May 25: Mudcats vs. Wood Ducks Notes

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DOWN EAST WOOD DUCKS (TEXAS RANGERS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Saturday, May 25, 2019 | 5:00 PM | Game 49, Home Game 22 | 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: 29-19; DE: 32-17
Streaks: CAR: W1; DE: L2
Last 10 Games: CAR: 6-4, DE: 4-6
Home Record: CAR: 13-8; DE: 14-13
Road Record: CAR: 16-11; DE: 18-4
Division Record: CAR: 16-8; DE: 20-7

Current Series: CAR leads 1-0 (of 4)
Season Series: CAR leads 3-2 (of 20)
CAR v. OPP: 1-0 @CAR (10), 2-2 @OPP (10)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
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)
SUN, 5/26 vs. DE, 6:00 PM: Down East LHP Jake Latz (2-1, 3.09) at Carolina RHP Braden Webb (0-0, 2.45)
MON, 5/27 vs. DE, 12:00 PM: Down East RHP Reid Anderson (2-1, 3.48) at Carolina RHP Dylan File (4-4, 3.73)
TONIGHT: After last night's walk-off victory, the second place Mudcats continue an eight game home stand tonight with game two of a four game series versus the Down East Wood Ducks at Five County Stadium. Last night's extra-innings and walk-off victory versus the Wood Ducks pulled the Mudcats within 2.5 games of first place Down East in the Carolina League Southern Division standings. Carolina enters tonight's game with a 1-0 lead in the current series and a 3-2 lead in the overall 20-game season series between the two teams. The two teams last faced off during the first series of the season (4/4-4/7) where they split a four game set 2-2 at Grainger Stadium in Kinston.
ICYMI: Joantgel Segovia delivered a walk-off single in the tenth and hit a game tying double in the sixth while leading the Mudcats, playing as Pescados de Carolina for the first time, to a 6-5 extra-innings victory versus first place Down East on Friday night at Five County Stadium. Carolina pulled within 2.5 games of the Carolina League Southern Division leading Wood Ducks with Friday's walk-off victory in front of a crowd of 4,460 in Zebulon.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Last night's walk-off, and extra-innings, victory was Carolina's sixth this season and third in the current home stand. The Mudcats have begun the 2019 season at 13-8 at home, with nearly half of those victories coming in walk-off fashion (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... Last night's extra-innings victory was also Carolina's third of the current home stand as they also won in extras on 5/20 and 5/21 versus Lynchburg earlier in the week. The Mudcats are currently 5-0 in extra-innings this season.
TONIGHT'S CAROLINA MUDCATS STARTING PITCHER...
Noah Zavolas: 2-2, 3.33 ERA, 9 GS, 54.0 IP, 7 BB, 39 SO, 1.20 WHIP
Last outing: 5/20 vs. LYN, 6.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 HR, 2 SO, 88 pitches
CL Ranks: 6th in ERA (3.33), 3rd in WHIP (1.20), 2nd in K/BB (5.57)
WHERE THEY RANK: Joantgel Segovia is currently tied for 6th in the CL in AVG (.307), 8th in OBP (.392), 9th in SLG (.452), 7th in OPS (.843), tied for 6th in hits (51) and tied for 6th in runs (28)... Ryan Aguilar is currently 8th in the CL in OBP (.401), tied for 2nd in walks (30) and tied for 4th in runs (30)... Mario Feliciano is currently tied for 2nd in the CL in home runs (8), 6th in RBI (32) and tied for 9th in total bases (72)... Payton Henry is currently tied for 8th in the CL in RBI (29)... Matt Hardy leads the CL in wins (6) and is tied for the league lead games (17)... Rodrigo Benoit is tied for 2nd in the CL in wins (5), tied for 1st in the CL in games (17) and 2nd in the CL in saves (8)... Noah Zavolas currently 6th in the CL in ERA (3.33), 1st in innings pitched (54.0), 9th in average against (.275) and 3rd in WHIP (1.20)... Dylan File is currently tied for 7th in the CL in earned run average (3.73), tied for 1st in WHIP (1.14), 6th in average against (.269), 5th in strikeouts (51) and tied for 5th in innings pitched (50.2). 
CAROLINA LEAGUE LEADERS - TWO-OUTS - RBI
Player Team RBI HR AVG OPS
Henry, P CAR 18 4 .227 .741
Gonzalez, O LYN 16 3 .446 1.153
Corredor, A POT 16 1 .271 .679
Henry, R CAR 14 3 .265 .977
Adams, J FAY 14 4 .316 .929
WHAT IF: Having totaled just 123 plate appearances, Rob Henry is currently just shy of qualifying for the CL leader board in various categories this season. Henry, however, is currently tied for 7th in the CL in wRC+ (145), 7th in slugging (.485) and 4th in ISO (.243) among CL players with at least 120 PA this season. He is also tied for 9th in the CL in homers (6).
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a Carolina League and MiLB high 536 strikeouts this season. The Mudcats are on pace for 1,552 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 currently owns the third largest difference between strikeouts and hits (184 more strikeouts than hits) in MiLB.
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 25 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 23 games... The Carolina pitching staff is 16-9 and has totaled a 3.26 ERA (2.9 BB/9, 8.8 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 13-10 with a 4.43 ERA (3.0 BB/9, 8.0 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano.
GOT HEEM: Payton Henry is currently tied for the Carolina League in most caught steals (20). Henry has caught 21 of 50 (42.0%) would-be base stealers over 25 games and 220 innings behind the plate this season. Henry is also tied for second in all of MiLB in most caught steals (21) this season.
BACK END BRILLIANCE: Relievers Rodrigo Benoit and Clayton Andrews have combined to total 13 saves while also combining to go 6-1 with a 0.83 ERA (32.2 IP, 11 BB, 37 SO) when pitching from the eighth through extra innings this season. Benoit has allowed just one earned run this season (4/21 at FAY, Colton Shaver HR) and has pitched through 10 straight outings without allowing an earned run (5 R, 0 ER all scoring in extra innings games). Andrews, meanwhile, allowed two runs in his first appearance of the season, but has not allowed a run (earned or unearned) since. Andrews is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 2 BB and 18 SO over his last 11.2 innings and nine appearances.
PEAKING: At 29-19, the Mudcats are currently 10 games above .500 and just 2.5 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 now 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. 
THE SKIPPER: Manager Joe Ayrault will be away from the team this weekend while away with organization provided time off. Coach Fidel Pena will serve as acting manager for this weekend's series. Pena is in his first season as a coach with the Mudcats and his third overall as a coach in the Brewers system. He previously spent the last two seasons as a coach with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Pena is also a former catcher, infielder and outfielder who last played in Brewers system in 2016 (Brevard County Manatees, FSL).
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.