Monday Notes
One thing this weekend made clear is that Brewster is poised to overtake Chatham for a playoff spot. The Whitecaps haven’t been rolling – more like treading water – with a rather mundane 4-5-1 record over their last 10 games, but that has been enough to close the gap on the reeling Anglers who have gone 2-8 in the same span. Chatham has 34 pts., while Brewster is right behind with 32 pts. Brewster has two games in hand. Chatham leads the season series 3-1, and the two teams will conclude the series with games at Veterans Field on Wednesday and Saturday. This isn’t to say that Falmouth (29 pts.), Harwich (28 pts.), or Hyannis (27 pts.) couldn’t get hot in the last week and a half of the season and sneak into the playoffs, but Brewster has the best chance to bypass Chatham as of today. Teams are so closely bunched heading into the home stretch that Yarmouth-Dennis is the only sure thing for a playoff berth. Orleans, Bourne and Wareham will likely wrap up spots. Cotuit (35 pts.) could get hot and pass one of those teams ahead of them, or they could be passed by Chatham, Brewster, or any of the teams presently trailing them. It will be an interesting race to August 5.
When Brewster added Nathan Baker (Mississippi), Caleb Cotham (Vanderbilt) and Kendal Volz (Baylor) recently, I mentioned that they had greatly improved their pitching staff. That prediction is looking good so far. In 9 innings, Baker has an ERA of 3.00. Cotham (9 IP) and Volz (2 IP) have yet to give up a run. Sean Hoelscher (1.64 ERA), Mark Canha (.257 avg. with 3 HR and 11 RBI) and Tim Ferguson (.238 avg., one HR, 11 RBI) have been removed from Brewster’s roster.
In game 2 of yesterday’s doubleheader against Hyannis, the Whitecaps were forced to turn to C/DH Jim Klocke (SE Missouri St.) to pitch in relief. Things didn’t go well as Klocke allowed 3 hits and 2 walks in his two innings of work, and he took the loss in the 3-2 Mets win. Since Brewster did not play on Thursday or Friday, I’m not sure why their pitching was stretched to the point where Klocke had to be put in that situation. Now the Whitecaps are in a stretch where they play 6 games in 5 days, have Thursday off when the All Stars are recognized at Fenway, then finish the season with another stretch of 7 games in 6 days. That would be a test for any team’s pitching depth.
My son’s take on the Chatham situation?? The Anglers got off to a hot start when they had most of their players while other teams were waiting on late arrivals. Once some of those players arrived, the other teams simply got better than Chatham. Their final rosters are better than Chatham’s final roster. It’s a hard point to argue. 9-1 seems like a long time ago. Chatham is 8-18 since that start. DH Rick Oropesa (USC) and RHP Logan Verrett (Baylor) were really the only late arrivals that Chatham had. As opposed to last year when they were forced to use the maximum number of roster moves allowed, this year Chatham has had to make very few moves. Outfielder Steven Brooks (Wake Forest), who suffered a leg injury while trying to make a catch in Falmouth last Wednesday, has left the team and reportedly will have surgery. Brooks, batting .273, had been one of Chatham’s more consistent hitters. Biggest sign of trouble in Chatham? Where to begin? Their .213 team batting average has dropped them to eighth in the league and the team ERA which not too long ago was challenging for the top spot is now last at 3.76.
In a scheduling quirk, Y-D has finished their season series against division rivals Orleans and Chatham. The Red Sox went 5-1 against the Firebirds and 4-2 against the Anglers. Y-D has lost once in their last 12 games.
In the West, Wareham (39 pts.) holds a slim one point lead over Bourne. The Braves have played 3 fewer games. After beating Wareham yesterday, Bourne has won all 5 games between the teams this year. On the flip side of that, Wareham has won all 5 games against Hyannis. The Gatemen play each of those teams one more time. After much was made of Brandon Workman’s (Texas) inning of work in the All Star game, Bourne got to Workman early and often yesterday. He allowed 7 hits and 5 walks while giving up 6 earned runs in just 4 innings. In taking the loss, Workman’s ERA jumped to 4.60.
Cotuit is a hard team to figure. They can win one, lose one. They are capable of winning 5 in a row, or losing 5 in a row. A long losing streak seems much less likely when you have Jake Buchanan (North Carolina St.) and Chad Bell (Walters State CC) in your starting rotation. Buchanan leads the league with a 0.50 ERA while Bell comes in sixth at 1.34. With those two at the top of the rotation, the Kettleers will be a tough draw in the playoffs – if they get in.
