Photo:MiLB.com
Sherman Johnson stayed hot after winning this award just two weeks ago. This time, the second baseman out of Florida State slashed .469/.541/1.031 with five longballs and nine RBIs. He was a huge part of the 66ers’ surge to the second-half title. Over the last 10 games of the season, Johnson batted .405 and scored 12 runs as Inland Empire made the playoffs.
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Posted in CAL LEAGUE NEWS
Tagged California League, inland Empire 66ers, Sherman Johnson
Photo: MiLB.com
Matt Flemer threw a four-hit shutout against Stockton to post his 13th win, second most in the Cal League. The right-hander from Cal stuck out nine and didn’t walk anybody in the season finale. It was a rough year for Modesto in the standings, but Flemer provided consistency over his 165 innings pitched. In each of his last four outings he went at least seven innings, walking just two and striking out 30 while going 3-1.
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Posted in CAL LEAGUE NEWS
Tagged California League, Matt Flemer, Modesto Nuts
Photo: Steve Cummings/CalLeagueHeat.com
Stockton’s Matt Olson and Modesto’s David Dahl are part of David Laurila’s SUNDAY NOTES piece tonight on Fangraphs.com. Olson leads the Cal League in homers with 37 and has walked a lofty 117 times, which pushes is OBP to .405. He checks in as the Oakland A’s #2 prospect by MLB.com’s rankings.
Dahl is the #10 overall pick from the 2012 draft and he slashed .302/.341/.496 for the lo-A Asheville Tourists in 89 games this season. Dahl played 29 games in Modesto before heading back to Asheville this week. Laurila’s piece has several quotes from the Alabama native.
FanGraphs.com is an invaluable resource of analytical baseball features. The way to look at this game is up to the consumer. You can take a nostalgic view (none of these guys can carry Mantle’s jock) and you can go strictly by the number-crunching ideology (WAR, etc.) Fangraphs asks pertinent questions, researches appropriately to get to answers, and does it all with an approach that would be enjoyable if you had the conversation with its writers in the bleachers. You can take a break to grab a soda mid-article. Watch an AB. The intelligent baseball discourse is always there. My favorite site, as you can tell.
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Posted in CAL LEAGUE NEWS
Tagged David Dahl, Matt Olson, Modesto Nuts, Stockton Ports
The Inland Empire 66ers became improbable second-half champions of the South division tonight with their third straight road win against Lancaster. With the 9-5 victory, Inland Empire clinched at least a tie for the division title.
The South was a .500-fest in the second half, and the 66ers’ late surge was good enough to force no worse than a tie with Lake Elsinore, should the Storm win on Monday while IE loses. But, per California League playoff procedures, the fact that the possible tie atop the division is with the Storm, which is already assured a playoff spot via the “best overall record” qualification, there would be no tie-breaker. Inland Empire is in:
“An additional regular-season game to determine the Second-half Champion or No. 3 Seed will be played only if a playoff berth is at stake, and it will be played on the day after the regular season concludes. If the tying teams are already assured of a playoff spot (Lake Elsinore is), then a game will not be played and the seeding will be determined by the tiebreaking procedure.”
That last sentence, regarding the seeding, yields the following provisos:
“In the case of a two-way tie for a half champion or overall best record (No. 3 Seed), the home team for the playoff game will be determined using the following criteria:
So, let’s see the slate of season finales on the holiday Monday and find out where the cards fall. Here’s what we have at this point:
NORTH DIVISION
Visalia (wildcard) and Stockton (2nd half champion) in the mini series.
Bakersfield (1st-half champion) plays the winner.
SOUTH DIVISION
Lake Elsinore (wildcard) and Inland Empire (2nd half champion) in the mini series.
Lancaster (1st half champion) plays the winner.
One more day of a full California League schedule and then, starting Wednesday…
IT’S PLAYOFF TIME!
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Posted in CAL LEAGUE NEWS
Tagged California League, inland Empire 66ers
The North division playoff spots are all filled as the Visalia Rawhide clinched the wildcard spot with a 12-3 win over Bakersfield last night. That result, combined with a 10-5 loss for San Jose against High Desert gave the Rawhide a 3-game lead with two to play.
