Tagged: mike mccoy

Who Are These Guys?

The PawSox scored 11 runs and pounded out 16 more hits Thursday night to win their fourth straight game, a dominating victory in the series opener at Toledo.  It is only the third time this season the team has won at least four games in a row.

Last night’s win was highlighted by a seven-run top of the seventh inning that lasted 42 minutes!  In all, 12 batters came to the plate, six of them recorded hits and three walked against three different Mud Hens pitchers.  Corey Brown drew two free passes in the inning while Mike McCoy had two hits including a two-run double that capped the rally.

The PawSox lineup looks as prolific as it has all season, and a big reason for it has been the production from two veterans at the top of the order.  Jonathan Herrera has collected three straight multi-hit games since being optioned from Boston.  He is now 7-for-15 with a double in three games played.

After starting just 1-for-8 in his first three games with Pawtucket, Andres Torres is 13-for-33 (.393) with three homers and seven RBIs in his last seven contests.  Torres hit a game-winning two-run blast in the tenth inning earlier this week in Columbus.

Right now with those two setting the table the folks in the middle of the order are having an RBI feast.  Travis Shaw (15 RBIs in his last 16 games played), Alex Hassan (13 RBI in his last 16 games played) and Brown (8 RBI in his last 7 games played) have been on run-producing tears.

In the last 24 games played Pawtucket has raised its team batting average 14 points, from .236 to .250!  That is hard to do nearly 100 games deep into the season.  During that time the PawSox have hit .286 (243-for-849) and averaged 5.6 runs/game (134 total).

This is really looking like a different PawSox team than the one I wrote about at the midway point of the season last month – the version that won games with pitching and defense and hoped to scratch out enough runs.  I said then that if the squad could get some consistent offense this could be a playoff contender.  Don’t look now, but the team is now just 3.0 games out of the wildcard spot (Pawtucket is 50-46, Rochester 53-43.)

Here are a few more notes to get you ready for the final three games before the All-Star break:

–Hassan has been on a doubles binge that past few weeks.  He has collected 12 two-baggers in his last 15 games played including one in each of his last six games contests!  The Quincy native now leads the IL with 25 doubles this season.

Alex Hassan

Alex Hassan has been a different looking hitter since returning from the Major Leagues one month ago

When he was called up to Boston on May 30th, Hassan was hitting .217 with Pawtucket for the season.  Since returning on June 9th, the outfielder has batted .347 (33-for-95) in 26 games and raised his season average to .267.  Not a bad month!

-Welcome to backup catcher Matt Spring, a very popular figure in the clubhouse wherever he is.  Spring was promoted to the PawSox Thursday to take the spot of Christian Vazquez following Vazquez’s promotion to the big leagues.  Here is a sample of Twitter reaction to the Spring roster move yesterday:

Looking forward to having Matt around the Pawtucket clubhouse for the first time since 2012.  He came in in the eighth inning Thursday night at Toledo and flew out in his first at-bat.

spring

Matt Spring brings a great attitude and a great haircut to the PawSox

-It will be interesting to see how Manager Kevin Boles gets playing time for Ryan Roberts now that Deven Marrero and Herrera have arrived and will play the infield most nights.  Roberts is batting .358 (19-for-53) over his last 14 games played with eight RBIs and has been a cleanup hitter three times during that stretch.  His bat is so hot right now that he’s a tough guy to leave out of the lineup.

–Garin Cecchini missed Thursday’s game after suffering a scary-looking shoulder injury in a home plate collision Wednesday in Columbus.  The good news is the injury is not believed to be serious and Garin hopes to play again before the All-Star break.

-With Brandon Workman back from the Major Leagues for at least one turn in the rotation, we have not yet heard if or when he will pitch with the PawSox.  He is currently on the same schedule as Allen Webster, who is tentatively slated to start Sunday night in Toledo.  Stay tuned.

workman

Brandon Workman is back with the PawSox…at least for now

-Below is a conversation I had with PawSox closer Tommy Layne earlier this week.  He talked about making his Boston Red Sox debut last weekend and about the mentality of finishing ballgames for the first time in his career:

Game two of the series in Toledo Friday night begins at 7:00pm.  The PawSox will look for their fifth straight win, something they have only accomplished one other time this season (during the team’ six-game winning streak at the end of June.)  Chris Hernandez gets the ball on the mound looking to bounce back from a loss in Columbus on Sunday.

Hope you enjoyed, wishing you a great weekend.  Talk to you on the radio from Ohio tonight at 6:45!

Josh M

Offense Starting To Click

When the PawSox took a 10-1 lead Wednesday night on Travis Shaw’s two-run double against Norfolk, it gave the team its most runs in any game the entire season.  The amazing thing about it – that double came in the fifth inning!

Pawtucket would go on to score 16 runs, the most in any game in exactly one calendar year (16 vs. Toledo on June 25th, 2013).  The outburst continued a trend in which the club’s offense has been picking up over the last nine days.  In the last nine games, the PawSox are batting .288 (94-for-326) and have scored 5.9 runs/game (53 total despite being shutout in one of those contests).

The team batting average has raised seven points over the last nine days, climbing to .243 after Wednesday’s big night.  The squad was hitting only .236 over its first 72 contests of the season.  The last time Pawtucket’s team average was this high came all the way back on May 1st.

The team is 5-4 in those nine contests, but with some better late-game pitching could be 8-1. In three of those four losses the bullpen has squandered a lead of at least three runs.  Thursday in Rochester the PawSox let go of a 6-0 lead (lost 8-6), Sunday in Scranton they relinquished a 4-1 lead (lost 5-4) and Tuesday against Norfolk a 6-2 advantage turned into a 9-6 10-inning defeat.

