Jake Burger and Blake Rutherford combined for six hits, four runs and two RBI, but the biggest meltdown of the season — and there have been many — by the bullpen resulted in an 8-7 loss against the Durham Bulls Sunday night.
Led by Burger and Rutherford, the offense was relentless, pounding out 12 hits, including two doubles by Burger and another by Nick Williams as well as four stolen bases as a group. The team was 5-for-14 with runners in scoring position and looked to be in line for the win after a run in the top of the 8th pushed the advantage to 7-3.
Knights starter Matt Tomshaw pitched a beauty, going seven innings and allowing two hits (both home runs), 3 earned runs, and one walk while fanning eight. However, Jacob Lindgren created one giant hot mess when he walked three batters to open the bottom of the 8th. Manager Wes Helms summoned Alex McRae, who gave up a double and a homer — and the lead.
Season in Review
A quick look at the numbers for Jake Burger, Gavin Sheets, Seby Zavala and Blake Rutherford tell an exciting story through 18 games of the season. Although it is still extremely early in the 120-game season, with a tiny sample size, all four are off to excellent starts showcasing good plate discipline, sound fundamentals and consistent approaches.
To be sure, there’s a lot of noise in the stats: all but Zavala are still getting comfortable upon making their first appearances in Triple-A. Plus, there’s the added pressure of baseball’s restrictive Covid protocols. The Knights have played their first three six-game series in hitter’s ballparks, though that was negated a bit by the strong pitching they’ve faced.
So what stands out among the hitting results thus far? Let’s take a look at each player’s key stats.
Jake Burger, already the feel-good story of the year with his remarkable comeback, is hitting the ball hard with a team-leading six home runs to go along with five doubles and 14 RBI. He came into Sunday’s game with a slugging percentage of .623.
Burger’s batting average has risen to .259, but his low BABIP suggests he’s actually been a bit unlucky and more hits are likely to fall in. He’s striking out about 26 percent of the time. Overall, about 36 percent of his contact is on the ground, with another 47 percent being fly balls, and an eye-popping 35 percent of those going for home runs (good home run hitters are 15-20%). These are all strong numbers.
Defensively, he’s made 2 errors in 11 chances at third base and has started two double plays.
Gavin Sheets, meanwhile, has appeared locked in from Opening Day. He’s hitting .300, with four home runs, three doubles and 10 RBIs. He’s only striking out 23 percent of the time and is slugging .508. His line drive/ground out/fly ball rates are 16.7 percent, 37.5 percent and 45.8 percent respectively. 13.6 percent of his fly balls are home runs.
Sheets has played 11 games in right field, with seven put-outs and no errors. He’s also played seven games at first base, his natural position, with 78 put-outs and three errors.
Blake Rutherford is stroking line drives to the opposite field, and the approach has worked quite well for him. He boasts a batting average of .317, going opposite field at a 35.9 percent clip and hitting line drives 15.8 percent of the time. He also has a solid OBP of .350.
Finally, Seby Zavala has an solid slash line of .237/.333/.537, with six home runs, three doubles and 12 RBIs. Almost half his balls in play are fly balls (45.8 percent), and 13.6 percent of those are leaving the yard. But he is striking out too much, as he’s gone down 30 times across 59 at-bats.
A quick note about two other players, as their performances will help determine who gets the next call-up to Chicago.
The first is Brian Goodwin, who is off to a slow start with Charlotte, with a slash line of .184/.231/.429. Plus, he is striking out 40 percent of the time. He has three home runs, three doubles and nine RBI. The second player of note is Marco Hernandez, who leads the team with .349 batting average and 22 hits, and is second in OBP at .377.
The team returns to Charlotte the first week in June, at which time I hope to finally be able to sit down with hitting coach Chris Johnson for a deeper dive into these numbers.
Pitching: A Quick Glance
It is probably much too early in the season to draw any conclusions from the pitching staff, but it hasn’t been good yet. The team ERA is 5.46, with 181 strikeouts and 114 walks in 156.0 innings.
The bullpen has been the primary culprit. Consider that mainstays Kodi Medeiros, Danny Dopico, Jacob Lindgren, Ryan Burr, Connor Sadzeck, Tayron Guerrero, Alex McRae and Tyler Johnson have thrown a combined 53.1 innings, with a whopping 64 walks and 56 strikeouts.
The team’s top pitching prospects, Jimmy Lambert and Jonathan Stiever, continue to build arm strength. But the early returns are good. Lambert has thrown 8.2 innings, with just four walks against 17 strikeouts. Stiever has tossed 13.0 innings, with seven walks and 15 Ks.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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