Sunday, May 22, 2016

Rome Series Recap: Trying to Change for the Better

Again, this is a series recap written after a subsequent series finished. Writing the recaps takes time, and to be hones can get repetitive after a while. I have intended to introduce a variety of different posts, and the recaps have taken time a way from that. So after this one there will be no more traditional recaps, and instead I will try to follow a posting schedule of different aspects of the Fireflies and their minor league counterparts. Here is my current plan:

Monday: All-Time Firefly Player Standings and performance evaluations. This will be most similar to the current recaps.

Wednesday: League Standings and Attendance Report. Some weeks I might include all of professional baseball in this, other weeks just the SAL.

Friday: Rainout Watch. How many weather cancellations have occurred throughout professional baseball and the SAL this season?

Saturday:  Former Fireflies Report. This is something I'm looking forward to, but probably won't have much if at all to report on for the first few weeks of this.

Sunday: Minor League Feature. An in-depth look at how the Fireflies stack up against other pro teams in various aspects which will vary weekly.

But we still have a series recap to do, so let's do it. This will be the de facto Monday post of the week.

Game 1: This Monday game that started the series was very representative of the season so far: great starting pitching, weak bullpen and hitting though. Chase Ingram went 7 innings without giving up a run, which should typically be good enough for a win. But it only kept the Fireflies in it as an unearned run and weak hitting meant the score was 1-1 when he left. Johnny Magliozzi, who has had good luck with decisions this year, didn't get a good one in allowing four runs in the 8th to give Rome the 5-1 win. A sac fly by magical RBI man David Thompson in the first was the Fireflies only run of the game. Rome starter Touki Toussaint did not have control as great as his name, but the Fireflies couldn't hit him well or the Braves' two relievers.

Game 2: P.J. Conlon started and pitched like P.J. Conlon. That means that while the Fireflies struggled at the plate again, they won this time. All three Firefly runs were in the 6th, capped by a David Thompson triple and Dash Winningham double.And that was enough even though Tyler Bashlor got in trouble and allowed a run as Alex Palsha was able to come in and get the save for a 3-1 win.

Game 3: This was the game I went to, on a Wednesday morning. Unlike the last Wednesday morning game I saw, some school groups did come and boosted attendance from about 1500 in that last morning game to just over 3800. That's a solid enough crowd, anymore and it would feel uncomfortable for regular fans to come out and join the school groups at the park. Like with many games I have seen, Thomas McIlraith started. And unfortunately like many games I've seen him pitch, he struggled. This time his struggles came very early in the second inning, which he did not get out of allowing six runs. McIlraith went on the DL after the game, not sure if this was due to an actual injury or if his recent outings makes the coaches feel that he needs more work before he goes back out again. The Fireflies actually hit well this game, banging out 11 hits. Thompson went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs, a typical outing for him. Kevin Kaczmarski, Joe Tuschak, and Vicente Lupo all had two hits as well. But a weak showing from Seth Davis stopped the Fireflies' momentum, as Davis allowed two runs in three innings after Craig Missigman pitched a solid 3 2./3 innings after McIlraith's meltdown. Johnny Magliozzi finished with a solid 9th to get him back and going again after he lost the series opener. But it wasn't enough as Rome was able to hold on for an 8-5 win. Perhaps the best part of the day was the debut of Patrick Mazeika, who was expected to be the prospect out of the numerous catchers on the Fireflies. Mazeika was 1 for 4 with a walk, and is off to a decent start especially in the subsequent series in Charleston.

That meant the Fireflies lost the series, which really hurts dropping a series to the woeful Rome Braves which entered the week in last place. The Fireflies again couldn't win at home after sweeping them in Rome. But perhaps they just have been unfortunately timing their worst play when at home. The Fireflies subsequently lost 3 of 4 in Charleston, so it's not home games the Fireflies just have to worry about. They haven't been playing well lately. Below are the tables for this series' leaders as well as the All-Time Fireflies Player Standings. As you can see, it's mostly dominated by pitchers aside from Thompson and Vinny Siena. The Fireflies are still looking for a consistent hitter to back those two up. Early in the season it looked like it would be Tuschak, then Winningham, and now it looks like J.C. Rodriguez. Hopefully that will be worked out, especially as Siena and Thompson aren't likely to finish the season as Fireflies.

Series Leaders


PlayerPositionTBRRBIBB/HBPSBCS0 for 1SOOutsKRERHBB/HBPWSLScore
P.J. ConlonP000000002070023100132
Chase IngramP00000000212104200085
Alex PalshaP0000000052000001061
Craig MissigmanP00000000113002000054
David Thompson3B6140007200000000039
Nicco BlankP0000000042000000026
Kevin KaczmarskiRF5110006100000000022
Vicente LupoLF4212016200000000022
Joe TuschakLF2201005300000000010
Dash Winningham1B401100930000000007
Patrick MazeikaC110100300000000007
Milton RamosSS211100740000000005
Seth DavisP000000009322440002
Kevin CanelonP000000000000000000
Joe ShawP000000000000000000
Tyler BadamoP000000000000000000
Christian MontgomeryP000000000000000000
Tucker TharpRF000000000000000000
Emmanuel ZabalaLF000000000000000000
Jose GarciaC100000210000000000
Natanael RamosC000000000000000000
Witt HaggardP000000000000000000
Vinny Siena2B00040063000000000-3
J.C. RodriguezDH10110080000000000-3
Ivan WilsonCF10000052000000000-7
Tyler BashlorP00000000211112000-8
Jeff DiehlDH10010064000000000-8
Tyler MooreC00000032000000000-8
Johnny MagliozziP00000000514340001-37
Thomas McIlraithP00000000416671001-90

All-Time Fireflies Player Standings

PlayerPositionTBRRBIBB/HBPSBCS0 for 1SOOutsKRERHBB/HBPWSLScore
P.J. ConlonP000000001303665379600676
David Thompson3B69334016209730000000000554
Alex PalshaP00000000583087147251414
Chase IngramP000000001083816113115302404
Vinny Siena2B5128933218635000000000347
Kevin CanelonP0000000099341212288202343
Joe ShawP000000001013615123412202317
J.C. RodriguezDH43171816629419000000000281
Dash Winningham1B45142214008817000000000254
Tyler BashlorP000000004721331012020242
Ivan WilsonCF44171316348238000000000226
Seth DavisP0000000067211081917111217
Tyler BadamoP00000000107201815389103213
Jeff DiehlDH35121617107736000000000186
Craig MissigmanP000000006223991712000168
Joe TuschakLF33131114117923000000000151
Milton RamosSS3181615027724000000000132
Johnny MagliozziP0000000044131312203222120
Kevin KaczmarskiRF2914511036316000000000116
Christian MontgomeryP0000000047221381412000115
Tucker TharpRF19852212913000000000110
Thomas McIlraithP00000000104252724371810486
Vicente LupoLF201171102493100000000084
Nicco BlankP000000002711554700077
Tyler MooreC1786711581500000000050
Emmanuel ZabalaLF5302108200000000038
Jose GarciaC1142601341500000000015
Natanael RamosC41120010300000000013
Patrick MazeikaC110100300000000007
Witt HaggardP00000000423333002-58
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