 % 0.0 % 39.7 % 23.1 % 37.2 % 10.9 %
Jon Berti 2.00 60.0 % 40.0 % 0.0 % 0.0 % 60.0 % 20.0 % 20.0 % 16.2 %
Ian Parmley 1.73 18.4 % 51.7 % 29.9 % 0.0 % 34.1 % 19.3 % 46.6 % 15.6 %
Tyler Ladendorf 1.00 20.0 % 40.0 % 40.0 % 0.0 % 20.0 % 40.0 % 40.0 % 0.0 %
Danny Espinosa 1.67 20.0 % 50.0 % 30.0 % 0.0 % 40.5 % 28.6 % 31.0 % 20.2 %
Michael De La Cruz 1.00 15.4 % 42.3 % 42.3 % 0.0 % 48.2 % 25.9 % 25.9 % 14.7 %
Andrew Guillotte 0.20 14.3 % 14.3 % 71.4 % 0.0 % 57.1 % 0.0 % 42.9 % 12.8 %

Buffalo Pitching

Advanced

Name Age IP HR/9 K% BB% AVG WHIP BABIP ERA FIP
Ian Parmley 28 1 0 33.3 % 0.0 % 0.000 0.00 0.000 0.00 1.33
Jake Fishman 23 1.1 0 25.0 % 0.0 % 0.000 0.00 0.000 0.00 1.83
Roberto Osuna 23 3 0 33.3 % 13.3 % 0.385 2.33 0.625 0.00 2.00
Danny Barnes 28 8.2 1.04 30.6 % 2.8 % 0.257 1.15 0.348 5.19 2.64
Andrew Case 25 3 0 9.1 % 0.0 % 0.182 0.67 0.200 3.00 2.67
Claudio Custodio 27 10 0 18.6 % 9.3 % 0.231 1.30 0.290 4.50 2.93
Tim Mayza 26 25.2 0.7 32.7 % 10.0 % 0.265 1.44 0.400 4.56 2.94
Jose Fernandez 25 29.1 0.61 26.7 % 6.7 % 0.207 1.06 0.273 2.45 2.96
Sam Moll 26 18.2 0.48 21.6 % 5.7 % 0.293 1.55 0.371 5.30 2.96
Sean Reid-Foley 22 85.1 0.53 27.1 % 8.3 % 0.233 1.24 0.318 3.90 3.06
Justin Shafer 25 38.1 0 20.4 % 10.2 % 0.194 1.12 0.252 1.41 3.07
Luis Santos 27 42.2 0.42 21.4 % 7.0 % 0.238 1.27 0.300 2.74 3.12
Jon Harris 24 12 0.75 18.8 % 2.1 % 0.298 1.25 0.351 3.00 3.17
Justin Dillon 24 22.2 0.79 23.8 % 2.5 % 0.130 0.53 0.143 0.79 3.20
Matt Dermody 27 5 0 24.0 % 16.0 % 0.333 2.20 0.467 7.20 3.33
Matt Tracy 29 48.2 0 15.8 % 9.9 % 0.233 1.27 0.284 2.40 3.37
Jake Petricka 30 23 0.39 15.9 % 5.7 % 0.244 1.09 0.284 0.78 3.46
Jacob Waguespack 24 39.1 0.69 19.0 % 5.8 % 0.288 1.45 0.347 5.03 3.49
Sam Gaviglio 28 29 1.24 26.9 % 3.7 % 0.204 0.86 0.243 1.86 3.64
