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Chris Steinborn 0-0, 6.23 ERA |
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Jose Paniagua 1-0, 6.00 ERA |
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The Barnstormers’ inability to hit with men in scoring position is becoming the story of their season. Although it’s widely acknowledged that they don’t have a great offense, it could be performing much better with a few more timely hits.
During the series against Southern Maryland, we compared the Barnstormers to the Blue Crabs. Now let’s compare Long Island and Lancaster. The Ducks are loaded with ex-big leaguers and are regarded as having one of the most feared lineups in the league. The Barnstormers, meanwhile, have struggled to score runs unless a guy named Matt LeCroy is driving them home.
The numbers illustrate the differences between these clubs.
Long Island has seven fewer at-bats with runners in scoring position and only three more home runs than Lancaster. So, why have the Ducks scored 74 more runs overall? They hit when it matters. They’re batting .300 with RISP.
The Barnstormers, by comparison, are batting .246 in those situations. LeCroy, at .385, is the only member of the team hitting above .300. Lancaster creates just as many chances and hits nearly as many homers, but wastes more scoring opportunities than any club in the league. The difference between a good offense and a bad offense is often as simple as getting a single with a runner at second base.
The primary culprit for this futility is strikeouts. The Barnstormers have fanned 236 more times than the Ducks. That’s an incredibly big gap. It’s also a ridiculous total considering the absence of power pitchers in this league. Again, it’s simple: You can’t get a hit if you don’t put the ball in play.
Last year was a virtually identical story. The Barnstormers struck out 7.25 times a game and ranked next-to-last in batting average. The only thing that kept them out of the cellar was the existence of the Road Warriors. While predicting performance with RISP is impossible, predicting strikeout totals is not. One often directly relates to the other.
When the baseball operations folks sit down to construct the 2009 roster, they have to take this into consideration. If they go down the same road (again) with too many high-K hitters, the struggles will continue. This offense doesn’t need to be tweaked like it was between 2007-08. It needs a complete overhaul.
Box score:
Scoring summary:
Revs 2nd: Sandora’s single scores Navarrete and Everett. Haverbusch’s home run scores Sandora and Hidalgo. Rose Jr.’s double scores Alfonzo. Navarrete’s single scores Rose Jr. Hidalgo’s double scores Everett. Rolls’ double scores Hidalgo and Navarrete.
Long Island leads 10-0.
Stormers 5th: Woods’ single scores Coffie.
Long Island leads 10-1.
Stormers 7th: Coffie hits solo home run.
Long Island leads 10-2.
Stormers 9th: Caruso’s single scores Woods and Francia.
Long Island leads 10-4.
The Barnstormers are 2-4 on this road trip and 4-9 this month. Chris Steinborn, the emergency fill-in for the rotation, was knocked around for 10 runs in the second inning and that was pretty much the ballgame. York, meanwhile, scored two in the ninth to rally to beat Southern Maryland, so Lancaster has fallen three games out. It’s starting to slip away for the home team.
