Bill on Baseball: Hoppers Look for Bright Spots in Losses
It isn't easy to watch your team take its lumps night after night, but Hoppers manager Todd Pratt has to look beyond the numbers.His club fell to Delmarva for the third straight game Saturday, 7-3. Overall, it was the Hoppers' fifth straight loss, their ninth straight at First National Bank
It isn't easy to watch your team take its lumps night after night, but Hoppers manager Todd Pratt has to look beyond the numbers.
His club fell to Delmarva for the third straight game Saturday, 7-3. Overall, it was the Hoppers' fifth straight loss, their ninth straight at First National Bank Field and their 18th in 23 games in August.
One reason, of course, is the youth of the position players. At the beginning of August, the Miami Marlins promoted three players who were drafted out of high school in June. While they've done some good things, at times they are overmatched. On Saturday, Connor Scott, Osiris Johnson and Will Banfield were a combined 0-for-12.
"I understand that people in the stands would say 'this team stinks' if they look at the numbers," Pratt said. "We're getting outplayed but we're not playing bad. It would be a different story if we were. They're still hustling and playing hard.
"We'll let them play and as long as they're learning, they're developing."
Defense is an area that tends to show if a team is just going through the motions. Saturday, the Hoppers turned a pair of double plays and made some fine plays in the field. Left fielder
The offense continues to struggle and in particular is unable to score early. In each of the three games against the Shorebirds, the Hoppers have fallen behind 5-0 and that hole has been too deep for a team that hasn't scored more than three runs in seven straight games. Greensboro has generated just 14 hits in the series.
Delmarva's offense Saturday was carried by three players -
The big blow was a three-run homer by Ripken in the fourth inning off starter
Hock gave up five runs in his stint, but gave the Hoppers seven innings.
"He had a good breaking ball early, lost it in the fourth and fifth innings and found it again," said pitching coach Mark DiFelice. "He finished with two good innings and that shows what he can do when he has his secondary stuff."
Delmarva starter
Other than that, and an RBI double by
The series wraps up Sunday at 4 p.m. with
NOTES: Ripken - yes, he's Cal's son but hits and throws left-handed - is 7-for-13 in the series with six RBIs and five runs scored …