NWL1 Eugene Emeralds

Eugene Emeralds vs. Salem-Keizer Series Notes

Published on July 23, 2015 under Northwest League (NWL1)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


EUGENE EMERALDS (16-18, 3rd NWL South) vs. SALEM-KEIZER VOLCANOES (18-16, 2nd NWL South)

July 23-25, 2015 | PK Park (4,000)

Probable Starters

THURSDAY: EUG LHP Kyle Twomey (0-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. S-K RHP Mike Connolly (2-1, 3.55 ERA)

Twomey Recently: 7/16 vs. HIL (ND, 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) & 7/9 at TRI (ND, 2.0 IP, 2 H , 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K)

Twomey Notes: Went 8-2 with a 2.88 ERA in 16 starts this year at USC...Has made three pro appearances with Ems

Connolly Recently: 7/18 at TRI (W, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) & 7/12 at VAN (ND, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K)

Connolly Notes: Has a career 3.72 ERA in three professional seasons...Has just 8 walks in 33 innings this season.

FRIDAY: EUG LHP Ryan Kellogg (0-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. S-K LHP Andrew Suarez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Kellogg Recently: 7/18 at VAN (ND, 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) & 7/11 at TRI (ND, 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K)

Kellogg Notes: The rookie has not allowed more than one hit in each of his four pro appearances this season

Suarez Recently: 7/19 at TRI (ND, 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)

Suarez Notes: Made his debut with S-K on July 19 at Tri-City...1.80 ERA in three AZL appearances...2nd round pick in 2015...Went 9-2 with a 3.48 ERA at Miami this year...Started Miami's first game at the CWS, allowed 4 ER in 3.1 IP.

SATURDAY: EUG LHP Carson Sands (1-3, 6.26 ERA) vs. S-K RHP Logan Webb (3-1, 4.06 ERA)

Sands Recently: 7/19 at VAN (L, 0.1 IP, 8 H, 9 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) & 7/12 at TRI (L, 2.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K)

Sands Notes: ERA jumped from 2.78 to 6.26 after last start at Vancouver...Has not allowed a home run this year

Webb Recently: 7/20 at TRI (ND, 1.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K) & 7/15 vs. BOI (ND, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K)

Webb Notes: Lefties are hitting .348 off him this year, .232 for righties...Just 16 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched

Last Time vs. Salem-Keizer: The Emeralds and Volcanoes have not played yet in 2015. Their last matchup was a three-game series in August 2014. The Emeralds won the series, 2-1, with each game decided by one run. Salem-Keizer won the first game, 2-1, before Eugene responded with a 1-0 win in the second game and a 5-4 win in the third game. In the 1-0 victory, Eugene pitchers Zechariah Lemond (6 IP), Max Beatty (2 IP) and Colby Blueberg combined on the three-hit shutout. In the 5-4 win, the Emeralds walked off on a wild pitch in the 10th inning, with Joseph Epperson scoring the game-winning run.

First Half Title: With four games left in the first half of the 2015 Northwest League season, Everett has a one-game lead on Tri-City in the North and Hillsboro has a one-game lead on Salem-Keizer in the South. The Emeralds are three games back of the Hops and will need some help from Boise to jump into the division lead. Hillsboro starts a three-game series against the Hawks today. The first half champions get the right to pick if they will host game one or games two and three of the first round of the playoffs. In the event of a tie, the first half championship tiebreakers are as follows - 1: head to head record, 2: winning percentage within the division, 3: head to head average run differential, 4: total run differential, 5: coin flip.

League Rankings: Ian Happ is second in the NWL with 23 walks, third with 26 runs scored, fourth with four home runs, fourth with a .408 on-base percentage and sixth with nine stolen bases...Frandy De La Rosa is fourth in the NWL with two triples and fifth with 35 hits and nine doubles...Pedro Araujo is fourth in the league with 37 strikeouts while Oscar De La Cruz and Jose Paulino are tied for sixth with 33 punch outs...De La Cruz's 2.23 ERA is fourth-best among eligible starters and Justin Steele's 2.40 ERA is ranked seventh.

