CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Wilmington Blue Rocks Game Notes: June 20, 2014

Published on June 20, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


SLAM SPOILS SECOND HALF OPENER: Hanser Alberto went 3-for-4 and launched a fifth-inning grand slam off of Wilmington starter Luis Santos, catapulting the Myrtle Beach Pelicans to an 8-2 victory over the Blue Rocks in the opening game of the second half. Entering the home half of the fifth inning at TicketReturn.Com Field, Santos was cruising along and the Blue Rocks led, 2-1. However things changed in a hurry when Jose Cardona singled to left-center with one out in the frame. Luis Mendez followed that up with a bunt single and Chris Garia with an infield single, loading the bases for Alberto. The right-handed hitting shortstop belted a grand slam on the first pitch he saw to left-center field, putting the Pelicans up, 5-2. Santos escaped the inning without giving up more runs, but the damage was done. The loss dropped the Blue Crew to 33-36 on the season and 0-1 in the second half.

NOT SO GRAND: Hanser Alberto's grand slam was the first allowed by the Blue Rocks this season. Wilmington had not yielded a grand slam since June 24, 2013, when Lynchburg's Robby Hefflinger took Cory Hall deep. Hall pitched in 19 games a year ago for the Blue Rocks and went 1-2 with a 5.88 ERA. The Blue Crew has also hit two grand slams this season. One was by Hunter Dozier on May 6 in the ninth inning at Salem, which led the Blue Rocks to a 6-3 come-from-behind win. Bubba Starling's grand slam at Potomac was the other one. Wilmington ultimately lost that game, 11-10.

STARLING STARTS SECOND HALF IN STYLE: Bubba Starling kicked off the second half in style, going 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI. The outfielder endured a rough close to the opening half of his season and entered the All-Star break mired in an 8-for-57 slump. The outfielder has had moments of brilliance this season, though. His defense in center field has proved to be the best in the Carolina League. He also strung together a 15-game hitting streak between May 12 and May 26. The highlight of Starling's first half may have been the grand slam he hit off of Washington Nationals star Gio Gonzalez on June 6. Gonzalez was on a rehab assignment with thQe Potomac Nationals at the time. Overall, Starling is batting .190 on the campaign with 13 doubles, three triples, three homers and 31 RBIs in 66 games.

TOUGH MONTH FOR STUMPF: Left-handed reliever Daniel Stumpf has had a rough month of June. He is 1-0 with an 11.05 ERA in four appearances this month, while allowing nine runs on nine hits over 7.1 innings pitched. He began the year in the starting rotation and went 1-7 with a 4.19 ERA as a starter. Stumpf was moved to the bullpen in May and it seemed like the southpaw had turned things around. Stumpf posted a 1-3 record and 2.92 ERA in six May outings (four starts). At one point in late May and early June, Stumpf had a stretch of six consecutive scoreless frames as a reliever. On the season, Stumpf is 2-7 with a 5.06 ERA in 14 games (eight starts). He has given up 29 runs (27 earned) on 64 hits while striking out 51 and walking 12 in 48 innings pitched.

PELICAN PROBLEMS: Thursday night's loss to Myrtle Beach dropped the Blue Crew's record against the Pelicans to 2-9 on the season. Wilmington has been outmatched both at home and on the road this season against Myrtle Beach. The Rocks are 2-4 at Frawley Stadium against the Pelicans and they are now 0-5 at TicketReturn.Com Field. Wilmington's numbers against Myrtle Beach this year are not pretty. As a team, the Rocks are batting just .193 with 35 runs scored and a single home run in 11 games against the Pelicans. The pitching staff has posted a 5.70 ERA against the Pelicans, who are collectively batting .278 against Blue Rocks hurlers. Myrtle Beach has also slugged seven home runs against the Blue Crew, far and away the most allowed to any team by Wilmington. No other team in the league has hit more than four dingers off of the Rocks' pitching staff. Pelican pitchers have a 2.31 ERA in the head-to-head series, but they have walked 53 Rocks in 93.2 innings.

