Who is Mike Bianucci?
I apologize for the relative silence on the blog lately. Life's been busy.
So who is this Mike Bianucci guy? The day after Ian Kinsler goes 6-6 (hitting for the cycle), this Bianucci fella has his own 6-6 outing in Asheville, leading the team to a 16-6 victory. And then the guy keeps it up, hitting his way into a SAL player of the week award. Should we have expected this?
Through the first 6 games of the season Bianucci was hitting a line of (yawn) .133 with only 2 hits and 3 RBI's. Mike has blown away my indifference by exploding for 16 hits and 12 RBI's in his last 8 games. Bianucci is settling into the cleanup spot and could be an anchor for the Hickory offense--that is as long as he's in Hickory.
Bianucci might not be around long. Mike is about to turn 23 years old, which makes him an older player for the SAL league. There are 407 players in the SAL league, Bianucci ranks 260 on that list in terms of age (numbers courtesy of Scott Lucas). The RF from Auburn is the third oldest player on a team that consists of 8 players under 20.
A little background info:
During his freshman year at Auburn, Bianucci hit .359 in 181 AB's with 8 HR, 31 RBI, 9 BB, 47 SO's. In his sophomore year, Mike's average slipped to .326 but he hit 6 more HR's and walked 20 more times while striking out 14 fewer times. After his first two years at Auburn, some scouts thought Bianucci could go as high as the 5th round in that year's MLB draft. Bianucci ended up falling to the 23rd round where he was drafted by the LA Angels.
Bianucci's defense hurt his value. He was drafted by the Angels as a third baseman where he would have been below average. As an outfielder Bianucci is described as only "adequate." Another fear scouts had about Mr. Bianucci was that his bat might not be as potent in a wood-stick environment.
Dissapointed by his unexpected fall in the 07 draft, Mike returned to Auburn for a third year where he continued to shine offensively in the best conference in college ball. His offensive numbers during his junior season were similar to his sophomore year, but Bianucci continued to increase his BB ratio by drawing 37 walks, an improvement from only 9 BB's total his freshman season.
So we have a player that improved every year with the bat, dissapointed with the glove, unexpectedly fell in the 07 draft to the 23rd round, decided to stay in Auburn for a third year, and was rewarded with an 8th round selection by your Texas Rangers last year.
After being drafted by the Rangers, Bianucci played 31 games in Spokane last year. The outfielder hit .316 in 114 AB's with 3HR, 15RBI, 11BB, 18SO....pretty much on par with how he hit during his final two seasons with the Auburn Tigers.
And here we are in 2009. Bianucci is hitting cleanup and playing RF for the Hickory Crawdads. Because of his age, the almost 23 year old outfielder needs to keep up his recent performance in hopes that he can move quickly. The Bakersfield Blaze are currently sporting a record of 4-10 with a limited-power bat in RF that's not hitting his weight, Joey Butler. Joey better look over his shoulder because there's a big fella in North Carolina breathing down his neck.
In a perfect world Bianucci would earn a quick promotion to Bakersfield and hopefully perform well enough to taste Frisco at the end of the year. The Ranger's depth, however, might make this goal difficult to achieve.
****EDIT****
I failed to mention that Mike Bianucci suffered a broken wrist at the end of his debut season in Spokane last year. The injury is probably the only reason he's not in Bakersfield as we speak. It may be safe to consider Mike's time in Hickory as a pseudo rehab assignment. The team wants him to prove that he's healthy and ready for the next step; he may be proving his healthiness as we speak.
So who is this Mike Bianucci guy? The day after Ian Kinsler goes 6-6 (hitting for the cycle), this Bianucci fella has his own 6-6 outing in Asheville, leading the team to a 16-6 victory. And then the guy keeps it up, hitting his way into a SAL player of the week award. Should we have expected this?
Through the first 6 games of the season Bianucci was hitting a line of (yawn) .133 with only 2 hits and 3 RBI's. Mike has blown away my indifference by exploding for 16 hits and 12 RBI's in his last 8 games. Bianucci is settling into the cleanup spot and could be an anchor for the Hickory offense--that is as long as he's in Hickory.
Bianucci might not be around long. Mike is about to turn 23 years old, which makes him an older player for the SAL league. There are 407 players in the SAL league, Bianucci ranks 260 on that list in terms of age (numbers courtesy of Scott Lucas). The RF from Auburn is the third oldest player on a team that consists of 8 players under 20.
A little background info:
During his freshman year at Auburn, Bianucci hit .359 in 181 AB's with 8 HR, 31 RBI, 9 BB, 47 SO's. In his sophomore year, Mike's average slipped to .326 but he hit 6 more HR's and walked 20 more times while striking out 14 fewer times. After his first two years at Auburn, some scouts thought Bianucci could go as high as the 5th round in that year's MLB draft. Bianucci ended up falling to the 23rd round where he was drafted by the LA Angels.
Bianucci's defense hurt his value. He was drafted by the Angels as a third baseman where he would have been below average. As an outfielder Bianucci is described as only "adequate." Another fear scouts had about Mr. Bianucci was that his bat might not be as potent in a wood-stick environment.
Dissapointed by his unexpected fall in the 07 draft, Mike returned to Auburn for a third year where he continued to shine offensively in the best conference in college ball. His offensive numbers during his junior season were similar to his sophomore year, but Bianucci continued to increase his BB ratio by drawing 37 walks, an improvement from only 9 BB's total his freshman season.
So we have a player that improved every year with the bat, dissapointed with the glove, unexpectedly fell in the 07 draft to the 23rd round, decided to stay in Auburn for a third year, and was rewarded with an 8th round selection by your Texas Rangers last year.
After being drafted by the Rangers, Bianucci played 31 games in Spokane last year. The outfielder hit .316 in 114 AB's with 3HR, 15RBI, 11BB, 18SO....pretty much on par with how he hit during his final two seasons with the Auburn Tigers.
And here we are in 2009. Bianucci is hitting cleanup and playing RF for the Hickory Crawdads. Because of his age, the almost 23 year old outfielder needs to keep up his recent performance in hopes that he can move quickly. The Bakersfield Blaze are currently sporting a record of 4-10 with a limited-power bat in RF that's not hitting his weight, Joey Butler. Joey better look over his shoulder because there's a big fella in North Carolina breathing down his neck.
In a perfect world Bianucci would earn a quick promotion to Bakersfield and hopefully perform well enough to taste Frisco at the end of the year. The Ranger's depth, however, might make this goal difficult to achieve.
****EDIT****
I failed to mention that Mike Bianucci suffered a broken wrist at the end of his debut season in Spokane last year. The injury is probably the only reason he's not in Bakersfield as we speak. It may be safe to consider Mike's time in Hickory as a pseudo rehab assignment. The team wants him to prove that he's healthy and ready for the next step; he may be proving his healthiness as we speak.
Also, while Mike is a bit older than average in the SAL (South-Atlantic League), he will be slightly younger than average in the CAL league. Don't count him out due to age just yet.
And now, maybe you know a little bit more about Mike Bianucci than you did 5 minutes ago.
Here's a Bianucci AB from his Auburn days. It's not great, but it's something.
0 Responses to "Who is Mike Bianucci?"
Post a Comment