TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Naturals Welcome Second Round with South Division

Published on May 21, 2014 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


Springdale, Ark. - The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (16-27) head back home to Arvest Ballpark for a six game homestand with the San Diego Padres Double-A Affiliate San Antonio Missions (20-24) Wednesday to Friday, and then the Houston Astros Double-A Affiliate Corpus Christi Hooks (23-21) come to Springdale on Saturday. Wednesday night marks the first game of the second round with the south division, previously hosting Midland and Frisco in early April.

The Naturals luck has certainly changed as of late at Arvest Ballpark, in large part to quality pitching. Naturals' starters have tossed three quality starts in their past five home games. Pitching, along with new addition Orlando Calixte, have helped the Naturals take four out of their last five home games. Despite missing a little over a month to start the season, shortstop Calixte has been back for all of nine games and has already walked-off the Naturals twice.

After dropping their previous two games in Tulsa, the Naturals send Sam Selman, the Kansas City Royals 12th-ranked prospect (Baseball America), to the mound tonight in hopes of ending their two game skid, while putting an end to the Missions three game win streak. In order to do so, however, he and the rest of the Naturals pitching staff must quiet the Padres first and sixth best prospects in their farm system, catcher Austin Hedges and outfielder Rymer Liriano respectively.

During the Missions current three-game winning streak, Liriano has gone 6-11 with one home run, five runs batted in, five runs scored and two stolen bases. He leads the Missions with 10 home runs on the season. Hedges, meanwhile, has batted .378 with two home runs and nine RBI in his last 10 games.

Despite these two hitters, the Missions rank last in the Texas League having scored only 163 runs, while batting a league worst .222. Corpus Christi, on the other hand, ranks second behind only the Midland RockHounds in both team batting average (.262) and runs scored (218).

The Hooks are led by the Astros seventh ranked prospect (MLB.com) Delino DeShields, Jr. The son of the former big leaguer, Deshields has four home runs on the season. His speed, however, will be what the Naturals must keep an eye on this Memorial Day Weekend. He has 12 stolen bases in 2014, and has swiped 152 bases between 2012 and 2013.

RHP Angel Baez has declared the bullpen's manifesto as dominate and stingy over the past seven games with the 23-year old right-hander representing the party. Baez has not allowed an earned run over the course of his last 15.1 innings of work while the Naturals bullpen holds an ERA of 2.59 throughout the seven-game stretch.

The runs that have come against the Naturals bullpen came in bulk with Tulsa plating three in the bottom of the eighth on Sunday and Arkansas knocking a three-run home run in the eighth inning on May 15.

Other members of the 'pen supporting the unit's platform are recent additions RHP Wilking Rodriguez and RHP Matt Murray. Rodriguez, a 24-year old Venezuelan, earned his first win of the season on May 17 against Tulsa tossing his obligatory one inning of work. He has allowed just two baserunners in his last three outings (3 IP) with one reaching on an error. Murray - a recent call-up from Hi-A Wilmington - logged two perfect frames on Friday, May 16 in the Naturals 3-1 defeat to the Tulsa Drillers.

San Antonio Missions (San Diego Padres) (20-24) v. Northwest Arkansas Naturals (16-27) - May 21 thru May 23

GAME 1: RHP Odrisamer Despaigne (0-0, 3.00) v. LHP Sam Selman (2-3, 3.48) May 21 - 7:05 p.m. Arvest Ballpark

*The San Diego Padres are beginning to make more of a concerted effort to be more aggressive in the International Market and Despaigne is a byproduct of the organizations efforts. The 27-year old right-hander will make his second start for the Missions after signing a $1 million bonus (according to MLB.com) on May 2. In his first outing on American soil, Despaigne tossed three innings of one-run baseball against Corpus Christi on May 15 in which he struck out six and walked two on 60 pitches. The seasoned righty pitched eight seasons in Cuba's Serie Nacional logging a 61-43 record with a 3.55 ERA. He fanned 684 in the eight seasons over 213 games.

*Selman will make his eighth start for the Naturals on Wednesday night after the shortest outing of his season on May 15. Selman struck out a season-high six against the Arkansas Travelers in North Little Rock; but also issued a season-high five walks. The Austin native has pitched well at Arvest Ballpark this season amassing a 2-1 record with a 2.25 ERA in five starts on the home rubber. The left-hander is holding the opposition's bats to a .205 batting average while fanning 19 over 24 frames at home. With a San Antonio club featuring as many as five left-handers per night in the line-up, Selman will look to continue to dominate left-handers as southpaws are hitting just .196 against him on the year.

The game can be heard on 92.1 the Ticket with the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly with a 6:50 pregame show.

GAME 2: RHP James Needy (1-3, 3.55) v. RHP Andy Ferguson (2-3, 4.78) May 22 - 7:05 p.m. Arvest Ballpark

*Needy piggy-backed Ordrisamer Despaigne in a tandem start for his last outing on May 15 tossing six frames of one-run baseball while striking out a season-high six in the 11 inning contest against Corpus Christi. It was the second straight appearance in which Needy threw six innings as he has seen his ERA plummet by over a run over the past 12 innings. The San Diego native makes his seventh start of the season and holds a 2.33 ERA over his last four outings (19.1 IP) while striking out 12 and walking just five. He has induced three ground-ball-double-plays over his three appearances while recording just two in his first five starts.

*Two straight quality starts for Ferguson as he tossed a season-high and struck out eight batters for just the third time in his career; but was hung with the tough-luck loss the last time out. The right-hander surrendered three runs over the course of his seven innings of work scattering seven hits. Over the course of his last two starts, the right-hander has become more a strike-out pitcher utilizing his splitter as it continues to be a wipe-out pitch. During those two starts, he has allowed four earned runs and holds an ERA of 2.77 over 13 innings. Ferguson makes his fifth start in-front of the home crowd this season holding a 4.28 ERA in 27.1 innings of work.

The game can be heard on 92.1 the Ticket or 1030 KFAY with the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly with a 6:50 pregame show.

GAME 3: RHP Josh Geer (1-5, 3.31) v. RHP Jason Adam (0-4, 5.53) May 23 - 7:05 p.m. Arvest Ballpark

*The workhorse for second year manager Rich Dauer has amassed 51.2 IP pitched - third most in the Texas League and most on the Missions' staff. The right-hander has been the victim of spotty offensive support while still holding the 10th lowest ERA (3.31) in the Texas League. While Geer has been in the game, the offense has scored just 10 runs in his nine starts. Geer has allowed double-digit hit totals in his last two starts but has only allowed two earned runs in each of the two appearances. The Dallas native has not had the best of luck on the road, in four starts his ERA is a run and half more than what it is at home with an 0-3 record.

*Adam has been very strong over his last two starts. Disregarding the first inning in each start, the Overland Park, Kan. native has not allowed a single run; but the first inning barrier continues to be the Achilles heel for Adam, but, as he said in a recent interview he's "ready to start well." He believes that having more an "intent, but relaxed focus will get [Adam] started the right way." The right-hander surrendered one run in the first of his seven innings of work on Saturday, May 17 on a pitch in which he crossed up catcher Micah Gibbs allowing for a cheap run to cross for the Tulsa Drillers. Outside of that inning, the final six frames were outstanding as he allowed two hits, struck out two and walked one. Adam has showed more command with his curve ball while utilizing his fastball to get outs.

The game can be heard on 92.1 the Ticket or 1030 KFAY with the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly with a 6:50 pregame show.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Ark. For more information including statistics, ticket options, and more, please visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us on Twitter @NWANaturals and Facebook.com/Naturals.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from May 21, 2014


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