THEY SAID IT, MANAGER DARRYL KENNEDY: "[Luis] Santos didn't throw that bad. He just made a couple of bad pitches. The 0-and-2 hit that led to the first run, he just hung a breaking ball there and the guy put a good swing on it and got a double out of it. Then the grand slam on a pitch that wasn't a bad location, just probably not the right pitch to throw in that situation. [It was] a changeup and the guy golfed it out in this small ballpark. Definitely not a [good] way to start the second half but it's still early. I thought we swung the bats okay tonight [after] taking the three days off for the All-Star Break. Unfortunately, they swung better...[We're] definitely going to miss [Hunter Dozier] on the offensive side but defensively, it kind of went unnoticed, he did a really, really, good job over there at third base. I think his defense will be missed more than his offense, simply from a pitching standpoint and all of the plays he made right there. Offensively, we're going to have to do a lot of manufacturing, no doubt about it, to get guys in scoring position and be able to capitalize when they get to third base with less than two outs. We just have to do what we can. He was deserving of going up to Double-A, no doubt about it. It was the right move. We're just going to have to pick it up. Somebody is going to have to pick it up...I thought [Bubba Starling] swung the bat well the first two times. He got a nice infield hit his first AB and [then] put a really good swing on it for the triple and an RBI in his second at-bat. It was good to see. We need him to get hot, no doubt about it. We've got to have him in the lineup to get going. Hopefully everybody else will follow suit...If anybody has learned more this year, I think Kenny [Diekroeger] has. He's really taken a step back and started viewing the game a little differently, I think. It's showed. He's starting to put good swings on the ball on a nightly basis. I'm hoping it continues and he becomes a regular guy in that lineup."

Today's Starters

WIL: LHP Sean Manaea (2-5, 4.85)

vs.

MB: RHP Sam Wolff (6-3, 2.77)

After the summer of 2012, many thought Sean Manaea would be the No. 1 overall pick in last June's draft. While pitching in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in 2012, Manaea put together one of the most dominant pitching seasons the league had ever seen. He went 5-1 with a 1.21 ERA that summer, while throwing his fastball between 94 and 96 m.p.h. Manaea's 85 strikeouts set a modern-day Cape League record, eclipsing Josh Bard's 82 in 2005. Last spring at Indiana State, however, a series of unfortunate injuries led to a drop in velocity and, in turn, Manaea's draft stock falling. Manaea hurt his ankle and then his hip and his shoulder. Kansas City still drafted him 34th overall last June and signed him to a $3.55 million bonus. He had surgery after the draft to repair a torn hip labrum and did not pitch professionally in 2013. Manaea will make his 13th start of the season Friday against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. In his last start on June 14, the southpaw lasted three frames against the Carolina Mudcats. He yielded no runs on one hit, but walked four and struck out four while earning a no-decision. Manaea has failed to get past the fourth inning in seven of his 12 starts, with his longest outing of the year lasting only five frames. The talented southpaw has struck out 63 in 45.1 frames.

Wilmington will face right-hander Sam Wolff for the second time this season on Friday. Wolff was a sixth-round draft pick in 2013 by the Texas Rangers out of the University of New Mexico. He was drafted three times prior to signing with Texas last June. In 2009, the L.A. Angels of Anaheim took him in the 42nd round and in 2011, the Boston Red Sox picked him in the 47th round. Wolff also played at three different schools during his collegiate career. He began at the University of San Diego, then left for the College of Southern Nevada for a year before transferring to the University of New Mexico. Thus far, Wolff has been dominant as a pro. In 2013, he pitched at two levels in the Rangers system, posting a 3-0 record and a 1.10 ERA in 10 games for Rookie- Level Spokane before making 11 appearances for Low-A Hickory, not yielding a single earned run. This season, Wolff has perhaps been Myrtle Beach's best starter. He has posted a 3-1 record and 2.77 ERA in 14 games (13 starts), while striking out 45 and walking 26. Wolff's best start was April 17 against Potomac, when he tossed seven frames, yielding just one run on four hits. In his lone start against the Blue Crew, on April 28, he gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits over five innings.

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