SL1 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp: Game Notes, August 16 at Tennessee

August 16, 2019 - Southern League (SL1)
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp News Release


The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp play at the Tennessee Smokies in Friday's 7 p.m. contest. LHP Daniel Castano (5-1, 3.02 ERA) starts for the Jumbo Shrimp against Smokies RHP Erich Uelmen (0-1, 6.00 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. ET on MiLB.tv, Sunny 102.3 FM, TuneIn and JaxShrimp.com.

SHRIMP STUMBLE IN 12 INNINGS

Despite Joe Dunand's two-run home run in the 11th inning on Thursday, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp fell 5-4 in 12 frames to the Tennessee Smokies. Jacksonville struck first blood, courtesy of Lewin Diaz's RBI ground out and Dunand's sacrifice fly in the third inning. Roberto Caro's RBI single in the bottom of the third put Tennessee on the board. Eddy Martinez added an RBI single in the fourth to tie the score at two. Dunand blasted a two-run shot in the top of the 11th but a Jhonny Pereda RBI ground out and Christian Donahue RBI single equalized before Jared Young's walk-off single won the game for the Smokies in 12 innings.

ALL YOU NEED IS GLOVE

Jacksonville's season-best nine-game errorless streak ended on Tuesday, but the club has still boasted a strong defense through virtually the entirety of the 2019 season. Because errors are subjective in nature and only penalize fielders who actually reach balls in play, perhaps the best introspection of a club's defense in the minor leagues is its defensive efficiency, a simple measure of how often a team turns batted balls put into play against it into outs. Jacksonville boasts a .726 defensive efficiency that not only leads the Southern League, but it would also place third in the major leagues.

CONNECT FOUR

Buoyed by strong pitching throughout the season, the Jumbo Shrimp offense has been given a bigger margin of error by not needing to score huge quantities of runs to win games. In fact, Jacksonville had won each of its last 25 contests when hitting the four-run marker until a 5-4 defeat to Tennessee on Thursday. On the season, when the Jumbo Shrimp tally at least four scores, the club is a sterling 45-7 (.865).

HIT THEM WITH YOUR BEST SHOT

Jacksonville has surrendered just 96 runs in their last 33 games (2.9 per game), and the club's starting pitching has been a huge culprit behind those run-prevention efforts. During this span, Jumbo Shrimp starters have combined for a 2.75 ERA (55 ER in 180.0 IP). The club's starting pitchers have posted 186 strikeouts (9.3 K/9) against 56 walks (2.8 BB/9) and 139 hits allowed (7.0 H/9) in the process.

IT'S NOT A TRASH COMPACTOR, IT'S A BAYLOR

After one spot start and six appearances out of the bullpen, Jacksonville left-hander Daniel Castano joined the club's starting rotation for good on June 26. The former Baylor Bear struggled in his first three turns, going 1-1 with a 7.53 ERA (14.1 IP, 25 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 4 BB, 10 K). However, the Austin, Texas native has turned things around over his last five starts; Castano, who takes the ball on Friday at Tennessee, is 4-0 during that stretch with a 1.56 ERA (34.2 IP, 22 H, 7 R, 6 ER, BB, 37 K). On August 8 against Mississippi, Castano fanned a career-high 13 to match a Marlins Era club record (2009-present). In that effort, he also became the first Jacksonville hurler to log a nine-inning complete game since Justin Nicolino did so on July 29, 2014 at Montgomery.

THE 'PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

Four Jacksonville relievers combined to allow just one earned run in 5.0 innings of work on Thursday at Tennessee, continuing a strong run of late. Over the last 58 contests, Jumbo Shrimp relief pitchers have tossed 199.0 innings with just 49 runs against, 42 earned, for a 1.90 ERA. During this 58-game span, the Jumbo Shrimp's bullpen has collectively ceded just 123 hits (5.6 H/9) while whiffing 223 (10.1 K/9) against 66 walks (3.0 BB/9).

AND THEN EVERYTHING CHANGED

Jacksonville went into play on June 13 with a woeful 25-41 (.379) record. The Jumbo Shrimp have gone 34-22 (.607) since that point behind some dominant pitching. In the 55 games since June 13, Jacksonville has surrendered the fewest hits (372) and second-fewest runs (171) among clubs at the Double-A level. The Jumbo Shrimp also place first in Double-A in batting average against (.207), second in WHIP (1.07), fourth in ERA (2.85), fifth in strikeouts (526) and sixth in walks (160) during this span.

SHRIMP SKEWERS

Heading into play on August 1, Jacksonville ranked last in Double-A in home runs with 41. The club has smacked 13 in the 12 games since that point, fourth-most in the Southern League and tied for 10th in Double-A... The Jumbo Shrimp have used five pitchers on back-to-back days for the first time all season heading into play on Friday. Thus, no reliever has more than one full day of rest at this juncture.

Check out the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Statistics



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