2018 Quad Cities River Bandits Season In Review
The Quad Cities River Bandits put together a solid season in 2018 making the playoffs. Unfortunately they didn’t repeat as champions but still managed to win a ton of games and continue to help move prospects through the system. Here is a review of the season Quad Cities put together.
2018 Record: 81-59, Midwest League Western Division Winner
The River Bandits got off to a slow start in April going just 10-12. They would follow that up going 20-12 in May as they really got rolling. Quad Cities went 14-12 in June and finished the first half of the season 40-30 and 1st in the Midwest Western League, clinging a playoff spot. The River Bandits would put together a dominant run in the second half though.
Quad Cities kept playing some solid baseball going 14-12 in July. They would play about .500 the rest of the way finishing the season 81-59 as they went into the playoffs. The playoffs started on September 5th as the River Bandits played a 3 game series against Peoria. Unfortunately, it didn’t go well as the River Bandits lost the firs two games and were knocked out of the playoff.
There were several players that did make an impact, as is the case every season. J.J. Matijevic and Seth Beer made huge impacts in their limited time with the club. Matijevic hit .354 with 6 HR, 3 HR in 13 games. Beer joined Quad Cities after a little time with Tri-City and hit .348 in 29 games. The River Bandits really were depleted late in the season with most of their better hitters being promoted to Buies Creek. Jake Meyers (.302 in 61 games), Jonathan Arauz (.863 OPS in 54 games) and Bryan De La Cruz (.283 BA in 65 games) all finished the season with Buies Creek.
The pitching was very good though. Tyler Ivey started the season with Quad Cities and struck out 53 in 41.2 innings with a 3.46 ERA before being promoted. Cesar Rosado led the staff with 108.2 innings pitched (4.15 ERA). Parker Mushinski was great for Quad Cities this season posting a 2.33 ERA with 114 K in 89 innings. Peter Solomon, J.B. Bukauskas, and Cristian Javier were great too before being promoted. Chad Donato dominated with a 2.04 ERA as he finished the season strong. Jairo Solis was solid for an 18 year old and Enoli Paredes dominated in relief. Here are the team leaders:
TEAM LEADERS
Hits – Miguelangel Sierra (90)
Doubles – Jake Meyers/Colton Shaver (18)
Triples – Jonathan Arauz/Jonathan Lacroix (6)
Home Runs – Colton Shaver (15)
Runs Batted In – Colton Shaver (50)
Average – Jake Meyers (.302)
Stolen Bases – Corey Julks (14)
OPS – Jonathan Arauz (.863)
Innings Pitched – Cesar Rosado (108.1)
Wins – Peter Solomon (8)
Saves – Carlos Sanabria (8)
Strikeouts – Parker Mushinski (114)
Earned Run Average – Enoli Paredes (1.46)
NOTABLES
Parker Mushinski, LHP
Mushinski was the Astros 7th round pick in 2017. He put together a great season for the River Bandits appearing in 27 games (12 starts) while posting a 2.33 ERA with 114 K in 89 innings. As a reliever he had a 2.21 ERA with 51 K in 36.2 innings.
Peter Solomon, RHP
Solomon was the Astros 4th round pick in 2017 and he also dominated during his time with the River Bandits. He had a 2.43 ERA with 88 K in 77.2 innings before being promoted to Buies Creek where he was even better (1.96 ERA in 23 innings).
Bryan Abreu, RHP
Abreu had somewhat of a breakout season in 2018. He started the season with Tri-City before being promoted to Quad Cities where he just dominated striking out 68 in 38.1 innings with a 1.64 ERA. Opponents hit just .165 off of him in the Midwest League.
Cristian Javier, RHP
Javier followed up a strong 2017 season with a good 2018 season. He pitched in 49.1 innings for Quad Cities and had a 1.82 ERA while striking out 80 before being promoted to Buies Creek.
2018 OUTLOOK
There will be a few guys who I expect to return to Quad Cities for 2019. We may see some young players like Nathan Perry, Joe Perez, Freudis Nova, and Jayson Schroeder make their full season debuts. Alex McKenna finished the 218 season with Quad Cities and could return in 2019. There will be quite a few pitchers making their full season debut next season with many coming from the 2018 draft. But just as this year, with the loss of Greeneville, we could see the Astros continue to be aggressive with some of the younger prospects.
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**Photo Credit: Richard Guill**
