The Clearwater Threshers current record of 27-9 (.750 winning percentage) is the best in all of minor league baseball. They are one of only three minor league teams to have a winning percentage of .700 or better ( the others are the Oklahoma City Dodgers - 31-11 (.738 winning percentage - Dodgers AAA affiliate - Pacific Coast League) and the Norfolk Tides - 30-11 (.732 winning percentage - Orioles AAA affiliate - International League). The Tampa Rays record of 32-13 (.711 winning percentage) are the only major league team with a .700 or better winning percentage at this point in the season. The Threshers have won 15 consecutive home games and are 19-3 in their last 22 games played.
Jersey Shore trails only the Rome Braves in team walks in the South Atlantic League and is second in the loop with a .367 OBP behind league leader Winston Salem. Prior to the season I believed that the bullpen would be a team strength and since April 19th (22 games over which the BlueClaws are 14-8), the BlueClaws bullpen is 12-3 with a 2.87 ERA (123.2 IP, 75 H, 38 ER, 54 BB, 150 Ks) after a very rough start pitching to an 8.75 ERA over the first 10 games of the season (36 IP, 40 H, 35 ER, 24 BB, 36 Ks). They have a 16-16 overall record to date. Thanks to Greg Giombarrese - BlueClaws Director of Communications for the bullpen data.
Lehigh Valley comes into today’s action with a 20-21 overall record and is second in the International League in team hits with 368 behind league leader Norfolk with 400. The IronPigs pitching staff is 6th in the loop in WHIP (1.48).
While the Reading Fightin Phils overall record is 13-22 they actually lead the Eastern League in team batting average and are second in OBP, Slugging Percentage and OPS. They are one of two Eastern League teams (the other is Portland with 301) to have 300 or more hits thus far.
Simon Muzziotti (Lehigh Valley) currently leads the International League (to qualify, a player must have 2.7 plate appearances per team game played) in batting average with a .371 mark, he’s second in hits with 53.
Reading’s Carlos De La Cruz is second in the Eastern League in runs scored (28) and 5th in home runs (8). Ethan Wilson is 6th in batting average (.302) and 4th in slugging percentage (.602). Oliver Dunn is third in walks (26) and 4th in OBP (.422).
Jersey Shore’s Marcus Lee Sang is sixth in the South Atlantic League in OBP (.432) while Hao Yu Lee is 11th (.410). Nick Ward is 4th in runs (27), 6th in walks (24) and 12th in OBP (.409).
Clearwater’s Emaarion Boyd leads the Florida State League in stolen bases with twenty one. Otto Kemp is third in the league in runs (27), fifth in walks (25), fifth in OBP (.430) and eighth in OPS (.906). Gabriel Rincones Jr is 4th in doubles (10), tied for third in home runs (5 - Cade Fergus also has five), 6th in walks (24), 3rd in stolen bases (16), 7th in OBP (.421), slugging pct. (.495) and OPS (.916). Justin Crawford is 4th in the league in batting average (.330) and third in stolen bases (15). On the pitching side Jack Dallas leads the league in appearances (13), Jonh Henriquez in wins (5) and Sam Aldegheri is seventh in strikeouts with 36.
Streaking : Clearwater’s Otto Kemp has a 25 game on base streak going, Jersey Shore’s Kendall Simmons a twelve game hitting streak, Reading’s Oliver Dunn a twelve game on-base streak and Lehigh Valley’s Jake Cave a fourteen game hitting streak.
We’ve had a nice stretch of weather here in the Clearwater area with the humidity and heat being relatively low however the past couple of days have seen both increase, just a reminder that the summer months are coming where just walking out of the house here will leave ya drenched in sweat 🤦♂️. Yesterday during the extended spring training game at the complex one of the dietitians even brought out lemon-aide for the fellas, I wasn’t offered any as the only fan in attendance though 🥴😂. Nonetheless I ventured over to the complex this morning to watch some practice sessions on the backfields. Darick Hall and Rafael Marchan were taking BP on Carlton Field, Darick launched one of his patented drives over the right field fence and Rafael made consistent solid contact. No timetable as to when they may advance to rehab appearances but certainly promising to see both (two of my favorites) taking swings with no issues.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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