CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Blue Rocks Game Notes - May 2, 2014

Published on May 2, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


ROUGH START TO ROAD TRIP: Eight of the nine Carolina hitters who came to the plate on Thursday night at Five County Stadium reached base safely as the Mudcats erased an early 2-0 deficit en route to a 6-3 victory over the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Carolina did all of its damage between the fourth and seventh innings and out-hit the Blue Crew, 12-7, overall on the night. The loss dropped Wilmington to a season-high tying four games below .500.

ON THE HUNT: All of Wilmington's offense came courtesy of Hunter Dozier. The infielder went 3-for-4 with two singles, a homer and three RBIs. His solo shot in the first put Wilmington in front, 1-0, and his run-scoring single in the sixth tied the game at 3-3. Dozier has now reached base safely in 10 straight games. He has hits in nine of those contests and is hitting .412 (14-for-34) over that stretch with one homer, and seven RBIs. Over that time frame, the Royals' 2013 first-round pick has raised his batting by 89 points from .170 to .259. Dozier appears to favor the road where he is batting .333 as opposed to the .186 average he is sporting at home.

SOUTHPAW STRUGGLES: The Blue Rocks' issues with left-handed starting pitching continued on Thursday. The Rocks lost for the sixth time in seven tries this season when opposing a southpaw starter. As a team the Rocks are batting below the "Mendoza Line" (.197) against lefties. Wilmington also sports a collective slugging percentage of just .283 and has struck out 82 times in 269 at bats versus southpaws.

A HOMER?: Dozier's first-inning home run was only Wilmington's fifth long ball of the season. The Rocks are last in the eight-team Carolina League in that category. Frederick and Lynchburg are tied for the next-lowest total with 10 dingers each. Thursday's home run was Wilmington's first on the road since April 4 when Cody Stubbs hit a solo shot in the ninth inning of a win in Winston-Salem.

WE'RE NOT GOING STREAKING: The Rocks have not won consecutive games in almost three weeks. Wilmington last strung together back-to-back victories on April 11 and 12 when it beat the Dash twice. In fact, the Blue Crew have not won more than two straight games all season, and have accomplished that feat only twice. The Rocks' longest losing streak of the season is five games.

ROTATION REALIGNMENT: Before the game on Thursday Blue Rocks manager Darryl Kennedy announced the Rocks would be shifting right-hander Yender Caramo to the bullpen for a week. The move comes as a result of rainouts combined with scheduled days off and the Blue Crew's six-man rotation leaving too much time off between starts for the Rocks' rotation. Kennedy said the move is only temporary and Caramo would likely be back in the rotation sometime next week. The right-hander made his first relief appearance of the season in the 6-3 loss at Carolina. Caramo worked a scoreless ninth inning.

THEY SAID IT, OUTFIELDER BUBBA STARLING: "I think we were right there with them until the [the sixth]. It was a back and forth game there until they got a few timely hits and unfortunately we couldn't answer back. I think we've got to start hitting the ball better early in the game though. Sometimes I feel like we try to wait until later in the game and it's too late. We're going out and battling and trying as hard as we can, we just need to go out and start hitting the ball better earlier...I'm starting to see the ball a little better and I feel like my approach is more me just relaxed, but there's still a lot of work left to do. I feel like I can put together more good at bats and I need to quit striking out so much and put the ball in play and then see what happens...This place plays a little bit differently than Wilmington. Definitely more of a hitter's park I would say. You can't worry about going out and hitting home runs though. Just have to concentrate on getting base hits and home runs will come."

THEY SAID IT, INFIELDER HUNTER DOZIER: "I'm just trying to be simple with my swing right now. I'm trying to put my foot down early and see the pitch I'm looking for. On the homer I was down 0-2 so I was looking for a fastball and adjusting off speed. My approach there was right-center. He threw me a change up and I was a little out in front, but I got enough of it to get a homer so it was a pretty good at bat. On the single [in the sixth] he threw me a curveball and I was a little out in front again. It was the same approach, I was actually looking for a fastball, he threw me a curveball and I made the adjustment...We know our pitching is always going to show up and keep the run-count down to stay in the ball game. As hitters that's how you win games when you get those timely hits. Early in the game we were able to do it, but late we couldn't answer back...It's just a hit here or there [to get it going more consistently]. That's baseball though. When you don't get timely hits it's hard to win. As a team we haven't really been hitting the ball that well, at least not as good as we can. It's going to come though. It's a long season, it's still early and we just need some guys to step up and start being consistent every day."

Today's Starters

WIL: LHP Jonathan Dziedzic (3-1, 1.64)

vs.

CAR: RHP Cole Sulser (0-2, 3.22)

Lefty Jonathan Dziedzic has been one of Wilmington's most consistent starting pitchers in 2014. The southpaw takes the mound Friday for his fifth start of the campaign and will look to pick up his fourth win of the season. The crafty lefty has struck out 27 batters in 22 innings pitched this season while delivering a 1.64 ERA and 3-1 record. Dziedzic has been slightly better within the friendly confines of Frawley Stadium than on the road this year. He is 1-1 with a paltry 0.75 ERA in two starts at home and 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA in two outings on the road. Left-handed hitters are batting just .200 (3-for- 15) against Dziedzic, while righties have not fared much better at .215 (14-for-65). His most recent start came April 24 against the same Carolina Mudcats team he will face Friday night. Dziedzic threw six solid innings against them, racking up eight strikeouts while yielding only two runs on four hits. The left-hander received no run support in that outing, however, and suffered the first loss of his young Minor League career. Dziedzic, who is Lamar University's all-time strike- outs leader, was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 13th round of the 2013 Draft. He was also taken by the Boston Red Sox in the 37th round of the 2012 Draft, but elected to return to school.

Dartmouth University alum Cole Sulser makes his fifth start of 2014 Friday against the Blue Rocks. The Cleveland Indians selected Sulser with their 25th-round pick in 2013 after he put together a fantastic senior season and was named honorable mention All-Ivy League. The righty missed the 2012 season because of Tommy John Surgery but still finished second on the all-time wins list at Dartmouth with 20, two behind former Major Leaguer Mike Remlinger. Sulser has continued to pitch well since turning pro. In his first professional season, He went 3-2 with a 1.83 ERA in 15 games (9 starts) for Short-Season A Mahoning Valley in the New York-Penn League. In four starts this season, Sulser has gone 0-2 and delivered a 3.22 ERA. The righty has pitched at least five innings in each outing this season and is yet to yield more than three runs when taking the mound. Sulser's best start came on April 6 against Potomac, when he tossed five innings and allowed just one run on one hit while striking out seven and issuing just one free pass. The right-hander has already faced the Blue Rocks once, on April 23 at Frawley Stadium. He threw 5.2 innings while yielding three runs on seven hits. Sulser is not only a graduate of Dartmouth; he actually holds two degrees from the Ivy League institution. He owns a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering Science with Public Policy and a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from May 2, 2014


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.

OurSports Central