Louisville Bats: 10-21 overall, 115 runs scored, 159 runs allowed.
Louisville did not have a good week, going 1-6 over that time frame. The team is still struggling offensively with just two regular positions with an OPS over .800. Mike Costanzo is hitting .290/.353/.500 at third base and the catcher position that is being led by Corky Miller and his .298/.421/.447 line. Costanzo has been on a tear over his last 10 games, hitting .353/.436/.618. First baseman Neftali Soto is also starting to heat up, with a .317/.349/.537 line over his last 10 games. The Bats are 2nd last in the league in average and last in on-base percentage. The pitching has been very hit and miss. Kanekoa Texiera is leading the bullpen with a 0.64 ERA, though how much longer it lasts I am not sure given his 8 walks and 7 strikeouts in 14 innings. Brett Tomko, Ron Mahay, Josh Judy and Jeff Francis all have ERA’s between 3.41 and 3.96 on the season. Chad Reineke has a 4.13 ERA on the season. Everyone else on the roster is below 4.500 with several guys still over 6.00. I maintain that the Bats are better than their record indicates, but they probably don’t have it in the current roster to put together a big run to get back into things.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos: 15-16 overall, 125 runs scored, 133 runs allowed.
The Blue Wahoos went 4-2 last week. Henry Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to 14 games through the week and is hitting .358 (2nd in the league) on the season now. Josh Fellhauer is hitting .322 with more walks than strikeouts. Didi Gregorius is hitting .315 with 11 walks and 16 strikeouts, but still only has one extra-base hit. Ryan LaMarre has began to come out of his early season slump and is now up to .269/.358/.387 on the year with 16 walks. Cody Puckett went on a power binge over the last 8 games where he has four home runs. As a team the Blue Wahoos are 2nd in the league in average and on-base percentage. They are however 8th (of 10 teams) in slugging. Daniel Corcino leads the starters in ERA at 2.61 and is also 8th in the league, though his peripherals are not where you want to see them with 15 walks and 23 strikeouts in 31 innings. JC Sulbaran put together the best start for the Blue Wahoos all season this past week with 7 shutout innings, no walks and 9 strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 4.05 and now has 13 walks and 40 strikeouts in 33.1 innings. His 40 strikeouts are 2nd in the league. The bullpen has been pretty strong, led by Donnie Joseph in the closer role, who finally allowed his first run of the season yesterday. His ERA sits at 0.64 in 14 innings with 3 walks and 19 strikeouts. Newcomers to the bullpen Wirfin Obispo and Wilkin De La Rosa both have 0.00 ERA’s, though they only have 8.2 and 4.2 innings each. Justin Freeman has a 2.16 ERA out of the bullpen. Mark Serrano has been the long man out of the pen so far and has thrown 22 innings with 4 walks and 27 strikeouts to go with a 3.68 ERA. Chris Manno spent the last week and a half on the DL, but was just activated and has a 3.72 ERA in 9.2 innings. There is a lot of talent on this team and offensively if they can start to show some power, should really be able to put a strong run together.
Bakersfield Blaze: 16-13 overall, 144 runs scored, 124 runs allowed.
The Blaze went 2-4 over the last week, missing their top hitter Billy Hamilton for a few games as he was placed on the temporary inactive list to attend a funeral. Hamilton still leads the league in average by 30 points with his .382 average, his on-base percentage is also tops in the league at .458 and of course his 31 steals are more than double the next closest player in the league (who has 15). Hamilton is also leading the league with four triples and his .559 slugging percentage also ranks in the top 10. Donald Lutz is tied for the league lead with 9 home runs and his .643 slugging percentage ranks second in the league. Overall he is hitting .304/.352/.643 on the season. David Vidal makes the third player on the team with an OPS over .900 with a line of .306/.387/.531 with 11 walks and 18 strikeouts. Tony Cingrani still leads the pitching staff with a league leading 0.32 ERA in 28 innings with 6 walks and 37 strikeouts. Chad Rogers continues to make good of his transition to the rotation with a 2.25 ERA in 28 innings with 8 walks and 25 strikeouts. His 2.35 ERA ranks 5th in the league. Recently promoted Kyle Lotzkar also finds himself in the top 10 of the league in ERA. Daniel Renken’s ERA is just 4.64, but his 40 strikeouts lead the team and are in the top 10 of the league. Brian Pearl has led the bullpen with a 1.76 and 5 saves with 2 walks and 16 strikeouts. Curtis Partch has been a welcomed addition to the bullpen and has a 1.42 ERA in 6.1 innings since joining the team and has 3 walks and 11 strikeouts in that time. Daniel Wolford has a 2.30 ERA in 15.2 innings. The team has some good pitching, though the loss of Kyle Lotzkar may hurt them quite a bit. If someone on offense can step up and join the big three hitters Bakersfield could put together another big winning streak.
Dayton Dragons: 12-18 overall, 104 runs scored, 125 runs allowed.
The past week was one to forget for the Dragons as they went 0-6 and only scored 8 runs on the week. The Dragons are 15th in average, 14th in on-base percentage and 15th in slugging percentage in the 16-team league. Needless to say, they are struggling on offense. Ryan Wright and Yovan Gonzalez are the only two semi-regulars with an OPS over .700 and no one has an OPS over .800 on the team. Ryan Wright is hitting .301/.367/.425 with 12 walks and 14 strikeouts. Juan Silva is providing a good ability to get on base with a .382 OBP, but he is hitting just .244 and slugging .317. Kyle Waldrop was once hotter than the sun, but he has been as cold as an iceberg over his last 10 games, hitting just .139/.139/.139 with no walks and 10 strikeouts. The starting pitching has been solid for the most part. Tanner Robles has a 2.67 ERA in 33.2 innings, while Radhames Quezada has a 2.61 ERA in his 31 innings. Daniel Tuttle has made three starts on the season, but has a 2.55 ERA in 17.2 innings. Recently promoted Justice French had a 3.31 ERA in 32.2 innings. Out of the bullpen the Dragons had three relievers with ERA’s under 2.00. Ryan Kemp is leading the way with a 1.17 ERA in 15.1 innings. Dan Jensen has a 1.69 ERA in his 16 innings. Kyle McMyne had a 1.84 ERA in 14.2 innings with 2 walks and 15 strikeouts. Carlos Contreras has a 2.63 ERA in 13.1 innings out of the bullpen with a team best 2 saves. The Dragons pitching staff is 5th in the league in ERA and WHIP. With such good pitching if the team can start swinging the lumber a little better things could turn around for them, but right now they are struggling to hit almost top to bottom in the lineup.