CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Myrtle Beach Pelicans: Game Notes, June 17 vs. Carolina

June 17, 2018 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


The Myrtle Beach Pelicans wrap up the first half of the season with Sunday's 6:05 p.m. contest against the Carolina Mudcats from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. LHP Bryan Hudson (4-5, 5.80 ERA) starts for the Birds against Muddies RHP Conor Harber (1-3, 2.54 ERA). Television coverage starts at 6 p.m. on The CW21 and MiLB.tv. A radio broadcast begins at 5:50 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.

MYRTLE BEACH SPLITS TWIN BILL WITH CAROLINA

After falling 2-1 in game one of Saturday's doubleheader to Carolina, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans bested the Mudcats 2-0 in the finale. Casey Bloomquist and Tyler Peyton needed to 78 pitches to fire the seven-inning shutout in game two. Bloomquist fired five scoreless innings before Peyton picked up his sixth save with a blank sixth and seventh, respectively. D.J. Wilson began the bottom of the first with a home run and the Birds tacked on a run in the fourth on Jhonny Pereda's RBI single. In the twin bill opener, Carolina plated a run in the second on Ronnie Gideon's RBI double. Pereda's solo shot in the fourth tied the game. However, the score remained 1-1 until the ninth, when a Pelicans error brought in a run for the Mudcats.

YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME

No matter what happens in Sunday's first half finale, the Pelicans will finish with their worst record over the season's first 70 games since 2010, when the Birds went 26-44 (.371). Myrtle Beach, which snapped a six-game losing streak, their longest since 2013, with a win in Saturday's doubleheader finale, has dropped six of seven games right on the heels of winning nine in a row and 15 of 17. Thus, the Birds have seen their divisional deficit plunge from 2.5 games, the closest the club had been to the top of the South since April 8, to 7.0 games. Over these last seven contests, the Pelicans have plated a total of 15 runs, registering above two runs in a game just once.

P.J.'S PANCAKE HOUSE

Myrtle Beach catcher P.J. Higgins has been the Pelicans' most productive hitter to this point of the season, as his 120 wRC+, a park and league-adjusted stat that attempts to quantify a player's total offensive value and measure it by runs, leads the club. Higgins has reached base in 26 of his last 30 games, hitting 33-for-104 (.317/.413/.413) with seven doubles, one home run, 13 RBIs and 17 walks. On the season, the Wallingford, Conn., native has shown a discerning eye, increasing his walk rate from 10.6 percent last year to 13.3 percent in 2018. The former Old Dominion Monarch has also hit for more power (.061 ISO in 2017, .104 in 2018) by lacing more line drives this season, upping his line drive rate from 19.1 percent last year to 23.9 percent (13th-best in the Carolina League) in 2018.

MY HEART'S A MONASTERIO

Myrtle Beach infielder Andruw Monasterio has reached base multiple times in nine contests during his 11-game on-base streak. Over these last 11 contests, the Caracas, Venezuela native is 17-for-44 (.386) with one double, one home run, five RBIs and four walks. After slashing just .241/.313/.287 (75 wRC+) in a brief stint at the High-A level last year, Monasterio is hitting .274/.361/.345 (106 wRC+) this season. Part of his success is a better approach at the plate; after walking in 5.2 percent of his plate appearances in 2016 and 8.3 percent last season, Monasterio is posting a career-best 11.3 percent walk rate in 2018, the third-best mark on the team.

START ME UP

Over the last 24 games, Myrtle Beach has seen their starting pitching catch fire, with the club's rotation ceding just 36 runs, 33 earned, on 123 hits in 134.2 innings for a 2.21 ERA. Pelicans starters have whiffed 116 while walking only 26 during this stretch. Not coincidentally, Myrtle Beach has allowed more than four runs just once in these 24 games. Birds starters are averaging 5.2 innings per start over this stretch, compared to 4.2 prior to this run.

CONNECT FOUR

Under first-year hitting coach Ty Wright, the Pelicans have emphasized contact in 2018. Myrtle Beach has struck out 537 times this year, the fourth-fewest in the Carolina League. There are several underlying numbers that back that up as well. Four of the circuit's lowest 12 swinging-strike rates have been posted by Pelicans, the most of any team in the league. Andruw Monasterio is second in the league by swinging-and-missing just 5.9 percent of the time. Pelicans catchers P.J. Higgins and Jhonny Pereda place seventh and ninth at 7.3 and 7.9 percent, respectively. Austin Upshaw's 8.8 swinging-strike percentage rounds out the circuit's top 13.

PELICAN POINT

Myrtle Beach's 193 walks issued are by far the fewest in the Carolina League. Second-place Down East's total of 210 is closer to fifth-place Frederick than they are to the Birds. The Pelicans have dished out no more than three walks in 10 consecutive games.

Check out the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Statistics



Carolina League Stories from June 17, 2018


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