Las Vegas 51s Weekly Report

A week ago the 51s were on the ropes and struggling to stay up as they trudged through a seven game losing streak. The past six games since the last report had the 51s showing signs of life, albeit not much more than faint pulse. They wound up dropping three more games last Thursday through Saturday against Sacramento to run their losing streak to ten. On Sunday they finally put another tally into the win column and beat Sacramento to avoid losing their fourth straight series. They’ve since managed to split the first two of four games against Reno, dropping the opener on Monday and winning last night.

The stretch of poor play leaves Las Vegas with an 11-15 record and a spot in the basement of the Pacific Coast League Pacific-South Division, five and a half games off from the first place, and current opponent, Reno Aces. The offense had a solid week scoring an average of 6.33 runs per game and left their season long runs tally at an average of 5.58 runs per game, seventh best in the PCL. The pitching and defense continued to take a beating last week allowing 6.83 runs per game, including two games in six in which they allowed more than ten runs. As discouraging as that is it did represent an improvement from the previous seven games that saw the 51s give up 8.86 runs per game and score just 4.86 runs per game of their own.

Despite the middle of the pack runs scored per game the 51s are currently fifth in on-base percentage at .367 and fifth in total bases with 412. The pitching and fielding have a WHIP(walks and hits per inning pitched) that sits eighth in the league at 1.57 and are one of six teams allowing more than six runs per game on average, checking in with the fifth highest total at 6.23 runs allowed per game. The pitching continues to struggle with getting strikeouts, their 7.1 strikeouts per nine is only fourth from the bottom amongst the PCL pitching staffs but last week they were second to last and striking out fewer than seven batters a game. Shockingly, a week ago the 51s had allowed 13 homers, the second fewest in the league, and then proceeded to double that total in just the last six games and are now twelfth in homers allowed.

The 51s opened their series at home against Sacramento last Thursday with a 9-13 defeat that saw the two teams combine to launch nine home runs. Only three of them came off the bats of the 51s as both Scott Richmond and Chad Cordero got taken yard three times a piece. DeWayne Wise had one of the homers, three hits all together and a walk to lead the offense as Brian Jeroloman and Eric Thames also took trots around the bases. Scott Podsednik had two hits and two walks.

The pitching picked itself up on Friday and allowed Sacramento to plate just two runs. Only problem was that the Sacramento pitching staff did just a little better and held the 51s to a single run and took the win. Brad Mills lowered his ERA to 2.18 with a superb six innings of shutout pitching allowing four hits and two walks against nine strikeouts and six groundball outs to no flyouts. Winston Abreu allowed two runs in two innings on three hits and a walk while striking out a batter. No one on the 51s reached base more than once and only Chris Woodward had an extra base hit with a double.

A day after losing by one run, the 51s came out and…lost by one run in game three of four against Sacramento, 4-5. Travis Snider, who the Blue Jays banished to triple-A for having a bad month of April, opened his unexpected minor league visit by reaching base five times in five trips to the plate on a walk and four hits. Jonathan Diaz reached base three times on two hits and a walk but once again the 51s managed just one extra base hit.

After Luis Perez went five innings and allowed five runs the bullpen closed the door on the River Cats with four shutout innings. Sean Henn and Josh Roenicke pitched two innings each combined to allow one hit and one walk while striking out five. They set Las Vegas up for a winning rally that never came as the 51s pushed across only one run in the eighth after scoring three times in the first four innings.

Salvation finally came for the boys on Sunday with a 9-3 victory in the series finale against Sacramento. Brett Lawrie and Chris Woodward paced the offense with three hits a piece that included a double for Woodward and a double and triple for Lawrie. Wise and Podsednik also picked up a couple hits each and Diaz reached base twice on two walks. Danny Farquhar and Rommie Lewis finished the game with another two and one third scoreless innings of relief after Brett Cecil went six and two-thirds and allowed three runs on six hits, including a pair of home runs, while walking two and striking out five.

The 51s couldn’t build on Sunday’s win as they dropped the opener against Reno on Monday in another slug fest, 8-12. Ryan Shealy, Wise and Snider all went two for four and Woodward had three more hits in five at-bats. Ryan Budde went two for five with the team’s lone homer on the day. The bullpen pitched well again but it didn’t matter, starter Mike MacDonald was rocked for eleven runs, all earned, on fifteen hits in just four and two-thirds innings of work. That’s quite a beating for one pitcher to take but he had allowed two runs through four innings before falling apart in the fifth.

Last night saw the 51s get back into the win column again this time by winning a one run game, 7-6. The 51s are now 4-6 in their ten games decided by one run. Adam Loewen had two hits, including a homer, and Podsednik grabbed two hits as well, both triples. Snider went o for two but drew out three walks. The bullpen shined again with another four shutout innings. Wilfredo Ledezma, Farquhar and Henn combined to walk one and strikeout five.

The 51s have two more at home, today and tomorrow, against Reno before heading out to Tacoma for a four game set starting on Friday and then quickly returning home for four against Albuquerque.

The Brett Lawrie Watch

Lawrie cooled off a bit over the last six games hitting only .225 with a double, a triple and no home runs. It was pointed out last week that he isn’t walking much and that continued as he drew just one walk in six games. He did only strikeout three times in the last week as well, so while he is struggling and not walking he’s still putting the ball into play on a constant basis. Lawrie also stole his sixth base on the season and has still yet to be caught attempting to steal this season.

Lowrie’s .357 batting average this season is the 20th best in the PCL but his .400 on-base percentage is currently 47th. It’s important to remember he’s just twenty-one and one of the league’s youngest hitters. Even then, Lawrie is fourth in the league with 65 total bases. Lawrie’s also going on back to back updates without having made an error in his last thirteen games after making six in his first dozen games. Drawing walks isn’t an exciting aspect of a hitter’s game but it’s essential and it’s hard to get too excited with Lawrie until they start coming a little more often.

The Best Five and Their Numbers

Each week we’ll give you a table with several stats, most from StatCorner, of each of the 51s best five hitters and pitchers. For hitters the table will include their batting average, strikeout and walk rates, isolated power, batting average on balls in play, their park adjusted wOBA and wOBA+. For pitchers you’ll see their innings pitched, strikeout, walks and homers per nine innings, their groundball rates, tRA and FIP. Please, please, please, take sometime to get to know these stats. They’re all very useful.

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All advanced stats from StatCorner and all other stats are from Baseball-Reference. All game results and box score data is from the 51s official site.