May 23: Mudcats vs. Hillcats Game Notes

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LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (CLEVELAND INDIANS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Thursday, May 23, 2019 | 7:00 PM | Game 47, Home Game 20 | Five County Stadium | Zebulon, NC
RADIO: WDWG, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv
Overall Record: CAR: 28-18; LYN: 22-22
Streaks: CAR: L1; LYN: W1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 6-4, LYN: 5-5
Home Record: CAR: 12-7; LYN: 10-13
Road Record: CAR: 16-11; LYN: 12-9
Division Record: CAR: 15-8; LYN: 5-7
Current Series: CAR leads 2-1 (of 4)
Season Series: CAR leads 4-3 (of 17)
CAR v. OPP: 2-1 @CAR (10), 2-2 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
THU, 5/23 vs. LYN, 7:00 PM: Lynchburg RHP Matt Solter (2-0, 1.50) at Carolina RHP Nelson Hernandez (5-1, 5.21)
FRI, 5/24 vs. DE, 7:00 PM: Down East LHP John King (0-0, 0.69) at Carolina RHP Matt Smith (1-4, 4.13)
SAT, 5/25 vs. DE, 5:00 PM: Down East LHP Sal Mendez (1-0, 2.45) at Carolina RHP Noah Zavolas (2-2, 3.33)
TONIGHT: Following yesterday's 7-6 loss, the Mudcats take on the visiting Hillcats again today in the finale of a four game series and game four of an eight game home stand at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, NC. The Mudcats lost yesterday's day game (snapping a streak of 11 straight morning, home game victories dating back to 2016), but still lead the series at 2-1. Carolina additionally enter tonight's series at 4-3 versus the Hillcats this season having won two straight to start the series and previously splitting a four game set in Lynchburg last week (5/13-5/16). Tonight's game is the final game of eight first half games between the two teams and the eighth of 17 overall this season.
ICYMI: Wes Rogers brought the Mudcats within one of the lead with a two-out grand slam in the ninth, but Lynchburg reliever Jonathan Teaney struck out the next batter he faced as the Hillcats held on for a 7-6 victory versus the Mudcats on Wednesday afternoon at Five County Stadium in Zebulon. The Mudcats were down 7-1 heading into the final frame, but went on to score five runs with four on Rogers' grand slam off the video board in left. Their first run of the late rally came across on a bases loaded, two-out, strikeout wild pitch with Devin Hairston batting. Rogers then connected on his grand slam, which counted as his first home run of the season and Carolina's first grand slam of 2019.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Wes Rogers pulled the Mudcats within one of the lead with a grand slam in the ninth inning of yesterday's 7-6 loss to the Hillcats. The grand slam was Carolina's first of the season and the first home run for Rogers as a minor leaguer in the Brewers system. The grand slam was the second for Rogers in his career as he also hit a grand slam on 6/24/16 in Bakersfield while playing for the California League's Modesto Nuts.
WHERE THEY RANK: Joantgel Segovia is currently 9th in the CL in AVG (.299), 10th in SLG (.446), 6th in OPS (.828), 9th in hits (47) and tied for 7th in runs (27)... Ryan Aguilar is currently 5th in the CL in OBP (.406), tied for 3rd in walks (29) and 3rd in runs (30)... Mario Feliciano is currently tied for 2nd in the CL in home runs (8) and tied for 4th in RBI (32), 8th in SLG (.456), 6th in total bases (72)... Payton Henry is currently tied for 9th in the CL in RBI (29)... Matt Hardy leads the CL in wins (6) and is tied for 1st in games (16)... Rodrigo Benoit is tied for 6th in the CL in wins (4), tied for 1st in the CL in games (16) and 2nd in the CL in saves (8)... Noah Zavolas currently 5th in the CL in ERA (3.33), 1st in innings pitched (54.0), 7th in average against (.275) and 3rd in WHIP (1.20)... Dylan File is currently 3rd in the CL in earned run average (3.73), 1st in WHIP (1.14), 4th in average against (.269), 5th in strikeouts (51) and 4th in innings pitched (50.2). 
CAROLINA LEAGUE LEADERS - TWO-OUTS - RBI
Player Team RBI HR AVG OPS
Henry, P CAR 18 4 .227 .731
Corredor, A POT 16 1 .274 .687
Gonzalez, O LYN 15 3 .444 1.158
Henry, R CAR 14 3 .250 .958
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a CL and MiLB high 509 strikeouts this season. The Mudcats are on pace for 1,538 strikeouts this season. Carolina batters combined to total a Carolina League and franchise record 1,311 strikeouts during the 2018 season; breaking the previous Carolina League and franchise record of 1,245 SO set by the Mudcats during the 2017 season.
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 24 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 22 games... The Carolina pitching staff is 15-9 and has totaled a 3.33 ERA (2.9 BB/9, 8.8 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 13-9 with a 4.50 ERA (3.0 BB/9, 8.1 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano.
PEAKING: At 28-18, the Mudcats are 10 games above .500 for the third time this season. They were also 10 games up on 5/19 and 5/22 when they had a records of 26-16 and 27-17. Before this season, the last time a Mudcats team sat 10 games above .500 overall was on 7/27/2008 when the then-Southern League Mudcats were 58-48 in the overall standings. Carolina is also 10 games above .500 in a half for the first time since the 2008 team was 27-17 in the second half on 8/4/08. That 2008 team finished the year at 80-60 overall and went on to lose in the Southern League championship series to Mississippi... Carolina's high water mark for games above .500 is 11 (28-17 on 5/22).
THREE TRUE OUTCOMES: Home runs, walks and strikeouts have accounted for 41.2% of Carolina's plate appearances this season. Carolina's current TTO/PA percentage is the highest such percentage of the three true outcomes in the Carolina League this season and tied for the fourth highest in MiLB... Payton Henry (46.7%), Mario Feliciano (45.5%), Tristen Lutz (45.0%) and Ryan Aguilar (43.9%) are 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 9th among qualified CL batters in TTO%.
GOT HEEM: Payton Henry is currently tied for the Carolina League in most caught steals (20). Henry has caught 20 of 46 (43.5%) would-be base stealers over 24 games and 210 innings behind the plate this season. Henry is also tied for second in all of MiLB in most caught steals (20) this season.
WHAT IF: Having totaled just 114 plate appearances, Rob Henry is currently just shy of qualifying for the CL leader board this season. Henry is, however, currently 6th in the CL in slugging (.485) and 3rd in ISO (.258) among CL players with at least 110 PA this season. He is also tied for 6th in the CL in homers (6).
THE SKIPPER: Manager Joe Ayrault is in 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 166 156 .516 322 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.