Thursday, June 28, 2012

Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (June 28-30)

JUPITER RAIN OUTS ... Thanks to Tropical Storm Debby, Lakeland lost two games to the schedule as the first three games of the Jupiter series were all rained out. The two teams were able to make up one of the rained out contests in a doubleheader on Wednesday, but the other two games cannot be made up as the two squads do not play again in 2012.

THE SERIES .... All three games in this series will be played at Bright House Networks Field in Clearwater. The series opener on Thursday is set for 7 p.m. with games two and three on Friday and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The first 1000 fans showing up to Friday’s game will receive a free camouflage Thresher Jersey in celebration of Military Appreciation Night. Fans at Saturday’s game will be treated to an appearance by the Philly Phanatic as well as post-game fireworks.

UP NEXT ... Following the Clearwater series, Lakeland will head back across the state for a three-game set at Daytona on July 1-3 before returning home for a Fourth of July game at 5 pm against Clearwater.

THE FLYING TIGERS (2-2 second half, 5th, 2.0 GB, 38-31 overall) ... Lakeland finally got to play some baseball Wednesday night after three consecutive rain outs thanks to Tropical Storm Debby. Playing for just the second time since June 21, the Flying Tigers split a doubleheader at home against Jupiter winning the opener 3-2 while dropping the nightcap 2-1. Lakeland managed just three hits in each of the two games but still leads the Florida State League with a .269 average, eight points higher than second place Daytona. With four stolen bases in game two last night, Lakeland is now fourth in the league with 76 stolen bases (Daytona lead with an impressive 105 steals). Avisail Garcia leads Lakeland with 14 steals including two in game two last night. Lakeland’s starting pitchers have allowed just three earned runs over the last three games for a 1.72 ERA. The starters have allowed 14 hits, but struck out 15 and walked five in those three games. The relief corps has been touched for just one earned run in the last eight games for a 0.39 ERA with just eight walks and 23 strikeouts.

THE THRESHERS (4-3 second half, 3rd, 1.5 GB, 40-33 overall) ... Clearwater fell 3-2 at Palm Beach last night, snapping a four-game win streak by the Threshers. The squad is now 8-4 its last 12 games. Jesse Biddle is ninth in the league with a 3.15 ERA while Austin Wright is tied for the league-lead with seven wins against just two losses. The Threshers have three of the top five strikeout pitchers in the league in Adam Morgan (1st with 80); Biddle (tied for 2nd with 78) and Wright (5th with 75). Anthony Hewitt and Jim Murphy each have a team-high eight home runs with Murphy driving in 50 runs. Clearwater is fifth in the league with a .257 team batting average while the pitching staff ranks eighth with a 3.93 staff ERA.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
    6/28 - LHP Shawn Teufel (4-4, 5.68 ERA)
... Teufel saw his 14.0 shutout inning streak come to a close in the first inning of his last start on June 19 against Brevard County. He finished the night allowing four runs on five hits with five strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched. He is now 3-0 with a 2.88 ERA in four June starts and is 1-0 with a 6.75 in one start against Jupiter.
    6/29 - RHP Alex Burgos (4-8, 5.66 ERA) ... Burgos gave up five runs on eight hits and five walks in 4.0 innings in his last start on June 21 at Tampa. Control has been a problem with four or more walks in each of his last eight starts. He has a 4-6 road record with a 6.11 ERA in 11 road starts and is 0-2 with a 4.11 ERA in three home starts. In his only appearance versus Jupiter, he worked 6.0 no-hit, scoreless innings with six strikeouts and four walks.
    6/30 - LHP Brian Flynn (6-4, 3.91 ERA) ... Flynn has not allowed an earned run in either of his last two starts and allowed five hits in both outings. Consequently, he won both starts. In his last start on June 23, he hurled six shutout innings against Tampa while allowing five hits with five strikeouts and a pair of walks.

CLARK HOLDS FIRM ... Tyler Clark has not allowed a run in his last five appearances out of the bullpen and been scored upon just one in his last 14 outings dating back to May 1. Only three opposing batters have managed a base hit off Clark in his last 13 appearances.

THE HOUSE OF CROUSE ... Matt Crouse has also been a reliable force out of the pen tossing 16.2 consecutive scoreless innings in his last eight outings. He has been scored upon in just two of his 18 appearances this season and has three wins in his last four outings.

HAIL TO THE VICTOR ... Providing yet another strong arm in relief has been Victor Larez who has been touched for one earned run in his last 24.2 innings pitched over 14 appearances.

THAT’S MY SPOT ... Shortstop Dixon Machado and second baseman Hernan Perez may be laying the foundation to be the next Alan Trammel/Lou Whitaker combination for Detroit. Machado has started 62 of Lakeland’s 69 games at short while Perez has manned second base in 57 games this season. James Robbins has been a rock at first base with starts in 63 games while Tyler Collins and Avisail Garcia have made 60 and 59 starts in the outfield, respectively.

IMPROVING DEFENSE ... Although the they committed three errors in the first game of last night’s doubleheader, the Flying Tigers have improved their team defense and now rank fifth in the league with a .973 fielding mark. James Robbins continues to lead Florida State League first basemen with a .997 fielding percentage and has committed just two errors in 593 total chances. Avisail Garcia leads all FSL outfielders with 11 assists while Alex Burgos is tied among the league pitchers with 17 assists. Lakeland catchers have combined to throw out 41 percent of would-be base stealers – the second best percentage in the league.

HOME AND AWAY ... The Flying Tigers have a .282 team batting average and are 19-13 with a 3.30 ERA in home games this season. On the road, the average dips to .259 with the record at 19-18 and a 4.50 ERA. Lakeland has hit 17 homers at cavernous Joker Marchant Stadium and 11 dingers on the road.

ROSTER SHUFFLE ... Jared Wesson was added to the roster on June 25 from Erie with Julio Felix being sent to the Gulf Coast Tigers. Wesson was 15-10 for Lakeland in 2011 with 96 strikeouts, but was 4-5 with a 7.10 in 14 starts in Double-A. Felix had appeared in just one game for the Flying Tigers and pitched 1.0 inning in his brief stint with the club.

ONE RELEASED AND TWO RETIRED
... Brent Dlugach was released by Detroit on June 25 after batting .169 in 25 games at Toledo. He had spent eight years in the Tigers’ organization (including the 2006 season in Lakeland) before playing for Boston’s AAA club in Pawtucket last season. He was signed back to the Tigers in February of this year. In other Lakeland alumni news, Zach Samuels, who played for the Flying Tigers in 2011, announced his retirement on June 23 while Austin Wood, who appeared in five games for Lakeland over the 2009 and 2010 seasons, said he was hanging up his glove on June 21. Wood may be best remembered for his 169-pitch performance in the 2009 NCAA Tournament for the University of Texas.

WINNINGEST ACTIVE MANAGER
... Manager Dave Huppert recorded his 1,700th victory as a minor league manager on Sunday, June 3 when the Flying Tigers posted an 11-1 win at Jupiter. He is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. Huppert, who became the winningest active manager in the minor leagues with Lakeland’s sixth win on April 19 of this year, brings a 1,710-1,566 record into the Clearwater series.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Mission Notes vs. Jupiter (June 24-27)

TAMPA RAIN OUT ... Friday’s scheduled game at the Yankees was rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on July 23 in Tampa.

