Grape Jelly Series Recap

The Biscuits fell to the Smokies on Saturday and with it dropped the five game set to end the Grape Jelly Series. It was a well-fought contest that saw Montgomery's new rotation take shape and featured an historic performance from Tyler Goeddel.


Series Recap
Game One
Smokies 8 Biscuits 0

Soto dives back

Biscuits get shut out by Ivan Pineyro - the Smokies starter pitched himself into the scouts notes, he was a main cog in the Cubs-Marlins trade for Dan Haren.

Going along with Ivan will be Elliot Soto, the Smokies leadoff man.

Taylor Guerrieri

It was the double-A debut for new Biscuit Taylor Guerrieri. The Rays top pick in 2011 was dropped into the Montgomery starting rotation with mixed results.

Taylor G

Taylor was limited to 75 pitches and used them to give up four runs on six hits in just three innings, but showed flashes of brilliance with four strikeouts.

For a guy on the TommyJuan comeback trail, it was a positive outing even though it didn't result in a win.

Kyle McPherson

The Bullpen report was good/bad/good as we saw Mortensen/McPherson/Markel.

Its tough to blame a reliever when the hitters don't score a run, so the four runs surrendered isn't blame-worthy. If you are gonna give up four runs, doing it in a game the team is already out of is the time to do it!

Silver Lining on this one - the good relief outings by Jared Mortensen and Parker Markel. For Morty it was a soft landing after his long trip to Pan Am for the Games there. For Markel it was a nice confidence boost after giving up runs in each of his last three appearances.
 

Game Two
Smokies 5 Biscuits 2 
Military Wednesday
Kirsch-mas in July

Pierce Johnson

SP Chris Kirsch

Tenn posted five runs in the first three frames and the Biscuits were never able to close the gap.

Smokies pitching prospect Pierce Johnson (and his flowing locks) stymied the Skitz, allowing just one run in seven strong.

The Montgomery pitchers were challenged early and often, with the starter Chris Kirsh chased after just two innings.

Jeff Ames

The Bullpen report would sound no better, with Sappington/Ames/Lollis taking two innings of mop-up duty each, leaving Brad Schrieber to pitch the ninth. For Ames, it was his Riverwalk debut and he had yet to have his name inscribed on his uniform.

Biscuit hitters of note are Dayron Varona and Johnny Field. Field doubled in the fourth inning to drive in Cameron Seitzer and open the Biscuits scoring. Dayron Varona welcomed Smokies reliever Peralta with a homerun in the 8th inning but Montgomery would never really threaten.

Dayron Varona

Silver Lining here is seeing Johnny Field driving in runs. The Biscuits need Field to produce and break out of the slump he was in. 

Tommy LaStella

Other Silver Lining was seeing the Cubs infielder Tommy LaStella. Tommy was with the club on a rehab assignment and had a good game but would sit out the rest of the series.

LaStella is a good guy and a solid player, it was cool to get to see him again in Montgomery. He said he remembered me from being here when he was a Braves minor leaguer. Very cool!

Game Three
Thirsty Thursday
The Tyler Goeddel Game
Biscuits 4 Smokies 3

The Pregame was cool - a soldier returning from overseas duty dressed as the catcher for the first pitch tossed by his son. Mom and Dad seemed to get more out of it than the kid, who was pretty much chill with it all. 

Game on -
Joey Rickard stole two bags, Jacob Faria stuck out six, Ryan Garton vultured his fifth win. But the game was Tyler Goeddel. When Goeddel started off the second inning with a liner to short, nobody knew Tyler was on his way to an historic performance at the plate.

Tyler Goeddel

Yet as Goeddel batted in the 4th he drove a liner over the wall in left center, in the sixth he sent a ball off the jumbotron in centerfield and finally in the eighth inning he stroked an offering into the deepest part of the yard - they all had the same result.

Goeddel welcomed after #3

A three homer game is rare indeed, Tyler Goeddel etched his name into Biscuits records with the clouts and posted the team to its first victory of the series.

As mentioned, Faria was excellent. Again. He should have tallied the win and pitched well enough to have earned it. A fine pitcher who deserves more respect than he is currently getting, it won't take long before everyone knows his name.

Sp Jacob Faria

Ryan Garton

Bullpen Report - Ryan Garton surrendered two unearned run, but he had pitched himself into trouble with two outs before the error allowed men to cross the plate and tie the game.

Closer Brad Schrieber

Garton did settle down and toss two more clean innings before handing off to closer Brad Schrieber who nailed down the W.

Game Four
Friday Night No-Hitter Alert
Biscuits 7 Smokies 4

Sp Jamie Schultz

The Biscuits bats finally showed up in this one and the pitching backed it up. Jamie Schultz brought his good stuff, offering up nine strikeouts in six innings and not allowing anyone a hit. He walked three but was pulled after he tossed 90+ pitches.


