The Hooks finished the season with the worst record in the Texas League (55-85) and 29 games out of the division lead for the year. Their winning percentage was deadly (.357). The injuries on the farm impacted the Hooks more than any other team. Bud Norris, Brad James, Sergio Perez and Tip Fairchild were all expected to have an positive impact for the Hooks but all spent significant time on the DL. Add to that Josh Flores missed all of the season and you have a team thin on talent in a tough league. There is hope things improve next year but with the lack of talent in Salem and Lexington, it could be a few years before winning returns to CC.
Here is the good and bad of team leaders for the year and how they ranked in the league if applicable.
The Good
The Hitters
The Hooks hit 263 two baggers good for 3rd in the league. Their 34 triples were second most.
Drew Sutton had a solid season and there is no doubt he is the offensive MVP this season. He finished tied for 5th in the league in batting (.317), tied for second in OBP (.408) and second in slugging (.523). His OPS of .931 was the third highest in the league. He lead the league in Runs (102), Hits (165), Doubles (39) and was tied for 7th with 20 round trippers. He also lead the league in total bases (272). Sutton took the 4th most walks (76). He lead the team with 69 RBI.
Three Hooks placed in the top 10 base thiefs. 8th – Wlad Suti (22), 9th – Eli Iorg (21), and T-10th – Drew Sutton (20).
Three players tied for 7th in triples with 5 each: Eli Iorg, Jerred Ball and Tommy Manzella
Ole Sheldon also placed 8th in most walks taken (58)
The Pitchers
The Good, okay, let’s see… Um…. Well…. Um… They didn’t hit many opposing players. They hit 58 opposing batters good for second fewest in the league.
Sammy Gervacio lead the team and was tied for 9th in the league with 47 appearances. He also lead the team with 5 saves.
Polin Trinidad, Brad James and mid season signee Andy Van Hekken all had 6 wins to lead the team.
Chance Douglas’ 5.10 ERA get to claim the team lead because hewas the only pitcher who pitched enough innings to qualify. He finished 14 out of the 20 pitchers who pitched enough in the league to qualify. He was the work horse of the team pitching 123 2/3 innings to lead the team. His 1.52 WHIP also leads the team because of the innings pitched to qualify.
Bud Norris and Chris Blazek each fanned 84 batters to share the team lead.
Blazek and Ryan McKeller tallied 10 holds, that puts them in a tie for second most in the league.
The Bad
The Hitters
The Hooks lacked the big hit many times this season. They were 3rd from the bottom in runs (659), and RBI (620). They were second from the bottom in HR (114). The took the 3rd fewest walks and that contributed the their 3rd lowest OBP (.338) and OPS (.749).
Eli Iorg tied for 9th most times caught stealing with 9. He also struck out 112 times which was the 7th most times in the league.
The Fielders
Drew Sutton committed 26 errors to lead the team.
The Pitchers
Wow, their numbers reflect bad pitching. They gave up the most hits (1410 in 1232.2 IP), runs (769), earned runs (701) and the second most HR (147). The result was that they had the worst ERA (5.10) and WHIP (1.52) in the league.
Chance Douglas took 10 losses for the team tying him for 7th most in the league. He also lead the team with 144 hits surrendered, 77 runs surrendered and 70 earned runs surrendered. He was tied for 3rd most homers allowed with 19. He lead the team with 44 walks issued.
Brian Bogusevic gave up 15 homers before he started hitting them. That ties him for 9th most in the league.
Tip Fairchild, Brad James and Jose Oyervidez all plunked 8 batters to lead the team.
The Crowd
Hooks fans still filled the seats this season. They put 479,651 fannies in the seats this year for an average of 6852 per home game. This was the second highest attendance in the league.