THE SERIES .... The series gets underway on Sunday, June 24 with a 1 pm game while the next three games will take start at 6:30 pm. All four games will be played at Lakeland’s Joker Marchant Stadium.

UP NEXT ... The Flying Tigers hit the road for three games at Clearwater on June 28-30 and then cross the state for a three-game set at Daytona on July 1-3. The next home game for Lakeland will be a July 4 match-up with Clearwater at 5 pm.

THE FLYING TIGERS (37-30 overall, 1-1 second half) ... Brian Flynn struck out five and scattered five hits in six scoreless innings as Lakeland evened its second half record at 1-1 with a 9-1 win over Tampa on Saturday. With the win, the Flying Tigers have now won nine of the last 11 games. Lakeland collected 11 hits in Saturday’s game – its third straight with double-digit hits – and is 35x105 in those three games for a .333 average. Dixon Machado has five of those hits (5x13) in the three game span while Hernan Perez and James Robbins each had four hits. The hot hitting has given Lakeland a league-leading .272 batting average.

THE HAMMERHEADS (38-35 overall, 2-1 second half)
... Jupiter swept a doubleheader at Palm Beach on Saturday, winning the opener 1-0 on a Noah Perio double in the fourth inning. The Hammerheads opened the nightcap with a four-run first for a 4-1 win. Danny Black leads the club with a .304 average (seventh in the FSL) and 13 stolen bases while Mark Canha has a .293 mark. Michael Ozuna provides the pop with a league-leading 15 home runs to go with his 51 runs batted in which is second in the league. Reliever Raudel Lazo has a 5-1 record with a 1.31 ERA in 22 games while closer Michael Brady is tied for fourth in the league with 11 saves. The Hammerheads have the second lowest staff ERA (3.48) in the league. Jupiter is batting .256 as a team (sixth in the FSL) and has hit the fourth most homers (43) of any league team.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
    6/24 - RHP Brian Stroud (0-1, 3.76 ERA)
... Stroud has a 1.59 ERA in his last three starts with three earned runs allowed on 13 hits and eight K’s and four walks. In his last two starts he has been touched for just one earned run on seven hits over 11.0 innings. Despite the impressive numbers, he is still looking for his first win since joining Lakeland. Stroud worked 6.0 innings vs. Jupiter on June 4 and held the Hammerheads to one unearned run on three hits, but did not factor into the decision.
    6/25 - RHP Luis Angel Sanz (3-2, 4.89 ERA) ... Sanz has allowed three runs on six hits with two walks in each of his last two starts with a combined 13 strike outs. Over his last five games, he has struck out 27 batters and walked seven and has a 2-2 record. Sanz is 1-2 with a 4.55 ERA on the road and 2-0 with a 5.40 ERA at home. As a starter, Sanz has a 2-2 record and a 2.48 ERA. Against Jupiter on June 2 he held the Hammerheads scoreless through six innings,
    6/26 - LHP Shawn Teufel (4-4, 5.68 ERA) ... Teufel saw his 14.0 shutout inning streak come to a close in the first inning of his last start on June 19 against Brevard County. He finished the night allowing four runs on five hits with five strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched. He is now 3-0 with a 2.88 ERA in four June starts and is 1-0 with a 6.75 in one start against Jupiter.
    6/27 - RHP Alex Burgos (4-8, 5.66) ... Burgos gave up five runs on eight hits and five walks in 4.0 innings in his last start on June 21 at Tampa. Control has been a problem with four or more walks in each of his last eight starts. He has a 4-6 road record with a 6.11 ERA in 11 road starts and is 0-2 with a 4.11 ERA in three home starts. In his only appearance versus Jupiter, he worked 6.0 no-hit, scoreless innings with six strikeouts and four walks.

THIS YEAR ... Lakeland won the first three games of the series back on June 1-3 in Jupiter by a combined 27-5 score, but Jupiter took the finale on June 4 by a 7-1 tally. Luis Castillo went 8x18 (.444) in the series while Dixon Machado was 7x15 (.500). Nick Castellanos, Marcus Lemon and James McCann all had six hits for Lakeland over the four games as Lakeland hit .313 in the series. Alex Burgos tossed six no-hit innings on June 3 while Luis Angel Sanz worked 7.0 scoreless innings on June 2.

PAIR OF FIRST-ROUNDERS ... Pitcher Chad James was the Marlins’ first round pick (18th overall) in the 2009 draft out of high school and was a combined 10-25 in his first two seasons in 2010 and 2011 ... Outfielder Christian Yelich was the Marlins’ top pick in 2010 out of high school. In 2011, he clubbed 15 homers for Greensboro in the South Atlantic League.

ROSTER SHUFFLE
... Two Flying Tigers departed ranks on Friday and one player was added to the squad. Dropping down to West Michigan was centerfielder Luis Castillo, who was batting .263 with 13 doubles for Lakeland. Headed to Connecticut is catcher Wes Thigpen, who was hitless in three games for the Flying Tigers. Joining Lakeland from West Michigan is catcher Curt Casali, a 10th round pick of Detroit in 2011 out of Vanderbilt University. Casali hit .316 for his four-year career at Vandy with 51 doubles, 27 homers and 167 RBI. He was batting .288 in 48 game for the Whitecaps with 8 dingers and 25 runs batted in.

CASALI DEBUT ... Curt Casali made his Lakeland debut behind the plate on Saturday and after getting hit by a pitch in his first at bat, singled to left for his first hit as a Flying Tiger. He would later score in the inning. He struck out and popped out his final two at bats.

WELCOME TO THE FSL ... Another Lakeland newcomer making his debut on Saturday was pitcher Julio Felix, the first member of the 2012 draft class to play for the Flying Tigers. He got a rather rude welcome as Tampa’s Jose Mojica homered to left on the righthander’s first pitch of his appearance.

FORMER FLYING TIGERS NAMED TO MLB FUTURES GAMES ... Current Erie SeaWolves Nick Castellanos and Bruce Rondon began the season with Lakeland. The duo has been selected to participate in the 2012 Sirius XM All-Star Futures Game which will be played July 8 in Kansas City. Castellanos, a native of Davie, Florida, will represent the USA, while Rondon, who hails from Valencia, Venezuela, will play on the World Team.

ERIC ROOF BACK AS A SPARTAN ... Former Flying Tiger Eric Roof has been named a volunteer assistant baseball coach at his alma mater, Michigan State University. Roof played three seasons with the Spartans leading the club with a .345 average and was taken in the 18th round by Detroit in the 2009 MLB draft. He played three seasons in the minors, including 2011 with Lakeland.

WINNINGEST ACTIVE MANAGER ... Manager Dave Huppert recorded his 1,700th victory as a minor league manager on Sunday, June 3 when the Flying Tigers posted an 11-1 win at Jupiter. He is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. Huppert, who became the winningest active manager in the minor leagues with Lakeland’s sixth win on April 19 of this year, brings a 1,709-1,565 record into the Jupiter series.

FIRST HALF CHAMPIONS ... Dunedin won the North Division with a 42-27 first-half record, finishing 4.5 games ahead of Lakeland. In the South Division, St. Lucie ran away with the first-half title finishing 14.5 games in first with a 50-20 record. Both clubs are guaranteed a spot in the FSL playoffs in September. Should any one of the two (or both) also win the second half, the club with the best overall record in the Division will get a wild-card berth into the playoffs. If the playoffs were based on the firsthalf alone, the Flying Tigers would win the North wild-card with Jupiter taking the South wild-card spot.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Mission Notes vs. Tampa (June 21-23)

THE SERIES .... The first two games of this series will be played in Tampa at George Steinbrenner Field with 7 pm start times. The final game of the series has the two teams playing at Joker Marchant Stadium with a special 5 pm first pitch.

