A Chance to Take the Lead: Smokies Welcome Last-Place Barons Birmingham Barons vs Knoxville Smokies 6/2-6/7

Philip Stalzer

KNOXVILLE, TN - The Knoxville Smokies are again welcoming the Birmingham Barons into Covenant Health Park this season. This week is Birmingham’s third time in Knoxville already this season, and it’s a big one for Knoxville.

The last time Birmingham was in Knoxville in early May, all four Southern League North teams seemed to have a chance to make a run for first place in the first half. Since that last meeting, when Knoxville took five of six in the series, Birmingham has only won five games and is now 19-31, 7.5 games behind first place Chattanooga. While the Barons have stumbled hard over the last three weeks, the Smokies have closed the gap on first place going 9-9 over their last 18 games, including taking their most recent series against the Lookouts 4-2.

Knoxville enters this series against the last-place Barons tied with Rocket City, just half a game behind the Lookouts for first place. With Chattanooga playing Pensacola (26-25) and Rocket City playing Columbus (23-26), Knoxville will need to take advantage of a heavily struggling Barons team to take sole possession of first place in the North.

First pitch for the series is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday night at Covenant Health Park.

The Smokies are coming off of a dominant 4-2 series win in Chattanooga, including winning the last three games of the series. The series win put Knoxville just half a game behind Chattanooga for first place in the Southern League North, and put Knoxville in control of their own destiny as they host the Birmingham Barons this week.

The Smokies have a +13 run differential during the month of May, but it is in large part due to the dominance of the pitching staff in May. The Smokies have the second lowest team pitching staff ERA in the Southern League at 3.65 in May and have held opposing hitters to just a .651 OPS in May, also the second lowest in the Southern League.

Starters like Tyler Schlaffer (2.01 ERA), Jake Knapp (0.77 ERA), Brooks Caple (2.61 ERA), and Dawson Netz (3.72 ERA) have led the charge for the starting rotation in the month of May with other starters like Grant Kipp (4.19 ERA) and Yenrri Rojas (7.16 ERA) with just one bad start each this month that is inflating their ERAs.

The bullpen has also had some standouts in May. Evan Taylor (2.31 ERA), Jace Beck (3.86 ERA), and Vince Reilly (1.98 ERA) have been extremely dependable out of the bullpen this month, but there are two bullpen arms who have really stepped up. Tyler Ras (0.00 ERA) has not allowed a run over eight appearances and 11.1 innings pitched this month while Marino Santy (2.45 ERA) has settled into a closer role after recording his first career save on May 17.

The Barons on the other hand have struggled a lot on both sides of the ball. Their pitching staff has the second worst ERA in Double-A at 5.91 and the offense has the third worst batting average (.228) and the second worst slugging percentage (.387) in the Southern League in May.

The Barons’ saving grace as an offense has been their ability to draw walks. The Barons lead the Southern League in walks in the month of May with 110. Their patience at the plate has allowed them to score 131 runs this month, good for fourth in the Southern League. The Barons have slashed .258/.362/.416 with runners on base in May, allowing them to maintain some offense. Despite the lack of team success, the Barons still have some players to look out for.

Players to Watch

Jacob Burke has been one of the Barons’ best hitters all year. After joining the team in mid-April, Burke has not stopped hitting. He started his season on a seven-game hit streak with an OPS of .953 during that span. He also had a six-game hit streak to open the month of May during which he hit .609. Burke has stayed hot in May, hitting .310 with 10 RBIs over 22 games. Burke hasn’t shown much power in May, slugging just one home run this month, but his ability to get on base and run the bases has helped the Barons’ offense stay legit.

Anthony DePino has also been a sparkplug for the Barons’ offense in May. Since getting the call up from High-A on May 12, DePino has been fantastic. In 17 games, DePino is slashing .308/.387/.492 and is currently on a 14-game on base streak. DePino has also provided a little more power to a mostly weak lineup otherwise, slugging three home runs in May, tied for third most on the team in that span.

For the Smokies, Carter Trice has been the name to watch in the month of May. This month, Trice leads the team in home runs (8) and RBIs (19), and is second in slugging percentage (.560) and OPS (.867).

Trice has been a different hitter since the calendar flipped to May. In 22 games played in April, Trice slashed .238/.365/.325 with no home runs and two RBIs. In 24 games played in May, Trice slashed .242/.307/.560 with eight home runs and 19 RBIs. All of his offensive production has come during the month of May and he will look to continue that as the Smokies open up June against the Barons.

On the mound for the Smokies, Grant Kipp has been a focal point all season. Currently 1-3 with a 4.12 ERA on the season, Kipp has been very strong other than three shaky starts this season. Kipp is the Cubs’ No. 28 ranked prospect and has shown why this season, especially at home. In five games at home this season (four starts), Kipp has allowed just seven runs over 23 innings pitched (2.74 ERA) and has a WHIP of just 1.09 while striking out 28 hitters and walking just eight. Kipp will look to continue his dominance at Covenant Health Park this week against the Barons.

Probable Pitching Matchups

6/2 Tuesday, 7:00 PM ET

RHP Yenrri Rojas vs. RHP Connor McCullough

6/3 Wednesday, 7:00 PM ET

RHP Grant Kipp vs. RHP Dylan Cumming

6/4 Friday, 7:00 PM ET

RHP Connor Schultz vs. LHP Jake Palisch

6/5 Saturday, 7:00 PM ET

RHP Dawson Netz vs. RHP Gabe Davis

6/6 Sunday, 7:00 PM ET

RHP Tyler Schlaffer vs. LHP Lucas Gordon

6/7 Sunday, 2:00 PM ET

RHP Brooks Caple vs. RHP Connor McCullough

The Smokies host the struggling Barons this week with a real opportunity to take sole possession of first place in the Southern League North as the end of the first half draws closer. The Smokies will look to take advantage of one of the weakest pitching staffs in Double-A and an offense that relies on free passes as they look to continue their momentum into June.

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