Wilmington Blue Rocks 2015 Season in Review

WILMINGTON, Del. - The 2015 campaign was a wild ride for the Wilmington Blue Rocks from the word go. Over the course of the 140-game Carolina League season (which turned into 139 for the Rocks thanks to a rainout), the Blue Crew set numerous franchise records, some bad and some good. Wilmington will be playing playoff baseball for the first time since 2012 as a result of their efforts this year, as they are set to take on the Lynchburg Hillcats in the Northern Division Championship Series beginning on September 9. If the postseason is as eventful as the regular campaign, the Blue Rocks will experience a crazy end to their 2015 season.

Thanks to a 38-32 record in the first half, Wilmington was able to claim the CL North first-half title and the playoff bid that comes with it. The Rocks made the postseason dance for the first time since 2012 when they took the Northern Division crown in the season's second half. The last time Wilmington took the division in the first half was back in 2006 as an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. That team included future major leaguers such as Michael Bowden, Clay Buchholz, Jacoby Ellsbury, Tommy Hottovy, Jed Lowrie, Justin Masterson, Luis Mendoza, and Carlos Rosa. In the game that clinched the first-half for the Rocks that year, Wilmington sealed the deal on a bases-loaded hit by pitch in the bottom of the ninth, with Ellsbury scoring the game-winning run. The last time the Blue Crew won a first-half crown as an affiliate of the Kansas City Royals was back in 2002, when the Rocks won both halves.

The Rocks enjoyed contributions from many players in their first half, including four Carolina League Mid-Season All-Stars. Pitchers Alec Mills, Cody Reed, and Eric Skoglund, as well as infielder Ramon Torres, were selected to play in the Carolina League/California League All-Star game in Rancho Cucamonga, California in June. Mills has been with the Rocks all season long, although he spent about a month on the disabled list. The righty recorded a 7-7 record with a 3.02 ERA in 21 games this season. Reed produced a 5-5 record with a 2.14 ERA in 13 games (10 starts) on the riverfront. He earned a promotion to Double-A after the All-Star game, and has since been traded to the Cincinnati Reds. Skoglund went 6-3 with a 3.52 ERA over 15 games with the Rocks, but has been on the DL since early July. Torres played 71 contests with the Blue Crew, hitting .257 with 29 runs scored. The infielder got the call to Double-A in early July.

The triple play is one of the rarest happenings in baseball, but apparently nobody told that to the Blue Rocks. Wilmington turned a staggering three triple plays in 2015, by far the most in a single season in franchise history. The first time the Blue Crew turned three this year was on April 19 in a game against Frederick at Frawley Stadium. They next time they turned three was on June 9 at Winston-Salem. On August 4, Wilmington spun its third triple play of the season down in Myrtle Beach. Perhaps most amazing is the fact that the team turned four triple plays in a 373-day span, with another tri-killing coming on July 27, 2014 against the Dash on the riverfront. Prior to that stretch, Wilmington had retired three on the same play only twice in the previous 16 seasons.

Although the first half of 2015 treated Wilmington well, the second half was not as kind. The Rocks lost 45 games after the All-Star break, the most defeats in a single half in franchise history. The previous franchise-high in terms of losses in a half was 42, which was done in the second half of the 1997 campaign. Thanks in large part to their 38 first-half victories, Wilmington did not reach 80 losses this year, which is the franchise record for defeats in an entire season set by the 2005 squad. The Rocks lost the most road games in a single season, however, logging 44 setbacks away from Frawley Stadium in 2015. That mark eclipsed the 43 losses recorded by the Rocks in both 2005 and 2011.

The Blue Rocks' second half struggles reached their peak when the squad rattled off a 14-game losing streak. The skid was the longest in franchise history, as it surpassed the previous high of 10 which the Rocks had done twice (the most recent such losing streak lasted from May 27 to June 4 of 2000). The 14-game dry spell began on July 26 with a 2-0 loss to Lynchburg, and ended when the Rocks topped Carolina 2-1 in 12 innings on August 11. The Blue Crew lost five times to Lynchburg, and three times each to Winston-Salem, Carolina, and Myrtle Beach during the streak. Over those 14 games, Wilmington batted .225 (97-for-432), scoring just 28 times in those 14 losses.

On the stranger side of things, the 2015 season certainly had its fair share of scheduling quirks that the Blue Rocks had to endure. Wilmington's first four home stands of the season lasted seven games apiece, with the final one of that stretch spanning from May 19 to May 25. After that home stand, the Blue Crew did not spend more than a single series at home until a six-game home stand from August 18 to August 23. In between, Wilmington hosted nine home stands that lasted one series each. Meanwhile, The Rocks played the Pelicans seven times in the opening month of the season, including four games at Myrtle Beach and three more at Frawley Stadium. After the series on the riverfront from April 28 to April 30, the Blue Crew had to wait three full months before they battled the Birds again, with their next matchup taking place in a three-game series that began on August 4. Speaking of teams Wilmington didn't see too often, the Rocks did not play a game against Salem until June 12. Incredibly, the schedule called for three games in Salem before three more in Wilmington, meaning the two squads clashed six times in six days. Finally, the Blue Rocks took on Potomac on August 19, marking the last time the Rocks saw a Northern Division foe in the regular season. Wilmington played the final 17 contests of the regular season against Southern Division squads.

In the end, the Blue Rocks will be taking on the Lynchburg Hillcats in the Northern Division Championship Series. The best-of-three set will mark the fifth all-time postseason meeting between the two franchises, with the Rocks still searching for their first playoff-series win against the Hillcats in the team's history. Wilmington and Lynchburg have met in the Northern Division Championship Series in 2002, 2003, 2009, and during the Blue Rocks most recent playoff appearance in 2012. During the first matchup in 2002, the Blue Crew took game one before falling in back-to-back contests to suffer elimination. The 2003 series saw Lynchburg sweep the best-of-three series. Six years later, the N.D.C.S morphed into a best-of-five set, and even though the Blue Rocks held a 2-1 lead in the series, the Hillcats took the next two tilts on the way to a playoff-series win. Finally, 2012 featured a return to the best-of-three format. The Rocks dropped the opener before evening the series in game two. In the decisive game three, Lychburg emerged victorious to bump the Rocks from the postseason for the fourth straight time.

The 2015 campaign was a tumultuous one on the riverfront, but it doesn't end with the regular season. Game one of the Northern Division Championship Series will take place on September 9 at Lynhcburg, with game two and a potential game three occurring on September 10 and 11 at Frawley Stadium. The Blue Rocks have one final journey to embark on before the 2015 campaign comes to a close. For tickets to see the Rocks play postseason baseball at Frawley Stadium, call 302-888-BLUE, or visit www.bluerocks.com.