Visalia hosts Stockton on Wednesday in Game 1 of the mini-series. First-half champion Bakersfield will play the winner of that best-of-three series.
Inland Empire is making a push for the South division second-half crown, having won three in a row and leap-frogging Lancaster to take over first place. The 66ers came into the weekend series a game behind the Jethawks, but after two wins at The Hangar, IE is now a game up on both Lancaster and Lake Elsinore. Rancho Cucamonga and High Desert are both eliminated from the second-half race, but HD holds a one-game lead over the Quakes in the wildcard race.
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Posted in CAL LEAGUE NEWS
Tagged California League, Visalia Rawhide
The final weekend of the regular season launched tonight and the remaining playoff spots didn’t get any clearer. One playoff berth is still available in each division and tonight’s developments mean we won’t have definitive answers until deep into the long weekend, if not tie-breaker territory.
In the North division, the San Jose Giants made up a game on the Visalia Rawhide for the wildcard spot with a 12-3 win over High Desert. The Rawhide gave up a big lead in Bakersfield and lost by a score of 9-8. The Giants moved to within two games of the Rawhide with three to play. The two half champions, Bakersfield (1st half) and Stockton (2nd half) are already in.
In the South division, Inland Empire pulled even with Lancaster in the second-half standings with a 12-8 victory while Rancho Cucamonga pulled even with High Desert for the wildcard spot. Lancaster (1st half champion) and Lake Elsinore (clinched best overall record if not a half-champion) are in. The uncertainty of the 2nd half champion makes the wildcard race a mess.
If you dare, the California League Playoff Procedures.
But one key point is that with Lancaster and Inland Empire tied, and with them playing each other for the remaining three games, there will be no tie for the 2nd half title between them. One will finish ahead of the other. If it is Inland Empire and they win the division, then the equation is solved. Lancaster (1st half), Inland Empire (2nd half) and Lake Elsinore (wildcard). If….
Aaahhhh, check back here tomorrow night.
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Posted in CAL LEAGUE NEWS
The regular season wraps up this holiday weekend, with everybody playing four-game sets from Friday through Monday. The playoff picture in the North is pretty straight-forward, but the South division is wide-open. At the risk of causing head-explosions, here’s a look at the playoff picture.
NORTH DIVISION
The two half-winners have been determined: Bakersfield (1st half) and Stockton (2nd half) are in. What’s still up for grabs is the wildcard spot, and that’s a two-team race between Visalia and San Jose. The Rawhide hold a 3-game lead on the Giants heading into the weekend.
SOUTH DIVISION
What’s clear at this point is that Lancaster is in as the first-half champion and Lake Elsinore is in as they have clinched the best overall record aside from the Jethawks. Therefore, Lake Elsinore is assured of a playoff spot and the fact that Lancaster has actually clinched the best overall record in the division doesn’t matter because they’re already in as a half-champion.
All that having been said, the second half title is still out there and nobody has been eliminated. Lancaster is currently in first place (34-32) with Inland Empire and Lake Elsinore (both 33-33) a game back. Rancho Cucamonga is three games back and High Desert is four games back with four to play.
Soooooo…..here’s the tricky part. From the Cal League Playoff Procedures webpage:
Mini-Series
(1-2 format)
* #2 Seed if Second-Half Champion is also the First-Half winner
The first-half champ skips the Mini-Series. If there is a repeat winner of both halves (possible in the South with Lancaster), then the team with the next-best overall record gets in. In that scenario, High Desert would join Lancaster and Lake Elsinore.
Also, Lake Elsinore could win the second-half title, which would have the same result of bringing in the next-best record as a wildcard, currently High Desert.
But Lake Elsinore is safe, even if they don’t win the second-half title.
Just like that. And…ummm…there are tie-breakers too.
It will be much easier to explain Monday night after all the slots are filled. But here are the season-ending four-game matchups:
INLAND EMPIRE @ LANCASTER
RANCHO CUCAMONGA @ LAKE ELSINORE
SAN JOSE @ HIGH DESERT
STOCKTON @ MODESTO
VISALIA @ BAKERSFIELD
Photo: MiLB.com
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – BRANDON SINNERY, RHP, VISALIA
Sinnery continued his strong second half with a complete game shutout of San Jose on Friday night. The right-hander out of Michigan allowed four hits and no walks to the Giants while improving his record on the season to 13-7. He has now won his last three starts and is 6-1 over his last 10 games as the Rawhide have surged into the North division wildcard lead.
