May 14 - Mudcats at Hillcats - Game Notes

DOWNLOAD THE FULL GAME NOTES PACKET HERE
CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS) at LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (CLEVELAND INDIANS)
Tuesday, May 14, 2019 | 6:30 PM | Game 37, Away Game 21 | City Stadium at Calvin Falwell Field | Lynchburg, VA
RADIO: WDWG, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: 
Overall Record: CAR: 22-15; LYN: 18-17
Streaks: CAR: L1; LYN: W2
Last 10 Games: CAR: 6-4, LYN: 5-5
Home Record: CAR: 10-6; LYN: 7-10
Road Record: CAR: 12-9; LYN: 11-7
Division Record: CAR: 13-7; LYN: 5-7
Current Series: LYN leads 1-0 (of 4)
Season Series: LYN leads 1-0 (of 17)
CAR v. OPP: 0-0 @CAR (10), 0-1 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTERS:
TUE, 5/14 at LYN, 6:30 PM: Carolina RHP Matt Smith (1-3, 4.38) at Lynchburg RHP Justin Garza (3-3, 6.15)
WED, 5/15 at LYN, 6:30 PM: Carolina RHP Noah Zavolas (2-2, 2.36) at Lynchburg RHP JC Mejia 2-0, 2.35)
THU, 5/16 at LYN, 6:30 PM: Carolina RHP Braden Webb (0-0, 1.80) at Lynchburg LHP Adam Scott (2-4, 3.23)
TONIGHT: Following last night's series opening loss, the Mudcats take on the Lynchburg Hillcats again tonight in game two of a four game series at City Stadium in Lynchburg. The Mudcats enter tonight's game down 1-0 in the current four game set and down 1-0 in the 17 game season series between the two teams... Tonight's game is also the second of a seven game road trip through both Lynchburg and Fayetteville for the Mudcats.
ICYMI: Tristen Lutz had a run scoring double in the second, Zach Clark tripled and scored in the fifth, but the Hillcats scored three runs in the first and held on for a 4-2 victory versus the Mudcats on Monday night at City Stadium in Lynchburg, VA. The Mudcats had won three straight before dropping Monday's series opener in Lynchburg to the Hillcats. The loss also came in game one of Carolina's four game series in Lynchburg and in game one of Carolina's seven game road trip.
TONIGHT'S CAROLINA MUDCATS STARTER...
Matt Smith: 1-3, 4.38 ERA, 8 G, 2 GS, 24.2 IP, 12 BB, 24 SO
Last outing - 5/9 vs. FAY: L, 2.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 68 pitches
Making 3rd start of 2019 and 9th appearance overall
Missed the 2017 & 2018 seasons while recovering from "Tommy John"
STREAKING:Ryan Aguilar has reached base safely in a team best 26 straight games (4/14-Present) and is batting .278/.420/.356 with a .775 OPS during the streak (25-for-90, 18 R, 4 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 19 BB, 3 HBP, 28 SO). Aguilar's current on-base streak is the longest consecutive games on base streak in the Carolina League this season.
TRENDING: Tristen Lutz has hit safely in six straight games and is batting .348/.444/.696 with a 1.140 OPS (8-for-23, 7 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 4 BB) during the streak. Lutz has also hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games and is batting .349/.417/.698 with a 1.114 OPS (15-for-43, 11 R, 7 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI) since 4/27... Devin Hairston has had at least one hit in eight of his last 11 games and is batting .300/.333/.375 with a .708 OPS (12-for-40, 6 R, 3 2B, 6 RBI) over his last 11 games... Rodrigo Benoit has not allowed a hit or a run over his last six games and 6.1 innings pitched (since 4/24, 2 BB, 5 S0).
THREE TRUE OUTCOMES: Home runs, walks and strikeouts have accounted for 41% of Carolina's plate appearances this season; the highest such percentage of the three true outcomes in the Carolina League this season... Mario Feliciano (46.5%), Payton Henry (45.5%) and Ryan Aguilar (44.4%) are 3rd, 4th and 5th among qualified CL batters in TTO%. Feliciano, Henry and Aguilar are also 19th, 27th & 17th in OPS respectively in the CL in 2019.
FIRST QUARTER: The Mudcats went 21-14 over their first 35 games, or first quarter, of the 2019 season. That 21-14 (.600) matches the 1994 Mudcats for the fourth best first 35-game record in team history. The 1995 and 2005 Mudcats own the franchise's best first 35-game team record in franchise history after both clubs started their respective seasons at 24-11.
WHAT IF: Having totaled just 90 plate appearances, Rob Henry is currently just shy of qualifying for the CL leader board this season. Among CL players with at least 90 PA, Henry is currently 3rd in the CL in slugging (.545), 6th in OPS (.901), 2nd in ISO (.299) and 6th in wRC+ (152).
WHERE THEY RANK: Ryan Aguilar is currently 6th in the CL in OBP (.417), 3rd in runs (25) and tied for 1st in walks (26)... Rob Henry is currently tied for 4th in the CL in homers (6)... Payton Henry is currently tied for 7th in the CL in homers (5) and tied for 6th in RBI (25). Henry is also 2nd in the CL in most caught steals having caught 17 of 40 (42.5%) would-be base stealers... Mario Feliciano is currently tied for 4th in the CL in home runs (6) and 8th in RBI (23)... Matt Hardy leads the CL in both wins (5) and games (14)... Rodrigo Benoit is tied for 2nd in the CL in both saves (7) and games (13)... Noah Zavolas currently leads the CL in ERA (2.36) and innings (42.0). Zavolas is also 2nd in the CL in average against (.248), 2nd in WHIP (1.10) and 2nd in FIP (2.71 per fangraphs.com)... Dylan File is currently 1st in the CL in K/BB (14.00), 1st in BB/9 (0.66), 1st in FIP (2.51) and 2nd in xFIP (2.80) per fangraphs.com.
OUTTA HIURA: 2018 Mudcats infielder Keston Hiura was called up to the big leagues by the Brewers today. Hiura started the 2018 season with the Mudcats and hit .320/.382/.529 with a .911 OPS over 54 games before a 6/1/18 promotion to Double-A Biloxi. His final Carolina League came on 5/31/18 in Lynchburg where he went 5-for-5 with 3 R, 2 HR and 2 RBI. Hiura joins pitchers Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta as the three former Mudcats to debut with the Brewers since Carolina became Milwaukee's High-A affiliate in 2017. He is the second former Mudcats player to receive a MLB promotion this season as 2016 Mudcat Dylan Moore made his MLB debut with Seattle on 3/28/19 in Japan versus Oakland.
THE SKIPPER: Manager Joe Ayrault is back for his third season as Manager of the Mudcats and his eighth season overall as Manager of Milwaukee's High-A affiliate. Ayrault is currently second on Carolina's all-time managerial wins list and second all-time in games managed in Carolina...
MANAGER W L PCT G SEASONS
David Bell 176 239 .424 415 2009-11 (3)
Joe Ayrault 160 153 .511 313 2017-Present (3)
Ron Gideon 126 151 .455 277 2000-01 (2)
THE MUDCATS HAVE…
... played in Zebulon, NC since 1991 (29th season).
... played in the Carolina League since 2012 (8th season).
... been an affiliate of the Brewers since 2017 (3rd season).
... operated under the ownership of the Brewers since Oct. 2017.
... not made the playoffs since the 2008 season.
... not made the playoffs during their Carolina League era.