An interesting option
March 15, 2008 by Jason Guarente
According to Jim Seip of the York Daily Record, OF Peter Bergeron is looking for work. You may remember he was the first player ever signed by the Revolution and, apparently, that team isn’t going to bring him back.
This caught my eye (belatedly) because Bergeron is the kind of player the Barnstormers could use. He’s a left-handed bat, has some speed and rarely strikes out. Here’s how he fared during his stint with the Revs before being picked up by the Pirates and assigned to Double-A last season:
Playing CF (70 games)
| .275 | 3 HR | 20 RBIs | 36 BB | 24 K | .356 OBP | .394 SLG |
Bergeron, who was once an everyday player in the big leagues with the Montreal Expos, has been remarkably consistent during his minor-league career. You can pencil him in for a .350 on-base percentage and a .400 slugging percentage at most stops. With the Barnstormers, he could be better. Here’s why.
Clipper Magazine Stadium rewards plate discipline. Because of the short porch in right field, pitchers are often too careful and struggle to throw strikes. Left-handed hitters tend to get a spike in their stats. Jeremy Todd went from good to out of this world here. Dominick Ambrosini had his best season by a mile here. Quincy Foster set his career highs here. Some of that is attributed to the ballpark.
Bergeron had more walks than strikeouts last season. That tells you he knows the strike zone extremely well. He also had an usually low batting average on balls in play (BABIP) at .290. With any luck, he could have been a .300 hitter for York. He probably should have been. And if he was, he wouldn’t be looking for work right now.
The Barnstormers have built their roster around guys with good on-base percentages, decent power and lots of strikeouts. That led to some of their offensive inconsistency last year. Bergeron is the opposite, which is why he fits well here. He won’t hit many homers, not even at the Clip, but he could provide some value as a No. 1, 2 or 9 hitter. He could also play excellent defense in spacious LF and back up Jutt Hileman in CF. And he has a reputation as a true professional with a strong work ethic.
If the Barnstormers can find two big boppers divided between 1B, 3B or DH, signing Bergeron for the outfield makes a lot of sense. If not him specifically, then someone like him.
GREAT Idea!!!!!
I was thinking about this a few days ago when I read that article. He seems like a good option for us.
Let me just say, judging by the above picture.. Peter would be a very, very nice addition to the Stormers !!!
I wonder why the Revs don’t want him back. Did he put something in Ryan Minor’s soda ? Well, if he could figure out the strike zones last year with Curly, Larry and Moe officiating, perhaps he should go into mind reading instead of baseball. But if he chooses baseball, it does look like he could prove very useful.