COMMENTARY: This year's 'Dads were young, good

They were young and they were good.

When the 2011 baseball season began, the Texas Rangers sent one-third of their top 30 prospects (as named by Baseball America) to Hickory and they got very good results.

Those roster moves made the Crawdads the youngest team in Class low-A in the minor leagues, but they still had the South Atlantic League’s best record (79-58) and made the playoffs.

Greensboro beat Hickory in two games in the SAL’s best-of-three Northern Division playoff series, ending a season that began with 18 wins in the first 25 games for first place in the division.

After starting hot, the Crawdads went into a tailspin and they were 27-25 after a loss in Delmarva (Md.).

A 13-2 run that closed out the first half of the season propelled the Crawdads to the Northern Division title and assured they’d make the playoffs.

The late first-half season run included a season-high seven-game win streak, allowing the Crawdads to wipe out a 3 ½-game deficit in an eight-game stretch to finish one game in front of Greensboro and the Hagerstown (Md.) Suns.

With a playoff berth in the bag, Hickory focused on player development during the second half of the season.

The Crawdads’ best stretch of baseball came July 3-18, when 12 wins in 15 games left them 57-36.

After dropping nine of 12 games to start the month of August, the Crawdads then went 12-2 to hit a season-high 25 games over .500 (78-53) on Aug. 29.

Much of Hickory’s success can be credited to hitting. The Crawdads led the SAL in hitting (.277), they were second in on-base percentage (.351) and had the fourth fewest strikeouts of all full-season teams in the minors.

Shortstop Jurickson Profar was named the SAL’s Most Valuable Player after hitting .286 with a club record 37 doubles. He added eight triples, 12 home runs 65 RBI and 23 steals as primarily a switch-hitting leadoff guy.

The youngest player in the SAL, Profar made an immediate impact by hitting a home run in each of his first two games (one from each side). In the infield, he made only 22 errors and set a club season and overall record for fielding percentage (.955).

Profar, second baseman Odubel Herrera and third baseman Christian Villanueva made the SAL all-stars team.

Villanueva, 20, led the Crawdads with 18 home runs and 84 RBI to go with 30 doubles and 32 steals. He showed a knack for coming through in the clutch with four walk-off RBI this season.

Defensively, Villanueva led the SAL in fielding, set club records in assists by a third baseman and was two double plays shy of the SAL record in double plays at the position.

Not on the Rangers’ top 30 prospects list before the season, Herrera, 19, was a surprise.  He hit .306 with a team-high 34 steals and had 56 RBI.

First baseman Andrew Clark, promoted to class high-A Myrtle Beach, S.C., in mid-August, led the SAL in on-base percentage (.421) and was second in hitting (.313).

On the mound, the Crawdads’ pitching at times overpowered the opposition. They led the SAL with 1,199 strikeouts, which also set a team record.

But at times the young staff showed a wild streak, and the Crawdads led the league in walks.

The brightest star of the group was Roman Mendez. Obtained from the Boston Red Sox in 2010, Mendez’s fastball and improving change up helped him go 9-1 with a 3.31 ERA with 130 strikeouts in 117 innings.

Despite being shut down most of August to control the number of innings he’d pitch, Mendez ended up second in the SAL in strikeouts.

Another bright spot among the pitchers was Cody Buckel, the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2010. He joined the Crawdads’ bullpen in late April and made his first start in mid-May.

Eventually, Buckel became Hickory’s most reliable starter. He finished 8-3 with a 2.61 ERA and with 120 strikeouts in 96 2/3 innings.

Reliever Ryan Rodebaugh led the Crawdads with 14 saves before his promotion to Myrtle Beach. Fireballer Francisco Mendoza followed Rodebaugh in the closer’s slot and picked up nine saves in 10 chances after July 26.

Mark Parker is the HDR Sports correspondent who has covered the Crawdads each of the last two seasons.