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TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Series Preview: Missions and Naturals meet again

April 15, 2009 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


After a 3-3 start to the regular season, including two wins against the Naturals during their own opening homestand, the San Antonio Missions, the San Diego Padres' affiliate, arrived in Northwest Arkansas looking to accomplish what they did here to christen Arvest Ballpark last season, and what they did to start this season: win a series against the Naturals.

The Missions were the Naturals toughest opponent last year; winning nine of their 12 games against Northwest Arkansas and holding Naturals bats to a paltry .225 average. For their own part, the Missions batted .295 against Naturals pitching, well above their season average. Their pitching staff also posted a 2.25 ERA against the Naturals, led by Thursday's starter, Will Inman, who incidentally pitches the Arvest Ballpark home opener for the second consecutive season. Most fans who attended probably will recall that Northwest Arkansas did not win the first home game of 2008; in fact, Inman kept them off the board entirely while he was in the game. In fact, in 13 2/3 innings against the Naturals in 2008, Inman, ranked as the Padres' 18th best prospect by Baseball America, didn't allow Northwest Arkansas a single earned run, although he did allow three unearned runs against them on July 5th of last year in a game the Naturals were able to salvage.

The Naturals finally got to Inman in the second game of their series in San Antonio, scoring two earned runs off of him en route to a victory. Nonetheless, San Antonio continued to play Northwest Arkansas hard to start 2009, as two other players that had great '08 stats for the Missions: Craig Cooper (.302) and Seth Johnston (.306) both are back as mainstays in a San Antonio lineup that no longer features slugger Kyle Blanks but does feature six of the Top 30 prospects in what Baseball America considers to be a thin San Diego system. OF Cedric Hunter (#6), 2B Eric Sogard (#17), Inman (#18), RHP Cesar Carrillo (#20), C Mitch Canham (#25), and RHP Ernesto Frieri (#29). Their roster also includes the pitcher with the best control in the organization (LHP Nathan Culp), the best hitter for average (Hunter), the pitcher with the best curveball (Frieri), and the best defensive infielder (SS Jesus Lopez).

The Padres' system also finished last season with all but one of its minor league teams (Triple-A Portland) posting an above-.500 record. Carrillo is a former top prospect and first-round selection out of the University of Miami, a veritable baseball factory, while Sogard is a gritty infielder from Arizona State, another program known for developing top-notch baseball talent. And managed by the former big league All-Star catcher Terry Kennedy, you can bet that no matter what the scouts or Baseball America says, the Missions will be playing hard and be a force to be reckoned with in the Texas League this season.

In this young campaign, the Missions lead the Texas League in hitting so far (.293), and have the lead in homers (six), runs scored (40), and fewest walks issued (17). Canham is second in the loop in batting average (.500, 7-for-14), while Sogard is tenth (.381, 8-for-21).

What will prove key for the Naturals in this series is to stay patient. Naturals' batters are last in the Texas League in strikeouts, and the team needs the baserunners on via the walk to manufacture runs using its plus speed. Northwest Arkansas also needs to be mindful of its defense, as its error total paces the Texas League.

Thursday's pitching matchup pits right-hander Anthony Lerew against the right-hander Inman. Friday, right-hander Blake Johnson twirls the rubber for the Naturals opposite Carrillo, the former Hurricane. The series wraps Saturday with right-hander Blake Wood going for the Naturals against the soft-tossing lefty Nathan Culp.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. The Naturals have a toll-free ticket hotline (1-877-444-2637) for fans to purchase Naturals tickets. Our website, nwanaturals.com offers fans the opportunity to purchase tickets online and avoid lines at the ticket windows by printing their tickets at home or at the office.

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Texas League Stories from April 15, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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