Prevost Puzzles The Stone Crabs

Charlotte Stone Crabs @ St. Lucie Mets

May 25, 2016

Hunter Wood @ Josh Prevost

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Charlotte	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	9	0
St. Lucie	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	X	2	4	0

W: Prevost (3-5, 4.69 ERA); L: Wood (3-3, 1.76 ERA); Save: Taylor (5, 1.02 ERA)

Boxscore

Nice shot of Tradition Field from last year's FSL All-Star Game

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Josh Prevost (W, 3-5, 4.69 ERA) – 7 IP, 8 H, 1 R (1 ER), 8 TB, 2 BB, 5 K (5 K/Sw), 1 GIDP, 14 GB: 2 FB: 3 LD: 3 PU, 85 Pitches (58 Strikes), 8 Swinging, 15 Called, 9.4% SwStr, 18.6% Whiff/Swing, 12.1 Pitches/IP, 29 BF

Mike Hepple (H, 1, 0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 1 K (1 K/Sw), 2 GB, 7 Pitches (5 Strikes), 2 Swinging, 1 Called, 28.6% SwStr, 50% Whiff/Swing, 7 Pitches/IP, 3 BF

Corey Taylor (S, 5, 1.02 ERA) – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 TB, 1 GIDP, 2 GB: 1 FB, 18 Pitches (11 Strikes), 1 Swinging, 2 Called, 5.6% SwStr, 11.1% Whiff/Swing, 18 Pitches/IP, 3 BF

Batters

2B - Luis Guillorme - 1-3, 1 SAC, 3.25 Pitches/PA

LF - Patrick Biondi - 2-2, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SB, 3.33 Pitches/PA

C - Lednier Ricardo - 1-2, 1 BB, 3.33 Pitches/PA

Recapish

The St. Lucie Mets squeaked out a 2-1 win over the Charlotte Stone Crabs Wednesday night behind a second straight great effort from Josh Prevost. St. Lucie led 1-0 most of the game, but the teams took turns scratching out a run in the 7^th before the Mets pen shut things down for the final two frames. Since they aren’t on MiLB.tv, I don’t normally cover St. Lucie Mets games without a good reason, so be sure to check out the iscore log included at the bottom!

For Prevost, he’s now allowed just 2 R over his last 13.1 IP, thanks largely to a nearly 60% groundball rate on balls in play over his last two starts – he’s at 53% for the season. He’s mostly a sinker-slider pitcher, though he added in a few changeups later in the start.

The Mets played small ball to score a run without a hit in the 1^st inning. Speedy Champ Stuart walked to start the frame, stole 2B, went to 3B on a sac bunt from Luis Guillorme, and then came home on an RBI groundout off the bat of Kevin Taylor. Guillorme only had to take one pitch before Champ had 2B stolen, but the PA was an example of why he’s a good table setter. He’s confident enough in his contact and bunting abilities that he’ll let a few pitches go by in case the runner at 1B has a chance to steal, and then he gets the bunt down to move him over to 3B. The net effect from the runner advancing 1B to 3B during his PA is positive for the Mets (run expectancy increases from start of PA to end of PA), although giving oneself up once the runner reaches 2B is still a bad play per those tables.

Charlotte threatened to get that run right back in the 2^nd, and it might’ve been an entirely different game had they done so. Bralin Jackson picked up the Crabs first hit when he singled into CF. After falling behind to the next batter 1-0, Prevost managed to pick Jackson off at 1B for the second out of the inning. That proved huge when the next two batters reached on singles of their own before Prevost ended the inning.

Amed Rosario and Guillorme combined for a double play behind Prevost in the 4^th, which helped him finish a second straight frame in less than 10 pitches. The game got a little testy and warnings were issued after Becerra lost control of his bat after striking out in the Mets half of the 4^th. It was the second straight game Becerra lost control of his bat after a strikeout – radio said it went into LF last time – and it sounded like the Charlotte pitcher was frustrated by that. The bat landed near Charlotte’s start Hunter Wood, and he picked it up and tossed it in the direction of Becerra, who had his back turned to the whole situation, which is why the Mets bench took exception.

There was an automatic ball called against Prevost for the second time this year in the 6^th inning, and this time he wasn’t able to get the call overturned. After a lengthy discussion, Prevost stepped back on the rubber and struck out Jackson to end the inning.

The 7^th turned out to be the longest for Prevost, and it started on a pair of singles lined into RF. Charlotte would tie the game in the frame on a pair of sac’s, with Wilmer Dominguez picking up the RBI sac fly. They still had runners on the corners with two outs as Andrew Velasquez came to the plate, but Prevost was able to blow a 92 MPH heater by him to end his night on a high note.

The Mets were quick to get that run back, though again they did so without the benefit of a hit in the frame. Patrick Biondi and Lednier Ricardo took back-to-back walks, and the Charlotte pitching did the rest. The runner first moved up on a passed ball (initially ruled a wild pitch) with Jhoan Urena at the plate, and then scored on wild pitch with Champ Stuart at the plate.