Al Alburquerque 32 28.2 0.94 22.0 % 6.5 % 0.296 1.47 0.365 3.77 3.65
Conor Fisk 26 57.2 0.62 18.9 % 7.4 % 0.251 1.28 0.301 2.81 3.68
Deck McGuire 29 44.2 0.6 22.2 % 10.6 % 0.208 1.16 0.259 3.22 3.83
Joe Biagini 28 21.2 0.42 14.0 % 8.6 % 0.226 1.25 0.257 4.57 3.98
Ryan Borucki 24 77 0.7 18.4 % 8.9 % 0.218 1.17 0.253 3.27 4.05
Carlos Ramirez 27 8.1 0 26.3 % 21.1 % 0.069 1.20 0.105 5.40 4.17
Darnell Sweeney 27 1 0 25.0 % 0.0 % 0.000 0.00 0.000 0.00 4.33
Rhiner Cruz 31 8.2 1.04 25.0 % 13.9 % 0.194 1.27 0.238 1.04 4.49
Zach Stewart 31 34.1 0.79 12.0 % 7.6 % 0.315 1.69 0.347 4.98 4.50
Jordan Romano 25 5 0 13.6 % 18.2 % 0.222 1.60 0.267 3.60 4.53
Thomas Pannone 24 36.2 1.96 26.0 % 4.6 % 0.274 1.28 0.327 4.91 4.64
Murphy Smith 30 62.2 1.01 15.5 % 9.2 % 0.250 1.37 0.277 3.59 4.74
Dusty Isaacs 26 10 0.9 16.0 % 10.0 % 0.341 2.00 0.400 6.30 4.83
Chris Rowley 27 101 0.98 14.5 % 9.6 % 0.252 1.39 0.276 3.30 4.90
Juliandry Higuera 23 2.1 0 10.0 % 20.0 % 0.125 1.29 0.143 7.71 5.05
Taylor Guerrieri 25 57.1 1.26 15.8 % 8.5 % 0.292 1.57 0.326 5.18 5.08
Brandon Cumpton 29 52.2 1.54 13.6 % 6.6 % 0.293 1.46 0.308 6.15 5.29
Mike Hauschild 28 21.2 1.25 10.8 % 8.6 % 0.271 1.43 0.278 4.98 5.32
Connor Eller 24 1.1 0 0.0 % 10.0 % 0.556 4.50 0.556 33.75 5.58
Craig Breslow 37 19.1 1.4 20.2 % 14.4 % 0.330 2.28 0.406 5.59 5.66
Shawn Morimando 25 20 2.25 13.3 % 2.4 % 0.259 1.15 0.246 4.50 5.78
Nick Tepesch 29 41 2.63 10.2 % 6.6 % 0.322 1.73 0.311 7.90 7.33
Josh DeGraaf 25 3.2 2.45 11.8 % 11.8 % 0.267 1.64 0.250 7.36 7.42
Preston Guilmet 30 4.2 3.86 9.5 % 4.8 % 0.350 1.71 0.313 5.79 8.69
Dalton Rodriguez 21 1.2 5.4 33.3 % 22.2 % 0.286 2.40 0.333 16.20 11.13
Marco Estrada 34 3.1 5.4 21.4 % 14.3 % 0.250 1.50 0.143 8.10 11.13
Chad Girodo 27 3.2 7.36 16.7 % 0.0 % 0.389 1.91 0.333 12.27 12.33

