FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Stone Crabs Game Notes - Thu, April 25 at Lakeland

April 25, 2019 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


The Stone Crabs have arrived in Lakeland and are ready to begin a four-game series with the Lakeland Flying Tigers at 6:30 p.m. tonight RHP Riley O'Brien makes the start for Charlotte, against RHP Jesus Rodriguez of Lakeland.

Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.

CHESTER, CAMPBELL LEAD STONE CRABS PAST TARPONS 5-3

Carl Chester and Paul Campbell helped lead the Charlotte Stone Crabs past the Tampa Tarpons Wednesday, as Charlotte salvaged the finale of the season. Campbell turned in a quality start and earned the win, while Chester drove in a pair of runs with three hits (two doubles).

TIME TO FLY

The Stone Crabs hit the road Thursday for their first overnight road trip of the season. They are slated for four games with the Lakeland Flying Tigers starting Thursday. Lakeland ranks towards the bottom of the league in most offensive categories, but places second in the Florida State League in WHIP (1.09). However, they promoted two of their best pitching prospects Thursday in Casey Mize and Gregory Soto.

STARTING STRONG

The Stone Crabs' starting pitchers have been outstanding over the last six games. The rotation has combined to go 3-0 with a 0.83 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP.

(32.2 IP, 17 H, 3 ER, 8 BB, 26 K)

BUMPY ROAD BEHIND US

The Stone Crabs began the season by playing the four best teams in the Florida State League for 17 straight games. All four of those teams boast winning percentages of .579 or higher. This week, they began a stretch of 13 straight games against losing clubs. They'll play six games out of 10 against the Tampa Tarpons of the New York Yankees organization.

SHORTSTOP SHUFFLE

The Stone Crabs' infield has shown extraordinary versatility early in the season. Charlotte has started four different players at shortstop for at least four games each. They've started five different players at second base and four at third base.

Starts at SS: Tyler Frank (6), Vidal Brujan (5), Zach Rutherford (5), Taylor Walls (4)

BABY CRAB RALLIES

One reason for the Stone Crabs' early struggles has been their inability to hit in the clutch and string rallies together. Before this weekend, Charlotte had not scored more than three runs in any inning this season. They were hitting .184/.264/.237 with runners on base and .167/.238/.222 with runners in scoring position.However, they've posted three rallies of three runs or more since, including a four-run frame in Fort Myers.

PROSPECT PUNCH

Other than Vidal Brujan, the Stone Crabs' position player prospects were struggling with the bat early in the season. Through the first 11 games, the other four active top-30 prospects went a combined 18-for-139 with 52 strikeouts (.129 AVG, 34% K-rate)

Ronaldo Hernandez: 5-39 (.114 AVG), 9 K

Moises Gomez: 6-45 (.125 AVG), 18 K

Tyler Frank: 6-41 (.146 AVG), 8 K

Garrett Whitley: 3-28 (.107 AVG), 19 K

Since then, all four players have improved, but no one more than Garrett Whitley. Over his last seven games, he is 9-for-23 (.391 AVG) with 4 doubles, 1 home run, 5 RBI and 5 walks (.500 OBP, .695 SLG).

Check out the Charlotte Stone Crabs Statistics



Florida State League Stories from April 25, 2019


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