CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Myrtle Beach Pelicans: Game Notes, May 7 at Down East

Published on May 7, 2018 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


The Myrtle Beach Pelicans begin a three-game series with Monday's 7 p.m. contest at the Down East Wood Ducks. The Birds send RHP Keegan Thompson (0-2, 4.44 ERA) to the bump against Wood Ducks RHP Emerson Martinez (2-2, 4.32 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.

PLESAC'S GEM TOO MUCH FOR PELICANS

Lynchburg starter Zach Plesac needed just 74 pitches to fire a complete-game shutout, leading the Hillcats to a 4-0 victory Sunday in their series finale against Myrtle Beach. The Pelicans mustered just two base runners in the ballgame against Plesac, who yielded just two hits without walking a batter and striking out three. Lynchburg broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning on Mitch Longo's sacrifice fly. The score remained 1-0 until the sixth, when the Hillcats cashed in runs on a bases-loaded walk, RBI ground out and balk to widen their lead to 4-0. That was more than enough for Plesac, who did not allow a Pelican to reach third base and did not register a three-ball count all afternoon. Ryan Kellogg pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

WALK THIS WAY

The Pelicans walked 86 times in the month of April, a figure that ranked ninth in the 10-team Carolina League. Those 86 free passes translated to a 9.8 walk percentage and 3.6 strolls per game. In the six games since that point, however, Myrtle Beach has drawn an astounding 30 walks, tied for the eighth-most in all of Minor League Baseball. In fact, the Birds have significantly increase their walk rate at 13.5 percent and 5.0 per game. On the pitching side, Myrtle Beach's 94 walks surrendered are the fewest in the Carolina League by a considerable margin. Even here, though, the Pelicans have improved; In the 15 contests since April 20, the Birds have yielded only 35 free passes, a rate of 2.3 per game, that places the club in a tie for the ninth-fewest total in Minor League Baseball over that span. Myrtle Beach has issued three or fewer walks in 12 of those 15 games.

THE CHICKS DON'T DIG THIS

After ranking in the top half of the Carolina League in home runs each of the past four seasons, the Pelicans have seen several fly balls come up just a short of home run territory in 2018. The club's 16 long balls this season place just eighth in the circuit, and the Birds have mustered just one home run thus far in their six games played in May. On a similar note, Myrtle Beach has struggled to find a consistent source of pop. The Pelicans are dead last in the circuit in doubles (38), with league-leading Winston-Salem notching nearly twice as many two-baggers (72). The Birds also rank just eighth in slugging percentage at .340.

ERROR 503: SERVICE UNAVAILABLE

Myrtle Beach did not make an error in Sunday's contest at Lynchburg, snapping a five-game streak with at least one miscue. Still, the Birds' 44 errors lead the league, and the club has posted at least one miscue in nine of their last 11 games. Further, the Pelicans' defensive issues go a bit deeper than errors, which can be a subjective stat. Myrtle Beach has turned just 64.3 percent of balls put in play against them into outs, far below the 68.9 and 69.1 marks they registered over the last two seasons.

WHAT'S LUCK GOT TO DO, GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Myrtle Beach's team ERA sat at 5.85 when the club began a series with Down East on April 19. In the 16 games since then, the club has chopped its team ERA all the way down to 4.42. 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 2.96. The still-huge gulf in the Birds' FIP and ERA can partially be explained by poor luck: Opposing hitters are posting a .337 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.

BROKEN BATS

The Pelicans' offense has fallen on tough times lately. The Birds were shut out for the seventh time this season on Sunday in Lynchburg. Thus, 30 games into the 2018 season, Myrtle Beach has already surpassed their total blankings from all of last season while equaling their mark from 2016. In the nine games since April 27, the Pelicans have mustered just 26 runs (2.9 per game), the ninth-fewest in all of Minor League Baseball during that span. The Birds' .312 slugging percentage is the 11th-lowest in MiLB since April 27.

#GLEYBERGOOD

Former Pelican Gleyber Torres bashed a walk-off, three-run home run for the Yankees on Sunday. Torres is hitting .327/.357/.500 in his first 15 games.

Check out the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 7, 2018


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