Batted Ball

Name LD% GB% FB% Pull% Cent% Oppo% SwStr%
Chad Girodo 26.7 % 33.3 % 40.0 % 33.3 % 40.0 % 26.7 % 10.5 %
Dalton Rodriguez 0.0 % 50.0 % 50.0 % 50.0 % 0.0 % 50.0 % 13.2 %
Marco Estrada 11.1 % 33.3 % 55.6 % 33.3 % 33.3 % 33.3 % 11.6 %
Nick Tepesch 21.4 % 47.4 % 31.2 % 57.9 % 20.8 % 21.4 % 6.6 %
Preston Guilmet 11.1 % 44.4 % 44.4 % 50.0 % 16.7 % 33.3 % 8.6 %
Jake Petricka 13.4 % 79.1 % 7.5 % 42.7 % 10.3 % 47.1 % 9.7 %
Jon Harris 28.9 % 57.9 % 13.2 % 55.3 % 21.1 % 23.7 % 10.6 %
Brandon Cumpton 23.8 % 47.5 % 28.7 % 42.0 % 24.3 % 33.7 % 6.4 %
Josh DeGraaf 15.4 % 38.5 % 46.2 % 38.5 % 15.4 % 46.2 % 0.0 %
Taylor Guerrieri 19.0 % 55.0 % 25.9 % 45.1 % 23.3 % 31.6 % 7.6 %
Mike Hauschild 16.2 % 56.8 % 27.0 % 44.0 % 25.3 % 30.7 % 8.1 %
Sam Gaviglio 16.2 % 45.9 % 37.8 % 46.0 % 24.3 % 29.7 % 10.6 %
Thomas Pannone 22.3 % 22.3 % 55.3 % 42.5 % 33.0 % 24.5 % 12.5 %
Shawn Morimando 11.6 % 36.2 % 52.2 % 48.6 % 21.4 % 30.0 % 6.4 %
Al Alburquerque 24.1 % 50.6 % 25.3 % 47.7 % 19.3 % 33.0 % 9.6 %
Craig Breslow 15.6 % 46.9 % 37.5 % 43.3 % 28.4 % 28.4 % 9.7 %
Rhiner Cruz 28.6 % 33.3 % 38.1 % 23.8 % 33.3 % 42.9 % 10.1 %
Murphy Smith 25.1 % 37.4 % 37.4 % 45.3 % 23.4 % 31.3 % 8.6 %
Tim Mayza 22.6 % 41.9 % 35.5 % 41.3 % 23.8 % 34.9 % 12.1 %
Dusty Isaacs 38.9 % 30.6 % 30.6 % 52.8 % 16.7 % 30.6 % 14.4 %
Jacob Waguespack 18.3 % 52.4 % 29.4 % 42.6 % 22.5 % 34.9 % 9.4 %
Chris Rowley 21.6 % 35.0 % 43.4 % 54.3 % 23.0 % 22.7 % 8.5 %
Ryan Borucki 14.3 % 51.6 % 34.1 % 44.9 % 25.6 % 29.5 % 8.0 %
Danny Barnes 21.7 % 21.7 % 56.5 % 41.7 % 33.3 % 25.0 % 11.5 %
Deck McGuire 24.1 % 39.7 % 36.2 % 51.3 % 21.0 % 27.7 % 10.8 %
Jose Fernandez 15.4 % 47.4 % 37.2 % 45.6 % 25.3 % 29.1 % 13.2 %
Justin Dillon 16.1 % 32.1 % 51.8 % 48.3 % 19.0 % 32.8 % 8.2 %
Sean Reid-Foley 22.7 % 42.7 % 34.7 % 38.4 % 26.2 % 35.4 % 13.1 %
Zach Stewart 20.2 % 38.7 % 41.1 % 48.4 % 27.0 % 24.6 % 6.6 %
Conor Fisk 24.7 % 34.5 % 40.8 % 41.2 % 23.2 % 35.6 % 11.0 %
Joe Biagini 27.9 % 42.6 % 29.4 % 47.9 % 23.9 % 28.2 % 6.9 %
Sam Moll 21.3 % 44.3 % 34.4 % 46.0 % 20.6 % 33.3 % 10.4 %
Luis Santos 29.9 % 30.7 % 39.4 % 39.4 % 30.3 % 30.3 % 10.8 %
Carlos Ramirez 11.8 % 35.3 % 52.9 % 47.4 % 31.6 % 21.1 % 8.5 %
Matt Tracy 20.8 % 50.7 % 28.5 % 41.8 % 17.1 % 41.1 % 6.9 %
Darnell Sweeney 0.0 % 50.0 % 50.0 % 50.0 % 0.0 % 50.0 % 15.0 %
Roberto Osuna 37.5 % 37.5 % 25.0 % 25.0 % 50.0 % 25.0 % 15.1 %
Ian Parmley 50.0 % 50.0 % 0.0 % 100.0 % 0.0 % 0.0 % 25.0 %
Matt Dermody 20.0 % 66.7 % 13.3 % 60.0 % 6.7 % 33.3 % 17.3 %
Justin Shafer 16.5 % 42.7 % 40.8 % 45.3 % 18.9 % 35.9 % 9.4 %
Claudio Custodio 19.4 % 41.9 % 38.7 % 41.9 % 38.7 % 19.4 % 9.3 %
Juliandry Higuera 14.3 % 71.4 % 14.3 % 42.9 % 14.3 % 42.9 % 7.7 %
Jordan Romano 33.3 % 40.0 % 26.7 % 33.3 % 20.0 % 46.7 % 5.2 %
Andrew Case 33.3 % 44.4 % 22.2 % 20.0 % 40.0 % 40.0 % 6.9 %
Connor Eller 33.3 % 33.3 % 33.3 % 55.6 % 33.3 % 11.1 % 2.9 %
Jake Fishman 0.0 % 66.7 % 33.3 % 100.0 % 0.0 % 0.0 % 14.3 %
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