UP NEXT ... Lakeland will host the Jupiter Hammerheads for a four-game series on June 24-27. The series will mark the return of former Flying Tigers pitching coach Joe Coleman who is now with the Hammerheads.

THE FLYING TIGERS (36-29 overall, 0-0 second half)
... Lakeland, which was rained out last night at home against Brevard County in the first half season finale, brings a season-best six-game winning streak into this series. With the spurt, Lakeland was able to finish in second place, 5.0 games behind Dunedin. Both Lakeland and Clearwater finished the half with 26 wins, but Lakeland had one less loss. The Flying Tigers bats have remained hot as the team has hit .275 (52x189) the last six games with 13 doubles and remains atop the Florida State League with a .270 team batting average. Lakeland has hit just 27 homers as a team, the second fewest in the league. The bullpen has excelled as late as well, having been scored upon in just one outing over the last nine games for a 1.48 ERA. Overall, the Flying Tigers have the third highest ERA in the league with a 4.01 mark.

THE YANKEES (30-37 overall, 0-0 second half) ... The Yankees closed out the first half with a 3-2 loss to Daytona to end up in fourth place, 12.0 games out of first place. Tampa ranks ninth in the FSL with a .250 team average and sixth with a 3.70 staff ERA. Rob Segedin tops the Yankees with a .294 average and six home runs and is tied for the team-lead with 34 RBI. Ramon Flores is second on the squad with a .269 mark.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
    6/21 - LHP Alex Burgos (4-7, 5.32 ERA)
... Burgos has won back-to-back starts and has given up just two hits in the two starts. On June 3 against Jupiter, he tossed six no-hit scoreless innings with six strikeouts and four walks. He followed that outing by allowing the two hits in 5.0 innings on June 10 against Brevard County. He surrendered three earned runs in that start and walked four. Burgos is 1-2 with a 3.94 ERA in three starts versus Brevard County this season.
    6/22 - RHP Brian Stroud (0-1, 3.76 ERA) ... Stroud has a 1.59 ERA in his last three starts with three earned runs allowed on 13 hits and eight K’s and four walks. In his last two starts he has been touched for just one earned run on seven hits over 11.0 innings. Despite the impressive numbers, he is still looking for his first win since joining Lakeland. Stroud has not face Tampa this season.
    6/23 - RHP Brian Flynn (5-4, 4.23 ERA) ... Flynn snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over Dunedin on June 12 at home. He worked 5.1 innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Flynn is 1-1 with a 4.63 ERA on the road and 4-3 at home with a 4.04 earned run average. He is 1-1 with a 3.06 in three starts against Tampa this season.

THIS YEAR ... Lakeland has won eight of the previous ten meetings between the two clubs this season, but Tampa has taken two of the last three. The last two games resulted in shutouts as the Yankees blanked the Flying Tigers 5-0 on May 26 with Lakeland returning the favor on May 27, shutting out Tampa, 4-0. Nick Castellanos led Lakeland with 18 hits and 10 runs scored in the 10 previous games with Tyler Collins adding 11 hits and five runs scored. Alex Burgos is 2-0 versus Tampa this season while Bruce Rondon has two saves.

RUN, WADE, RUN ... Wade Gaynor lifted a fly ball into left field on Monday, June 18 with Brevard County outfielder Michael Reed diving unsuccessfully to make the catch. As the ball rolled to the fence, Gaynor motored around the bases and slide head first across the plate for the first inside-the-park home run for a Lakeland player since Justin Justice accomplished the feat on August 10, 2008.

RONDON MOVES ON UP - PT. 1 ... Bruce Rondon recorded his 15th save of the season on June 18 to move  into the top ten single season saves list for Lakeland, tying Mike Kobow who also had 15 saves in 2003.

RONDON MOVES ON UP - PT. 2 ... Bruce Rondon was promoted to AA Erie on Wednesday. Rondon had a 1-0 record and a 1.93 ERA to go with his 15 saves with 34 strikeouts and 10 walks in 23.1 innings pitched. His 15 saves ranked second in the Florida State League.

BULLS IN THE PEN ... Tyler Clark has allowed just one run in his last 13 outings dating back to May 1. The one run came on June 3 at Jupiter ...  Matt Crouse was tagged for four runs in 1.2 innings against St. Lucie on May 19 – the only earned runs he has allowed in his last 12 outings dating back to May 1 ... Victor Larez has surrendered just one earned run in his last 10 appearances going back to May 6.

CATTY CASTILLO ... Luis Castillo is batting .395 (19x48) since May 30 with hits in 10 of 13 games. He is also scored 10 runs and drive in eight more during that span. From May 30-June 2 he knocked out five doubles and had two doubles on June 13 against Dunedin.

COOL COLLINS ... Tyler Collins has hits in 12 of his last 15 games going .380 (20x54) since June 30 with 11 runs scored and 11 runs batted in. He has seven doubles during his hot streak. Collins has 21 multi-hit games this season (second only to Nick Castellanos’ 27) with 11 games with two hits. Ten times he has had three hits in a game. Collins also had knocked in two or more runs in nine games this season – most of any Flying Tiger. His .299 batting average is 10th best in the FSL.

GAUDY GARCIA ... Avisail Garcia is 11x28 (.393) over his last eight games with seven runs scored and eight runs driven in with a double, a home run and three stolen bases. Like Collins, Garcia has 21 games with two or more hits in 17 games with two hits and four games with three.

NO SOUR LEMON ... Marcus Lemon has collected hits in 14 of his last 16 games for a .358 clip (19x53). He has six doubles in that stretch.

WITHER THE THREE BAGGER? ... Lakeland has hit just one triple since May 23, that coming off the bat of Nick Castellanos on June 2 at Jupiter.

FIRST ‘12 PICK JOINS CLUB ... Julio Felix, Detroit’s 12th round pick in this year’s draft, becomes the first member of his class to make the Lakeland roster as the 6’1’ righthander joins the Flying Tigers from the Gulf Coast League squad. Felix was picked out of Pima Community College in Arizona where he was 9-2 with a 2.06 in 2012.

WINNINGEST ACTIVE MANAGER
... Manager Dave Huppert recorded his 1,700th victory as a minor league manager on Sunday, June 3 when the Flying Tigers posted an 11-1 win at Jupiter. He is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. Huppert, who became the winningest active manager in the minor leagues with Lakeland’s sixth win on April 19 of this year, brings a 1,708-1,564 record into the Tampa series. The all-time record for wins for a minor league manager belongs to Stan Wasiak of the Dodger’s organization who won 2,497 games.

WINNINGEST FSL MANAGER ... Tampa manager Luis Sojo is closing in on the most wins by a Florida State League manager. Coaching the Yankees in 2006-09 and 2011, Sojo brought a 381-303 record into the 2012 season. Tampa is 29-36 this season giving Sojo a 410-339 career record at Tampa. The current record is held by Luis Dorante who totaled 418 victories with the Jupiter Hammerheads in 1999-2000, 2002-04 and 2007. Dick Tracewski, who coached the Tigers from 1970-75, has the Lakeland franchise record with 392 wins.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Mission Notes vs. Brevard County (June 18-20)

THE SERIES .... All three games of this series will be played at Joker Marchant Stadium, June 18-20, with a pair of 6:30 pm games on Monday and Wednesday sandwiched around a 10:30 am Camp Day game on Tuesday. This series completes the first half of the season.

