May 29: Mudcats at Dash Game Notes

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CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS) at WINSTON-SALEM DASH (CHICAGO WHITE SOX)
Wednesday, May 29, 2019 | 7:00 PM | Game 52, Away Game 28 | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC
RADIO: WDWG, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv

Overall Record: CAR: 29-22; WS: 27-23
Streaks: CAR: L3; WS: W3
Last 10 Games: CAR: 4-6, WS: 7-3
Home Record: CAR: 13-11; WS: 12-12
Road Record: CAR: 16-11; WS: 15-11
Division Record: CAR: 16-11; WS: 6-8
Current Series: First game (of 4)
Season Series: First game (of 14)
CAR v. OPP: 0-0 @CAR (7), 0-0 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
WED, 5/29 at WS, 7:00 PM: Carolina RHP Nelson Hernandez (5-2, 5.13) at Winston-Salem LHP John Parke (1-2, 3.73)
THU, 5/30 at WS, 7:00 PM: Carolina RHP Noah Zavolas (2-2, 3.25) at Winston-Same LHP Cristian Castillo (3-5, 3.65)
FRI, 5/31 at WS, 7:00 PM: Carolina RHP Matt Smith (1-4, 4.06) at Winston-Salem RHP Jorgan Cavanerio (1-0, 3.94)
TONIGHT: Following yesterday's league wide off-day, the Mudcats begin a brief four game road trip tonight in Winston-Salem versus the Dash at BB&T Ballpark. The Mudcats have lost three straight games and will look to end that streak with a victory tonight in game one of a four game set in Winston-Salem. Tonight's game is the first of the series and the first of 14 overall between the two teams this season. Carolina enters tonight's game in second-place and at 5.5 games back of first place Down East. They are also just 1.5 games ahead of the third-place Dash in the first half Southern Division standings.
ICYMI: The Mudcats rallied back from a five run first inning deficit to eventually take a 7-6 lead in the fifth, but the Wood Ducks came back with two in the sixth before defeating the Mudcats 9-7 in the finale of a four game series on Monday afternoon at Five County Stadium. The loss dropped Carolina to 4.5 games back of first behind the Wood Ducks in the first half standings. It also dropped Carolina to just 3-5 in their recent eight game home stand.
TONIGHT'S CAROLINA MUDCATS STARTING PITCHER...
Nelson Hernandez 5-2, 5.13 ERA, 10 GS, 52.2 IP, 20 BB, 43 SO
Last outing: 5/23 vs. LYN, L, 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 SO, 95 pitches
The Mudcats are 8-2 in games started by Hernandez this season.
WHERE THEY RANK: Ryan Aguilar is currently tied for 6th in the CL in OBP (.398), tied for 3rd in walks (31) and tied for 4th in runs (32)... Mario Feliciano is currently tied for 1st in the CL in home runs (9), 3rd in RBI (35), 6th in slugging (.460) and tied for 3rd in total bases (81)... Payton Henry is currently 9th in the CL in RBI (30)... Matt Hardy leads the CL in wins (6) and is tied for the league lead games (18)... Rodrigo Benoit is tied for 2nd in the CL in wins (5), tied for 1st in the CL in games (18) and tied for 2nd in the CL in saves (8)... Noah Zavolas currently 4th in the CL in ERA (3.25), 1st in innings pitched (61.0), tied for 5th in average against (.271) and 2nd in WHIP (1.16)... Dylan File is currently 7th in the CL in earned run average (4.56), 4th in WHIP (1.27), 8th in average against (.286), 6th in strikeouts (52) and tied for 7th in innings pitched (51.1). 
CAROLINA LEAGUE LEADERS - TWO-OUT RBI
Player Team RBI HR AVG OPS
Henry, P CAR 18 4 .233 .725
Corredor, A POT 18 2 .267 .697
Gonzalez, O LYN 16 3 .433 1.118
Henry, R CAR 14 3 .237 .894
Adams, J FAY 14 4 .317 .916
Feliciano, M CAR 13 4 .271 .908
Beer, S FAY 13 4 .381 1.238
Meyers, J FAY 13 2 .298 .876
WHAT IF: Having totaled just 132 plate appearances, Rob Henry is currently just shy of qualifying for the CL leader board in various categories this season. Henry, however, is 12th in the CL in slugging (.450), 16th in OPS (.799) and 4th in ISO (.225) among CL players with at least 120 PA this season. He is also tied for 9th in the CL in homers (6).
WALK IT OFF: The Mudcats are currently 13-11 at home and nearly half of those victories have come in walk-off fashion as Carolina has won in its last at bat six times already this season (4/11, 4/28, 5/11, 5/20, 5/21, 5/24)... Seven of Carolina's final 12 home wins last season also occurred in walk-off fashion (7/19, 7/24, 7/25, 8/4, 8/8, 8/17, 8/28). Those seven walk-off wins additionally occurred over Carolina's last 22 home games of 2018.
PEAKING: At 29-22, the Mudcats are currently seven games above .500 and 5.5 games back of first place Down East in the CL Southern Division standings. Carolina has been as high as 11 games above .500 once (5/21) and 10 games above four times (5/18, 5/20, 5/22, 5/24) this season. Before this season, the last time a Mudcats team sat at least 10 games above .500 overall was on 7/27/08 when the then-Southern League Mudcats were 58-48 in the overall standings. That 2008 teams was also at 27-17 in the second half on 8/4/08 and finished the year at 80-60 overall. 
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a Carolina League and MiLB high 569 strikeouts this season. The Mudcats are on pace for 1,551 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... Carolina also currently owns the 3rd largest difference between strikeouts and hits (193 more strikeouts than hits) in MiLB this season.
GOT HEEM: Payton Henry currently leads the Carolina League in most caught steals (22). Henry has caught 22 of 56 (39.3%) would-be base stealers over 26 games and 229 innings behind the plate this season. Henry is, however, 5th in the CL in caught stealing efficiency at 39.3%; MJ Melendez leads the CL in caught stealing efficiency at 60.1% (14 CS, 9 SB, 23 ATT).
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 26 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 25 games... The Carolina pitching staff is 16-10 and has totaled a 3.21 ERA (3.1 BB/9, 8.8 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 13-12 with a 4.65 ERA (3.1 BB/9, 7.9 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano.
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 167 160 .511 327 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.