THREE BAGGER FIESTA
Seitzer and O'Conner each had a pair of 2 RBI triples to lead the charge. Yes, I said Cameron Seitzer and Justin O'Conner both had a triple, with both driving in two runs on their three baggers. Often called "The most exciting play in baseball" these are two of the least likely suspects for three base hits and yet it occurred in the same game!

Other contributors were Bauers, Rickard and Goeddel, who each drove in a run. For Goeddel it was his 50th run batted in of the season.

Tommy Coyle eyes Jake Bauers show hair

 

Matt "Big Show" Lollis

Bullpen Report - McPherson's struggles continued, the fan favorite giving up three earned in his one inning of work.

Matt Lollis took the next turn and pitched well in the 8th but was knocked around in his second inning and had to be lifted with two outs.

Mark Sappington got the final out to earn his third save of the year.

It should be noted that Brady Williams has been going out to the mound and taking the ball from his pitchers mid-inning. Before this homestand the fans at Riverwalk often joked that it was a Biscuits rule that a pitcher had to finish the inning, no matter how many runs he gave up.

Brady on his way to the mound

Game Five
Saturday Fireworks Train-Delay
Smokies 5 Biscuits 4

The rubber game of the set was a hard fought affair, with both teams finding issue with the umpiring crew throughout the series and Brady Williams nearly getting thrown out on the final day. Twice.

Williams debates the chalk with an umpire

Indeed, the Biscuits were unable to overcome the bad calls and fell to the Smokies. After the game the fireworks were delayed for 15minutes due to a passing train, which kept the fire marshall on edge and left the fans watching Frozen and muppets shorts on the jumbotron.

Jared "Canadian Biscuit" Mortensen

Jared Mortensen started and gave up one run in each of the first three frames. The Canadian Biscuit looked to have the game in hand with a one run lead, but when Albert Almora doubled to lead off the fifth inning trouble loomed.

The Smokies tied the game, then took the lead when Morty bounced a ball that catcher O'Conner was unable to corral.

Cameron Seitzer hit his ninth home run, a no-doubt two run jack to right field. Joey Rickard drove in a pair of runs out of the leadoff spot, doubling in a pair of runs then scoring himself on the Seitzer homer. All the Skitz scoring was done in the 3rd inning.

Parker Markel

Bullpen Report - Jeff "#28" Ames gave the Skitz two scoreless innings, struck out a pair but gave up three hits.

Parker Markel pitched two frames to close out the game, allowing no runs despite pitching in pretty heavy traffic with two hits and two walks.


Silver Lining  - Markel pitching well, Seitzer getting his average over .300, Joey Rickard staying hot at the plate, Brady Williams not having a stroke.


Extracurricular - I had the chance to meet Ben Hill, the author of Bens Biz Blog and the bloggerking of the baseball interwebs.

Ben Hill, blogger hard at work

He was very cool to talk with and had a nice easy way of talking that led me to use the word "surreptitiously" in conversation.

If you haven't checked out his blog, please do so, he covers the best - and worst - of minor league baseball and its promotions.

He was full of info and I enjoyed getting the chance to meet the man after having read his blog. 

Very fun and cool stuff!

The second trip to the same ump

Putting Things in Order, Biscuits/Southern League News

BISCUITS NEWS
 LEAGUE SKED OUT THIS WEEK
Look for the 2016 Southern League Schedule to be released as soon as today.  It has been approved by all the affiliate farm directors and is ready for public consumption.


I spoke with Biscuits GM Scott Trible and he was very optimistic about next year's schedule with the exception of one item in the month of June. Or rather, the lack of. The Skitz only get one Saturday game in the entire month!

The Biscuits drew Sunday July 3rd for their Independence Day celebration next summer - teams in the Southern league are assured a home game on either the 3rd or the 4th of July.

RETURN OF THE JEDI BISCUIT
Star Wars night was very popular and will return in 2016. "Pretty much a permanent thing" on the calendar for the Biscuits, said Trible. It seemed a very popular theme and even the players got to have some fun with it. How popular? We may see a Biscuits version of the themed jerseys worn by other milb teams for their Star Wars promotional nights.

Mark Sappington engages the dark side

RICKWOOD?

No word yet of the Biscuits appearing in the Rickwood Classic. After being rained out in 2006, Montgomery has yet to return to the scene of the annual throwback game to end all throwback games.

Montgomery v Birmingham, July 4 1906

The Bham team/Friends of Rickwood own the classic Montgomery uniforms that could be used, so its just a matter of getting the timing right for a recreation of the inaugural game played at the oldest ballpark in America, Rickwood Field.