Falmouth is hard to figure too. The Commodores have a very talented lineup. Once again, it looks like a Falmouth player will lead the league in batting. Todd Cunningham (Jacksonville State; batting .393) has a wide lead on Y-D’s Austin Wates (Virginia Tech; .352). Auburn’s Hunter Morris has 5 homeruns but he has only driven in 9 runs so far. Pitching remains the team’s stumbling block. Although the staff ERA has gone down by half a run per game from where they were a couple weeks ago, they are still next-to-last at 3.65.
Y-D’s Mario Hollands (UC-Santa Barbara) is 4-1 with a 2.12 ERA. I chuckled when I saw a scout’s comment that says “he is not particularly effective.” Hmmm….. tell that to the Cape League hitters who are batting .204 against him.
Whoever posted the comment to CodBall recently and said Twitter is pretty lame… you’re right. Does anyone really need to know that you’re going to the grocery store, playing a video game, etc.? Having said that, I have an account and it is a pretty good way of tracking Cape League games close to real time. After the season is over, I have a feeling I won’t use it again until next June.
A list of “name” players who are struggling would have to include Wareham’s Derek Dietrich (Georgia Tech) who is batting .220, Alex Dickerson who is batting .205 with just one homerun after hitting 14 homers for Indiana in the spring, and Texas’ Connor Rowe who is hitting just .122. For Y-D, Micah Gibbs (LSU) is batting .189. In Hyannis there was a lot of pre-season chatter about Winthrop’s Eddie Rohan who is now hitting .193. In Cotuit, returning All Star Kevin Patterson (Auburn) is batting just .167 while highly-regarded teammate Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) is sitting at .207. For Chatham, Matt Harvey’s (North Carolina) problems have been detailed here before, but his lack of control has been the leading cause of his 0-2 record and 6.61 ERA. Harvey has walked 11 and hit 2 batters in 16.1 IP. Virginia’s Jarrett Parker is only batting .197, mostly out of the leadoff spot, for Brewster. Ben Klafczynski (Kent State) came to Bourne with a lot of hype but is only hitting .185.
For Y-D, it isn’t a bad combination to be leading the league in batting (.258) and ERA (2.59).
Bourne’s Kyle Roller (East Carolina) leads the league in four categories: homeruns (6), doubles (10), extra basehits (17) and slugging percentage (.593). Not a bad year!
For someone who believes there is no such thing as too much baseball, it is hard to say this since the new playoff format provides an extra couple games; but I’ll go on record now and say that I don’t like the format. The part I don’t like is that we can have two teams from the same division playing for the championship. Yes, an arguement can be made that those two teams may be the best teams and they should be playing for the championship. Fine. Good point. If that’s the case, why have divisions? Just have a ten team league and give the top two teams a first-round bye. Have #3 play #6 and #4 play #5, with the winners moving on to play #1 and #2 in the semifinals. The way it is now, it could be like having the Dodgers and Phillies or Red Sox and Yankees playing each other in the World Series.
Posted on previous news today:
Some prospects cooling off include Jedd Gyorko(2 for his last 20)WVU; Hunter Morris(1 for his last 16)Auburn; Derek Dietrich(2 for his last 17)Georgia Tech; Nick Schwaner(3 for his last 18)UNO; Brian Fletcher(1 for his last 22)Auburn.
There are lots of guys struggling. Would give a “pass” to any player who was flu ridden recently. The rest can be chalked up to baseball. Hitting struggles are part of the game, as are hot streaks. Any and all the hitters you mentioned can light it up at any time. They all have great track records.
Hitters also need routine. If you look at the boxscores, Klafczynski has had 26 at bats the past 19 games for Bourne. Hard to judge a player with only 65 at bats this late in the season. Rohan from Hyannis has also been relegated to spot duty but has been picking up the pace recently. Hard for any hitter to get on track when not playing regularly. Same can be said for Parker with only 66 at bats coming in late from the CWS, but his 20 walks and .398 OBP speaks volumes in a positive sense.
Connor Rowe has 41 at bats coming in late from the CWS. Micah Gibbs has 37 at bats also arriving late from the CWS.
In other words, a solid .300 hitter over the course of 500 at bats will make 350 outs. When those outs occur only gives a snapshot and a false conclusion.
Some college career OPS for some players:
Brian Fletcher 1.030
Scott Woodward 0.973
Jarrett Parker 0.969
Todd Cunningham 0.962
Ben Klafczynski 0.953
Kevin Keyes 0.948
Ryan LaMarre 0.948
Austin Wates 0.940
Dan Grovatt 0.933
Trent Mummey 0.917
Jeff Schaus 0.913
Cory Vaughn 0.876
Phil Gosselin 0.863
Gary Brown 0.863
Leon Landry 0.839
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Where’s the mention of Bourne’s Seth Maness? He was perfect through seven and finished with a one hit shutout and no walks. The one line devoted to the Braves 8-0 win over the Gatemen is about Brandon Workman. At least give some credit to the second best pitching performance this summer
Brandon Workman was completely off his game Sunday as he only topped out at 93…he was sitting at 89-91. This is not the same Workman that was seen at the All-Star game consistently hitting 95. Seth Maness for Bourne should at least get some recognition instead of talking about why twitter is lame.
