It’s June 19th, and at least one Phillies affiliate will have it’s season extend past September 3rd, when most of the minor league regular ends. On Sunday, Lakewood played it’s final game of the first half of the season. In the South Atlantic League, the schedule is truly split into two seasons. To reach the playoffs, a team must be atop of their division at the end of each half of the season. So once the league reaches the All-Star break, the standing reset. The playoffs in September are essentially the winners of the North and South divisions of the 1st half and the 2nd half. And on Sunday, the Blueclaws needed a win and a Kannapolis loss to clinch the North division playoff spot for the first half of the season. They would get both results and will make just the fifth playoff appearance in the franchise’s 18th season.
So how did we get here?
Lakewood ended up surging at the end of the season winning 7 of their last 9 and 19 of their last 28. So why is the last 28 significant? That’s the moment Jhailyn Ortiz returned from a month long stint on the DL with a shoulder injury. In the month of April prior to the injury, the powerful teenager hit only .158 with three extra-base hits and a .496 OPS. He also struck out in 40.9% of his trips to the late (88 PA). The time away was probably the best thing for Jhailyn as when he returned he caught fire quickly and made the lineup much more whole. After just three multi-hit games in his first 16 games, he recorded 12 such games in the last 28. In 114 PA in this span, Jhailyn hit .311/.360/.481 with ten extra-base hits and a 28.1% K rate. There were fewer overswings, better plate recognition and more going the other way.
Jhailyn’s presence certainly made a difference in an otherwise anemic lineup.
Lakewood ranked at the bottom in a number of offensive categories. The only categories they were respectable in were doubles (7th) and home runs (T-6th). They also put the ball in play a lot, striking out the fewest amount in South Atlantic League (499, 20.87% K). But the key was that during the time Jhailyn was back a number of players got into solid streaks at the right time (since May 21):
Kevin Markham: 92 PA, .320/.380/.381, 5 XBH
Daniel Brito: 90 PA, .286/.371/.403, 5 XBH (2 HR)
Jake Scheiner: 121 PA, .273/.328/.418, 10 XBH (3 HR)
Rodolfo Duran: 69 PA, .309/.348/.631, 11 XBH (5 HR)
Nick Maton: 108 PA, .250/.308/.413, 8 XBH (3 HR)
Brito and Duran, who probably have the highest upside from the group above outside Ortiz, really rebounded from tough starts to the season. Scheiner and Maton always appeared to be come through with a clutch knock multiple times. And Markham, who is filling in for the injured Simon Muzzioti, really became a base hit machine, particularly over the final week of the season.
The big reason Lakewood was so successful despite the league’s worst offense? They had the most dominant pitching staff in the SAL. They ranked #1 in ERA at 2.55, 0.42 better than the second best team. They also ranked #1 in strikeouts (653), WHIP (1.135), hits allowed (476), #2 in fewest HR allowed (33) and #3 in K/BB (3.55). This is not something new for Lakewood as they have had a top five type of staff for the last few years. But this year’s staff took it to a whole different stratosphere. This is what there starting rotation did:
David Parkinson: 59 IP, 6-1, 1.07 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 74/20 K/BB
Will Stewart: 71.2 IP, 6-0, 1.13 ERA, 0.87 ERA, 60/9 K/BB
Ramon Rosso: 61.2 IP, 4-1, 1.46 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 77/20 K/BB
Damon Jones: 57 IP, 5-2, 2.05 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 64/27 K/BB
Spencer Howard: 48 IP, 3-6, 5.25 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 66/15 K/BB
Other than Howard, who imploded down the stretch and had some really decent K/BB numbers, the Blueclaws currently have the #1,#2, #3 and #8 pitchers in ERA in the SAL. In recent years where we’ve seen Sixto, Medina, Romero, Kilome, Fanti, Suarez, Dominguez, etc. This is a group of pitchers that won’t be lighting up the radar guns (other than Howard), but know how to pitch. Parkinson (12th Rd, 2017) is one that I will be intrigued to see the most if he remains in Lakewood for just a little longer. Jones (18th Rd, 2017) sits in the low 90s with a mid 80s change and low 80s curve but probably the shakiest command). I watched Rosso at the end of Williamsport season last year and while he is really just a two pitch pitcher with a fastball in the 87-91 mph range with good arm-side run, but a deceptive looking slider to complement it well. And Stewart is a crafty deceptive lefty who can sit his fastball in the low 90s and produce a lot of groundouts. And sixth spot was admirably held by Connor Brogdan for seven starts (3.73 ERA in starts) before Kyle Young took the last five for that spot (3.52 in 30.2 IP). While maybe none of these guys project as impactful big league starters, one or two of them could end up on a big league pitching staff because of their ability to throw strikes.
The final piece of this puzzle is the bullpen, led by a strong trio of RHP Addison Russ and LHPs Kyle Dohy and Zach Warren. The three have combined for a 1.77 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 144/37 K/BB in 96.1 innings. Russ was the team leader in saves (13) and has pinpoint command (four walks in 32.1 IP) with a fastball reaching 96. Russ’s potential is somewhat limited and this is his second go-around with Lakewood. The two lefties, Dohy and Warren, have the look of potential lefty specialists with their 91-95 mph fastballs and tough curveballs. Dohy’s case is a little stronger because of his deceptive delivery.
Moving forward, most of this team should remain in tact as most roster moves have already been made. There’s potential that at least one starter will bump up to Clearwater and eventually the expectation is that the team’s first round pick, Alec Bohm, will finish the season there simultaneously promoting Jake Scheiner in my opinion. The thing to watch for in the second half will definitely be the continued development of hitters like Ortiz, Brito and Duran. And it will be interesting to see if any of the starting pitching maintains somewhat the level of production they are currently experiencing right now. Get ready for some playoff baseball Lakewood, NJ!