UP NEXT ... The Flying Tigers will open the second half of the Florida State League schedule with clean slate and a three-game series against Tampa. Games one and two of the series are 7 pm starts at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Game three has the two clubs playing in Lakeland at Joker Marchant Stadium at a special 5:00 pm start time.

THE FLYING TIGERS (34-29, T-2nd, 6.5 GB) ... The Flying Tigers were rained out in the last scheduled game before the All-Star Break on June 14 at home versus Dunedin. Lakeland opened the Blue Jays series with an 11-3 win behind a 3x5, 3 RBI night by Wade Gaynor. The next night, Shawn Teufel tossed seven shutout innings and was followed by scoreless innings throw by Tyler Clark and Bruce Rondon as Lakeland won 1-0. Luis Castillo doubled on a 3-2 pitch with two outs and then scored on a Cale Iorg single in the bottom of the eighth to lift Lakeland to the victory. With four wins in a row, Lakeland was the hottest team in the FSL heading into the break. Rondon is second in the league with 14 saves while Tyler Collins is one behind the league-leader with 20 doubles.

THE MIRACLE (29-37, T-5th, 13.0 GB) ... Brevard County had lost four of five games before snapping out of the funk with wins in their last two games. Reggie Keen tops the Florida State League with 22 stolen bases while T.J. Mittelstaedt is tied for the league lead with seven triples and third with 28 extra base hits. Mittelstaedt has feasted on Lakeland pitching, collecting 13 base hits in 29 at bats (.448) including three triples and four home runs while driving in 14 of the 35 Manatee runs in the series. Taylor Jungmann is 2-1 versus Lakeland with a 2.75 ERA. He is 3-2 with a 4.11 ERA in 10 starts against the rest of the FSL.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS (With the three-day break for the All-Star game, these probable starters listed are just that, probable, and are based on previous rotations) ...
    6/18 - RHP Luis Angel Sanz (0-1, 4.22 ERA) ... Sanz had a streak of 15.0 consecutive scoreless innings pitched snapped on the road at Brevard County on June 10. After not being scored upon in back-to-back starts, the 6’1” righty gave up three earned runs on six hits with a season-high eight strikeouts. Sanz is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in one previous outing against the Manatees in 2012.
    6/19 - LHP Alex Burgos (4-7, 5.32 ERA) ... Burgos has won back-to-back starts and has given up just two hits in the two starts. On June 3 against Jupiter, he tossed six no-hit scoreless innings with six strikeouts and four walks. He followed that outing by allowing the two hits in 5.0 innings on June 10 against Brevard County. He surrendered three earned runs in that start and walked four. Burgos is 1-2 with a 3.94 ERA in three starts versus Brevard County this season.
    6/20 - RHP Brian Stroud (0-1, 3.76 ERA) ... Stroud has a 1.59 ERA in his last three starts with three earned runs allowed on 13 hits and eight K’s and four walks. In his last two starts he has been touched for just one earned run on seven hits over 11.0 innings. Despite the impressive numbers, he is still looking for his first win since joining Lakeland. Stroud is 0-0 with a 1.80 ERA in one start against the Manatees in 2012.

THIS YEAR ... The Manatees have won six of the nine meeting between these two clubs this season, but the Flying Tigers won the last two including a 6-5 win in ten innings in their last contest on June 11. Lakeland dropped all three games in the previous home series with Brevard County on April 9-11. The Manatees shut out Lakeland in consecutive games on May 16 (3-0) and May 17 (5-0).

GARCIA WINS FSL HOME RUN DERBY ... Lakeland Flying Tigers outfielder Avisail Garcia defeated St. Lucie’s Cory Vaughn and Daytona’s Nelson Perez to win the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game Saturday.

LAKELAND ALL-STARS ... Avisail Garcia started in rightfield for the FSL North Division All-Star team and went 1x3 on the evening. He grounded out in the second, walked in the fourth, grounded out again in the sixth,  and singled in the ninth. Bruce Rondon came on in relief in the bottom of the eighth and was charged with one run on one hit, one walk and a wild pitch in 1.0 inning pitched. The North Division led 3-0 thru five innings, but the South scored three times in the seventh and eighth innings for a 6-3 win in front of 5,678 fans. (Note: Two other Flying Tigers were named to the All-Star game in third baseman Nick Castellanos and catcher James McCann, but both were promoted to AA Erie shortly after the selections and could not play in the game.)

LUCKY SEVENS
... Shawn Teufel followed his seven-inning complete game shutout of Charlotte on June 8 with seven more shutout innings on June 13 against Dunedin. Teufel has not surrendered a run in 14.0 innings over his last two starts with eight hits allowed and seven strikeouts and five walks.

ROSTER SHUFFLE ... Cale Iorg has completed his recovery work in Lakeland and was promoted to AAA Toledo on Friday, June 15. Taking the open roster spot is Matt Perry, who is making his third appearance on the Flying Tiger roster this season. Iorg was 5x26 in seven games in Lakeland with six runs scored and six more driven in. Perry is 1x8 in four games with the Flying Tigers.

1700th WIN ... Manager Dave Huppert recorded his 1,700th victory as a minor league manager on Sunday, June 3 when the Flying Tigers posted an 11-1 win at Jupiter. He is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. Huppert, who became the winningest active manager in the minor leagues with Lakeland’s sixth win on April 19 of this year, brings a 1,706-1,564 record into the All-Star Break series. The all-time record for wins for a minor league manager belongs to Stan Wasiak of the Dodger’s organization who won 2,497 games.

2012 ALUMNI REPORT (as of Saturday)
... Nick Castellanos is still looking to get untracked at Erie and is 9x36 (.250) in nine games while James McCann is also slow to catch fire, going 6x28 (.214) in eight games. Patrick Cooper is 0-0 with a 5.91 ERA in eight appearances, including a pair of starts, while Zach Samuels is 3-1 with a 5.32 ERA in 14 relief appearances. Jacob Turner is 2-1 with a 3.43 ERA at Erie in eight bullpen trips.

WHERE ARE THEY? .
.. As of June 17, here’s a look at where some former Lakelanders are in the organization:
    DETROIT: Duane Below, Brennan Boesch, Andy Dirks, Bryan Holaday, Don Kelly, Rick Porcello, Luke Pukonen, Ryan Rabun, Ramon Santiago, Drew Smyly, Justin Verlander, Brayan Villarreal, Thad Weber, Danny Worth.
    TOLEDO: Rob Brantly, Audy Ciriaco, Brent Dlugach, Jeff Frazier, Ben Guez, Justin Henry, Zach Maggard, Ryan Robowski, Ryan Strieby, Jacob Turner, Rob Waite, Adam Wilk, Austin Wood.
    ERIE: Rawley Bishop, Nick Castellanos, Patrick Cooper, Brandon Douglas, Kenny Faulk, Ramon Garcia, Jared Gayhart, Jamie Johnson, Corey Jones, Jordan Lennerton, James McCann, Michael Morrison, John Murrian, Tony Plagman, Bryan Pounds, Michael Rockett, Zach Samuels, Luis Alberto Sanz, Tyler Stohr, Jay Voss, Robbie Weinhardt, Jared Wesson.
    WEST MICHIGAN: Lance Durham, Jeff Holm, Brandon Loy, Melvin Mercedes, Wilsen Palacios, Gabriel Purroy, Michael Torrealba.

