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Johnson City Doughboys

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds Vs Round Rock Express

April 27, 2017 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Johnson City Doughboys News Release


Memphis Redbirds (10-10) vs. Round Rock Express (10-10)

Thursday, April 27

- 7:05 p.m. (CT)

- AutoZone Park (10,000)

- Memphis, Tennessee

Game #21

- Home Game #8 (3-4)

RHP Josh Zeid (1-1, 5.52) vs RHP Allen Webster (0-2, 8.62)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds return home for a brief five-game homestand with the Round Rock Express (Rangers). The teams enter today's contest tied for first in the American Southern division with identical 10-10 records. The 'Birds have dropped two straight while the Express have won three in a row. Today's game will be broadcast live on Sports56 and 87.7 FM and internet webcast at MemphisRedbirds.com, with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Memphis hands the ball to Josh Zeid in the series opener. Zeid is coming off his best start of the campaign last Friday against Colorado Springs. Pitching in game one of a doubleheader, Zeid lasted six innings, allowing a run on six hits with four strikeouts to earn his first win and post his first quality start of the season. Zeid is in his first season with the St. Louis organization, signing in March after a stellar WBC performance with Team Israel.

The Express will counter with Allen Webster. The righthander is back stateside after spending last season with the Samsung Lions of the Korean Baseball Organization, where he was 4-4 with a 5.70 ERA in 12 starts. This season, Webster has made four starts for the Express, allowing at least three runs in each outing. His last start was his longest outing of the season, yielding three runs on five hits in 5.1 frames in a loss to Omaha on Friday.

SCHEDULE WITH ROUND ROCK: The Redbirds and Express meet for the first time this season with 16 games on the docket. Memphis was 9-7 against Round Rock a year ago, marking the first time the Redbirds posted a winning record against the Express since the team switched to a Rangers affiliate in 2011. Memphis won five of eight matchups between the squads at AutoZone Park last year.

THIS DATE IN REDBIRDS HISTORY (April 27, 2007): Ryan Ludwick hit a grand slam off of Iowa's J.R. Mathes to lead Memphis to a 6-5 win. The grand slam came during a week in which he hit .391 (9-for-23) with two doubles, three homers, eight runs scored, and 15 RBIs for the Redbirds.

BIRD BITES

BADER: Five of his 10 hits have come vs left-handed pitchers

CUNNINGHAM: Six of his seven hits this season have gone for extra bases (3 2B, 2 HR); 3 for his last 26 (.115)

DeJONG: Has recorded hits in 12 of his last 14 starts (16-for-53, .302, 3 2B, HR, 3 R, 4 RBI)

GARCIA: Has batted in five different spots in the order

HUFFMAN: Hits in six straight starts (9-for-25, .360, 6 2B, HR, 5 R, 6 RBI)

KELLY: Five of his last seven hits have gone for extra bases over the previous eight games

PHAM: Hits in seven of his last eight games (10-for-25, .400, 3 2B, HR, 6 R, 7 RBI)

ROSARIO: Hitless in back-to-back appearances for the first time this season (0-for-7)

TOVAR: Has hits in seven games on the season; two of those have been multi-hit games

VALERA: Collected first multi-hit game of the season Sunday; Has hit safely in nine of 15 appearances

VOIT: Has hit safely in seven of his last eight games (11-for-27, .407, 2 2B, 3B, 5 RBI)

WISDOM: Hitless in five straight games (0-for-19); Had hit safely in 11-of-13 games prior to current stretch

BY THE NUMBERS

11.0 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run for the Memphis bullpen

0 days below .500 or out of first place that Memphis has spent this season

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Jair Jurrjens silenced Memphis' bats for the second straight day as Oklahoma City came away with a 6-0 win in the series finale. The Redbirds were shut out for the second straight day, the first time since 2012 that Memphis has been held scoreless in back-to-back games.

The bullpen trio of Kevin Herget, John Brebbia, and Josh Lucas combined to allow just two unearned runs on one hit in five innings of relief.

