THE GOOD

The Hitters

Before we see who is ranked in the top 10 in the South Atlantic League, let’s highlight some guys who made progress during the month.

Marques Williams was called up in mid May.  In the 10 games he has played in since then, he is hitting .379.

Jay Austin appears to be getting some traction.  After a .191 April, he has improved with a .256 May.

Now on the the rankings:

They are hitting the ball with some power.  The Legends are second in the league with 29 homer runs.   That is all that is good about the offense right now.

Ebert Rosario’s .324 average places him 9th best in the league and his .500 slugging ties him for 10th best.

The Pitchers:

The pitchers are the reason for the teams success to this point in time.  Here are some highlight performances from May.

Jordan Lyles went 1-2 with a 1.76 ERA in 30 2/3 IP.  He fanned 36 in the month.

Although the starters are getting a great deal of press.  There are some solid bullpen arms that are helping hold those leads.  Here are 3 solid May performers:

Henry Villar – 19 IP, 1.76 ERA, 18 K, 1 save

Patrick Urckfitz 11 1/3 IP, 0.79 ERA, 12 K, 4 saves

Austin Mowdy 12 1/3 IP, 0.73 ERA, 1 save

Here is how the Legends stack up against the league leaders:

Although they have no pitcher in the t0p 10 for ERA, they have the best team ERA at 2.84.  They have recorded the second most saves (17).  Legend’s pitchers have allowed the 3rd fewest runs (154) and the second fewest earned runs (122). They have only walked 113 batters in 387 innings which is the 3rd lowest total walks.  They have the second lowest WHIP (1.18) and the second most holds (15).

Individually, here is how they rank:

Robert Bono is tied for 4th most wins with 5

Ross Seaton is tied for 4th most wins with 5

Daniel Meszaros is still in 2nd for saves with 9 despite being called up to Corpus Christi.

Jordan Lyles has the 4th most strike outs with 56.

Kyle Greenwalt is tied for 10th best WHIP with 1.06

Henry Villar is tied for the league lead in holds with 5.

Patrick Urckfitz is tied for 5th most holds with 4.

THE BAD

The Hitters:

Here are those who struggled in May:

Russell Dixon hit .065 in 13 games before being shipped out to extended spring training.

Phil Disher continues to struggle.  He raised his batting average 6 points from April to .159 for May.

Frederico Hernadez saw his average slip from .264 in April to .231 in May but the bigger slide was his power numbers.  His slugging dropped from .509 for April down to .295 in May.

This is where the Legends are stinking it up.  They are last in hits (322), average (.227), stolen bases (27) and tied for last in triples (7) and on base percentage (.291).  The Legends have the 2nd lowest OPS (.618).  They have the 3rd fewest walks (111), the 3rd lowest slugging percentage (.324) and are tied for the 3rd most times caught stealing (27).

Those who have the shame of being listed among the leaders of the negative stats are:

Phil Disher has fanned 51 times which is the 2nd most in the league.

Jay Austin has been caught stealing 8 times which ties him for the most in the league.

Brandon Barnes has been caught stealing 5 times which ties him for 6th most in the league.

The Pitchers:

Brian Wabick’s ERA actual went down from 10. 61 in April to 6.52 for May.  He had two outings in May where he gave up 3 or more runs in one inning of work.

Arcenio Leon saw his number jump in May.  He went from a 2. 38 ERA in April to a 6.43 ERA in May.  Opponents were hitting him at a .333 clip in May compared to a 0.081 in April.

Nothing too bad to report on the team as a whole.  The Legends’ pitchers have only fanned 316 batters which is the second fewest in the league.

As for individuals:

Kyle Greenwalt, Ross Seaton & Jordan Lyles have all be listed as the losing pitcher 4 times.  That ties them for 6th.

Greenewalt has also hit 6 batters which ties him for 5th most.

Seaton & Lyles have hit 5 batters which ties time for 10th most.

Although (Legends President Alan)Stein noted that attendance (people in seats) was down by only 3.5 percent, and that the Legends’ research indicated that only about 15 percent of fans care about winning, he made a point of speaking about a return to championship contention some day.

When asked why he made an issue of winning if the fans don’t care, Stein smiled and said, “Because I care.”

So for the 15% who care, here are the numbers and rankings for the 2008 version of the Legends.

The Good

The Hitters

The Legends only got caught stealing 35 times in 186 attempts.  Their caught stealing total was the second lowest.  They were in the top half of the league in HR (7th) and Triples (T-6th).