Games to Remember (newest to oldest): Blake Headley and Adonis Paula hit back-to-back doubles in the top of the 11th as the Emeralds won, 4-3, at Vancouver on July 18...Matt Rose hit his first professional home run, a three-run blast in the fourth inning in a 10-4 win at Tri-City on July 9...Ian Happ drew a walk and scored the game-tying run in the ninth inning at Hillsboro on July 3 before hitting a solo homer in the 11th to give the Emeralds a 2-1 win...Donnie Dewees went 3-for-5 with three doubles and four RBIs in a 9-4 win over Tri-City on June 30...Justin Marra hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth against Tri-City on June 29 in a 5-4 win.

Seven Straight Hits: Eugene tallied seven consecutive hits on June 15 against Hillsboro. The Ems started the fifth inning with a double by Blake Headley, followed by six straight singles. Headley later came up to bat again in the inning and singled, Eugene's last of eight total hits in the big fifth inning. Eugene scored seven runs in the frame and beat the Hops, 8-4.

Cold Streak: When Eugene opened a three-game set with Hillsboro on July 15, the series pitted the two best pitching teams in the NWL as Hillsboro had a 2.73 ERA and the Emeralds had a 3.77 ERA. Over the next eight games, the Emeralds have allowed 44 runs in going 2-6 against the Hops and Vancouver. The Emeralds' team ERA is now 3.94, third best in the NWL. The offense also has hit a cold spell. After not being shutout once in 2015 prior to the series with the Hops last week, Eugene has scored no runs in three of the last seven games. Eugene has made 11 errors in that span.

Prospect Rankings: The top prospect for the Cubs on the Emeralds' roster is OF Eloy Jimenez. The 18-year-old outfielder was the No. 1 ranked international prospect in 2013, when he signed for $2.8 million. He played in the Arizona rookie league last season, his first in pro baseball. After the call ups of Addison Russell, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber, Jimenez is the No. 8 prospect in the Cubs' system according to MLB.com. Carson Sands is No. 10 and Justin Steele is No. 13.

Jimenez Third Youngest in NWL: Despite his considerable talent, Eloy Jimenez is currently (as of July 23) the second youngest player in the Northwest League at 18 years, seven months and 26 days old (Born Nov. 27, 1996). Spokane's Yeyson Yrizarri (Feb. 2, 1997) is the youngest.

Multi-Million Dollar Outfield: The Cubs' dedication in rebuilding through the draft and young talent is on display in a big way in the Emeralds' outfield this season. With Eloy Jimenez ($2.8 million) joined by 2015 first-rounder Ian Happ ($3 million) and 2015 second-rounder Donnie Dewees ($1.7 million), the Emeralds boast a $7.5 million outfield.

Position Switch: Former outfielder Jae-Hoon Ha is on the mound this season for the Emeralds. He made his pitching debut on June 20 at Everett, allowing two runs on four hits in one inning. He has a 2.87 ERA in 15.2 innings this season. He has allowed just two earned runs over his last nine appearances. Ha climbed his way to Triple-A, hitting a home run in the 2012 MLB Futures Game during All-Star weekend, but never reached the big league club. He was a career .265 hitter over his first six minor league seasons (2009-2014) with 38 home runs.

Park Differences: The change from Boise to Eugene will be noticeable in the stats. Over the previous six seasons, Boise's Memorial Stadium was hitter friendly, with more hits (111%), homers (102%) and runs (114%) than the average (100%) park in the Northwest League. PK Park is one of the best pitchers parks in the league, with hits (85%), homers (77%) and runs (77%) all far below the Northwest League average.

Radio & Social Media Info: All Emeralds games for the 2015 season will be aired live on 95.3 FM The Score. Fans can also listen online (with a link on the box score) or via TuneIn. You can find the Emeralds at facebook.com/eugeneemeraldsfanpage, Instagram.com/eugeneemeralds, Twitter.com/EugeneEmeralds.

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Northwest League Stories from July 23, 2015


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