THE 'PEN IS MIGHTIER: Memphis' bullpen appeared to turn the corner during the four-game set against Oklahoma City after a tough beginning to the road trip in Colorado Springs. In 14.1 innings pitched, the relievers yielded just one earned run (four total) on seven hits while striking out 15. As a result, the unit's season long ERA dropped nearly three-quarters of a point from 4.55 at the opening of the series to its current state at 3.87.

PARCHED FOR OFFENSE: The Redbirds hope the friendly confines of AutoZone Park will return their offensive punch after back-to-back shutouts on Monday and Tuesday. Dating back to Sunday, Memphis has not scored in its last 22 innings, mustering just nine hits, eight of which have been singles. Tuesday's game was just the second all season in which the Redbirds did not pick up an extra-base hit. In seven games at AutoZone Park, Memphis had 19 extra-base hits, including eight home runs.

NO MORE DOUBLE SWITCHING: Memphis plays its first game of the season today against an American League affiliate, signaling the return of the designated hitter. The Redbirds' first 20 games have come against NL affiliates in New Orleans (Marlins), Colorado Springs (Brewers), and Oklahoma City (Dodgers).

Memphis' next nine games will come against AL affiliates in Round Rock (Rangers) and Omaha (Royals) before reverting to NL play for 20 of the following 24 contests.

BETTER LATE (AND CLOSE) THAN NEVER (AND NOT): Saturday's six-run outburst in the ninth inning provided another dramatic victory for Memphis, something that has become commonplace in the early portion of the season. The Redbirds have already picked up five wins in their last at-bat, accounting for half of the team's victories.

Additionally, with Sunday's one-run triumph, Memphis improved to 5-1 in games decided by the slimmest of margins. The five wins are second-most in the PCL (Round Rock, 6).

STARTING OUT QUICK, FINISHING STRONG: The 'Birds have scored 14 runs in the first inning and 12 runs in the ninth inning of games, which are their most fruitful scoring innings of the season.

Memphis has scored first in 12 of its initial 20 games this season, which trails only Iowa (14) in terms of times scoring the game's first run. However, the Redbirds are just 7-5 in those contests, which ranks 13th in the league.

The Redbirds have scored the game's final run nine times and are 8-1 in such games, the third-best mark in the circuit.

EXTRA, EXTRA: The Redbirds have posted 156 hits in the first 20 games of the season, including a league-leading 41 doubles. Memphis was the last team in the circuit to post a triple, waiting until Sunday to collect their first two three-baggers of the season.

BOMB SQUAD SHORTAGE: Memphis failed to homer in yesterday's game, marking the fifth straight contest without a dinger for the Redbirds, their longest streak this season. For a majority of the season's first two weeks, Memphis led all of MiLB in home runs, but they now sit with 19, seventh-most in the PCL.

The Redbirds are still way ahead of their pace from a season ago when the squad did not hit its 19th homer until game 37, which came on May 19. A majority (12 of 19) of the long balls this season have been solo blasts.

Memphis has already hit three leadoff home runs, three game-winning home runs and have had a pair of players (Tommy Pham and Carson Kelly) collect multiple home runs in the same game.

RUN, RUN, RUNAWAY: The Redbirds are 7-for-22 in steal attempts and have been picked off eight times. The 15 caught stealings are by far the most in the PCL, with no other squad having been caught more than 11 times (Fresno, 11-for-22).

PUSHING THE 'PEN: Mike Mayers' start Tuesday was the 12th time in 20 games this season that a Redbird starter has failed to complete 5.0 innings. Just four pitchers have recorded at least one out after the fifth (Daniel Poncedeleon 4/11, 4/22; Tyler Lyons 4/12; Josh Zeid 4/21; Chris Ellis 4/24). That trend started to change on the last road trip with three quality starts in the last six games.

Overall, though, the bullpen has had to carry a significant portion of the innings (86.0) alongside the starters (90.0). Thus far, the relievers have responded with a 3.87 bullpen ERA.

