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CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Myrtle Beach Pelicans: Game Notes, May 3 vs. Carolina

May 3, 2018 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


The Myrtle Beach Pelicans vie for a sweep of the Carolina Mudcats with Thursday's 7:05 p.m. contest from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. LHP Bryan Hudson (2-2, 6.16 ERA) pitches for the Birds against Muddies RHP Conor Harber (0-1, 2.41 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on MiLB.tv, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.

Game notes are attached and below. Thank you.

MILLER HELPS PELICANS SHUT OUT MUDCATS

Tyson Miller fired seven shutout innings Wednesday to lead Myrtle Beach to a 3-0 victory of Carolina. Miller's seven frames represented a career-high, and the right-hander ceded just three hits and one walk against seven strikeouts. Wyatt Short and Jhon Romero teamed up to record the final six outs of the game for the Pelicans' first nine-inning shutout of the season. Myrtle Beach initially got on the board in the third inning when Jhonny Pereda smacked an RBI single. Chris Pieters did the same in the fourth inning to make it 2-0. The score remained that way until the eighth when Vimael Machin walked with the bases loaded to widen the gap to 3-0 in favor of the Birds. The Mudcats loaded the bases in the ninth inning, but Romero struck out Max McDowell to seal the win.

CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS, CAN BARELY LOSE

Heading into play on April 20, the Pelicans had lost nine of their previous 11 games to drop their record to 3-12. However, since that point, the Birds have won four in a row and eight of their last 11, their best 11-game stretch of the season, outscoring their opponents 50-36. Not coincidentally, the only three sets Myrtle Beach has won have come over this 11-game run, with one more victory in this series against the Mudcats netting the Birds their first sweep of the season. Over this span, the Pelicans rank in the top 20 in Minor League Baseball in fewest walks (24, T-9th), runs allowed (36, T-15th), hits allowed (75, T-15th) and ERA (3.02, 20th). The Birds' offense is slashing .264/.358/.354 over the past 11 games, which ranks 11th, 11th and 10th, respectively, in High-A.

YOUR FRIEND AND MINE

Myrtle Beach outfielder Connor Myers is riding a seven-game on-base streak, matching a career-high. Over this current run, Myers is 9-for-23 (.391) with a double, two home runs, seven RBIs and three walks. In 2018, Myers has doubled his walk rate from last season (4.8 percent to 9.6 percent) while also swinging and missing at fewer pitches (14.6 swinging strike rate in '17 vs. 12.8 this season). The Middletown, Md., native is also making quality contact, with his 33.3 line drive percentage placing second in the Carolina League. Teammate Jhonny Pereda's 29.2 percent rate places fifth.

MAN OR MACHIN?

Pelicans infielder Vimael Machin got off to slow start on the season, posting just one hit in his first six games (1-for-23, .043). However, the San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico native has reached base in each of his 16 games since, including 11 contests with multiple trips on the basepaths. Over this 16-game stretch Machin is for 18-for-52 with seven doubles, two home runs, 11 RBIs and 20 walks, slashing .346/.528/.596 (1.124 OPS). Impressive considering his batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is just .283, well below the baseball-wide average of .300, Machin leads the Pelicans in both wRC+ (144) and wOBA (.401). He has walked 21 times this season against only 13 strikeouts. Behind this contact-oriented approach is a 6.6 percent swinging strike rate, the sixth-lowest in the Carolina League, with a 27.1 line drive percentage that places as the 13th-highest in the circuit.

WHAT'S LUCK GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Myrtle Beach's team ERA sat at a woeful 5.85 when the club began a series with Down East on April 19. In the 12 games since that point, the club has dropped its team ERA all the way down to 4.53. The biggest explanation for this sudden success might be positive regression to the mean, with more still to come as the season wears on. The Pelicans' Fielding Independent Pitching, or FIP, an ERA estimator based on the factors most within a pitcher's control like walks, strikeouts and home runs, is a robust 3.19. The still-huge gulf in the Birds' FIP and ERA can partially be explained by poor luck: Opposing hitters are posting a .336 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) against Myrtle Beach, far above the baseball-wide mark of .300, but also several ticks below the .363 mark the club possessed on April 19. Therefore, as the club's BABIP continues to drop down near .300, the Pelicans should see their ERA plunge towards their FIP.

PELICAN POINTS

After suffering two sweeps at the hands of Carolina last year, a win tonight will net the Birds their first brooming of the season. Myrtle Beach swept Carolina twice during the 2016 campaign... The Pelicans will start a six-game road trip with Friday's contest at Lynchburg. After three games in the Hill City, the Birds will play three contests at Down East.

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Carolina League Stories from May 3, 2018


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