Tending to the Farm: Micker Adolfo powers Birmingham’s offense

This series will contain weekly recaps of the performances of each minor league affiliate. Here is the next installment after the third week of the minor league season.

Charlotte Knights (7-11)

Weekly Record: 1-5

The Knights came up on the short end this week, losing five of six to the Durham Bulls. Four of six games were decided by one run, as Charlotte came out on the losing side on all those affairs.

As a whole, the Charlotte bats scuffled against Durham pitchers, ending the series with a .211/.255/.373 slash line, an .627 OPS with 28 runs, 43 hits in 204 at bats, six doubles, no triples, nine home runs, 25 RBI, 11 walks to 79 strikeouts, seven stolen bases, and were not caught stealing. Complete season totals for the Knights offense can be found here.

The Knights pitching staff struggled against a tough Durham lineup. Charlotte pitching concluded the week with a team ERA of 5.47, 1.43 WHIP, .217 Batting Average Against, 31 earned runs to 35 runs allowed, 40 hits to 51 innings pitched, 33 walks to 61 strikeouts, two hit batters, and allowed nine home runs. To see Charlotte’s complete pitching totals for the season, click here.

Hot Player of the Week

Jake Burger: What was a fantastic story coming into this season continues to get better, as Jake Burger swung the hot bat for the Knights this week. Burger concluded his fabulous series with a triple slash of .333/.364/.905 for a 1.268 OPS, three home runs, three doubles, no triples, five runs scored, five RBI, one walk, eight strikeouts, and seven hits in 21 AB.

Honorable Mentions: Brian Goodwin, Mike Wright, and Matt Tomshaw

Birmingham Barons (12-6)

Weekly Record: 3-3

The Barons squared up against the Montgomery Biscuits and had a series split against the Tampa affiliate. The Barons both won and lost blowout games during the first two, then split close match-ups the remainder of the series.

The Barons bats cooled off a bit this week, finishing up their series with a .250/.315/.425 slash line, .740 OPS, 26 runs, 50 hits in 200 at bats, six doubles, one triple, nine home runs, 22 RBI, 15 walks to 49 strikeouts, five stolen bases, and were not caught stealing. Complete season totals for the Barons offense can be found here.

Birmingham’s pitching numbers took a hit due to the blowout loss, completing the series with a team ERA of 4.50, 1.39 WHIP, .262 Batting Average Against, 27 earned runs to 34 runs allowed, 54 hits to 54 innings pitched, 21 walks to 60 strikeouts, one hit batter, and allowed six home runs. Birmingham’s full season pitching totals can be found here.

Hot Player of the Week

Micker Adolfo: Adolfo brought his power bat out to play this week for the Barons offense. The 2013 international signing put the hurt on Biscuit pitching, slashing .444/.500/.889 with a 1.389 OPS, two home runs, two doubles, three runs scored, six RBI, one walk to three strikeouts and had 8 hits in 18 at bats.

Honorable Mentions: Emilio Vargas, Ofreidy Gomez, and JJ Muno

Winston-Salem Dash (9-9)

Weekly Record: 2-4

The Dash took on the Jersey Shore BlueClaws and dropped four of six. Five of six games saw six runs or less scored between both teams until the Dash broke out in the finale by putting up 11 runs to the BlueClaws six.

The Dash bats were mostly cold again this week, finishing with a .175/.247/.278 slash line, .525 OPS, 21 runs scored, 34 hits in 194 at bats, eight doubles, no triples, four home runs, 20 RBI, 16 walks to 64 strikeouts, two stolen bases, and were caught not stealing. Full season totals for the Winston-Salem offense can be found here.

The pitching staff for the Dash was solid versus the BlueClaws bats, ending the week with a team ERA of 3.51, 1.27 WHIP, .216 Batting Average Against, 20 earned runs to 21 runs allowed, 41 hits to 51.1 innings pitched, 24 walks to 55 strikeouts, three hit batters, and allowed three home runs. Full season totals for the Dash pitching staff are located here.

Hot Player of the Week

Davis Martin: Davis Martin threw the ball very well in his lone start of the week. As the tweet about states, Martin threw five innings this week, didn’t allow a hit, walk, or run, struck out five batters and got the win for the Dash.

Honorable Mentions: Jason Bilous and Johan Dominguez

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (2-16)

Weekly Record: 1-5

The highlight for Kannapolis this week was securing their first home win under their new moniker. Otherwise, another week of struggles plagued the young Cannon Ballers, as they dropped five of six to the Columbia Fireflies.

Columbia pitching excelled against Kannapolis, as the Ballers finished the series with a .225/.299/.335 triple slash, .634 OPS, 16 runs, 45 hits in 200 at-bats, seven doubles, no triples, five home runs, 15 RBI, 15 walks to 82 strikeouts, three stolen bases, and were caught stealing once. Complete batting stats for the Cannon Ballers can be found here.

Cannon Ballers pitching had tough performances all week long, concluding the week with a team ERA of 5.00, 1.74 WHIP, .284 Batting Average Against, 30 earned runs to 43 runs allowed, 64 hits to 54 innings pitched, 30 walks to 71 strikeouts, two hit batters, and allowed just one home run. To see Kannapolis’ team pitching stats for the year, click here.

Hot Player of the Week
This tweet from Kannapolis’ Twitter account best summarizes the past week for the squad

Jose Rodriguez: Jose rebounded after a tough week in the last series, hitting Columbia pitching to a .333/.385/.583 slash line with a .968 OPS, one home run, three doubles, two runs scored, two RBI, one walk to four strikeouts and had 8 hits in 24 at bats.

Honorable Mentions: Jared Kelley and DJ Gladney

Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox

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