It was strange today to see Grant Green’s name somewhere other than the top of the batting average leaderboard. That’s because, as other players have shot up the charts and shot right back down, Green has been remarkably consistent.
Actually, I wrote that before I went through and looked at the numbers. After doing that, I would like to amend my statement. We’ll go with “absolutely, astoundingly consistent.”
The USC sophomore has started at shortstop in all but one of Chatham’s games (he got his first night off on Sunday). He has gone hitless in a game exactly three times. Three times in 31 games. And guess what? In the three games he went hitless, he still got on base via the walk. So, Grant Green has been on base in every game he’s played this summer.
That’s pretty incredible, and, I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize it was that incredible. I knew he was consistent, but sometimes when a top player is consistent (and when they’ve been on the Cape since day one) they get lost in the shuffle, at least for me. It’s ho-hum when Grant Green gets a hit.
When all is said and done this year, though, there won’t be anything ho-hum about Green’s summer. Right now, he’s on pace for strikingly similar numbers to those put up by last year’s MVP, Conor Gillaspie, who turned in one of the great offensive summers of the last decade.
Here’s the comparison:
Green – .397 AVG, 10 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 17 RBI, .620 SLG, .490 OBP
Gillaspie – .345 AVG, 12 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 22 RBI, .673 SLG, .448 OBP
With Green now batting in the middle of Chatham’s order, the RBI numbers should go up. I’d expect a few more home runs too, and if the average were to somehow stay that high . . . well, that’s a very, very special year.
Breaking Down the Cardinals
It’s still jarring to see that the best team in the league has the second-worst team batting average in the league. That’s where the Orleans Cardinals are, hovering at .225 despite their torrid July. They may have the most wins in the league, but eight teams have better averages. Seven have scored more runs.
But it’s all a little deceptive. As anyone who has kept tabs on the Cape League season knows, Orleans started unbelievably slow at the plate, with a team batting average stuck below .200 well into July.
Since then, the team average has jumped to .225, and that jump is evident up and down the lineup. A quick glance at the team stats page shows that only one Cardinal — Rich Poythress — is over .300 for the season. But the numbers look considerably better for everyone else when you take away the first two weeks.
Cole Figueroa is hitting .232 for the season but .333 this month. Nate Freiman is at .273 on the year, but .289 this month. It’s a similar story for Alex Hassan (.231/.271) and Tim Wheeler (.283/.293). In all, just about everybody on the roster has been hotter in July than they were in June.
When you combine that with impressive pitching — the Cardinals now lead in ERA — you get success. Of course, Orleans has given success a whole new meaning lately, what with the 16 wins this month. Sometimes things just start rolling and nothing can get in the way.
But while timely hits and clutch performances have been hallmarks of Orleans’ run, the driving force behind everything is that the team started to hit. So it might be fair to call Orleans one of the worst hitting teams in the league. It’s just not all that true anymore.
Notes
- If you look closely at the Cotuit boxscore from last night, you’ll notice something interesting. Mike Bianucci came into the game in the eighth inning as a pinch runner. This seems strange, since, you know, he signed a pro contract and isn’t on the team anymore. I’m inclined to think that this is a mistake in the boxscore, but I suppose it’s possible that Bianucci didn’t actually sign and is still on the Cape. He actually is still listed as unsigned in the Baseball America Draft Database. If anybody knows what the deal is, please share. Update: Cotuit broadcaster Josh Weinstock just let me know that it was a typo in the boxscore.
- One of the unfortunate consequences of Hyannis’ recent losing streak is that Russell Brewer’s chase for the saves record has come to a grinding halt. Brewer has been stuck on 11 for quite awhile, and he hasn’t had a chance to get any more. Brewer needs five saves to tie the record. Hyannis has only 12 games left.
- I thought it was an anomlay last year when only three pitchers finished the year with more than five wins. But it looks like we’re headed down a similar path this year. Two pitchers have four wins, but one (Tim Clubb) isn’t even on the Cape anymore. Considering the balance in the league this year, wins will probably be just as hard to come by down the stretch.
- Marc Krauss is hitting .415 and A.J. Pollock is hitting .400. This is very late in the season for two guys to have their averages that high. Last year around this time, batting champ Conor Gillaspie was hitting .356. As far as I can tell, no one has hit .400 this decade. The highest mark came in 2003, when J.C. Holt hit .388.
- Orleans catchers Travis Tartamella and Hampton Tignor are two of the best defensive catchers in the league, and they’ve also got quite the platoon going. Tartamella has played 17 games, while Tignor has played 18. They each have 49 at-bats, with Tignor posting one more hit.
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