Workman sucked harder than a Hoover last night. I know he’s good, but give the Bourne kid his due.
Regarding Twitter, I disagree with Dave… However, I should add that people who use Twitter to say mundane things are lame. It’s a good way to learn details about friends, make new ones, and of course keep up with the ccbl.
One good thing about the CCBL. Position guys get more scout exposure in pre-game and BP than the game itself.
Capeleaguer, aka Mr. Maness, or Seth’s dad, you just set the record straight. Your son pitched a great game. Unfortunately, I wasn’t at the game which is why I didn’t provide details. I don’t try to write game stories for a game that I didn’t attend. The pitching line says it all about Seth Maness’ outing against Wareham. It was an outstanding performance. My comment regarding Brandon Workman was meant to show the absurdity of placing too much stock in one game – in this case, the All Star game. Workman was great in that game. Glowing words were written about him after that game and deservedly so. That doesn’t mean he will be the second coming of Cy Young. Conversely, his bad outing yesterday doesn’t mean he won’t play at the next level. In no way is this meant to bash Workman. I’ve already said on CodBall that I expect to see him in a major league uniform.
Seth Maness was a 2008 freshman AA. Great Job Seth and keep it going young man! Another 2008 freshman All-American and Maness teammate in Bourne is the leading candidate for Doghouse of the Year Award.
Over the last 15 games and a team record of 6-9 during that span, 3 starts, 7 DNP’s, and 5 late inning substitutions for 4 chances to hit.
Mark Canha belongs on the Cape
Tyler Wilson(Virginia)on Hyannis shut down the Bourne hitters tonight. I first saw Wilson pitch in Ohio in 2008 for Delaware in the Great Lakes League, and he showed the same stuff back then. I saw him pitch a few times after that at Virginia. Wilson played a huge role for UVA’s run to the CWS this year amd is great competitor. I like his makeup and stuff.
Bourne has the luxury of keeping Ben Klafczynski(Kent State) on the bench, but this may have been a game to add another lefty hitter in the lineup. Paul Karmas(St. John’s) is heading home with an injury, and Shapiro is content on playing juniors Schwaner and Rice in the outfield while leaving a multiple(4X) freshman all-american on the bench.
Question is simple. Is Klafczynski injured or someone Bourne not interested in? Scouts have said Klafczynski’s makeup is an 80 on the scouting scale, and a recent call to a few of them recently said they are seeing what they need in pre-game and don’t understand the major snub?
Maybe it has to do with where he plays, but looking deep backwards to 2007, Klafczynski was voted by the National High School Baseball Coaches as one of the top 3 outfielders in the entire country as a prep. The other 2 were Jason Heyward and Ben Revere, both in pro baseball and doing great.
Pierre LePage had the only 2 hits for Bourne tonight and is still #1 in the CCBL as far as being a great contact hitter.
On my way to another game.
I believe Mark Cahna broke his wrist swinging at a pitch about a week ago, and could not finish the at-bat. It was bothering him when he arrived on the Cape, but the swing finished it off. I understand surgery is planned back in California.
Cahna injury is a mild setback. Nice talent, and better days ahead. Good Luck and get better.
Ben Klafczynski (Kent State) has shown that he really can’t handle the pitching this summer with his .185 average 0 homers while having only three extra base hits this summer. All of them being doubles.
He is also 5th or 6th on the team in games played. No idea the complaints.
Mark Canha was injured. He was done for the season
Canha does have a wrist injury. He pinch hit a little bit when his family was on the Cape right before the All-Star game, but then he left.
And I’ve also been hearing that Nathan Baker has left Brewster…but Kendal Volz has been quite good. I’ve seen him pitch in his last two outings, and he’s looked really strong and overpowering.
The comment on Klafcynski is idiotic. All American Derek Dietrich is hitting .220 and has one home run with Wareham. I guess he can’t handle this level of ball either…
That was a crazy comment on Klafczynski, guess that guy hasn’t looked closely enough at the details. I look at details.
Bourne split tonight. Ben K. pined game one loss to Harwich, went 2-3, 2 runs, SB, walk game 2 win.
When Klafczynski plays, Bourne 14-2-2(18 games)
When he sits, Bourne is 6-13(19 games)
…and one of the best defensive outfielders.
Pierre LePage is a player. Roller having a dream season, and Segedin can mash. Woodward is a great leadoff guy.
Dietrich has 3 bombs, and a great hitter, and despite any struggles, will enjoy the June 2010 Draft. Dietrich and Klafczynski are friends and competitors from northern Ohio and support each other. They have a great history together.
