THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers welcome the Charlotte Stone Crabs (Tampa Bay) to Joker Marchant Stadium for four-game beginning May 20 with a 6:30 pm game. Games are slated for 6:30 pm again on May 21 and 22 with a 7:11 pm finale on May 23. Lakeland won four of the only five games played against Charlotte in 2013 as three games were rained out and could not be made up.
THE FLYING TIGERS (27-16, 2nd North, 4.0 GB) ... Lakeland dropped three of its four games against St. Lucie over a weekend series that concluded with 5-4 loss in 11 innings to the Mets on Monday. The Flying Tigers are 2-4 their last six games after having won five in a row. Three Lakeland pitchers remain in the top ten in the Florida State League in ERA—Kevin Eichhorn is sixth with a 1.66 earned run average followed by Jake Thompson (8th, 1.80) and Josh Turley (9th, 2.13). Angel Nesbitt, who is 7-for-7 in save opportunities, is fourth in that category in the FSL rankings. Lakeland’s staff ERA of 3.11 has dropped the team to fourth best in the league while the team’s batting average of .246 has moved the team to eighth in the league.
THE STONE CRABS (22-21, 3rd South, 2.5 GB) ... Charlotte brings a three-game win streak into Joker Marchant Stadium having won a four-game series at Clearwater. Like the Flying Tigers, the Stone Crabs last game also went extra frames, but had a different outcome as Charlotte won 7-6 in 12 innings. The Stone Crabs are 7-7 their last 14 games. Patrick Leonard is tied for fourth in the Florida State League with seven homers while ranking second with a .552 slugging percentage. Andrew Toles is second in the FSL with 17 stolen bases while Tyler Goeddel is tied for third with 11 thefts as the Stone Crabs have swiped a league best 57 bases. Charlotte is the second-best hitting team in the league with a .264 mark while the staff ERA of 4.35 is second highest in the FSL.
CHARLOTTE FIRST BASEMAN EARNS FSL HONOR ... Patrick Leonard was selected as the Florida State League Player of the Week for the week ending May 18. In six games, the Charlotte first baseman was 8x23 for a .348 average with a double, three homers and eight runs batted in and six runs scored.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/20 - RHP Yorfrank Lopez (1-2, 6.45 ERA) ... Lopez is looking for his first win since his second start on April 13. In his last outing on May 15, he allowed three runs on six hits in 5.0 innings against Bradenton. He has a 3.71 ERA is last three starts.
5/21 - RHP Tanner Bailey (1-1, 4.20 ERA) ... Bailey was roughed up for five runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings in taking the loss to St. Lucie on May 16. He has allowed just two runs in his previous 10.0 innings over three appearances (one start).
5/22 - LHP Josh Turley (3-0, 2.13 ERA) ... Turley has surrendered two runs in 7.0 innings with seven strikeouts in each of his last two starts, but didn’t get a decision in either game. He has a 2-0 record and a 1.67 ERA in his last four starts with 22 strikeouts and five walks.
5/23 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (3-0, 1.66 ERA) ... Eichhorn was touched for two runs in 6.1 innings in his last start on May 18 against St. Lucie, matching the total number of runs he had allowed in his previous four starts. He is still looking for his first victory at Joker Marchant Stadium.
WELCOME BACK ... Edgar De La Rosa, who had been on the disabled list since May 9 with a blister, was activated on Monday and started last night’s game. He worked 4.0 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits.
ROSTER CATCH UP ... On May 16, right hander pitcher Chase Edwards was added to the roster with catcher Chris Taladay heading back to Extended Spring Training (EST). Edwards had an impressive outing of holding the Mets to one run on four hits in 3.0 innings in his Lakeland debut that evening, but on Monday, he too, was sent back to EST to make room for Edgar De La Rosa.
NOTHING FOR NESBITT ... Reliever Angel Nesbitt has not allowed a run in his last seven appearances out of the bullpen and has surrendered just two tallies over his last 13 outings dating back to April 13. He had recorded six straight saves before working 2.0 scoreless innings in the ninth and tenth frames in last night’s game against St. Lucie.
LOTS OF WIND ... The breeze Flying Tigers fan felt Monday night wasn’t all from Mother Nature as three Mets pitchers combined to strike out 19 Lakeland batters. It was the most strikeouts by Lakeland since whiffing 19 times against Charlotte on Aug. 7, 2010 in a 1-0 loss.
CURT CHILLIN’ ... Second baseman Curt Powell brings a nine-game hit streak into this series in which he has gone 12x36 (.333). Going back to April 24, Powell has hits in 22 of 24 games for a .297 average (27x91).
WRIGHT ON ... Chad Wright is carrying the hot bat for Lakeland over the last five games, collecting eight base hits in 21 at bats for a .381 average. He has hit three doubles and a triple in those five games.
OH, SNAP ... Lance Durham saw his nine-game hit streak come to halt in last night’s game. The Flying Tigers designated hitter had gone 11x34 during the streak for a .324 clip. Durham is batting .370 (20x54) in 16 home games with five doubles and a homer for 10 runs batted in.
ROAD, SWEET ROAD ... Connor Harrell seems to prefer batting away from Joker Marchant Stadium as the Lakeland center fielder has a .313 batting average (25x80) in 20 road games. At home, he is hitting just .162 (11x68). Four of his six homers this season have been hit on the road.
FSL’S BEST “D” ... Lakeland is the Florida State League’s top defensive team with a .986 fielding percentage and has committed just 24 errors this season—19 fewer than the second place team. James Robbins has committed just two errors in 404 chances to top all FSL first baseman with a .995 fielding percentage. Shortstop Dixon Machado has just five errors in 175 chances at shortstop for a .971 fielding percentage—tops among FSL players at that position.
PUT THE ARM TO THE TEST ... Lakeland catcher Austin Green has gunned down 45.2 percent would-be base stealers this season and ranks third in the league in that category. He may get a work out this series as Charlotte has two of the top base stealers in the FSL and tops the league with 57 steals.
ON THE OTHER HAND (ARM) ... Charlotte catchers have combined to throw out 41.7 percent of all runners trying to steal (best percentage in the league), but they have only been tested 24 times, by far the fewest stolen base attempts against any team in the Florida State League. Lakeland has stolen just 25 bases as a team, second fewest among league teams.
ON THE FARM ... Jeff McVaney leads all Detroit minor leaguers with 28 runs batted in. Chad Wright’s .297 batting average is third best in the organization while Lance Durham ranks sixth with a .292 mark. Four members of the Flying Tigers’ starting rotation rank in the top ten in Kevin Eichhorn (2nd, 1.66), Jake Thompson (3rd, 1.80), Josh Turley (4th, 2.13) and Edgar De La Rosa (8th, 3.18). Angel Nesbitt leads all Detroit minor league relievers with seven saves.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland plays a critical series with division leading Dunedin on the road May 24-25. The series opens on May 24 with a doubleheader as the team two make up a rained out game from May 2. A third game is slated for Sunday, May 25 at 1 pm.
No comments:
Post a Comment