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CarL1 Down East Wood Ducks

RHP Scott Engler promoted from Single-A Hickory to Down East

May 29, 2019 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Down East Wood Ducks News Release


Today the Texas Rangers announced the following transactions affecting the Down East Wood Ducks:

+ RHP Scott Engler promoted from Single-A Hickory to Down East. He will wear number 14

+ RHP Jefferson Medina transferred from Double-A Frisco to Down East. He will wear number 30

- RHP Joe Barlow promoted from Down East to Double-A Frisco

- RHP Demarcus Evans promoted from Down East to Double-A Frisco

After an off day on Tuesday, the Woodies return to Grainger Stadium tonight to face off with the Salem Red Sox, beginning with a 7 p.m. Right-hander Jason Bahr (3-1, 1.99) will make the start for the Woodies, opposed by Salem righty Kutter Crawford (3-3, 3.23). The broadcast will begin at 6:50 p.m. on 960AM The Bull, and online at 960thebull.com as well as on the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Radio Apps. For tickets and more information visit woodducksbaseball.com, or call (252) 686-5172. Complete game notes are attached.

LAST TIME OUT: The Down East Wood Ducks let a 5-0 first inning lead get away, but rallied to defeat the Carolina Mudcats, 9-7, and take three games in the four game series. Disobel Arias enjoyed a four hit ballgame and drove in three, reaching base all five times in the ballgame. Leody Taveras added in three hits, scoring twice. Josh Advocate picked up the win in relief, while Demarcus Evans earned his sixth save.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: With the win the Wood Ducks are now 5.5 games ahead of Carolina in the Southern Division standings, giving them a mag-ic number of 13. Down East is now 11-1 in day games, and have gone 6-0-1 in their road series this year.

THE LATZ EFFECT: After struggling to start with the Wood Ducks, Jake Latz has turned it around, giving up just two earned runs over his last 20 innings of work, and winning his last three starts. He has lowered his ERA from 10.38 to 2.86 over that stretch, and has struck out 27 while walking just 7 in his las four outings. The Woodies are 5-2 overall in his 7 starts.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Wood Ducks 21 road wins this season are second most in all of minor league baseball. They are 21-4 on the road, but just 14-13 at Grainger Stadium. At home the Woodies are batting .241, with an OPS of .681, and an ERA of 3.12, and scoring an average of 4.4 runs-per-game. On the road the Woodies boast an average of .259 to go along with an OPS of .726, and an ERA of 2.66, while scoring 5.3 runs-per-game. By comparison, the Woodies won 12 road games in the entire first half last season, and just 11 in the second half.

DOROW'S DINGERS: Ryan Dorow enjoyed his first career multi-homer game last Monday, to go along with a career-best six RBI. He then hit a home run again on Tuesday, and hit another long ball in Wednesday's ballgame. Dorow is now tied for second in the league in home runs, while leading the Wood Ducks. The Woodies third baseman has now hit eight homers in 47 games this season, after hitting 12 home runs in 122 games in 2018.

KING OF THE HILL: Wood Ducks lefty John King has been excellent through three starts this season. He allowed four earned runs through 18 innings, and has struck out 18, while walking just one. Against Carolina on Friday, King matched a career-high with nine strikeouts. Despite King's two quality starts, the Wood Ducks have scored a combined eight runs in three games, and as a result he has endured three no-decisions.

STRIKEOUT MACHINES: Joe Barlow has racked up the strikeouts this season for the Wood Ducks out of the bullpen. He has recorded 44 strikeouts in 23.2 innings, and has struck out multiple hitters in 14 of his 17 outings, including a season-high six strikeouts on Sunday. Demarcus Evans has also been on a strikeout frenzy, fanning 40 in 22.1 innings this season. He has multiple strikeouts in 13 of his 17 appearances, including a season-high six against Potomac last Wednesday, followed by five against Carolina Friday. The duo was promoted to Frisco today.

HOME RUN HAPPY: After starting the year slowly in the power depart-ment, the Wood Ducks have now hit nine home runs in their last eight games, including three games with multiple home runs. Down East now is tied for fourth in the Carolina League in home runs with 32.

LEO LEADS THE WAY: Wood Ducks outfielder Leody Taveras has reached base safely in ten straight ballgames, batting .300, and sporting an OBP of .378 over that span. Taveras also had an 11-game on base streak for the Woodies from April 23-May 7.

STRENGTH VERSUS STRENGTH: The Salem Red Sox come in with the best batting average in the Carolina League at .260 on the season. Mean-while Wood Ducks pitching has held opponents to a league low .210 batting average this season.

HUFF KEEPS HITTING: Sam Huff has picked up right where he left off when he was promoted from Hickory on May 9. The slugger has blasted two home runs for the Wood Ducks to give him 17 long balls overall this season, which places him in the top five in all of minor league baseball. Huff also hit a walk-off single in a 1-0 win over the Dash on Sunday. He has seven multi-hit games so far with the Woodies. The 21-year-old catcher posted an OPS of 1.165 in Single-A, and led all of minor league baseball with 15 home runs at the time of his promotion. The Phoenix native is the 21st ranked prospect in the Rangers organization.

AMAZING APRIL: The Woodies 18-8 record in April is their best winning percentage (.692) of any month in team history, while the 18 victories equals the best month all-time (May 2018), when the Woodies went 18-11 (.621). The 10 games above .500 is also most in team history (previous high, +8, May 27, 2018).

RAGS AT THE HELM: Corey Ragsdale takes over as skipper for the Wood Ducks in 2019. Ragsdale will remain the Rangers Minor League Field Coordinator, while assuming a managerial seat for the first time since 2015, when he led the Hickory Crawdads to a South Atlantic League Championship, the second of his career.

SHOWTIME: Former Wood Duck Brett Martin made his MLB debut for the Rangers April 19, firing a scoreless ninth inning in a 7-2 loss to the Astros. Martin needed just nine pitches to get through the inning, recording three ground ball outs. The left-handed reliever becomes the fourth Wood Duck in franchise history to make their Major League de-but, joining Ricardo Rodriguez, Jeffrey Springs, and C.D. Pelham. Martin pitched for the Woodies in their inaugural season in 2017, helping Down East to a share of the Carolina League Championship.

TOP-30 in Kinston: The Woodies now have seven Top-30 prospects as ranked by MLB Pipeline: 2. J.P. Martinez, 4. Anderson Tejeda, 5. Bubba Thompson, 6. Leody Taveras, 19. Diosbel Arias, 20. A.J. Alexy, and 21. Sam Huff

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