Klafcynski has the third lowest batting average still on the Bourne roster through Monday’s games.
Brian, someone needs to explain to you how a player can benefit a team beyond the numbers he puts up. Ben K is a huge reason why Bourne has a legitimate shot at winning the title this year.
Batting averages on the Cape aren’t exactly the best indicator how a hitter is faring due to the fact that this league is always dominating by pitching.
Brewster Notes:
Dan Butler was signed by the BoSox, so he will play minor league ball.
That could hurt Brewster
Agreed. With Butler signing, Brewster could be weakened at the catching position. In the preseason, it looked like that would be a position of strength since the Whitecaps had Miami’s Yasmani Grandal and West Virginia’s Tobias Streich on their roster. Then, Grandal was picked to Team USA and Streich signed with the Minnesota Twins. Brewster was fortunate that Butler was available when Y-D released him to make room for Micah Gibbs. Butler stepped in and did a nice job. Brewster will now turn to Zach Jones (Stanford) and Jim Klocke (SE Missouri St.) to fill that position. Jones is batting .130 and Klocke is hitting .213.
In addition to Butler, and the previously reported departures of Sean Hoelscher, Mark Canha and Tim Ferguson; what Nicole mentioned has been confirmed – Nathan Baker is no longer with Brewster. LHP Scott Alexander and RHP David Goforth have also been dropped from the Whitecaps roster. Some of the Brewster players have left due to injury, others for “personal reasons.”
In a few other moves around the league, C/IF Cole Leonida and LHP Zach Brewster have been forced to leave Wareham due to injury.
Y-D has brought in Caleb Ramsey from the Univ. of Houston. Are the rich getting richer? In Ramsey’s only at-bat last night he hit an RBI triple. Ramsey is the fourth Cougar on Y-D’s roster.
A recent addition to Falmouth is LHP Nate Koneski (Holy Cross). Koneski is from Dighton, MA.
In addition to Steven Brooks leaving Chatham due to injury, Jeff Schaus has also left the Anglers.
Another roster addition… Barnstable’s Tim Norton, an infielder from Bryant University, is now playing with Hyannis.
Is butler single A?
I believe he was assigned to the Lowell Spinners who play in the short-season, Class A, New York-Penn League.
Nate Baker was coming up here for one start for Brewster before signing a pro contract…all prearranged from what I hear.
Willie-sounds like you have quite the man-crush on Klafcynski!
Brett Eibner and Chris Hannick have been released by Wareham. Eibner may have suffered an injury while pitching against Orleans on July 24. He only lasted two innings in that start and had not appeared in a game since. Hannick was the starting catcher in Wareham’s game on Wednesday.
Supposedly, Alex Hassan (RHP/OF)has left Orleans to sign with the Red Sox.
Also, tonight was shortstop Tyler Rahmatulla’s last game with Chatham. Although he struggled to do much of anything offensively all season, Rahmatulla went out with a bang as he had a couple hits tonight, including the game-winner in the top of the ninth, as the Anglers beat Hyannis, 8-7. Rahmatulla is leaving to take summer classes at UCLA.
A couple more additions… RHP Scott Oberg from Tewksbury, MA. and UConn has joined Bourne. Andrew Manning, a catcher/infielder from UAB (I believe) has joined college teammate Nick Crawford in Hyannis. As DH for the Mets last night, Manning was 1 for 1 with 3 walks.
Kevin Mortimer, Falmouth’s bullpen catcher who was featured by the Cape Cod Times yesterday as this week’s “Cape League Character,” was sent up to the plate as a pinch-hitter and singled in the seventh inning of the Commodores win over Bourne last night. Mortimer stayed in the game to catch the final inning.
Does this entail me like dressing like Lil’ Bo Peep?
Note in Wareham’s pressbox indicated Adam Doleac (1B; Southern Mississippi) and Rob Kral (C; College of Charleston) would be arriving in Wareham this evening and would be available to play against Falmouth tomorrow. Kral arrived earlier than expected and took over catching duties from Tyler Albright late in the first game of today’s doubleheader.
RHP Jared Bard and utility player Mike McCarthy who were with Brewster early in the season are back with the Whitecaps.
Auburn’s Trent Mummey (wrist injury) played his last game for Harwich in the Mariners 8-4 win over Y-D on July 29. He is expecting to head home tomorrow.
A couple more transactions that could have a negative effect on teams in the playoffs: Outfielder Cory Vaughn has left Cotuit. Vaughn was batting .242 with 3 HR and 9 RBI – not great numbers, but he was a threat in the Kettleers lineup. Also, LHP Mario Hollands has left Y-D. In 5 starts, Hollands was 4-1 with a 2.12 ERA.