Bisons clinch Northeast Division Championship

The Buffalo Bisons (70-44) have captured the first ever Triple-A East Northeast Division Title, their first division title since winning the International League North Division in 2005 (82-62).

The 2021 Herd is 70-44 with three games left in the regular season and cannot be caught by any of the five teams within its division. Buffalo’s current .619 winning pct. is the team’s best since the team went 91-51 (.641) under Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame manager Eric Wedge in 2001.

The division title is the team’s 10th in the modern era. However, this division title may be the most impressive as all 114 games the team has played have been against Northeast Division clubs.

The 2021 Buffalo Bisons have had a season unlike any other at Triple-A under first-year manager, Casey Candaele. After the start of the minor league season was postponed a month due to pandemic, the Herd began the year playing their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark in Trenton, NJ. Embracing their home away from home, the Bisons raced out to a 9-3 start in New Jersey and were 29-13 in their 42 home games prior to the return to Buffalo, NY.

Then on August 10, Western New York rejoiced in the return of the Herd to Sahlen Field for the first time in nearly two years. The Bisons responded by winning the first four games in front of the greatest fans in baseball!

Then on August 29, the Bisons defeated the Worcester Red Sox, 9-5, at Sahlen Field to start a modern era records 12-game win streak. In just two weeks, the Herd stampeded past the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and into first place in the division. Since that game, the Bisons have won 14 of their last 17 games.

Under Candaele, the Bisons have proven to be the best all-around team in Triple-A East. As they have for virtually the entire season, the Herd ranks 1st in all of Triple-A baseball with a 3.50 ERA, having issued the 2nd fewest walks (360) and allowing the 2nd fewest home runs (104) in Triple-A East. Meanwhile, the team’s .262 batting average is also tied for the best in Triple-A East with the best on-base percentage (.352) and 7th-most stolen bases (104) in the league.

The Herd’s lineup has been the model of consistency as six different players have played in 75% of the team’s game. INF Kevin Smith ranks in the league’s Top 10 in several offensive categories, including average (.291, 7th), RBI (66, 6th), slugging pct. (.567, 3rd), OPS (.940, 3rd) and extra-base hits (48, 3rd). INF/OF Cullen Large has played in a team-best 105 games and is one of five batters with at least 40RBI on the season (42). 1B Tyler White has drawn a league-best 68 walks to go along with a .288 average and a .414 on-base pct. OF Forrest Wall is 3rd in the league in stolen bases (32) and INF/OF Christian Colon ranks behind only Smith (19) with 15 home runs on the season.

The Bisons pitching staff has shown its strength at the start and end of games. RHP Bryan Baker earned his first big league promotion with a 4-1 record and a 1.49 ERA in 35 games to go along with a team-best 10 saves. RHP Dany Jimenez has a 2.41 ERA in his 36 appearances, with 2.5 times more strikeouts (68) than hits allowed (27) in 41.0 innings of work. LHP Kirby Snead (1.66) and RHP Conor Overton (1.99) have also posted sub 2.00 ERAs while RHP Hobie Harris leads the relievers with five wins in his team-best 38 appearances.

Leading the starters have been a pair of arms that joined the Herd midseason. Up from Double-A New Hampshire, LHP Zach Logue has posted a team-best 7-3 record with a 3.62 ERA in 14 starts. Acquired by the Blue Jays in a trade, RHP Bowden Francis is 5-3 with a 4.34 ERA in his 10 starts. Seventeen different pitchers have started a game for the Bisons this season.

With the Northeast Division championship secured, the Bisons will close out the 2021 regular season with three games at Frontier Field. The team will then compete in Triple-A’s 10-game ‘Final Stretch’ playoff that will include five home games at Sahlen Field, September 22-26. Tickets for those games are just $10 each and can be purchased right here.