BISCUITS AND SWEET TEA

Next summer when we are enjoying a southern sweet tea or perhaps an Arnold Palmer - a half-and-half mix of Lemonade and sweet tea from the Lemonade Stand, we can thank Dr.Miraculous for suggesting it.

Gm Trible said he was kind of surprised they hadn't offered it on the concourse already and calling it "a really solid suggestion" that should happen.


FAUXBACK NIGHT
The Biscuits will be announcing their promotional schedule in the very near future and one of the big events that it includes is a "Fauxback Day" with a Biscuits throwback-style jersey. Of course the uniform tops will be auctioned for charity following the game.

In a clear nod to the Tampa Rays fauxback uniforms, this could be a recurring thing on the calendar if it draws fans attention. I am pretty excited about it, as it could be a great looking themed jersey that would return in the future.

Matt Moore in Rays fauxback uniform

NOT YET TIME
The Biscuits front office have yet to finalize a decision on the Sherry Myers bobblehead giveaway.

The team will not be wearing "Miss Gravy" themed jerseys next year, in spite of me starting rumors to the contrary.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR 

special edition

Look for me to make an appearance on the field at some point during the next week or two. I had asked around if I could help drag the infield and must have been convincing, I have been told it will happen!

 Its always cool to get a chance to get out onto the diamond, even more so if its during a game without security guards in pursuit (no that hasn't happened, at least not yet!)

PUTTING THINGS IN ORDER

Dayron Varona

When Dayron Varona batted second in the lineup Wednesday, a discussion erupted about the Biscuits and who should hit where in the lineup.

Roster sheets were passed around and an informal poll was taken, assigning numbers to each player as to where they should hit in the batting order. It was pretty much easily agreed, a consensus not hard to reach among the informed fans surveyed.

BISCUITS BATTING ORDER
Here then, the results of the fan poll:

1 Rickard/Goeddel
2 Reginatto
3 Varona
4 Bauers/Seitzer
5 Leonard
6 O'Conner
7 Field
8 Coyle
9 Querecuto

The maths* seem to disagree with the fans choice in many instances, as we shall see!
*small sample size caveat 

Top of the Order

Joey Rickard

1 - Leadoff Man
Rickard/Goeddel - both getting votes for batting first and with good reason as both have spent time in the leadoff spot this year.

While enjoying the "Blanco Suave" nickname and having a great season, Joey Rickard's average is almost 15 points lower when leading off an inning. He is often employed as the Skitz leadoff hitter, but Joey Rickard has better numbers when batting second, hitting fifteen points higher than when he bats first.

Tyler Goeddel

The other popular fan choice for leadoff hitter, Tyler Goeddel hits .375 when batting either sixth or eighth in the order.

Voters love the speed from both these guys, but the digits indicate they both have better at bats when hitting lower in the batting order.


2 The Number Two Hitter

Leonardo Reginatto

Reginatto  - Reggie hits just .259 when leading off an inning, his batting average rises the lower he hits in the order from .250s batting second all the way to .368 when hitting seventh.

Decent speed and decent pop make fans want to see him hitting higher in the order but the Brazilian obviously prefers hitting in the second half of the lineup.

Dayron Varona

3 Third Man Up
Varona - as mentioned, the inspiration for the poll was Dayron Varona, who has been inserted up and down the batting order and hit everywhere. Varona was the nearly unanimous choice to hit third, though one informed voter was adamant that Dayron should be in the fifth spot in the batting order.

Batting .297 for Montgomery, the Havana Biscuit sees more time in the three spot than anywhere else. It looks like Brady Williams agrees with the crowdsourced batting order on this one, and so does the mathematics as Varona hits a robust .316 when batting third.


Heart of the Order

Jake Bauers

4 CleanUp Man
Bauers/Seitzer -with a pair of left-handed slugging first basemen, its tough to find at bats for both of them. Often one will be in the lineup at first base, with the other acting as the designated hitter while Brady tries to get them both on the field in some way.

Hot swinging Jake Bauers hits .322 batting sixth and hasn't occupied any other spot but that one since the start of the second half. With the StoneCrabs, Jake only batted 4th and posted a .267 average in the cleanup role.

Cameron Seitzer

The other cleanup hitter choice, Cameron Seitzer is a guy who can hit just about anywhere in the batting order, but the stats say he is best hitting third, where he posts a .341 average with six of his eight homeruns this year.

After skipping high-A, some high-expectation fans seem a little down on Cameron this year, but he is having a fine season hitting near .300 with eight homers so far. He would have higher totals but has had to share playing time first with Leonard and now with Bauers.

Patrick Leonard

5 The Protection Guy
Leonard - Patrick Leonard has turned it on of late, batting to a .367 clip since the AllStar break. Usually penciled in 4th or 6th in the batting order, we picked him as a good number five guy to drive in runs.

