Kansas City T-Bones Mid-Season Review: T-Bones Tale
The Kansas City T-Bones leave the mid-season break at 33-36 and in third place in the Central Division of the American Association, seven games behind Gary Southshore. They are in a small rut, going 4-6 in their last ten, but are in a division where none of the teams are playing particularly well right now, so there is a good chance that if they can get on a bit of a hot streak they can get into the thick of the pennant race.
The T-Bones are currently ranked seventh in hitting in the American Association with a .268 average. They have been a middle of the pack offense for the most part, ranked sixth in runs scored with 336, and seventh in home runs with 40 through 69 games. One area where they do stand out is in stolen bases, where they rank second in the league with 93. On the mound, Kansas City has really struggled, posting a 5.06 ERA, ninth in the AA. Kansas City is also ninth in opponent batting average at .289, and eighth in most home runs allowed with 51.
Top T-Bones Player: The top hitter has been infielder TJ Mittelstaedt. While a case can be made for Vladamir Frias, it has been Mittelstaedt that has been the more productive and important player on the team. He enters the second half with a .275 average, and leads the team with 11 home runs. He leads the team with 50 RBI, which is also tied for sixth in the league, and has driven in 37 runs and has 29 extra base hits. Middletstaedt has also stolen 11 bases, while only getting caught two times. One area where he really excels is in plate discipline. Middletstaedt leads the league in walks with 68, which has him second overall in on-base percentage at .442.
Top T-Bones Pitcher: Kris Regas has set himself apart as the top pitcher on the team. In 32 games this season he is 6-1 with 14 saves and a 1.94. His save total ranks sixth in the AA. He has some very impressive statistics, pitching 46.1 innings, yielding just 30 hits and 15 walks, while striking out 45. He has a true closer’s mentality, and it would not be surprising to see him signed to a team soon. With his stuff, he would be a perfect late inning setup guy or even a closer for a team.
Season Outlook: The T-Bones are not out of the race by any stretch of the imagination, but they are going to need to get on a bit of a hot streak to convince management that they are in this for real. It is going to take them winning 10 out of 12 or some similar win streak early on to show that they have what it takes to stay in this race. Since none of the teams in their division are playing particularly hot right now, this is the time to make a move. If they wait too much longer it may be too late.
By Robert Pannier
Senior Baseball Editor
Member of the IBWAA