Know Your Opponent: Birmingham Barons
The Trash Pandas begin a six-game series against the Birmingham Barons (Double-A, Chicago White Sox) on Monday. Rocket City enters the series with a one game lead over both the Barons and Tennessee Smokies in the Southern League North second half. Rocket City will play the first three games at
The Trash Pandas begin a six-game series against the Birmingham Barons (Double-A, Chicago White Sox) on Monday. Rocket City enters the series with a one game lead over both the Barons and Tennessee Smokies in the Southern League North second half.
Rocket City will play the first three games at Regions Field in Birmingham before ending the series back at home for the final three games.
The Trash Pandas and Barons have been competitive against each other to open the season with both teams having won nine games. Birmingham has won seven of 12 games at Regions Field this season.
The series opener will mark just the second Monday game in team history as the Trash Pandas hosted Chattanooga on Fourth of July in 2022. Rocket City won that game 3-1.
Who’s Hot:
- Orlando Martinez: Recorded a hit in all six games last week against the Lookouts.
- Sam Brown: Collected 10 RBI last series. Ended month of June with season-high 14 RBI.
- Jack Kochanowicz: Tossed a complete game in last start against Lookouts. Finished June with a 2-1 record and a 3.12 ERA.
- Camden Minacci: Earned first Double-A save on Saturday.
Rocket City Trends:
- Tucker Flint holds a team-best .321 average in 16 games against the Barons. That includes 9 RBI during that stretch.
- Eric Wagaman has 10 RBI in 18 games against Birmingham.
- Michael Darrell-Hicks enters this series with a 2-1 record, an 0.79 ERA and three saves against the Barons this season. The reliever has struck out 16 batters in 11.1 innings pitched when facing Birmingham.
Birmingham Last Series: 3-3 vs. Tennessee
Birmingham won the first two games of the series before winning just one of the final four games.
Just two games were decided by two runs or fewer.
Barons Hitting:
Birmingham is second in the Southern League with a .249 batting average while scoring the second most runs in the league this season.
The Barons roster has two players with double digit home run totals in catcher and former Trash Pandas Edgar Quero and outfielder Wilfred Veras. Quero leads the team with 12 home runs.
Infielder Brooks Baldwin has been on fire all season with a .330 average and 35 RBI.
The offense also got a boost with the addition of outfielder Matt Hogan who has compiled a .364 average in his first nine games at the Double-A level.
Barons Pitching:
The Barons have been even better on the mound in 2024, holding a league-best 3.02 ERA along with 678 strikeouts which is second in the league.
Even with the promotion of Drew Thorpe to the White Sox, the Barons still hold one of the best rotations in the league led by Ky Bush and Mason Adams.
Both hold an ERA under 2.20 with 14 appearances each. Similar to Quero, Bush played for the Trash Pandas before a trade midway through the 2023 season.
The Barons pitching staff got help from lefty Noah Schultz who holds a 1.93 ERA in six starts since joining the team.
Barons Prospect Watch:
Even after losing top 10 players in Thorpe and infielder Bryan Ramos, the Barons still hold 11 of the White Sox top 30 prospects.
That includes five in the White Sox top 10 list.
Schultz is the Barons highest ranked prospect at No. 2 as he also ranks No. 37 in all of baseball while Quero ranks at No. 4 in the White Sox system and No. 92 in the MLB.