TIGERS ORGANIZATION ... With a combined 147-160 record and a .479 winning percentage, the Detroit organization ranks 21st among all teams. The New Yorks rank first with a 169-121 combined record for a .583 mark. The San Diego Padres are last with a 122-168 overall combined record and a .421 winning percentage.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (June 12-14)

THE SERIES .... All three games of this series will be played at Joker Marchant Stadium, June 12-14, with 6:30 pm start times.

UP NEXT ... The Florida State League takes a three-day break for the All-Star Game June 16 in Charlotte. Lakeland returns to action on Monday, June 19 to open a three-game series with Brevard County to close out the first half of the season.

THE FLYING TIGERS (32-29, 3rd, 8.5 GB)
... Lakeland is coming off a series win at Brevard County. After dropping game one of a doubleheader by a 3-2 score, Lakeland won the nightcap 4-3 and took a 6-5 win in 10 innings last night, scoring the go-ahead run on two wild pitches. The Flying Tigers have won two in a row and seven of their last 10 placing the club just 1/2 game out of second place. Bruce Rondon is second in the FSL with 13 saves. Tyler Collins is tied for third in the league with 18 doubles. The Flying Tigers continue to lead the league with a .270 batting average, one point higher than Dunedin. Lakeland has stolen 66 bases as a team, a mark that ranks fourth highest in the FSL. On the flip side, Lakeland has the second highest ERA in the league at 4.13. The Flying Tigers are 21-17 against North Division teams and 13-13 at home.

THE BLUE JAYS (41-21, 1st, 0.0 GB) ... Dunedin clinched the North Division first half championship with an 8-3 win over Clearwater on Sunday. The win puts the Blue Jays in the Florida State League playoffs for a third consecutive year. Dunedin lost 6-4 to Palm Beach last night, just its third loss in the last 13 games. Sean Nolin leads the FSL in wins and is a perfect 7-0 on the year with a 2.35 ERA and is third in the league with 73 strikeouts, while John Stilson is 3-0 with a 2.82 mark. Danny Barnes is second in the minors with 17 saves. Kevin Nolan is fourth in the FSL with a .322 average while Jon Talley is seventh with a .308 mark. Nolan leads the FSL with 46 runs scored and is tied for the lead with 20 doubles while ranking second with 79 hits. Talley is third with a .404 on-base percentage. With a .269 team batting average, the Blue Jays trail FSL-leading Lakeland by one percentage point and are also second to St. Lucie with 46 home runs. They lead the FSL with 146 doubles. Dunedin has the second lowest ERA with a 3.49 mark.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
(based on previous rotations) ...
    6/12 - RHP Brian Flynn (4-4, 4.30 ERA) ... Flynn allowed four runs on 10 hits in 5.0 innings in his last start on June 6 at home versus Charlotte. The 6’8” righthander tied his career-high with seven strikeouts and walked two in dropping his third straight decision. He is 0-2 with a 10.24 ERA in two starts against the Blue Jays this season.
    6/13 - LHP Shawn Teufel (3-7, 5.31 ERA) ... Teufel is coming off his best outing of the year, hurling a complete game (7.0 inn.) shutout of Charlotte at home on June 8. The 6’3” lefty struck out three and walked three, but held the Stone Crabs to five hits in recording just the second complete game shutout in the FSL this season. He has not faced the Blue Jays this season.
    6/14 - RHP Luis Angel Sanz (0-1, 4.22 ERA) ... Sanz had a streak of 15.0 consecutive scoreless innings pitched snapped on the road at Brevard County on June 10. After not being scored upon in back-to-back starts, the 6’1” righty gave up three earned runs on six homes with a season-high eight strikeouts. Sanz, who has a 1.95 ERA in his last four starts, is 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA versus Dunedin in 2012.

THIS YEAR ... The Blue Jays hold a slim 5-4 lead in the season series this season. Six of the games were played in Dunedin with the Blue Jays winning four of those games. Dunedin had a ringer in the last series as former major leaguer Vladimir Guerrero went 7x15 with three homers and seven RBI while working his way back to the bigs. The Flying Tigers took two of three in the first series played in Lakeland, April 25-27. Lakeland’s top two hitters in the series, Nick Castellanos (18 hits, .474 average) and James McCann (14 hits, .438 average) won’t be around for this season having been promoted to AA Erie. Tyler Clark has picked up two of Lakeland’s four wins in three of his relief appearances in the series.

FLYING HIGH ... Luis Castillo is 14x36 (.388) his last nine games ... Tyler Collins has hit in six straight games (10x20, .500) and is 15x40 (.375) over the last 13 games ... Avisail Garcia is 9x16 (.563) with five RBI his last five games ... Marcus Lemon brings a nine-game hit streak into this series in which he is 13x32 (.406) with four doubles and six RBI ... Dixon Machado has hits in eight of his last nine games (10x29, .345) ... Tyler Clark has allowed just one run on two hits his last eight appearances ... as a team, Lakeland is batting .310 the last 11 games with 22 doubles, one triple and five home runs. The Flying Tigers have also swiped 18 bases during that span of games.

SHUTOUT STREAK SNAPPED ... Luis Angel Sanz saw his streak of consecutive scoreless innings pitch streak come to a close at 15.0 with a three-run homer on the road Sunday in game one of a doubleheader at Brevard County. Sanz had back to back shutout starts on May 27 and June 2.

FSL PLAYER OF THE WEEK ... Dunedin third baseman Kevin Ahrens is the reigning Florida State League Player of the Week for the week of June 3-10. Ahrens went 9x21 (.429) for the week with seven runs scored, three home runs and 10 runs driven in.

LAKELAND ALL-STARS ... Four Flying Tigers were named to the Florida State League All-Star Game. Two of the four, third baseman Nick Castellanos and catcher James McCann have since been promoted to AA Erie. Also selected were Avisail Garcia and closer Bruce Rondon. The All-Star game will be played on Saturday, June 16 at Charlotte Sports Park, the home of the Stone Crabs.

DUNEDIN ALL-STARS ... The Blue Jays will send six representatives to the FSL All-Star game including: pitchers Sean Nolin, Egan Smith and Danny Barnes as well first baseman Jon Talley, second baseman Ryan Schimpf and shortstop Kevin Nolan.

TAKE MY PLACE, PLEASE ... Dunedin will actually send a seventh player to the All-Star game as catcher Jack Murphy has been named to replace Lakeland’s James McCann who was promoted to Erie

PEREZ GETS A CUP OF COFFEE ... When a Flying Tigers player gets a call from the organization, that player hopes he’s being promoted to AA Erie. For shortstop Hernan Perez, the call he got Saturday morning from Dave Owen, the Tigers’ director of player development, did mean a promotion, but Perez couldn’t expected his promotion to the big club. When current Tiger shortstop Jhonny Peralta took a paternity leave to be with his wife who was about to deliver twins, the big club needed a middle infielder. Perez was the only available one in the minors on the 40-man protected list and that allowed the big club to call him up without losing another minor leaguer on that list to another club. After a flight to Cincinnati where Detroit was taking on the Reds that evening, Perez made his major league debut in the eighth inning when manager Jim Leyland called upon him to pinch hit for another former Flying Tiger, Brayan Villarreal. The fairy tale didn’t have a Hollywood ending as Perez grounded out. Peralta has since returned to the club and the clock has struck 12 for Perez as the shortstop has rejoined the Flying Tigers.

