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FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Stone Crabs Game Notes - Sat-Sun, April 13-14 vs Palm Beach

April 13, 2019 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


After a 6-2 defeat to begin the series with the Cardinals, the Stone Crabs look to even things up at 6 p.m. tonight at Charlotte Sports Park. RHP Paul Campbell makes the start for Charlotte, against RHP Angel Rondon of Palm Beach.

Coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.

STONE CRABS DROP OPENER 6-2

The Stone Crabs lost the series opener to the Palm Beach Cardinals 6-2 Friday. Jim Haley picked up two more hits and Jack Labosky turned in 2.2 innings of scoreless relief, but Charlotte surrendered three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to give up a 2-1 lead.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST?

Despite scoring three runs or less in eight of their nine games this year, the Stone Crabs have shown signs of being a strong offensive club. Charlotte ranks in the top half in the Florida State League in batting average. The low run totals can be attributed to a lack of clutch hitting. The Stone Crabs have a .522 OPS with runners on base, well below their .596 mark for the year.

BABY CRAB RALLIES

Although the Stone Crabs are hitting above the league average in batting, they have had trouble stringing hits together. Other than their three-run rally on Tuesday, Charlotte has not scored more than two runs in any inning this season.

CLOSE CALLS

The Stone Crabs have been locked into close, low-scoring, back-and-forth games early in 2019. Five of the team's first nine games have been decided by one run. Charlotte is 2-3 in those contests and has already played two extra-inning games. The team who scores first has only won five of the nine games so far this year.

RILEY ROASTING RAKERS

Stone Crabs starting pitcher Riley O'Brien has baffled opposing hitters through his first two starts, striking out eight in both outings. The 6-foot-4 inch fireballer ranks tied for third at the Advanced-A level in punchouts (16), behind only Ljay Newsome and Brady Feigl, and just ahead of 2018 No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize. He is tied for tenth in all of Minor League Baseball.

DON'T MESS WITH THE BREW-HAN

Stone Crabs second baseman Vidal Brujan collected another hit and RBI on Thursday and is now batting .406 through his first eight games. The Dominican Republic native leads the league in steals (7) and is fourth in hitting after swiping 55 bags in 2018. That total ranked second in Minor League Baseball, behind only Myles Straw of the Astros.

PROSPECT FEVER

Other than Brujan, the Stone Crabs' position player prospects have struggled with the bat early in the season. The other four hitter-only top-30 prospects have gone a combined 13-for-107 with 40 strikeouts (.121 AVG, 34% K-rate)

Ronaldo Hernandez: 2-28 (.071 AVG), 9 K

Moises Gomez: 5-33 (.152 AVG), 14 K

Tyler Frank: 3-24 (.125 AVG), 6 K

Garrett Whitley: 3-21 (.143 AVG), 12 K

BREAKFAST AND BASEBALL

The Stone Crabs will play two morning games this week, with 10:30 a.m. starts scheduled for Wednesday in Bradenton and Sunday in Port Charlotte. The Stone Crabs went 0-3 in games starting before noon in 2018. Charlotte will play another 10:30 a.m. game in Bradenton on June 12, and have a total of five morning games on the schedule in 2019.

Check out the Charlotte Stone Crabs Statistics

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