COMMENTARY: These 'Dads are best we've had

It’s playoff time.

On Wednesday night at NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, the Hickory Crawdads will begin the ninth playoff run in their 19-year history.

With a little luck, the Crawdads hope to earn a third South Atlantic League championship trophy to put in the franchise’s office with the 2002 and 2004 cups.

The club will be home to play Greensboro in Game 2 on Friday night at 7 p.m., and Game 3, if needed, is Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Hickory.

As the postseason neared, I began to think about where this team compares to the other 18 Crawdads teams that have played here.

When considering the total purpose of what a minor league team is there for – to win and supply major leaguers – it’s my contention this group may prove to be the best Hickory has fielded.

There are certainly previous Crawdads teams with better records than this year’s 79-58 (four to be exact), and that includes a three-year run from 2002-2004 in which each team won 82 or more games.

But there is a mitigating factor to ponder here.

Many of my reports this year have had woven within them something about the youth of this team. It was hard not to, because of the 30 low Class-A teams in the minors, the Crawdads are the youngest. 

The average Crawdads hitter this year is 20.2 years old, and consider this:

(bullet) Since Hickory joined the SAL in 1993, only one other club in those 19 seasons has had a group of hitters that young -- the Columbus (Ga.) Catfish in 2004.

(bullet) Four of the Crawdads’ five regular starting pitchers for most of the season are younger than 21. Two of them were teenagers who had pitched four games beyond the high school level prior to this season. 

(bullet)To give all of this age discussion its proper context, the average age this year of the SAL is 21.4 for hitters, 21.9 for pitchers.

In other words, this group of young Crawdads has faced on average a group of kids finishing their junior year in college.

Yet this group of youngsters finished with the SAL’s best record, and how they got this record is in itself remarkable. 

At a level where the game speeds up remarkably from college, high school, or even short-season pro levels, this group finished with the second fewest errors in team history and the third fewest at the low A level.

At a level where plate discipline is being learned by hitters and strikeouts are the norm rather than the exception, only three other teams of the 120 full-season minor league squads struck out fewer times. The Crawdads led all low-A teams with a .277 batting average.

On the mound, Hickory at times struggled with walks allowed. Despite leading the SAL in that category, Hickory also led in strikeouts – setting a team record in the process-- and issued the third fewest hits and finished with a respectable 3.77 ERA, fifth best in the SAL.

In Crawdads history, only one other pitching staff allowed fewer hits.

Two of the top seven strikeout artists in the SAL—Roman Mendez second with 130 and Cody Buckel seventh with 120—missed a month of the season.  Both started the season as teenagers.

As well as Crawdads have done this season, the main goal of the minor leagues is to supply the parent club (the Texas Rangers) with major league talent or as trade pieces to acquire talent.

With the success of such a young team on the field, it’s no wonder a sea of scouts sat behind home plate to drool over the prospects playing in Hickory this season.

This 2011 Crawdads may prove to have the most players to eventually reach the major leagues. Hickory’s 2002 team had 13 get to the bigs. … and it’s not hard to think of 13 names on this year’s team with a realistic shot of making the majors.

Names like Jurickson Profar, Christian Villanueva and Odubel Herrera—the three infielders who made the SAL all-star team as teenagers.

Also, the fourth infielder, Andrew Clark -- who led the SAL in on base percentage and was second in batting -- has a clear path up the chain as a potential first baseman for Texas.

First round picks Jake Skole (outfield), Kellin Deglan (catcher) and Luke Jackson (pitcher) will get a shot.

Mendez and Buckel and a late pitching addition, left-hander Will Lamb (2-0, 0.48 ERA), figure to make a run.

Outfielder Josh Richmond and catcher Tomas Telis were on the list of the Rangers’ top 30 prospects prior to the season and show promise.

College draftees Justin Grimm and Nick Tepesch showed enough on the mound to draw attention, plus there’s always a surprise here and there among a reliever or a late bloomer that will get a call-up.

These younger Crawdads figure to get stronger and wiser as they move up the ladder of the minor leagues.

Whether they win or lose in the playoffs, this is a team to remember for what it did on the field at L.P. Frans Stadium and for what the players now here could do at major league stadiums in the near future. 

Mark Parker is a Record Sports Correspondent assigned to cover the Crawdads this season.  He has followed the Crawdads as a fan, a former employee and reporter for the past 10 seasons.