Pensacola Blue Wahoos 1st Half Review

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos first half is over. They finished in last place of the South Division at 25-44, 14 games out of first place and with the worst record in the Southern League. The Southern League is like most other minor league levels where there is a first half and a second half, so the Blue Wahoos have a fresh start to get things going in the right direction and still make the playoffs. Let’s take a look at their performance over the first half.

After a 4-3 start to the season the Blue Wahoos never topped .500 again. They would finish April at 10-13 before really taking a nose dive in May that included a 9-game losing streak that began in the middle of the month. Pensacola would finish May with a 9-21 record. Things were a little better in June, but the Blue Wahoos still finished 6-10 to close out the first half.

Position Player of the First Half

There were really only two choices here as most of the team really struggled to hit. Bryson Smith led the team in AVG/OBP/SLG across the board, but Tucker Barnhart was right there with him. With Barnhart being a catcher, I give him the slight edge over Smith who unfortunately looks like he will miss most of the second half. Barnhart hit .270/.340/.376 with 21 walks and 36 strikeouts. He had 12 doubles, a triple  and two home runs to go along with 21 RBI. He started 77% of the Blue Wahoos games behind the plate and threw out 30% of attempted base stealers and had just one passed ball.

Starting Pitcher of the First Half

The Blue Wahoos rotation has been pretty good across the board with all five starters having an ERA of 3.88 or lower. One guy stood out from the rest though. Chad Rogers finished the first half on the disabled list, but he posted a 2.08 ERA in 60.2 innings and a 1.06 WHIP. He had 21 walks and 46 strikeouts.

Relief Pitcher of the First Half

The bullpen was a weakness for pitching staff, but Loek Van Mil provided the most stability from the bullpen as he posted a 3.82 ERA in 33 innings over the first half. He recorded 6 saves for the team with 13 walks and 22 strikeouts while posting a 1.18 WHIP.

Individual Stats