While Leonard does hit well in the five spot (.344) he has the best stats batting seventh where he posts a whopping .379 average in more than 15 games. If that ain't enough, his OPS when batting 7th is a very stout 1.046, so there.


6 The Six-Hitter
O'Conner - the catching prospect has played well and in the second half Justin O'Conner has really picked up the bat, swatting a .275 average since the break.

Justin O'Conner

Again the numbers tell us we are wrong to hit him where we would think he belongs, as he slugs just .410 batting sixth and one would expect a six hitter to be a doubles guy.

Stats say Justin is way better when hitting second! In seven games in the 2hole O'conner has a .300 average and a higher OPS there than when batting at any other place in the order.


Bottom of the Order

7

Johnny Field Jr

Field Jr - Since the homerun derby, the Biscuits slugger hasnt looked quite the same at the plate and the informal survey lists him lower in the order than it might have six weeks ago.

Johnny Field has been in the lineup at just about every spot, in part due to his versatility and in part in an effort to get him going again in the second half.

Most often he has batted fourth with success (.255/8hr/33rbi in 54 games) and when batting sixth he does better (.317/3hr/9rbi in 10 games). But when he is down in the 8th place in the batting order, he really hits (.391avg in 7 games). Batting in the seventh spot is the worst of the bunch (.133 in five games) so the fans choice doesn't float when the decision is figured with an abacus.

Tommy Coyle

8 The Eighth Spot
Coyle - the second baseman is having a tough summer, batting much below his ability. This likely affected voters opinion, some of whom voiced the opinion that he should be hitting near the top of the order if he were going right.

Often hitting 8th (.211avg) or 9th (.242avg) in Brady Williams batting order this year, Tommy Coyle should be in the 7th spot where he is hitting .289avg with a monster .936OPS.


9 NL Pitchers Spot/Second Leadoff Man

Juniel Q

Querecuto - struggling with the Skitz at just .202 this year, JuneQ has put the ball in play more often in July, hitting .242 this month. Still, Brady has not yet put him anywhere but the bottom of the order where he can utilize his speed as the "second lead-off man".

In Charlotte JuneQ hit leadoff in more than a dozen games and posted a solid .340 average. If you can't hit him first, it makes sense to hit him ninth and fans were in agreement with the stats on this one.

ODD NUMBERS
Jake Bauers hits better when behind in the count (.313) than he does when ahead in the count (.222).

Patrick Leonard is batting .500 is six extra innings at bats.

Since his promotion from Low-A Bowling Green where he had 18sb in parts of the last two seasons, Juniel Querecuto has only stolen one base.

Opponents hit .385 off of Matt Lollis when he falls behind in the count but have just a .185 batting average when the Big Show gets ahead in the count.

What We Learned Tuesday - With Nicknames!

Just a quick blog to offer up a few items of info for fans - including nicknames where known.

TAYLOR G

Taylor Guerrieri throws his first pitch in double-A

Indeed it was Taylor Guerrieri pitching in game one of the series, just as we suspected.

 Guerrieri looked to be on a 70-75 pitch leash. He was knocked around, but probably won't be removed from the starting role no matter how he pitches.

The Rays top pick in 2011 was sidelined with TJ surgery and will be brought along carefully. His first outing wasn't pretty, but showed signs of the good stuff.

We don't yet have a nickname for Taylor.
Yet.

 
CANADIAN BACON BISCUIT

Jared Mortensen was the reliever who came in to soak up long innings, the Canadian Bacon Biscuit could be a good pitching platoon partner for TaylorG.

A strike thrower and innings eater, Mortensen deserves a place in the rotation but is simply squeezed out by all the good arms on the Biscuits staff.


TWITTERH8R
Jaimie "Twitterh8r" Schultz will not miss a start.
The league strikeout leader wore a comebacker in his last outing but it was just a flesh wound and won't cause him to miss a turn.


THE BANDIT

Austin Pruitt

Austin Pruitt will miss a start.
The Southern League Innings Pitched leader was placed on the disabled list, conveniently dropping the roster to 25. The Bandit will miss at least one start.
Pruitt's ailment is unknown to us right now. 


SMOKIES DAN HURT
The Smokies slugging first baseman Dan Vogelbach is on the DL with a strained oblique. No word on when he might return.
Biscuit fans don't mind.

Tommy Coyle launches a double

BLANCO SUAVE

Joey "Blanco Suave" Rickard

Outfielder Joey Rickard "kinda likes" his fan-given nickname - Blanco Suave.

Currently third in the league in hitting and just missing the top ten in stolen bases, Blanco Suave es en fuego por los Galletas.


BIG EASY RETURN TO SL?
New Orleans is likely to be the next city in the Southern League, according to the rumor going around the league. This would mean a step down for the Crescent City, who currently hosts a triple-A team. Mobile or Jackson Tn would be likely candidates for a move.