1700th WIN ... Manager Dave Huppert recorded his 1,700th victory as a minor league manager on Sunday, June 3 when the Flying Tigers posted an 11-1 win at Jupiter. He is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. Huppert, who became the winningest active manager in the minor leagues with Lakeland’s sixth win on April 19 of this year, brings a 1,704-1,564 record into the Dunedin series. The all-time record for wins for a minor league manager belongs to Stan Wasiak of the Dodger’s organization who won 2,497 games.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Mission Notes vs. Brevard County (June 9-11)

THE SERIES .... The Flying Tigers head back on the road for a three-game swing to Space Coast Stadium to face the Brevard County Manatees on Saturday, June 9 (6:35 pm), Sunday, June 10 (5:05 pm), and Monday, June 11 (6:35 pm).

UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns home for a three-game series against Dunedin on June 12-14 – the final series before the All-Star break. All three games have 6:30 pm start times.

THE FLYING TIGERS (30-28, 3rd, 8.5 GB) ... Lakeland took two of the three games against Charlotte in it most recent series, including a 9-0 blanking of the Stone Crabs on Friday. After Charlotte won the opener, Lakeland took games two and three by a combined 19-3 score and outhit the Stone Crabs 26-11 in the two games. The Flying Tigers have now won five of their last seven games and are batting .327 in the last eight games with 19 doubles and continue to lead the FSL with a .270 team batting average.

THE MANATEES (26-34, 5th, 13.5 GB) ... Brevard County dropped a 5-3 decision at Jupiter on Friday and have lost three of the last five. Starter Jimmy Nelson leads the Florida State League with a 2.21 ERA and 77 strikeouts while his walks/hits allowed per nine innings (1.08) is also best in the FSL. Reggie Keen is tied for the FSL lead with 19 stolen bases. The Manatees have the third lowest batting average in the league (.246)

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
    6/09 - RHP Luis Angel Sanz (3-1, 4.89 ERA)
... Sanz has not allowed a run in his last two starts and has a streak of 12.1 scoreless innings over his last three outings. Since moving into the starting rotation on May 22, he has made three starts with 14 strikeouts and just three walks. He is making his first start against the Manatees in this series.
    6/10 - LHP Alex Burgos (3-7, 5.31 ERA) ... Burgos snapped out of a three-game losing streak in grand style, tossing six shutout innings of no-hit ball on June 3 at Jupiter. In that game, he struck out six and walked four in making his first no-hit, scoreless start of the season. He is 0-2 with a 3.27 ERA in two starts vs. the Manatees, after allowing five runs – four earned – on 10 hits with 12 strikeouts and two walks.
    6/11 - RHP  Brian Stroud (0-1, 4.22 ERA) ... Stroud will be making his fifth start of the season and is coming off a solid outing in his last start on June 4. Starting at Jupiter, he surrendered one unearned run on three hits with one strikeouts and one walk. He was not on the roster for the first two series versus the Manatees.

THIS YEAR ... The Manatees have won five of the six previous meetings including two of three games at Space Coast Stadium. All six games have been low scoring affairs (nine total runs or less in each) with three of the games coming down to one run. Lakeland’s lone win was a 3-2 decision on April 15. Lakeland has a .208 average in the series with a pair of homers while Brevard has a .223 mark and five home runs.

OFF TO A GOOD START ... With the exception of one game, the starting pitching staff has been almost untouchable as of late, capped by a seven-inning shutout by Shawn Teufel on Friday, June 8. In the last six games, the staff has allowed just seven runs (six earned with four coming in the one bad outing) for a combined 1.60 earned run average. Luis Angel Sanz got the ball rolling with six innings of shutout ball of June 2. Alex Burgos followed with six no-hit scoreless innings on June 3. Brian Stroud allowed one unearned run in six innings on June 4 while Ryan Woolley, making a spot start on June 6 in the second game of a doubleheader, surrendered a pair of earned runs.

TUFF MAN TEUFEL ... Shawn Teufel matched the storm clouds amassing over the Joker Marchant Stadium turf on Friday, June 6 and washed away the hopes of Charlotte in holding the Stone Crabs scoreless for his first career shutout. It was also just the second complete game shutout recorded in the Florida State League this season.

FIRST IN THE USA ... Dixon Machado deposited an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall for his first home run of the season with one out in the second inning against Charlotte on Friday, June 8. It was not only his first round-tripper since 2009, it was his first hit on United States soil, collecting his first three career home runs while playing in the Venezuelan Summer League. Machado has hits in his last six games (including three games with two hits) and is 9x21 (.429) in those games.

WELCOME BACK, DANIEL ... Daniel Fields returned to the Flying Tiger line-up on June 6 after being activated from the disabled list. Fields last played on April 26 and went on the DL on May 2. The Lakeland centerfielder went 4x9 with a pair of stolen bases in his first two games back and is now 10x28 (.357) with five runs batted in, two doubles, a triple and six stolen bases with hits in each of his last seven games.

LEMON’S NOT ONE ... Marcus Lemon has hits in his last six games going 10x23 (.435) with five runs scored, six runs driven in and three doubles.

ALL-STARS ... Four Flying Tigers were named to the Florida State League All-Star Game. Two of the four, third baseman Nick Castellanos and catcher James McCann have since been promoted to AA Erie. Also selected were Avisail Garcia and closer Bruce Rondon. The All-Star game will be played on Saturday, June 16 at Charlotte Sports Park, the home of the Stone Crabs.

ROSTER SHUFFLE ... The revolving door continues to spin as catcher James McCann earned a promotion to AA Erie and infielder Matt Perry was sent to the Connecticut roster on Wednesday. McCann batted .288 in 45 games for Lakeland and was 14x33 (.424) since May 25. Perry had played in just five games and was hitless in five at bats. Infielder Cale Iorg, an FSL All-Star for Lakeland in 2008, returns to the club to begin recovery from off-seson shoulder surgery in his throwing arm and catcher Adolfo Reina joins the Flying Tigers from extended spring training. On Thursday, Marcus Lemon was removed from the temporary inactive list and added to the roster while Jeff Holm was sent to West Michigan.

TAKING A HOLADAY IN THE BIGS ... Bryan Holaday, a member of the 2010 Flying Tigers made his major league debut on Wednesday, June 6. The former draft pick out of Texas Christian University batted .220 in 44 games for Lakeland in 2010. Holaday joins Duane Below, Brennan Boesch, Andy Dirks, Don Kelly, Rick Porcello, Luke Putkonen, Ryan Raburn, Ramon Santiago, Drew Smyly, Clete Thomas, Justin Verlander, Brayan Villarreal, Thad Weber, Adam Wilk and Danny Worth as former Lakeland players who have donned the Old English “D” in Detroit in 2012.

1700th WIN ... Manager Dave Huppert recorded his 1,700th victory as a minor league manager on Sunday, June 3 when the Flying Tigers posted an 11-1 win at Jupiter. He is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. Huppert, who became the winningest active manager in the minor leagues with Lakeland’s sixth win on April 19 of this year, brings a 1,702-1,563 record into the Charlotte series. The all-time record for wins for a minor league manager belongs to Stan Wasiak of the Dodger’s organization who won 2,497 games.

