Home for Ten, Hager Owns It, Baseball Cards, Farm Report

BISCUITS VS TENNESSEE
Once again the Skitz slugged it out in the Volunteer State, facing the Lookouts in a five game set. Dropping the series, the Biscuits had every opportunity to win it but saw it slip away in the last innings.

Taylor Guerrieri

In the series vs the Lookouts the Skitz were winning on even numbered days and losing on the odd dates. The big game came on Saturday, it was a highlight reel for the Montgomery nine.

The Biscuits scored a dozen and dealt the Noogas a one-hit shutout on Saturday night. Not just the game of the series, it was one of the biggest games of the year so far with Taylor Guerrieri and Buddy Borden combining on a near no hitter. In the end it was a one-hit shutout.

Hager, Bauers and JuneQ all went deep in the big contest, each driving in three runs apiece to lead the charge.

Outscoring the Lookouts 28-16 in the series, Montgomery slips to three games behind Jackson in the loss column.

No worries, the Biscuits host Jackson in six games starting May 25th, a chance to take care of their own business just three weeks ahead of the end of the first half.

  
MONTH OF APRIL
It was a huge month for the Montgomery team leading off the 2016 season. The Biscuits were 13 wins against 9 losses in the first month of the season. Montgomery only lost three games at home in April, winning seven.

How big was it, Goetzman?

The only significant roster move was a lone Chi-Wei Hu spot start in Durham before being sent back.

Chris Kirsch missed one start with a sore side, but returned to the rotation to make his next start.

Jared Mortensen made the short-notice starts for both Hu and Kirsch, providing a valuable lift to the team. In his two starts Morty struck out ten men in just 6.2 innings. Even better in relief, Jared allowed just two hits and struck out 14 in five games out of the pen, opponents batting just .057 off him.

Granden Goetzman leads the team with a .368 BABIP, when he gets the ball in play he has the most success in getting on base safely.

Querecuto hit two circuit clouts in April, which is double his previous career total. Last year he had one home run, an inside the park job.

Marjama knows how big it really was

HAGER OWNS IT 

yeah, he owns it

Jake Hager is back, settling into the second spot in the batting order and playing all over the infield.

His .311 average is good enough to lead the club, but he loves hitting at home where he bats at a whopping .433 clip.


The numbers for Hager are huge in the first month - .385BA when he is ahead in the count, .330BA with runners in scoring position, .462BA w/runner at first, .330BA with none out.

They all add up to "Dude rakes".

Oh, and its useless to bring in a reliever against him, he hits .320 vs lefties!

Two Jakes for the Biscuits, Bauers and Hager

BISCUITS VS BARONS
One of the oldest rivalries in the league kicks off at Riverwalk on Wednesday for five games, the first half of a ten game homestand.

Game One
Danish vs Hu
Craft Beer Fest

Game Two
Guerrero vs Faria
Cinco De Mayo/Thirsty Thursday

Game Three
Fullmer vs Guerrieri
Kids Eat Free

Game Four
Holmberg vs Stanek
Massive Fireworks & Military Appreciation Night

Game Five
TBA (Blair Walters?) vs Kirsch
Sunday Bark in the Park & Kids Day

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

 

It will be easy to look for Sox prospects, a large number of players on the Barons team will be given opportunities to win jobs in Chicago over the next season or two.

Look for Biscuits long balls, Montgomery leads the Southern League in circuit clouts.

Be sure to look for the White Sox top prospect, right handed pitcher Carson Fullmer. The pale hose have much hope for the young hurler, his fastball sits in the mid-90s and is offset by a power curve. He faces Rays prospect Taylor Guerrieri in a huge Friday night tilt.

Look for Chi-Wei Hu to try to extend his streak of 24 innings without giving up an earned run.

The Biscuits will look to continue their home success, the Barons are a league-worst 4-11 on the road.

Look for Biscuit baserunners, only Mobile allows more opposing men on the bags than the Slagtown team.

Barons always look to challenge catchers, Bham is second in stolen bases with 27 with only 7 caught stealing.

Biscuit pitchers will be trying to figure out the Barons big three - Delmonico/Peter/Pina, all three have .300+ batting averages and are among the league leaders in that category.

Barons infielder Nicky Delmonico leads the league in doubles with 9, its easy to guess he will be looking for another two-bagger in Montgomery.

Look for me to kick back and drink a few beers this series after working hard in the first month to get photos of every player!

BARONS PROSPECT RATING
The Barons are chock full of top guys, their roster has 10 of the top 30 prospects in the WhiteSox system.
The role call:
Carson Fuller at #1, outfielder Adam Engel is rated #4, 5th is 3B Trey Michaelczewski, LHP Jorhdan Guerrero ranks 6th, injured OF Courtney Hawkins ranks 9th, #11 is pitcher Tyler Danish, 12th is Lefty pitcher Brian Clark, SS/2B Jake Peter is ranked #19, Robinson Leyer RHP at 22 and #25 SS Eddy Alvarez.

Courtney Hawkins starts the year on the DL but last summer he hit a moving train with a homer at Riverwalk.

All told the Barons PRAT comes to 153, though it would jump up should Hawkins be activated.


DOWN ON THE FARM
The StoneCrabs are currently 12-12, which puts them in fourth place in their division, two games behind the leader in a close early race.

The Crabs are led by Justin Williams .313 batting average and three players have eight RBI's to top the team list - Alec Sole, Mac James and Grant Kay. Jace Conrad leads the Crabs with five stolen bases.

Pitchers Brent Honeywell, Kyle Bird and Yonny Chirinos all have two wins and excellent numbers yet trail Greg Harris in the wins category. Chirinos two victories have come in relief.

Port Charlotte leads the FSL in ERA, has allowed the fewest bases on balls and is second in WhIP ratio.

Brent Honeywell has a great line 2wins, 0.89ERA, 31K/4BB in 30.1 innings pitched.


UMPCAMP
Ever wondered what that ump was thinking? We have a chance to find out at the Umpire Camp at Riverwalk on May 14th. Hosted by MLB it is a full day of learning on the field and if you are like me and cant wait to spend five hours in the sun the day after the ten-game homestand, then be sure to sign up!

BEER APP?
I asked but haven't heard back yet on if/when this glorious idea is going to be in use at Biscuits games. However, we are on the list when I scroll down the page on the website, so I can only hope that we already can put this into action.

I will know for sure in the next day or two, if for some insane reason we aren't part of this promotion, I am pondering starting a petition!


BASEBALL CARDS
Last summer Jared Mortensen mentioned that he wasn't happy with his Biscuits baseball card. His card from 2014 shows him in the bullpen, even though he was a starting pitcher only at that time, and an All-Star at that. "It was the only day I even sat in the 'pen!" he told me, wishing he had a card with a better picture.

Even his 2015 card wasn't much better, using the classic Show-The-Ball pose.

While Morty's card may have held a premonition of his future in the bullpen as a knucklballer, someone else must have agreed that a different eye might jazz up the Biscuits baseball cards. So this year I was asked to submit some pics for the cards!

I am really excited about the opportunity, I have been looking at baseball cards since I was about four years old now I get to see them with my pics, absolutely cool.

I put in two or three shots of each player for consideration. If you have been to a game you probably saw me lurking behind the net with my camera instead of my usual 1b seat.

The challenges were fun ones, learning a new lens and shooting for someone else instead of just my own blog. I just hope everyone likes them and that I didn't make anyone look too goofy!

#BULLPEN LIFE