ABOUT LAST SEASON: Memphis finished 65-77 last season, 18.0 games behind first place Nashville, who finished with the best regular season in the Pacific Coast League. The Redbirds had 59 players appear in a game last season, 25 of whom were making their Triple-A debut.

MEMPHIS PLAYERS AND COACHES

HOME SWEET HOME HOPEFULLY: After a rough road trip (1-for-23), Patrick Wisdom aims to return to his strong hitting at home. During the last homestand, Wisdom led Memphis with eight hits, highlighted by five doubles. Including his time last season, Wisdom is a career .260 hitter at AutoZone Park with 19 extra-base hits in 47 games compared to .210 with 14 extra-base hits in 50 contests on the road.

STRIKING NEW GROUND: Righthander pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon became the first player promoted to the Redbirds this season as a counter move for Opening Day starter Luke Weaver going on the disabled list.

Since then, he's tossed a combined 16.0 innings against Colorado Springs and Oklahoma City and leads the team with 17 strikeouts. He is second among PCL starters with a .167 opponent batting average and is seventh in the league in ERA (1.69).

THE ROSTER: Of the 25 players who comprise Memphis' roster, 21 appeared at Triple-A last season, be it with Memphis or another organization. Of those who played at Triple-A, 14 donned a Redbirds uniform. Additionally, the roster is full of Major League experience with 11 players combining for 369 games played. Tommy Pham leads the roster with 136 games of MLB experience.

PROSPECTING: The Cardinals organization has seen a steady growth in the rating of its prospects the last three seasons, elevating from 15th to 14th to 12th this season, according to Baseball America. While top prospect Alex Reyes is sidelined for the season, six of the top 30 prospects tabbed by the publication are currently on the Redbirds roster. That includes Luke Weaver (#2), Carson Kelly (#4), Harrison Bader (#7), Paul DeJong (#14), Sam Tuivailala (#23), and Breyvic Valera (#29).

ST. LOUIS MAJORITY: When digging into St. Louis' current 25-man roster, 16 players have spent time in Memphis: pitchers Lance Lynn (2009-11), Tyler Lyons (2012-17), Carlos Martinez (2013-14), Kevin Siegrist (2013-14), Miguel Socolovich (2015-16), Michael Wacha (2013), and Adam Wainwright (2004-05, '08); catcher Yadier Molina (2004); infielders Matt Adams (2012, '14, '16), Matt Carpenter (2011-12), Aledmys Diaz (2015), Greg Garcia (2013-16), and Kolten Wong (2013-14, '16); and outfielders Randal Grichuk (2014, '16), Jose Martinez (2016). and Stephen Piscotty (2014-15).

REDBIRDS ALL-TIME ROSTER: Since St. Louis and Memphis signed a player development partnership in 1998, a total of 610 players and coaching staff have appeared on the Redbirds, including this season. Of that number, 252 have played or served in a coaching capacity for the St. Louis Cardinals in their career.

BREEDING GROUND: Entering the 2017 campaign, 26 members of the Cardinals' 40-man roster have played for the Redbirds in their respective careers.

OFFSEASON REBRANDING

A FRESH LOOK: The Redbirds unveiled a new brand identity on January 18 that speaks directly to the soul of the city and its rich traditions.

The primary logo replicates that of a neon street sign, quickly calling to mind Memphis' iconic Beale Street, located just a few blocks from the ballpark. The tube lighting is applied elsewhere throughout the brand package, including in the primary word mark and the numbers seen on the jerseys. Both the home and away uniforms feature the neon "Memphis" across the front with the neon "M" formed in the shape of a music note, to honor the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock 'n' roll.

In order to successfully capture this essence of Memphis, the Redbirds turned to Dan Simon of Studio Simon for design.

The primary colors of the new brand are St. Louis Cardinals red, navy and yellow, to represent the affiliate of the Redbirds since 1998. There are two primary hat versions: a red home hat featuring a more modern take on Rockey the Redbird's head, and the iconic music note neon "M" on a blue hat with a red bill. Fans will note a faint yellow outline around the jersey elements, which gives the effect that the neon is turned on.

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