MOMMA TOLD ME THERE’D BE DAYS LIKE THIS ... June 6 was a night Charlotte catcher Luke Bailey would like to forget. Playing in the first game since April 14, the Stone Crab backstop committed four errors (all of the throwing variety) tieing the Florida State League for most errors in a game by a catcher. The last time it happened was in 1996 when Chris Unrat was charged with four miscues while playing for then Charlotte Rangers

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Mission Notes vs Charlotte (June 5-8)

THE SERIES .... Lakeland returns home after a seven-game road trip in which the team was 4-3. All four games of this series against the Charlotte Stone Crabs will be played at Joker Marchant Stadium with games 1-3 starting at 6:30 and the finale on Friday getting underway at 7:11 p.m.

UP NEXT ... The Flying Tigers go back on the road for a three-game series at Brevard County on June 9-11. Saturday’s and Monday’s games get underway at 6:36 pm with Sunday’s first-pitch scheduled for 5:05 pm.

THE FLYING TIGERS (28-27, 3rd, 9.0 GB) ... Lakeland has won five of its last eight games and is coming off a 3-1 series at Jupiter in which the Flying Tigers outscored the Hammerheads 28-12 including a pair of 10-run wins. Lakeland is batting .311 the last five games with 16 doubles and is second in the league with a .266 team batting average and the second fewest home runs of any FSL squad. The Flying Tigers pitching staff has the third highest ERA of any league team with a 4.16 mark.

THE STONE CRABS (24-31, 5th, 19.0 GB) ... An affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Stone Crabs have lost three in a row and dropped ten of their last 12 games. C.J. Riefenhauser is tied with four others for most wins in the league with six and is third with 67 strikeouts while Chris Rearick is tied for fourth with 10 saves. Albert Suarez threw a two-hit, seven inning, shutout on June 2 to become the first pitcher in the Florida State League to hurl a complete game this season. Derek Dietrich is tied for third in the league with 24 extra base hits and tied for second with six triples. Charlotte’s pitching staff has the highest earned run average (4.41) of any team in the FSL. The Stone Crabs are second in the league with 18 triples.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
    6/05 - RHP Brian Flynn (4-3, 4.06 ERA)
... Flynn has dropped his last two starts allowing 11 earned runs on 15 hits over 10.0 innings with 10 strikeouts and two walks. In his last outing on May 31 at Dunedin, he surrendered six runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings.
    6/06 - LHP Shawn Teufel (2-4, 7.71 ERA) ... Teufel recorded his first win since April 15 when he beat Jupiter on the road on June 1. Lasting 5.0 innings, he allowed four runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. He is 2-1 on the road, but 0-4 at Joker Marchant Stadium.
    6/07 - RHP Luis Angel Sanz (3-1, 4.89 ERA) ... The hottest starter on the staff right now, Sanz has not allowed a run in his last 12.1 innings pitched and has a 1.00 ERA in his last three starts. In his last outing on June 2 at Jupiter, he scattered seven hits in six shutout innings with three strikeouts and one walk.
    6/08 - LHP Alex Burgos (3-7, 5.31 ERA) ... Burgos is coming off his best outing of the year working six no-hit, shutout innings on June 3 at Jupiter. He mowed down six and walked four in recording his first start with no-hits of his career. He is 0-2 at home this season.-

LAST YEAR ... Lakeland won five of the eight games played versus Charlotte last season but split the four-game series at Joker Marchant Stadium. Tony Plagman and Ryan Soares each had three homers in the eight games as the Flying Tigers clubbed 12 round-trippers in the series. Soares hit a home run in three straight games at Charlotte.

STARTING STARS ... Luis Angel Sanz, Alex Burgos and Brian Stroud have allowed a total of just one unearned run over 18.0 innings in the last three combined starts.

BIRTHDAY BOY ... Outfielder Tyler Collins will celebrate his 22nd birthday on Wednesday, June 6.

CASTELLANOS PROMOTED ... Nick Castellanos was promoted to AA Erie following the Flying Tigers’ game on Monday. The Flying Tigers third baseman had hits in eight straight games hit in which he was 12x32 (.375) and had hits in 13 of his last 14 games for a 24x55 (.436) clip. For the season he had hits in 50 of the 55 games  played and had two or more hits in 27 of those games. Castellanos will leave Lakeland after batting .405 on the season – a figure that tops all minor league hitters - with 17 doubles, three triples, three homers and 32 runs batted in. His .405 average, 87 hits, 119 total bases as well as his .461 on-base and .553 slugging percentages – all lead the Florida State League.

FIERY CASTILLO ... Although he was held hitless in Monday’s game, Luis Castillo has 11 hits in 27 at bats over his last six games for a .407 mark with six doubles and five runs scored.

NUMBER NINE, NUMBER NINE
... James McCann brings a nine-game hit streak into this series with Charlotte. The Flying Tiger catcher is 14x33 (.424) since May 25 and has scored six runs in his last five games. The nine-game hit streak is currently tied for second longest active hit streak in the Florida State League.

MUCHO MACHADO ... Dixon Machado has had two hits in each of his last three games and is 7x14 (.500) in his last four games with four runs scored.

ALL-STARS ... Four Flying Tigers have been named to the Florida State League All-Star Game. Representing the Flying Tigers will be third baseman Nick Castellanos, outfielder Avisail Garcia, catcher James McCann, and closer Bruce Rondon. The All-Star game will be played on Saturday, June 16 at Charlotte Sports Park, the home of the Stone Crabs.

ROSTER SHUFFLE ... Marcus Lemon was placed on the temporary inactive list on Sunday. Wade Gaynor was added from Erie on Tuesday to take the roster spot vacated by Nick Castellanos’ promotion to the SeaWolves. Gaynor was batting .229 in 13 games at Erie with a double, two homers and nine runs batted in. He played eight games in the outfield, three at third base and two at first base while with the SeaWolves.

1700th WIN ... Manager Dave Huppert recorded his 1,700th victory as a minor league manager on Sunday, June 3 when the Flying Tigers posted an 11-1 win at Jupiter. He is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. Huppert, who became the winningest active manager in the minor leagues with Lakeland’s sixth win on April 19 of this year, brings a 1,700-1,562 record into the Charlotte series. The all-time record for wins for a minor league manager belongs to Stan Wasiak of the Dodger’s organization who won 2,497 games.

WE’RE 91st ... Thanks to the free-agent acquisition of Prince Fielder in the off-season, the Detroit Tigers did not have a pick in Monday’s first round of the Major League Draft. The Tigers, which lost last year’s #1 pick in the Victor Martinez signing, will not get to make a selection until the 91st pick overall this year. Most teams will have made two draft selections before the Tigers get to dip their paw into the cookie jar.

THE ORGANIZATION ... At one game over .500, Lakeland is the only club in the Tigers’ organization with a winning record at this point – Detroit (25-29, 3rd, 6.0 GB); Toledo (27-31, 2nd, 7.5 GB); Erie (27-28, 3rd, 7.0 GB); Lakeland (28-27, 3rd, 9.0 GB); West Michigan (28-30, 6th, 12.5 GB).

Friday, June 1, 2012

Mission Notes vs. Jupiter (June 1-4)

THE SERIES .... All four games of this series will be played at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter on Friday-Monday, June 1-4. The Friday, Saturday and Monday games are 6:35 starts while the Sunday game is a 5:05 pm first pitch. All four games may be heard on the Hammerheads’ web at www.jupiterhammerheads.com.

UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns from a seven-game road trip on Tuesday, June 5 at 6:30 pm to open a four-game homestand against the Charlotte Stonecrabs, an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Games 1-3 are at 6:30 pm while the Friday, June 8 begins at 7:11 pm.

THE FLYING TIGERS (25-26, 3rd, 9.0 GB)
... Lakeland dropped a 14-4 loss at Dunedin on Thursday as former major leaguer Vladimir Guerrero clubbed a pair of two-run homers to spark an 18-hit attack. The Blue Jays erupted for seven runs in the eighth inning to punctuate the win. James McCann had three hits for Lakeland while Nick Castellanos hit a two-run homer. The Flying Tigers have now lost seven of their last nine games and have dropped to 9.0 games behind first place Dunedin. Castellanos leads Lakeland with a .409 average and 30 runs batted in while Avisail Garcia, now back on the active roster after a stint on the disabled list, is second with a .297 mark while leading the club with five homers. Bruce Rondon is tied for third in the Florida State League with 10 saves.

THE HAMMERHEADS (26-27, 2nd, 15.0 GB) ... Jupiter downed Charlotte 11-3 on Thursday scoring six runs in the sixth inning and four more in the seventh to rally from a 3-1 deficit. Ryan Fisher was 3x5 in the game and drove in five runs – three coming on a home run. Mark Canha leads  the club with a .306 average and has hits in each of his last eight games going 13x31 (.419) with seven runs batted in. Danny Black was held hitless last night after entering the game with 10 hits in his previous five games. Marcell Ozuna leads the club with nine homers (second in the FSL) and 28 runs batted in. Reliever Michael Brady is 1-3 but has 10 saves and a 2.49 ERA while fellow reliever Raudel Lazo is 4-1 with a 1.96 earned run average.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
    6/01 - LHP Shawn Teufel (1-4, 7.88 ERA)
... Teufel is looking for his first win since April 15. He is 0-3 with two no-decisions for Lakeland and 1-1 in two starts for AAA Toledo since that date. In his last start on May 26, he was tagged for five runs on 10 hits in 5.0 innings vs. Tampa.
    6/02 - RHP Luis Alberto Sanz (2-1, 5.90 ERA) ... Sanz tossed five shutout innings in his last start on May 27 vs. Tampa, striking out five and holding the Yankees to seven hits. It was the best outing by a Lakeland pitcher since May 8 when Jacob Turner threw 7.0 shutout innings against Palm Beach. Sanz has allowed two earned runs in 12.0 innings over his last two starts with 11 strikeouts and two walks.
    6/03 - RHP Alex Burgos (2-7, 5.91 ERA) ... Burgos will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak in which he has surrendered 16 runs (12 earned) over 15.0 innings. He has struggled with control having issued 26 walks in his last five starts. In his last start on May 29 at Dunedin, he gave up five earned runs in 4.2 innings with five walks.
    6/04 - RHP Brian Stroud (0-1, 5.87) ... Stroud will be making his fourth appearance for Lakeland. In his last start on May 30 at Dunedin, he held the Blue Jays to two runs on six hits in 6.0 innings with four strikeouts and one walk.

LAST YEAR ... In 2010, Lakeland swept the season series with Jupiter, taking all eight games. However, the Hammerheads got revenge in 2011, winning seven of the eight games, including all four games in Jupiter in which the Hammerheads posted a pair of shutouts. The Flying Tigers were limited to a .228 average and were outscored 34-18 in the eight games with Avisail Garcia and Wade Gaynor each having nine hits.

ALL-STARS ... The Florida State League All-Star teams were announced Friday and Lakeland had four players selected. Representing the Flying Tigers are third baseman Nick Castellanos, outfielder Avisail Garcia, catcher James McCann, and closer Bruce Rondon.

BUSY BALLPARK
... In addition to being the home of the Jupiter Hammerheads, Roger Dean Stadium is also home to the Palm Beach Cardinals and is the only stadium to host two minor league teams.

CASTELLANOS WATCH ... Going 18x38 (.474) over his last 10 games, Nick Castellanos continues to lead the minor leagues with a .409 average. He leads the Florida State League with 81 hits, 16 doubles, a .469 on-base percentage, a .556 slugging percentage, and 110 total bases and also ranks third in the league with 34 runs scored. Defensively, he has fielded the most chances (120) and has the most assists (87) of any FSL third baseman.

McCANN CATCHING FIRE ... James McCann has hits in five straight games and is 8x19 (.421) during that span.

SOLID GOLD ... Tyler Clark has been a steady force out of the bullpen and is 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in 13 appearances. He has 25 strikeouts and 10 walks in 21.0 innings and has allowed just two runs on the season. Clark leads all FSL relievers with a .147 opponents’ batting average and ranks fifth with 8.57 baserunners allowed per nine innings. Matt Crouse is close behind in second with a .149 mark. His 6.75 baserunners allowed per nine innings leads FSL relievers.

COULD BE SLOPPY ... Both the Flying Tigers and the Hammerheads have committed 56 errors – third most in the league. However, James Robbins continues to lead the league’s first basemen with a perfect 1,000 fielding percentage with no errors in 461 total chances. He also has the most putouts (427) of any player in the Florida State League.

GROUNDED ... Hernan Perez had two hits on Thursday, but entered the game with one hit in his previous 25 at bats ... James Robbins has two hits in his last 35 at bats and is 4x51 (.078) since May 15.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
... Lakeland is 22-0 when taking a lead into the ninth inning and 2-22 when trailing heading into the final frame. The club is 18-1 when leading after seven innings and 4-22 when trailing heading into the eighth inning. The Flying Tigers are 14-10 when scoring first and is 16-5 when the opponent gets on the scoreboard first. Lakeland is 3-1 in extra innings which is tied with Clearwater for the best percentage. Lakeland starting pitching has allowed 33 earned runs in the last eight games for a 7.30 earned run average.

FAMILIAR FACE
... Former Flying Tiger pitching coach Joe Coleman now performs the same role for the Hammerheads. Coleman had been Lakeland’s pitching coach from 2007-11. He is in his 47th year in professional baseball, including six seasons as a pitcher with Detroit.

MARLINS FIRST-ROUNDERS ... Chad James, who should pitch in game two of this series, was a first round pick (18th overall) of the Marlins in 2009 out of Yukon High School in Oklahoma while outfielder Christian Yelich was elected by the then Florida Marlins in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2010 draft out of Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

ROSTER SHUFFLE ... On Wednesday, Detroit promoted Zach Maggard to AAA Toledo to take the roster spot vacated when Omir Santos was brought up to the big club and Lance Durham, the son of former major leaguer Leon “Bull” Durham, was added to the roster from extended spring training. However, Lance’s stay wasn’t for long as the one-time Tiger draft pick was sent back to EST as Avisail Garcia was activated off the disabled list on Thursday. The shuffling continued on Friday as catcher Luis Alberto Sanz was promoted to AA Erie and the club welcomed catcher Wes Thigpen from extended spring. Thigpen, who was signed as a non-drafted free agent by Detroit in 2011 out of Mississippi State University, batted .250 for the 2011 Gulf Coast League Tigers with four doubles and two home runs in 31 games.

WINNINGEST MANAGER ... Manager Dave Huppert is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. Huppert, who became the winningest active manager in the minor leagues with Lakeland’s sixth win on April 19 of this year, brings a 1,697-1,561 record into the Dunedin series. The all-time record for wins for a minor league manager belongs to Stan Wasiak of the Dodger’s organization, who won 2,497 games.