Sox Scoops 43.034: Farm Fresh 2043, Vol. 2

[HoosierVic]

Farm Fresh 2043, Vol. 2
May 5-June 1

Carolina Flight, AAA

The Flight have been cruising along pretty well since last we checked in at the end of April, climbing to 12 games over .500 and into a tie for the GL East Coast Division lead with Brooklyn.

So far, at least, the team’s strength has been its hitting: It ranks 3rd in batting average, 1st in OBP, 3rd in slugging, 1st in WAR, 1st in runs scored, and 5th in home runs. The pitching has been a bit less effective, although the Flight in the top 10 in most pitching categories.

The offense has been keyed by 1B Robby Clements (.315/.365/.523) and outfielders Danny Bennett (.310/.388/.587) and Ricardo Torres (.263/.348/.498). On the mound, SP Romeu Tameiro is having a fine season: 9-2 in 12 starts with a 2.55 ERA, 59 Ks and 18 walks, while closer Gilberto Cordero has recovered from a shaky April to go 1-2 with 15 saves, a 2.96 ERA, 17 Ks and 8 walks in 24.1 IP.

Tameiro, in fact, won the Granville Sub-League’s Pitcher of the Month Award for May, going 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA. He also he fanned 34 batters in 37.1 innings.

Record as of June 1
W-L Record in May: 19-10, .655
Overall Record: 35-23, .603
Position in Standings: Tied for 1st place with Brooklyn in the GL East Coast Division.

Position Players of Interest

Player	Slash Line	RC/27	WOBA	HR	RBI	WAR
Robby Clements, DH	.315/.365/.523	6.9	.382	11	39	1.1
Emilio Lugo, 1B	.265/.382/.576	7.7	.404	13	42	0.7
José Silva, 2B*	.290/.377/.398	5.5	.343	0	13	0.8
Jeffrey Cote, 3B	.261/.356/.392	4.8	.334	4	29	0.4
Shannon Morrison, SS	.263/.321/.402	4.1	.320	5	26	1.1
Danny Bennett, DH	.310/.388/.587	8.9	.416	10	36	1.8
Ricardo Torres, RF	.263/.348/.498	6.4	.368	13	13	1.5

*Promoted to Chicago on May 12

Pitchers of Interest

Pitcher	ERA	W-L-SV	IP	K's	BB's	WAR
Romeu Tameiro, SP	2.55	9-2-0	74.0	59	18	2.5
Gilberto Cordero, CL	2.96	1-2-15	24.1	17	8	0.4

Beloit Blue Sox, AA

The Beloit Blue Sox have righted the ship since the end of April, putting together a nice 22-7 record in May to climb from 3rd place into the undisputed lead in the DNL Mid-Central Division.

Pitching has been the name of the game for Beloit, as the offense ranks towards the bottom of the league in virtually every category of consequence, including runs scored, where it ranks a miserable 13th (of 16 teams) with 258.

The pitching staff, on the other hand, leads the league in most categories, except for bullpen ERA, where it ranks 3rd. The critical stat here is runs allowed, where Beloit ranks first with 204. That means the team has been able to put up a +54 run differential even with its lackluster offense.

Beloit has been able to do that even with the loss, for significant amounts of time, to four key members of the pitching staff: SP Andresa Frederico, RP Wessel Croonenborgh; Closer Ike Kocher; and RP Hidetada Yamamoto.

Yamamoto, last season’s second round draft pick, is gone for the season with a torn labrum, but the others will all return within a few days or weeks.
Record as of June 1
W-L Record in May: 22-7, .759
Overall Record: 36-22, .621
Position in Standings: In 1st Place in the DNL Mid-Central Division, with a 3-game lead over Columbus.

Position Players of Interest

Player	Slash Line	RC/27	WOBA	HR	RBI	WAR
Mashashi Fujihara, SS	.242/.366/.360	4.5	.337	3	25	1.6
Franciso Rosales, 1B	.310/.382/.625	8.4	.437	18	40	2.2

Pitchers of Interest

Pitcher	ERA	W-L-SV	IP	K's	BB's	WAR
John McClain, SP	2.82	5-3-0	67.0	48	32	1.1
Andresa Frederico*, SP	2.10	0-0-0	25.2	23	10	1.0
Pat Pederson, SP	3.98	5-1-0	52.0	68	44	1.2
Ike Kocher**, CL	3.48	1-4-11	20.2	13	8	0.8

*Strained hamstring on 5-19, out for 5 weeks.
**Sprained elbow on 5-20, out for 4-5 weeks.

Grand Junction Gold Sox, Single A

The Gold Sox have improved their record to 10 games over .500 since the end of April, and moved into 2nd place in the PL West Central Division.

Grand Junction has played a balanced game in the first two months of the season, performing well at the plate and on the mound. The Gold Sox rank in the Top 5 in most offensive and pitching categories, so far.

The Sox have a +88 run differential, which is the best in the West Central Division. They’ve played in a bit of bad luck so far, though, lagging their Pythagorean projected W/L record by 4 games. Had they performed as expected, the Sox would have a record of 38-20.

In the early going, SP/RP Jeremy Smith has been the undisputed star of the team, going 6-2 with a 1.61 ERA over 11 starts and 61.2 IP.

Record as of June 1
W-L Record in May: 18-11, .621
Overall Record: 34-24, .586
Position in Standings: In 2nd place in the PL West Central Division, 2 games behind Topeka.

Position Players of Interest

Player	Slash Line	RC/27	WOBA	HR	RBI	WAR
Emílio Morán, 2B	.269/.387	.398	5.2	.372	5	23	1.8
Trent Murphy, 3B	.245/.377/.314	4.6	.342	3	17	1.3

Pitchers of Interest

Pitcher	ERA	W-L-SV	IP	K's	BB's	WAR
Jeremy Smith, SP/RP	1.61	6-2-0	61.2	66	34	2.2
Tomás Marrero, SP	4.70	2-4-0	67.0	49	35	0.6
Kerry Conner, SP/RP	2.96	4-1-0	67.0	51	23	1.7
Ken Marshall, RP	3.13	4-2-2	23.0	28	14	0.3
Jorge Rivera, SP/RP	3.00	4-1-0	60.0	41	33	0.5
Bernie Stuart, CL	4.72	1-5-14	26.2	23	21	0.1
Tony Watts, RP	1.85	1-0-0	24.1	23	10	0.4