Not many Legends ranked among league leaders, so we will deal with team leaders.  Matt Cusick is prominent among the list despite being traded to the Yankees just before the trade deadline.

Runs: Eric Taylor (67)

Hits: Craig Corrado (139)

Doubles: Craig Corrado (26)

Triples: team lead shared by two players no longer with the team Matt Cusick (traded to Yankees) and Colin Delome (promoted to Salem) both had 6 and were tied for 8th most in the league.

HR: Brian Pelligrini (21) 4th most in the league.

RBI: Brian Pelligrini (69)

Total Bases: Craig Corrado (176)

Walks: Eric Taylor (48)

Stolen Bases: Craig Corrado (43) 5th most in the league

OBP: Matt Cusick (.356)

Average: Matt Cusick (.285)

Slugging: Matt Cusick (.462)

OPS: Matt Cusick (.818)

The Pitchers

On the good side, there is not too much to brag about.  They didn’t hit many batters (56 – 4th) and didn’t walk many batters (412 – 6th).  So you could say they pitched to contact.  If you think that is good, see below.

Appearances: Fernando Abad (45) 10th most in the league

Wins: Anthonly Bello (7)

ERA: Leandro Cespedes (4.02)

Saves: Jay Pacella (12) was promoted to Salem at the end of the season or else would have been amoung league leaders.  He ranked 11th.

Innings PItched: Leandro Cespedes (130)

Strike Outs: Leandro Cespedes (137) good for 5th most and more than a K an inning.

WHIP: Anthony Bello (1.36)

The Bad

The Hitters

Lexington pulled up the rear in Hits, Average,  and On Base Percentage.  They were next to last in OPS, Slugging, Total bases, RBI and Runs.  They had the third most strike outs in the league.

Team leaders among the “bad” stats.

Strike Outs: Russell Dixon (120)

Caught Stealing: Steve Brown (6)

The Pitchers

The Legends definately pitched to contact.  They gave up the most hits (1373 in 1211.2 IP) and tied for the third most long balls (119).  They tied for the worst WHIP 1.47 and gave up the 3rd most runs (715)

Leading the team in the “not so good”  categories are:

Hits: Leandro Cespedes (138 – just 3 more hits than Ks but 8 more than IP)

Runs: Robert Leonhardt (97) second most in the league.

Earned Runs: Robert Leonhardt (76) also second most in the league.

Home Runs: Leandro Cespedes (19) fourth most in the league.  Carlos Ladeuth (16) tied for 6th.

Hit Batters: Leandro Cespedes (8)

Walks: Leandro Cespedes (45)

The Fielders

Errors: Craig Corrado (33)

The Crowd

Let’s hear it for the 85% who don’t care about winning!  The Legends drew 370,570 (average 5449) which was the third highest total in the league.

The Good:

The Hitters

There is not much good at the plate going on for the Legends. Their highest rankings out of the 16 team South Atlantic League is a tie for 4th in triples (28) and 5th place in HR (87). They are also in the top third of teams in stolen bases (124). They are tied for the second fewest caught stealings (29).

Brian Pellegrini’s 20 home runs put him tied for 2nd in the league. He would be tied for the top spot in slugging but he doesn’t have enough at bats to qualify.

Craig Corrado has 35 steals in 38 attempts. His steals ranks him 5th in the league.

Two former legends rank are tied for 4th most triples. They are Colin Delome who has moved to Salem & Matt Cusick who was traded to the Yanks.

The Pitchers

You have to stretch for the good as a team here. Despite giving up the second most hits, they are only tied for 4th in runs allowed. Sorry, its the best I can do. Wait, they have walked the 5th fewest batters in the league (328).

Leandro Cespedes has Kd 107 batters in 103 1/3 innings to put him 8th in Ks.

The Bad:

The Hitters

The Legends rank dead last in hits (917), batting average (.242) and on base percentage (.309). They are next to last in runs scored (471). They rank 3rd worst in OPS (.685) and strike outs (938). Yes they have more K’s than hits, but no Lex player ranks in the top 10 in # of Ks. Russell Dixon leads the team with 106 (13th most).

The Pitchers

The Legends’ pitchers have surrendered 1117 hits (2nd most) and the worst WHIP (1.44) in the league.

Robert Leonhardt has surrendered 129 hits (6th most). His 76 runs allowed is the 3rd most and his 63 earned runs are 4th most.

