Tri Cities continues to struggle but have shown signs of life over the last month. They are currently 19-27 and 6 games out of first in the NYPL Stedler Division.
The Good:
The Hitters:
Out of the 14 team league, the ValleyCats rank tied for 3rd in HR (29). They are in the middle of the pack in most other areas except those noted below in the bad.
J. B. Shuck leads the league in runs scored (39) and is tied for 6th most hits (50). His 4 triples tie him for 5th most. He has walked 24 times (7th most). His OBP of .393 is 8th.
Phil Disher leads the league in hits (58), RBI (39), total bases (104, and homers (10). He is tied for 5th most doubles and is tied for 10th in runs scored (27). His OBP of .400 is tied for 5th, his SLG (.598) is 2nd best, and his OPS is 3rd best (.998). His .333 average is good for 6th best in the league.
David Flores is tied for 5th most doubles and is tied for 10th most HR (6). His Slugging Average of .511 is the 6th best in the league.
The Pitchers
There is not much good about the team pitching numbers for the ValleyCats. Calling them ‘fair to middlin’ would be overstating things. No individual makes the top 10 in any category either. Shane Wolf’s 3.83 ERA leads the team but ranks 22nd among league leaders.
The Bad:
The Hitters:
Tri Cities batters have only walked 132 times (3rd lowest) while striking out 417 times (3rd most). They have only stolen 26 bases (2nd fewest).
T. J. Steele has K’d 47 times which ties him for 6th most.
Shuck has been caught stealing 5 times which ties him for 2nd most with 7 other players.
The Pitchers
There is plenty to say here. Their team ERA (4.11) is tied for the second worst. They only have 7 saves which is second lowest in the league. They have given up the second highest total runs (247) and are tied for the 3rd most earned runs allowed (188). They have given up 30 long balls (3rd most), hit 28 batters (3rd most) and carry a team WHIP of 1.41 (3rd worst). In many of the other categories, they rank 4th worst, so they don’t get mentioned here but easily could be.
Anthony Noguera has surrendered 54 hits (T-5th most). Those hits have resulted in 40 runs (2nd most) and 30 earned runs (T-3rd most). He has given up 6 long balls (3rd).
Robert Bono has surrendered 50 hits (T-9th most). Bono has surrendered 31 runs (T-6th most) but his earned runs are out of the top 10. He is tied with 17 other players with 4 homers surrendered (T-4th most).
Ashton Mowdy is also tied with 17 other players with 4 homers surrendered (T-4th most).
Chase Lehr has plunked 5 batters which ties him for 5th most.
Kirkland Rivers is tied for 10th most walks (19).
Jarred Holloway is tied for 10th most walks (19).
The Crowd: The VallyCats are drawing an average of 4, 107 which puts them 5th in the league.