KT 62.50 - Team News #50 - The running Kernels, as fast as butter

[JRamirez]

Des Moines leads the Frick with 601 runs. The team also leads in OPS (.798), HRs (215), and a couple of other offensive metrics.

The team's surprise weapon may be its running: the Kernels are third in stolen basis (120)—ten more than all of last season—and most of that is due to the running skills of 3b Matchbox Parreno (29), SS Pedro Gongora (24), 2b Miguel Martinez (24), Lf Wang-lin Koo (14), and team captain CF Dan Morris (10). "Some of those guys have been given the run-when-you-want clearance," running coach Coach Martinho Salgado said, "and a couple have been stealing bases with plus/minus six-run leads."

But most of the steals come in the thick of things, and not only do home runs win games, but stolen bases prevent double plays and put runners in scoring positions. Matchbox is seeking his 4th-straight 40+ steal season, while Martinez has already almost doubled his season best. Gongora's two dozen is a career-high for a single season—he stole 23 for Omaha in 2058. Ken'ichi Okubo has stolen eight in ten attempts. We might try up his stealing ability in the Development Center, which is getting a facelift this summer. Or maybe we'll protect this asset and not let him anywhere near it!

The guys in the know rate the Kernels 3rd in Base Running, with a -14.1, but between Salgado, the rest of the coaching staff, and groundskeeper Jibwa Smortningaling, no one around here knows what that measures. "We don't like negative numbers, in general," Smortningaling said, but I guess that one's a keeper.