Mike Aviles

From BR Bullpen

Jump to: navigation, search

Michael Anthony Aviles

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 5' 9", Weight 195 lb.

School Concordia College
High School Middletown High School

Debut May 29, 2008

Born March 13, 1981 in New York, NY USA

BR Page

1 Biographical Information
2 Notable Achievements
3 Sources
4 Related Sites

[edit] Biographical Information

Mike Aviles made his big league debut in 2008.

Aviles was a top star in his senior year of college, hitting .500 with 83 runs, 22 homers and 65 RBI in 45 games. He slugged 1.016 and led NCAA Division II in batting average. He was named the ABCA Player of the Year for Division II, an honor previously won by Tino Martinez and Brett Tomko. The American Baseball Coaches Association named him a first-team Division II All-American while Baseball America named him a small college All-American first-teamer at shortstop. He won the Baseball America Division II Player of the Year Award, but lost their small college player of the year to Division III's Matt DeSalvo. He also led Division II in homers, runs and total bases (193). The Kansas City Royals took the short shortstop in the 7th round of the 2003 amateur draft.

Aviles had an excellent pro debut, hitting .363/.404/.585 in 52 games for the AZL Royals with 51 runs. He led the Arizona League in runs and doubles and was 4th in average. He led the AZL's shortstops in putouts (82) and assists (141). He was named to the league All-Star team at shortstop and was named MVP of the AZL, beating out slugging leader Wladimir Balentien. Aviles was named the league's #13 prospect by Baseball America; the relatively low rating may have been due to his age relative to the league, which featured many players out of high school.

In 2004, Aviles was bumped up to the Wilmington Blue Rocks and led Royals farmhands with 40 doubles, a Wilmington franchise record. He hit .300/.352/.443 , finishing 6th in the Carolina League in average, leading in doubles, tying Shane Costa for third with 139 hits and placing third with 50 extra-base hits. He was named to the Carolina League All-Star team at shortstop. Baseball America did not feature him on their list of the league's top 20 prospects.

At age 24, Mike batted .280/.318/.447 for the Wichita Wranglers with 33 doubles, 6 triples, 14 homers, 79 runs and 80 RBI. He made 33 errors, leading Texas League shortstops. He made the TL All-Star team at utility man as Erick Aybar was chosen at shortstop.

In 2006, the New Yorker played all year at AAA with the Omaha Royals, producing at a .264/.307/.373 clip with 14 steals in 19 tries. He played primarily third base and his 20 errors there were the most in the Pacific Coast League at the hot corner.

Aviles hit .296/.332/.463 for Omaha in 2007 with 27 doubles, 78 runs, 6 triples, 77 RBI and 17 homers. He played at least 33 games at second base, third base and shortstop. He grounded into 24 double plays, leading the PCL. He was named Omaha's Player of the Year and Kansas City's Minor League Player of the Year, beating out Craig Brazell, the top home run hitter in the affiliated minors. Aviles did not get a call-up to the majors despite his success.

In the Venezuelan Winter League, Aviles batted .299/.364/.471 for the Tigres de Aragua to finish 11th in the league in average and help Aragua to get to the 2008 Caribbean Series. Aviles began 2008 back with Omaha and was hitting .336/.370/.631 with 42 runs and 42 RBI in 51 games when he finally was called up, to replace the struggling Billy Butler.

Aviles was immediatelly put in the starting lineup with SS Tony Pena Jr. having even more troubles than Butler. Aviles struck out against Kevin Slowey in his first major league at-bat and finished his first game in The Show 0 for 3. However, he picked up the pace immediately, becoming the Royals' best hitter over the season's second half and holding the shortstop position for the rest of the year. He put up a batting line of .325/.354/.480 in 102 games, with 68 runs scored and earned a place on the 2008 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.