Sports stats



EL1 Eastern League

Eastern League update

May 31, 2006 - Eastern League (EL1) News Release


Where Are They Now: 2005 Eastern League Award Winners

Eastern League MVP
Mike Jacobs, Binghamton Mets

After taking home the Eastern League MVP award and nearly winning the Triple Crown as a member of the Binghamton Mets in 2005, Mike Jacobs was acquired by the Florida Marlins in the offseason as part of a trade for Carlos Delgado.

Jacobs, who hit 11 homers in 30 games in his Major League debut with the New York Mets last season, has been the starting first baseman for the Marlins this year and is batting .224 with 11 doubles, six home runs, 29 RBI and 19 runs scored in 45 games.

Despite his early season struggles, it appears that Jacobs will continue to be the everyday first baseman for the Marlins, who are one of the youngest teams in Major League Baseball this season.

Eastern League Manager of the Year
Torey Lovullo, Akron Aeros

Torey Lovullo is now the manager of the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Lovullo has led his new team to a record of 27-26 and the Bisons are just 3.5 games out of first place in their division.

Lovullo is looking to win the manager of the year award for the third consecutive season, as he also took home the award in the Eastern League in 2005 with the Aeros and the Carolina League in 2004 as the skipper of the Kinston Indians.

Eastern Pitcher of the Year
Jon Lester, Portland Sea Dogs

After dominating hitters in the Eastern League last season, left-hander Jon Lester has moved up the ladder in the Red Sox minor league system and is now a member of the starting rotation for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox of the International League.

Lester has pitched much better than his 3-4 record with the PawSox this season would indicate. Jon has given up two runs or less in all but one of his starts this year and he has 40 strikeouts and a 2.95 ERA in 42.2 innings of work.

If Jon continues pitching well for the PawSox, it will only be a matter of time before he makes his Major League debut for the Boston Red Sox, who have recently been struck by injuries in their bullpen and their starting rotation.

Eastern Rookie of the Year
Chris Roberson, Reading Phillies

Outfielder Chris Roberson currently has a 10-game hitting streak and is batting .295 with 10 doubles and 12 stolen bases in 35 games for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons of the Triple-A International League this season.

Roberson, who set a Reading franchise record with 172 hits for the R-Phils last season, has been especially effective in the month of May, hitting .348 with one double and four stolen bases in 11 games.

Sheffield Rehabs With Trenton

When the Trenton Thunder faced the New Britain Rock Cats at New Britain Stadium last Monday they had some added punch in their lineup, as New York Yankee outfielder Gary Sheffield was the team's starting designated hitter. Sheffield, a nine-time All-Star who was rehabbing a wrist injury, went 1-for-3 with an RBI to help lead the Thunder to a 7-4 victory.

Gary played in just the one game with the Thunder before joining the Yankees at Fenway Park for the second two games of their series against the Boston Red Sox.

Sheffield is the 11th Major Leaguer to make a rehab appearance with the team since the Thunder and Yankees became affiliates prior to the start of the 2003 season.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reading Ballpark Ranked #2 In Minor League Baseball

FirstEnergy Stadium, the home of the Reading Phillies, was recently selected by Minor League News as the second best ballpark in all of Minor League Baseball. The honor is especially impressive when you consider most of the other ballparks on the list were built as recently as the mid-1990's, and FirstEnergy Stadium has been around since 1951.

"Of all of the parks we've named Ballpark of the Year on our website, Reading is probably the best," said digitalballparks.com's Eric Pastore. "I love how Reading avoided joining the new-ballpark craze, and instead kept something of historic significance. It has all of the bells and whistles of a modern park, but with a great sense of history. It proves that sometimes it's better to modernize an old ballpark rather than to build a new one."

Eastern league Team News and Notes
For the week ending 5/28/06

Akron Aeros
3B Kevin Kouzmanoff currently leads the league in batting (.415), hits (56), slugging percentage (.615) and on-base percentage (.457). RHP Sean Smith has not allowed a run over his last 24.1 innings pitched and is 2-0 over that span. C Javi Herrera currently has a 10-game hitting streak during which he is batting .333 (12-for-36) with two doubles, two homers, seven runs scored and four RBI.