Photo: MiLB.com
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – JABARI HENRY, HIGH DESERT
Henry launched three more homers last week to jump into second place in the Cal League, behind only Stockton’s Matt Olson. His .375/.483/.917 week included an 8-for-15 stretch with a couple of bombs at Lancaster and Modesto. After 29 games for High Desert in 2013 (.238/.336/.438), the 2012 18th-round draft pick is having the best year of his three minor-league seasons.
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Posted in CAL LEAGUE NEWS
Tagged Brandon Sinnery, California League, High Desert Mavericks, Jabari Henry, Visalia Rawhide
Photo: Steve Cummings/CalLeagueHeat.com
The California League recognized an impressive list of players and field staff with today’s announcement of the 2014 Postseason All-Star Team and Field Awards. Not only does the league acknowledge the outstanding players from the season, but they also tip the cap to a manager, coach, turf manager and a clubbie.
The MVP is SS Corey Seager, who excelled at Rancho Cucamonga before being promoted to AA Chatanooga in July. LHP Josh Hader was tabbed as Pitcher of the Year for what he did with Lancaster prior to his promotion to AA Corpus Christi. SS Jose Rondon earned Rookie of the Year honors while playing for Inland Empire, then joining Lake Elsinore after the Huston Street trade July 19th.
Stockton had its manager, Ryan Christenson, recognized as well as coach John Wasdin. Christenson picks up the honor in his first year as manager for the Ports.
Rancho Cucamonga’s Rex Whitney was named the circuit’s best Turf Manager while Lake Elsinore’s clubbie, Terrance Tucker, was also singled out for excellence.
Here’s the full list, as posted on MiLB.com:
| NAME | POS | TEAM | MLB ORG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roberto Pena | C | Lancaster | HOU |
| Matt Olson | 1B | Stockton | OAK |
| Tony Kemp | 2B | Lancaster | HOU |
| Renato Nunez | 3B | Stockton | OAK |
| Corey Seager* | SS | Rancho Cucamonga | LAD |
| Marquez Smith | UT | Bakersfield | CIN |
| Jordy Lara | DH | High Desert | SEA |
| Alex Glenn | OF | Visalia | ARI |
| Teoscar Hernandez | OF | Lancaster | HOU |
| Jabari Henry | OF | High Desert | SEA |
| Josh Hader† | LHP | Lancaster | HOU |
| Enrique Burgos | RHP | Visalia | ARI |
| Seth Streich | RHP | Stockton | OAK |
| Tyler DeLoach | LHP | Inland Empire | ANA |
| Jose Rondon | Rookie | Lake Elsinore | SD |
| Ryan Christenson | Manager | Stockton | OAK |
| John Wasdin | Coach | Stockton | OAK |
| Rex Whitney | Turf Manager | Rancho Cucamonga | LAD |
| Terrance Tucker | Clubbie | Lake Elsinore | SD |
* Most Valuable Player † Pitcher of the Year
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Posted in CAL LEAGUE NEWS
Tagged Corey Seager, Jose Rondon, Josh Hader
Photo: MiLB.com
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – VINCENT VELASQUEZ, RHP, LANCASTER
Velasquez shut out the High Desert Mavericks over six innings, striking out 11. Ranked my MLB.com as the #8 prospect in the Astros’ talent-rich system, Velasquez has bounced back from a groin injury that kept him out of action for two months. Over 46 innings pitched for Lancaster, Velasquez has a 6-2 record with a low ERA of 2.54.
Photo:MiLB.com
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – SHERMAN JOHNSON, 2B, INLAND EMPIRE
Johnson batted .652/.750/1.087 for the week, going 15-for-23 over six games. The 2012 14th-round draft pick had at least two hits in all six games, including three games with three hits. He also hit his 12th triple of the season, extending his Cal League lead over RC’s Robbie Garvey, who has nine.
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Posted in CAL LEAGUE NEWS
Tagged California League, inland Empire 66ers, Lancaster Jethawks, Sherman Johnson, Vincent Velasquez
