Omaha, Sugar Land aim for MiLB history

At the end of the first half, it seemed like two Triple-A clubs might challenge for the ever-elusive 100-win season.

Omaha and Sugar Land, first-half champions of the International and Pacific Coast Leagues, respectively, each finished the half with 49 victories. It’s been 32 years since a Minor League club won 100 games. It’s already an extremely difficult milestone to reach, and the current format makes it even harder for Double-A, High-A and Single-A clubs. But for Triple-A teams, with 150-game schedules, it’s not out of the question.

Regardless of the 100-win mark, both clubs have already booked their spot as hosts of their respective League Championship Series and a shot at the Triple-A National Championship Game.

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If there are no further cancellations this season, Omaha is roughly on a 96-win pace, while Sugar Land is currently on pace for 94 victories.

A 95-win season is no easy task and clearly within reach for both clubs. Since the last 100-game winner in 1992, only three teams have won at least 95 games in a season.

The Storm Chasers racked up wins on the strength of their defense and pitching. Entering play Friday, Omaha was tied with Jacksonville for the lowest team ERA (4.31) among all Triple-A clubs. The staff is also tied with Syracuse for the lowest batting average against at the level.

Veteran starters Daniel Lynch IV and Jonathan Bowlan have been leaders in the Storm Chasers’ rotation, while relievers Walter Pennington -- the club’s strikeout leader -- and Evan Sisk have been excellent out of the bullpen.

“They're commanding the strike zone, mixing their pitches. Not a ton of walks. With our defense behind that, they're getting the ground balls they need for double plays,” Omaha manager Mike Jirschele said. “And we mixed in enough offense to get some extra wins. I think the thing is, we didn't depend on any certain part of our lineup to do the job. Everybody contributed nightly.”

Sugar Land, meanwhile, has outslugged most every team in the offense-friendly PCL. The Space Cowboys have scored more runs (587) than any other team at the level, while recording the most homers (136) and second-most RBIs (555).

Jesús Bastidas, a 25-year-old infielder, leads the club with 20 homers, while Astros No. 25 prospect Pedro León and No. 29 prospect Shay Whitcomb are also jockeying for the club lead in RBIs.

Since 2005, there have been just 14 teams to win at least 49 games in one half. The Augusta GreenJackets, then a Giants affiliate in the South Atlantic League, recorded the highest single-half win total with 53 wins in the second half of the 2006 season.

In that same span, only 19 teams have won at least 90 games over a full season. A pair of Padres affiliates, the 2011 San Antonio Missions and 2009 Fort Wayne TinCaps, set the high-water mark with 94 victories.

The last Minor League team to win 100 games was the 1992 Greenville Braves club that dominated on its way to the Southern League title. Although that squad rostered Hall of Famer Chipper Jones for a good stretch of the season, it was 15-year MLB veteran Javy López that was the MVP of the Double-A circuit, batting .321 with 16 homers and 60 RBIs.

The last time a Triple-A team won 100 games was in 1960 when the Toronto Maple Leafs, then a Cleveland affiliate, went 100-54 en route to an International League title.

But merely approaching the century mark has not been an easy task in the past few decades.

The most recent clubs to win at least 95 games were the 97-win Lake County Captains in 2003 and the 96-win Modesto A’s in 1994. Both of those teams eventually finished as the runners-up in their respective League Championship Series.

But the 1992 Columbus Clippers, the most recent Triple-A team to win at least 95 games, took home the International League title that season.

The 1992 season was also Jirschele’s first as a manager; he skippered the Gulf Coast League Royals to a title that year. The 65-year-old, who first joined the Royals’ organization as a player in 1988, also won league championships as manager of the Wilmington Blue Rocks in 1994 and twice with the Storm Chasers in 2011 and 2013.

His Johnny Damon-led Blue Rocks squad won 94 games. But neither of the title-winning squads in Omaha won more than 79 games. However, those clubs featured 12 members of the 2015 World Series-champion Royals, including Salvador Perez, Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas on the rosters at one point.

While win records have their place in the history books, Jirschele’s priorities lie elsewhere.

“My main concern is that we develop the players that are here and hopefully get them to the big leagues,” he said. “And just go out and play the game the way you're supposed to every day, day in and day out.”