Altoona Curve
Pittsburgh PiratesÕ first baseman Sean Casey joined the Curve for a three-game injury rehabilitation stint in Erie last weekend and the three-time National League All-Star played two games at first base and one as the clubÕs designated hitter, going 3-for-11 with one home run and two RBI. Altoona has won 11 of their last 12 games at Blair County Ballpark and have a league-best 21-7 home record.

Binghamton Mets
Bob Keppel, the last B-Met to throw a no-hitter, made his Major League debut with Kansas City on Thursday, allowing one run in 3.1 innings against Detroit. The righthander became the third former B-Mets hurler, and second in two days, to make his Major League debut this season, joining Alay Soler, who started for the Mets against Philadelphia on Wednesday and Florida Marlins reliever Yusmeiro Petit, who has allowed just one run in four appearances since being called up from Triple-A Albuquerque.

Bowie Baysox
Daniel Cabrera is scheduled to make his first Major League rehab appearance with the Baysox on Wednesday, May 31. Cabrera, who is 2-2 with the Orioles this season, was placed on the 15-day DL with shoulder inflammation on May 15.

Erie SeaWolves
3B Kody Kirkland hit a pair of home runs for the SeaWolves last week to push his league-best total to 12 on the season. Over his last 10 games 3B Chris Maples is batting .382 (13-for-34) with four home runs, 10 RBI and nine runs scored. OF Jackson Melian is hitting .381 (7-for-21) with runners in scoring position this season.

Harrisburg Senators
On Sunday afternoon, the Senators won a game when trailing after eight innings for the third time this season. Trailing 6-5 with two outs and no one on base, Melvin Dorta singled and Dan DeMent and Kory Casto followed with back-to-back to lead the Senators to an 8-6 win. The win also marked the first time this season that the Senators have won back-to-back road games.

New Britain Rock Cats
1B Danny Matienzo's 18 RBI during the month of May place him tied for third in the league for the month and his total of 31 on the season leads the Rock Cats. LHP Glen Perkins has a league-high 35 strikeouts during the month of May.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats
The Fisher Cats had a record-setting offensive day on May 22 in a 23-9 victory over Connecticut. Among the team records set that day were runs in a game (23), hits in a game (26), doubles in a game (9) and extra-base hits in a game (13). Other records set include most RBI in a game (7, Eric Arnold) and most runs scored in a game (5, Maikel Jova). E.L. Player of the Week Adam Lind tied the franchise mark for hits in a game with five.

Connecticut Defenders
In their 23-9 loss to New Hampshire on Monday the Defenders set new franchise records for most runs allowed (23), most hits allowed (26), most extra-base hits allowed (13), most combined runs (32), most combined hits (40) and most combined extra-base hits (18). RHP William Sadler has five saves during the month of May, which is tied for the league lead.

Portland Sea Dogs
From April 24-May 26, Portland starting pitchers made 26 straight starts of five innings or more until Jose Vaquedano lasted only four and 1/3 innings on Saturday afternoon. The previous starter to work less than five innings was Chris Smith, who lasted only four frames on April 23 in game two of doubleheader in Harrisburg. During that span the Sea Dogs starting pitchers were 10-7 with a 2.35 ERA in 157.1 inning pitched.

Reading Phillies
Jim Rushford has hit safely in five straight games, with six straight doubles preceding a fourth-inning single on Sunday. ReadingÕs 10-1 home victory over Connecticut on Saturday was the most runs scored by the R-Phils at home this season. C Mike Lieberthal was in a Reading uniform for the first time in 14 years on Major League rehab this past Saturday and Sunday. Lieberthal last played for the R-Phils in 1992.

Trenton Thunder
Trenton has won three straight games and seven of their last 10 to move to within 3.5 games of first place in the Northern Division standings. TrentonÕs turnaround in the standings has been sparked by their pitching staff, which has a league-best 2.99 ERA.

