APRIL IN REVIEWThe Hickories picked up where they left off, going an amazing
25 and 2 to start the season. They have a sizable 12 game lead over Yankees, who they have yet to play, and won all 8 games they played against the Red Sox, who are tied with the Blue Jays for last place in the AL East.
Their two losses came and the third game of their first series against the Orioles and their first game against their first series against the White Sox.
TOP PERFORMANCES, HIGHLIGHTS, AND LOW LIGHTS
4/1: OPENING DAY DUEL. In a tight pitching duel against Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, opening day starter Gabe Kotter allowed just one run through 6–1/3 innings of work, but could not collect the win, in part because the Hickories tried too hard to make things happen, with Vandelay and Mayes Hayes getting thrown out trying to stretch singles into doubles in the same inning. The Hickories did pull ahead and win the game in the late innings.
4/2: DAY TWO IS A DAY OF FIRSTS. Buck Rogers hits the first Hickory home run of 2010, and Lincecum pitches the 1st complete game of 2010, shutting out the Blue Jays for the final eight innings
4/4: SHORT STINT. David Cohen's first start in 2010 is a forgettable one, as he exits after allowing three runs to the Red Sox in just 2–1/3 innings of work. In that high-scoring game, more balls are fielded by the Red Sox centerfielder than by the Red Sox entire infield
4/7: POWER SURGE IN BOSTON. With all the Red Sox starters in gray condition, the Red Sox show that they have a lack of quality middle relievers, as the Hickories hit six homeruns, half of them by Buck Rogers. The Red Sox were forced to use every reliever on the roster, including closer Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth inning with the Red Sox down by eight runs, as only one of the Red Sox relievers were able to complete a second inning. The combined batting lines for Brian McCann, Buck Rogers, and David Banner: 11/17, 2–2B, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 8R.
4/11: BEATEN BY SPEED. The Hickories first loss of the year comes on a blown save against the division rival Orioles when Carl Crawford hits an RBI infield single in the bottom of the 9th.
4/14: GOOD START. Before coming out of the game with elbow pains, Syd Fernandez throws 5–1/3 innings of no-hit baseball against the Red Sox. Post-game test results were negative.
4/15: TURN IT UP TO 11. In a tight pitching duel that began with Manzanilla facing the Red Sox Carpenter, the Hickories used four pitchers and David Banner hit the winning RBI in the bottom of the 11th inning. Final score: two – one, Hickories
4/20: LONG-LASTING. in his longest pitching performance of his career, 2008 second round draft pick Manzanilla takes a three hit shutout into the 8th, racking up five strikeouts in the process. 2009 rookie of the year Duane Schneider allowed the Mariners to load the bases with one out, but escaped on a rare double-play ball hit into by Ichiro, and maintained the shut out until the end of the game.
4/27: MCCANN CAN: in the third game of their series against the White Sox, the Hickories score 4 runs in the first six innings, all coming on McCann’s three homeruns
The Hickories swept the AL player of the month awards. Brian McCann (440, 13 HR, 32 RBI) was named player of the month while Inigo Montoya (11 saves, 1.69 ERA, 3K) was named pitcher and relief pitcher of the month
Brian McCann was one of the players of the week ending 4/11, during which he batted 618 with 6 homeruns and 15 RBIs
For the week ending 4/18, Hickory's swept the AL player of the week awards. Shortstop Way Cool Junior averaged 560 with 4 RBIs and numerous stolen bases while David Cohen pitched twice, earned two wins with a 0.87 ERA and 10 strikeouts
For the week ending 5/2, the Hickories, again, swept the AL Player of the Week awards. Buck Rogers hit 448 with 5 homeruns and 10 RBIs while Art Vandelay hit 313 with 4 homeruns, 11 RBIs, and several stolen bases.
The Hickories pushed 160 runners across the plate, which
ties them for the seventh most effective offense in the majors, but considering that their 345 hits, 53 stolen bases and 51 homeruns leads the majors by wide margins, those stats show that
the Hickories are not hitting well in the clutch.On an individual basis, the offense seems to be in mid-season form with the exception of
last years home run leader (3b Lebowski) and the World Series MVP (RF Banner) who are hitting well in spurts, but are well off their prior season averages. David Banner has a current batting average of 286, which is actually significantly higher than it was earlier in the month, and Jeff Lebowski started the season hovering around 200 before a late month surge brought him up to his current 315 average.
Brian McCann, Way Cool Junior, and Buck Rogers are first, second, and forth in the majors with 440, 433, and 411 batting averages, respectively.
Brian McCann, Buck Rogers, and Art Vandelay are first, second, and tied for fourth with 13, 12, and 9 homeruns, respectively.
Brian McCann and Buck Rogers are first and second with 32 and 30 RBIs, respectively
Art Vandelay leads the league with 28 runs scored.
Way Cool Junior and Mays Hayes are first and second with 14 and 12 stolen bases, while Vandelay and David Banner are tied for third with 11 stolen bases
Arts Vandelay (CCCDDD), has been a revelation in the leadoff spot, driving in 18 runs while hitting 9 homeruns, including the longest homerun hit by a Hickory so far this season (475'). He also has four doubles and three triples already. He, Brian McCann and Buck Rogers have been the only batters to consistently hit well in the clutch in the opening month. Word has it that Willie Mays Hayes (CDBCDD) is not complaining about batting out of the second hole, but is unhappy about losing his leadoff spot.
The
pitching staff allowed 84 runs to cross the plate, surrendering 15 home runs in the first month and posting a team ERA of 3.01, which are all league bests. Their 194 team strikeouts is 30 strikeouts better then the second place division rival Yankees but is only tied for 17th best in the majors.
Last years pitcher of the year, Kotter, and Lincecum have been consistently solid, while the rest of the staff has kept runs off the scoreboard without looking consistently sharp.
Roy Hobbs (94 CB HSL-3, SCB-2, SP-4, HSK-4): in his first season, Hobbs pitched his way off the starting rotation and off the major-league roster. Last season, he lost his spot in the rotation, but stayed on the roster for much of the year. This year, he started in the minors and was called up when the successful Morris Buttermaker developed a tired arm, and he has been a revelation, accumulating 4 wins and pitching well out of the middle relief/spot starter’s roll with an ERA of under four
Gabe Kotter has the second lowest ERA in the majors at 1.17
In
Enigo Montoya leads the league with 11 saves, 4 better than Francisco Rodriguez and Jonathan Broxton
A member of the Hickories front office who is not authorized to speak on behalf of the team, indicated that the front office was really hoping that Enochs wins out over Encyclopedia Brown, allowing Brown to serve as the main utility infielder over Edgardo Alfonso (EEDBCC). Players on the team who were only willing to speak anonymously have expressed there hope for Brown to win out, mainly due to his success after stepping in after the All-Star break last year and performing successfully. Pitchers, in particular, seem to have more confidence in Brown's abilities at 2nd.
Enochs was given the start and beginning of the month after a solid spring, but he struggled so poorly offensively that he was sent down for Brown. Brown also struggled, but may have had an edge on Enochs because of his smoother fielding ability, but when Enochs was called up a second time, he consistently got on base, showing doubles power to both fields, and was successful batting out of the second slot in addition to the back end of the order.
A comparison of their stats through the first month of the season:
Enochs (CDDCCC), over 17 games with 59 AB: 305, 4–2B, 7RBI, 7R, 2K
Brown (DEDCCD), over 13 games and 37 AB: 243, 5R