Leandro Cespedes has offered up 16 round trippers which puts him tied for 3rd most.

The Crowd: Lexington still draws a good crowd. Their average of 5437 gives them the 3rd highest average attendance.

The Good

The Hitters

The Legends as a team 4th with 23 triples. They are also 4th in homers (63). They also have been caught stealing 22 times, good for the third lowest total in the league.

Matt Cusick has dropped in many categories but his OBP is still solid at .381 (9th)

Colin Delome’s 6 triples tie him for 3rd most. His slugging % is .513 (8th)

Brian Pellegrini is tied for 7th in HR (13)

Craig Corrado is tied for 6th most stolen bases (27). He has only been caught 3 times as well.

Pitchers

Not too much good going on here, except the the bad isn’t as bad as it was last month.

The Crowd

The Legends fans are still coming to the park. Their average attendance of 5308 is good for 3rd in the league.

The Bad:

The Hitters

The Legends are in the cellar in hits and average, second from the bottom in strike outs, and third worst in runs, and OBP. No individual Legend is in the bottom 10 of any category.

The Pitchers

Lexington’s pitchers share a 4.70 team ERA which is the next to worst in the league. They have surrendered the most hits and runs. However, they have only the 2nd worst amount of earned runs. They also have the worst WHIP in the league.

Leandro Cespedes has allowed 51 runs and 43 earned runs which both tie him for 9th most in the league. His 15 home runs surrendered tie him for second worst in the league.

Carlos Ladeuth’s 9 homers given up tie him for 9th most surrendered.

The Good

The Hitters

The Legends as a team are tied for 3rd with 14 triples. They also have been caught stealing 12 times, good for the second lowest total in the league.

Welcome to the Matt Cusick show. Cusick leads the way with a .339 batting average which is good enough for 4th in the league. He leads the league with a .427 OBP and is 3rd with a .552 slugging percentage. Those two stats combine to put him first with a .979 OPS. He is tied for 6th with 91 total bases. He is also 6th in most bases on balls (25). His 3 triples are good to put him in a tie for 6th most. Cusick is tied for 8th most doubles (14). His 56 hits are good enough for 9th best. He has the 7th most runs scored (33)

Colin Delome is 8th in slugging (.509). He is tied for 2nd with 10 HR and tied for 2nd with 4 triples.

Craig Corrado is 7th with 17 stolen bases.

Pitchers

Lexington pitchers have only walked 130 batters in 423 1/3 innings, good for 4th lowest.

Sergio Severino is 8th in most batters struck out (54)

The Crowd

The Legends fans are still coming to the park. Their average attendance of 5101 is good for 2nd in the league.

The Bad:

The Hitters

The Legends aren’t in the worst 4 in any category but are middle of the pack in most.

Colin Delome is tied for 8th most strikeouts (52).

The Pitchers

Lexington’s pitchers share a 4.44 team ERA which is the 4th worst in the league. They have surrendered the most hits and runs. However, they have only the 4th worst amount of earned runs. They also have the second worst WHIP in the league.

Leandro Cespedes has allowed 36 runs which is the 8th most in the league. His 10 home runs surrendered is second worst in the league.

Sergio Severino has plunked 6 batters which is the 3rd worst. His 24th walks issued are tied for 7th worst in the league.

The Good:

Hitters

Lexington as a team ranks 3rd in homers (20), 5th in average (.250) and slugging (.391). They are also tied for 3rd fewest times caught stealing (7).

Matt Cusick is leading the league in batting average (.403), OPS (1.161) and is second in OBP (.460) and Slugging (.701). He is also tied for 5th in runs, tied for 4th in hits, tied for 4th in triples, tied for 9th in HR and is 3rd in total bases.

Colin Delome is second with 7 HR, is 6th with 46 total bases and tied for 6th with 17 RBI

Nick Moresi is tied for 4th in triples (2).

Craig Carado is tied for 7th with 9 stolen bases.

Pitchers:

The Legends staff has only walked 56 batters which is the second fewest in the league.

Sergio Severino is 6th in ERA (1.50). He is 3rd in most strike outs with 32. He is also tied for 8th best WHIP (0.92)

Jay Pacella is tied for 6th with 9 appearances

Mike Koons joins a host of others tied for 3rd with 2 holds.

The Crowd: The Legends are 3rd in the league with an average attendance of 4571.

The Bad:

Hitters:

As a team the Legends are tied for 12th in OBP (.303), and in 13th in walks taken (59).