Transactions

Akron Aeros
Activated LHP Tony Sipp from the DL
Sent RHP Kyle Collins to Kinston (A)
Sent INF Brandon Pinckney to Kinston (A)
Sent INF Joe Inglett to Buffalo (AAA)
Received INF Ivan Ochoa from Buffalo (AAA)
Received INF Eider Torres from Buffalo (AAA)
Activated OF Nathan Panther from the DL
Placed C Armando Camacaro on the DL
Placed LHP Tony Sipp on the DL
Placed RHP Nick Pesco on the DL
Received RHP Kyle Collins from Kinston (A)
Received LHP Aaron Laffey from Kinston (A)

Altoona Curve
Received RHP Chris Rojas from Extended Spring Training
Received 1B Sean Casey on a Major League Rehab Assignment

Binghamton Mets
Received LHP Ryan Cullen from Norfolk (AAA)
Sent RHP Miguel Pi-ango to Brooklyn (A)
Received INF Ray Navarrete from Norfolk (AAA)
Sent RHP Chuck Smith to Brooklyn (A)
Received RHP Matt Lindstrom from St. Lucie (A)

Bowie Baysox
Sent LHP Adam Loewen to Baltimore
Received RHP Beau Hale from Frederick (A)
Signed RHP Tim Kester and Assigned to Bowie (AA)
Sent RHP Matt Bruback to Aberdeen (A)
Received INF Brooks Badeaux from Ottawa (AAA)
Sent INF Pete Shier to Frederick (A)
Received RHP Matt Bruback from Aberdeen (A)
Sent RHP Richard Stahl to Aberdeen (A)

Erie SeaWolves
None

Harrisburg Senators
Sent OF Ryan Church to New Orleans (AAA)
Sent INF Ian Desmond to Potomac (A)
Received INF Seth Bynum from Potomac (A)
Sent RHP Chris Schroder to New Orleans (AAA)
Sent RHP Devin Perrin to New Orleans (AAA)
Received LHP Brett Nyquist from Savannah (A)
Received RHP Chris Thompson from Savannah (A)

New Britain Rock Cats
Sent RHP Bobby Korecky to Rochester (AAA)
Activated RHP Justin Olson from the DL

New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Received RHP Kyle Yates from Dunedin (A)
Placed RHP Jason Arnold on Voluntary Retirement List
Received OF Tony Miller via Trade and Assigned to New Hampshire (AA)
Signed 2B Edgardo Alfonzo as Minor League Free Agent
Sent RHP Jordan DeJong to Syracuse (AAA)
Received RHP Connor Falkenbach from Dunedin (A)
Placed 3B Eric Arnold on the DL

Connecticut Defenders
Received RHP Scott Munter from San Francisco
Received OF Clay Timpner from Fresno (AAA)
Sent LHP Jonathan Sanchez to San Francisco
Sent 1B Travis Ishikawa to San Francisco
Received 1B Jon Armitage from Augusta (A)

Portland Sea Dogs
Received RHP Jose Vaquedano from Wilmington (A)
Placed INF Luis Jimenez placed on the DL
Sent OF David Murphy to Pawtucket (AAA)
Sent RHP Barry Hertzler to Pawtucket (AAA)
Activated OF Chris Durbin from the DL
Activated LHP Randy Beam from the DL
Activated INF Luis Jimenez from the DL
Sent OF Jason Twomley to Extended Spring Training

Reading Phillies
Placed C Jason Jaramillo on the DL
Signed 1B Gary Burnham and Assigned to Reading (AA)
Sent OF Brian Sellier to Clearwater (A)
Signed OF Matt Padgett and Assigned to Reading (AA)
Sent RHP Nick Mattioni to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA)
Activated RHP Steve Langone from the DL
Sent OF J. J. Johnson to Clearwater (A)
Received C Trey Johnston from Extended Spring Training
Received C Mike Lieberthal on a Major League Rehab Assignment
Placed OF John Castellano on the Bereavement List
Sent RHP Matt Sweeney to Clearwater (A)
Received LHP Chris Key from Clearwater (A)
Received SS Angel Chavez from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA)

Trenton Thunder
Sent LHP Charlie Manning to Columbus (AAA)
Received RHP Jeff Kennard from Tampa (A)
Sent C Jason Brown to Tampa (A)
Sent RHP Jeff Kennard to Tampa (A)
Received LHP Charlie Manning from Columbus (AAA)

Check out the Eastern League Statistics



Eastern League Stories from May 31, 2006


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.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central