As I said last week, with the way the PawSox have pitched and played defense this season the squad should make a playoff run if they can get any kind of sustained quality offense.  Perhaps the past nine days have been a turning point of sorts.

Here are a some notes before game three of the series against Norfolk:

-Belated congrats to Mookie Betts for being selected to the All-Star Futures Game (July 13 at Target Field in Minneapolis).  He is joined by Portland lefty Henry Owens as the game’s two representatives from the Red Sox organization.  This is probably the biggest honor that a minor league ballplayer can receive, and it is obviously well deserved!

-After being released by the Red Sox last week, Grady Sizemore has signed a minor league deal with the Phillies.  He is currently playing for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs and the PawSox could potentially play against Sizemore when those teams meet on July 23-24th.

-INF/OF Mike McCoy has batted second in the lineup in 13 of his last 14 starts.  Showing a penchant for taking a lot of close pitches, McCoy has walked 14 times in his last 15 games played and leads the club with 35 bases on balls this season.

-OF Bryce Brentz has left the PawSox to rehab his hamstring injury in Fort Myers, FL.  Brentz, who still leads the club with 28 RBI this season, will miss his 40th straight game on Thursday night.

–According to the same article by Brendan McGair of the Pawtucket Times, Boston INF/OF Mike Carp will rehab in Pawtucket this weekend.  Carp is trying to return from a broken right foot.

carp

Mike Carp will reportedly rehab in Pawtucket this weekend

-In case you missed it, here is my lengthy interview with PawSox manager Kevin Boles from last Saturday’s PawSox Insider show.  The skipper had some interesting thoughts on the “dog days of summer” and on Brock Holt’s meteoric rise to stardom in the big leagues:

 

The PawSox are in the midst of a ten-game homestand, their longest homestand in 18 seasons!  Game three starts in a few hours and can be seen across New England live on NESN.  It is also Armed Services Night at the ballpark.  Hope to see you here!

Josh M

Memorial Day Weekend In The ‘Cuse

Wednesday is on off-day for the PawSox – sort of.  While it is the first day this month that the team doesn’t play a game, the squad is on the bus traveling to Syracuse, NY to get ready for a four-game series with the Chiefs.

Syracuse Stadium

NBT Stadium In Syracuse, NY

Syracuse is now 23-22, which puts the Chiefs in last place in the six-team Northern Division believe it or not.  All six teams in the north are currently playing above .500 baseball, while first and last place is separated by only 1 1/2 games.  The PawSox (25-22) are 1/2 game behind first-place Buffalo.

Pawtucket, which just lost its first home series of the season by dropping three of four to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, had its lone home series win against ‘Cuse back in early April. Pawtucket is now 1-1-5 in seven home series played.

The PawSox have dropped six of their last eight contests, largely due to some notable absenses in the lineup.

Bryce Brentz has missed the last five games and is currently on the disabled list with a hamstring injury.  Brentz was third in the IL in RBI (28) and second in games played (39) when he suffered his injury last Thursday afternoon in Indianapolis.

Brock Holt was promoted back to the big leagues last Saturday and thus has not played with the PawSox over the last four games.  Holt, who batted in the leadoff spot in all 27 games he played for Pawtucket this season, was 6th in the IL in batting average (.315) at the time of his promotion.

With those two important bats absent from the lineup, the PawSox have been searching for clutch hitting.  We will see if heading on the road gives the offense a jolt as it has in the past several times already this season.  Here are a few more Wednesday musings for you:

-Pawtucket welcomed two new faces this week: righty reliever John Ely and utilityman Carlos Rivero.  Rivero, who played two games for the PawSox in April, was hitting .214 with two home runs and 17 RBI in 31 games with Double-A Portland.

Ely, who was signed by the Red Sox this offseason while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, made six appearances with Low-A Greenville and went 1-0 with a 5.63 ERA (8.0 IP, 11 H, 5 R).  He had pitched in the Majors with the Dodgers from 2010-12.

john ely

John Ely while pitching for the Dodgers

-The PawSox have now used a different lineup (spots 1-9, not counting positions) in 46 of their 47 games played.  I’m continuously amazed by that stat.

-Opponents are only 4-for-11 in stolen base attempts against the Pawtucket over the team’s last 14 games.  That follows a stretch during which teams were successful on 20 of 21 attempts in the previous 15 contests.

–Brandon Snyder is in quite a groove.  Snyder has batted 10-for-19 (.526) over his last five games played with three home runs, three doubles, six RBIs and three runs scored.  He now leads the team with eight home runs, and on the season 14 of his 23 hits have gone for extra bases.

–Garin Cecchini has now reached base in 28 straight games played (April 18-present), the longest on-base streak in the IL this season.  He walked Tuesday against Scranton to extend the streak.

–Anthony Ranaudo continues to pitch well.  After allowing at least four runs in each of his first three starts, Ranaudo has only allowed runs in five of his last 38 innings pitched (spanning seven starts).  He has a stellar 2.15 ERA over his last seven outings (and a 3-2 record).  The big righty had a 13-inning scoreless stretch snapped yesterday.

–Mike McCoy has started 10 of the team’s last 12 games, due in large to the absense of Brock Holt (who missed 3 games due to illness, then got promoted to the majors).  McCoy has eight hits in those ten games (8-for-33).

Finally, in case you missed it in last week’s PawSox Insider show, below is my interview with veteran reliever Rich Hill.  Rich has had to endure some personal tragedy in the past few months and we have him and his family in our thoughts and prayers as he continues to pitch for Pawtucket.

Hope you have a great start to your holiday weekend.  We’ll look for some wins to bring home from Syracuse!

Josh M