Series Preview: Diamond Series picks up in Springdale
Published on May 1, 2009 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release
Northwest Arkansas baseball fans are undoubtedly ready to kick off the home portion of the 2009 Arkansas Diamond Series with their in-state rival Arkansas Travelers, but the Travelers team that takes the field this weekend bears little resemblance to the team that swept the Naturals last September in the first round of the Texas League Playoffs and went on to beat Frisco for the Championship.
Sure, their skipper, Bobby Magallanes and Pitching Coach Ken Patterson both remain in place, and, like the Naturals, were joined this season by a new Hitting Coach (Travs' new Hitting Coach is Francisco Matos), but several of the key veteran bats the Los Angeles Angels acquired to fill a gap in their system's player development process are now gone as that gap has tightened somewhat. Many have left the Angels' organization.
OF's Jordan Czarniecki, Adam Greenberg, and Brian Stavisky are all gone. Czarniecki and Greenberg are currently free agents, while Stavisky signed with Philadelphia and was assigned to Double-A Reading (Pa.). In the infield, Third baseman Corey Smith is now a regular in the Naturals lineup after signing with the Royals in the offseason, while Adam Morrissey also was not retained and is a free agent. Veteran starting pitcher Dan Denham, another of the free agent pickups last year, was retained and is now with Triple-A Salt Lake.
Many of the longtime Angels farmhands who were with the Travelers last season are also elsewhere, in and out of the system. Michael Collins, a veteran who came up with the Angels' organization, became a free agent and signed with San Diego to play for the San Antonio Missions. Longtime Angels farmhand Ryan Leahy, the Travs' utility infielder who had a couple of key hits against the Naturals down the stretch last year, retired. And the parade of Rodriguez's in the bullpen (Francisco, Rafael, and Fernando) have all moved up, with Francisco and Fernando in Salt Lake and Rafael, who emerged as the Travs' closer in the playoffs, currently in the Angels' big league bullpen.
Injuries have also contributed to a younger Travs' team to start 2009. Kevin Jepsen, the Travs' All-Star closer to start last year ended the year in the Halos' bullpen and started there this season before landing on the disabled list. Dan Davidson, another Travs' mainstay the past couple seasons and a pitcher the Naturals could not solve last season, as well as right-hander Anthony Ortega also received promotions to Triple-A to start 2009, and both have seen big league time already to bolster a Halos' pitching staff thinned out by injuries and by the tragic death of former Travs' pitcher Nick Adenhart.
But the cupboard is not bare, in fact, far from it as the Travs roster includes no fewer than five of the Angels' top ten prospects according to Baseball America, and eight of the Angels' top 30 prospects. Those prospects to watch are RHP Jordan Walden (#1, currently on the disabled list), OF Peter Bourjos (#2), LHP Trevor Reckling (#3, starts the first game of the series), C Hank Conger (#6), 1B Mark Trumbo (#7), 2B Ryan Mount (#13), RHP David Herndon (#27), and SS Hainley Statia (#28). The Travs also can boast the organization's best hitter for average (Conger), the best power hitter (Trumbo), the fastest baserunner (Bourjos), the best fastball (Walden), best control (Herndon), and best defensive outfielder (also Bourjos).
The returning players from last year's roster who were mainstays include the first baseman Mark Trumbo as well as C/OF Ben Johnson, SS Hainley Statia, and Nate Sutton, a second baseman turned everyday utility man. Naturals fans who attended the playoff game against the Travelers in September should also fondly remember Hank Conger, who had joined the Travs only for the postseason after his 2008 club, Class-A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga, lost a one-game play-in to the Inland Empire 66ers and failed to make the California League Playoffs. Conger drove in four runs in the September 6th game at Arvest Ballpark, which were among 13 runs he drove in during the playoffs. He's been off to a slow start, batting .250 with a homer and eight RBI as he focuses on his catching skills (he caught just ten games last season because he was rehabbing injuries for much of the season). Johnson led the Travelers in RBI vs. the Naturals last season with 15, but he hit just .228. Veteran OF Coby Smith, one of the Travs' other holdovers, also has had a hot start with the bat, hitting .368 with two homers and seven RBI.
Just like last year, the Naturals and Travelers are expected to play close games that are dominated by pitching, and the numbers thus far in 2009 reflect both clubs are pitching-oriented. The Travelers, who come into the series 9-11, are batting .250 as a team, while the 10-10 Naturals are batting just .251. Neither has been very adept with the long ball, at least thus far; the Naturals have hit 12 long balls on the year, the Travs nine, while Corpus Christi leads the loop with a whopping 27. However, the Travs' pitching staff leads the league in team ERA (3.90). Their pitchers have allowed just seven long balls in 20 games while fanning 130 batters, the third-highest total in the league. They also lead the league in fewest hits allowed (165). For their part, the Naturals have the third lowest ERA as a team (4.40), and, like last season, are relatively good at avoiding the issue of free passes; their 65 walks issued ranks them third-fewest in the Texas League. On the offensive side, the one element the Travs do have prowess at is base stealing; they've stolen 31 bases, tops in the loop, led by the speedy Bourjos, who has nine.
Although they dropped three of four in North Little Rock last weekend, Northwest Arkansas won the regular season series last year, 18-12, including an 11-5 mark at Arvest Ballpark. For that, the Diamond Cup resided in Springdale all off-season.
Friday's pitching matchup pits right-hander Dan Cortes against the young lefty Trevor Reckling, who beat the Naturals in North Little Rock Sunday as the youngest starter to take the mound for the Travs since Rick Ankiel. Saturday, right-hander Anthony Lerew twirls the rubber for the Naturals opposite right-hander Tommy Mendoza. Sunday afternoon southpaw Carlos Sencion, making a spot start for Blake Johnson, will go for the Naturals against righty Amalio Diaz for the Travs, and the series and homestand Monday night with right-hander Blake Wood going for the Naturals against lefty Michael Anton.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. The Naturals have a toll-free ticket hotline (1-877-444-2637) for fans to purchase Naturals tickets. Our website, nwanaturals.com offers fans the opportunity to purchase tickets online and avoid lines at the ticket windows by printing their tickets at home or at the office.
Texas League Stories from May 1, 2009
- Drillers Take Series-Opener - Springfield Cardinals
- Chacin Shines In Win - Tulsa Drillers
- Frisco Defeats Corpus in Series Opener 9-3 - Frisco RoughRiders
- Travs and Naturals Washed Out Friday Night - Arkansas Travelers
- Friday's game vs. Travelers rained out - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Frisco 'Rides Out of Town with Split - San Antonio Missions
- Series Preview: Diamond Series picks up in Springdale - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Drillers Stage Huge Comeback Friday To Topple Travs - Arkansas Travelers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