Brandon Barnes and Colin Delome are tied for 10th most strike outs with 27.

Pitchers:

Lexington pitchers have given up a league leading 230 hits, 134 runs (though only 96 have been earned), have the 3rd worst team WHIP (1.38) and have given up the 4th most HR (21). They have also hit 15 batters for second most in the league.

Sergio Severino leads the league in plunkings with 6 and is tied for 4th most walks with 13.

Colt Adams tied for giving up the 6th most hits (30)

Leandro Cespedes is tied for giving up the 7th most runs (19), contributing to that is the 4 HR balls he has served up which ties him for 4th most.

Fernando Abad joins Cespedes in the tie for 4th most HRs surrendered.

Anthonly Bello is tied for 7th most hit batters with 3.

Lexington

Asheville beat the Legends 5-4 in 11 last night. Astros pitchers did well with one exception. Leandro Cespedes struck out 6 and walked 3 during his 4 innings of work, allowing only one run and two hits. Abad, Robinson and Kelly combined for 5 innings of shutout ball with Kelly tallying four k’s along the way. Pacella took the loss without an earned run. The exception of the night was Mike Koons who allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk in 1 inning. He and Max Sapp allowed 3 stolen bases in that inning. Overall Asheville runners were 5 out of 6 against Sapp. This is a trend we will be watching.
At the plate, Nick Moresi accounted for all of Lexington’s runs with a grand slam in the 7th that tied the game. The Legends struck out 11 times during the game. They also committed 3 errors.

Corpus Christi

Brad James gave up 2 home runs in the 2nd inning but still ended up with a quality 6 inning start.

“I thought he did a nice job. He gave up two home runs, but other than that he did a good job,” Pujuols said. “He gave us six good innings there and hopefully we can get that all the time.

The Hooks bats responded and gave the Hooks a 5-2 lead going into the 8th. Sammy Gervacio, who had pitched a scoreless 7th surrendered 2 runs in the 8th to make it 5-4. Gervacio appeared to have struggled with his control as he hit a batter, and had a wild pitch in the 8th on back to back batters. Kyle Middleton blew the save in the 9th allowing 3 runs.

The Hooks rallied for a run in the 9th and one in the 11th for the win.

Luis Pujos’ reaction:

“The way the guys played, that’s what I want to see all year. I told the guys in our big meeting yesterday that the only thing I’m asking of them is the four hours they’re going to spend here with me and the coaching staff, to give their best,” Pujols said. “If they give their best, we’ll end up winning the game. We didn’t make any errors. I don’t think it’s going to happen every night, but at least they’re going to try.”

Iorg is paying attention:

“I knew the guy wasn’t going to come in on me. He hadn’t come in on me in two at-bats so I was looking for something out,” Iorg said. “He loved his curveball. He only threw me one fastball my first at bat . . . I just wanted to stay on it and hit it to right field. Sure enough, he threw me a curveball and I hit it. That happens very rarely but I guessed right and that’s what happened.”

Corpus Christi Caller writer Greg Rajan discusses that the relationship between Corpus Christi and the Hooks has moved from the honeymoon stage to the marriage stage. He mentions the challenges of keeping attendance up when the talent maybe lacking based on what he calls a farm system “dry spell”.
Salem

Roanoke.com features Chris Salamida as one of the returning faces of the Avs this year. Chris will start in the pen to get stretched out before moving into a starter role after “throwing exceptionally well in spring training.”

Smallball:

Langbehn said this team will feature aggressive base running. They are most likely to win with “small ball” rather than relying on a power game.

“The thing I like about the roster is kids that can run,” Langbehn said. “You can do things with them offensively. You can steal bases. You can hit-and-run, and go first-to-third on singles. … Of the 13 (position players), I would say 10 of them have a legitimate chance of stealing a base at any time.”

The starting rotation includes 6 pitchers. Lefties Bello, Severino, and Icenogle and Righties Cespedes, Adams and Ladeuth. Adams & Ladeuth will piggyback starts.

The idea of “piggyback” starts is to protect young arms, while giving both opportunities to start and relieve.

“Hopefully, you can get through a game with just two guys,” Langbehn said. “(That) buys you a day or two to rest guys” in the bullpen.

One of the new faces to the Astros has caught Langbehn’s eye, Roberto Mena

“He’s been extremely impressive,” Langbehn said. “He’s primarily a shortstop. He can play second; put him in at third; handles the bat well. I think he’s going to be pretty solid.”