Mike Hepple took over for the 8^th and had a breezy 7-pitch inning in his return to the FSL. Corey Taylor then picked up his 5^th save of the year (in 5 tries) during the 9^th, benefitting from another Rosario-Guillorme double play.

These two teams have one more game in this series scheduled for Thursday night at 6:30 PM, with Chris Flexen (2-5, 4.47 ERA) expected to pitch for St. Lucie opposite Benton Moss (2-4, 5.06 ERA).

Pitcher Coverage

Josh Prevost

Table 1 – Prevost pitch stats by inning

	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th	Total
Total	10	14	9	8	10	16	18	84
Strikes	6	11	5	6	7	11	12	58
Swinging*	1	0	0	0	2	4	1	8

*9.4% Swinging strike rate; 18.6% Whiff/Swing

Pitch types and velocities courtesy of iscorecast

1^st inning

1) Riley Unroe hit a groundout to Katz (31/G)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – in play

2) Andrew Velasquez struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 92 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 1-1

iii. 92 MPH Fastball – called strike 1-2

iv. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 2-2

v. 91 MPH Fastball – foul 2-2

vi. 86 MPH Slider – swinging strike 3

3) Mac James hit a groundout to Rosario (63/G)

i. 93 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0

ii. 93 MPH Fastball – ball 2-0

iii. 93 MPH Fastball – in play

2^nd inning

1) Cade Gotta hit a groundout to Urena (53/G)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 91 MPH Fastball – ball 1-1

iii. 86 MPH Slider – called strike 1-2

iv. 91 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2

v. 91 MPH Fastball – in play

2) Bralin Jackson singled through the middle (S8/G)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 92 MPH Fastball – in play

3) Nick Ciuffo singled through the right side of the infield (S9/G)

i. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0
*Jackson picked off at 1B

ii. 92 MPH Fastball – foul 1-1

iii. 86 MPH Slider – called strike 1-2

iv. 92 MPH Fastball – in play

4) Christian Toribio reached on an infield single (S6/G)

i. 83 MPH Slider – in play

5) Thomas Milone flied out to Biondi (7/F)

i. 92 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1

ii. 92 MPH Fastball – in play

3^rd inning

1) Wilmer Dominguez hit a groundout to Urena (53/G)

i. 90 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1

ii. 90 MPH Fastball – in play

2) Unroe popped out to Urena in foul territory (5/P)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 86 MPH Slider – in play

3) Velasquez walked (BB)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0

ii. 91 MPH Fastball – ball 2-0

iii. 91 MPH Fastball – ball 3-0

iv. 91 MPH Fastball – ball 4

4) James hit a groundout to Rosario (63/G)

i. 92 MPH Fastball – in play

4^th inning

1) Gotta lined a single into LF (S7/L)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1

ii. 86 MPH Slider – ball 1-1

iii. 90 MPH Fastball – in play

2) Jackson hit a double play grounder to Rosario (643/G)

i. 90 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 86 MPH Slider – in play

3) Ciuffo singled through the middle (S8/G)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – in play

4) Toribio popped out to Guillorme (4/P)

i. 90 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0

ii. 90 MPH Fastball – in play

5^th inning

1) Milone struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1

ii. 84 MPH Changeup – swinging strike 0-2

iii. 86 MPH Slider – ball 1-2

iv. 91 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

2) Dominguez hit a groundout to Rosario (63/G)

i. 86 MPH Slider – in play

3) Unroe hit a groundout to Katz (3u/G)

i. 92 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 1-1

iii. 86 MPH Slider – called strike 1-2

iv. 91 MPH Fastball – ball 2-2

v. 86 MPH Slider – in play

6^th inning

1) Velasquez reached on an infield single (S6/G)

i. 90 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 90 MPH Fastball – ball 1-1

iii. 84 MPH Changeup – ball 2-1

iv. 91 MPH Fastball – in play

2) James popped out to Guillorme (4/P)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 86 MPH Slider – ball 1-1
*Velasquez stole 2B

iii. 91 MPH Fastball – in play

3) Gotta struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 84 MPH Changeup – foul 0-1

ii. 86 MPH Slider – called strike 0-2

iii. 92 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

4) Jackson struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. Automatic ball 1-0

ii. 86 MPH Slider – swinging strike 1-1

iii. 84 MPH Slider – called strike 1-2

iv. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 2-2

v. 85 MPH Slider – swinging strike 3

7^th inning

1) Ciuffo lined a single into RF (S9/L)

i. 80 MPH Slider – called strike 0-1

ii. 84 MPH Changeup – ball 1-1

iii. 84 MPH Changeup – in play

2) Toribio lined a single into RF (S9/L)

i. 91 MPH Fastball – in play

3) Milone advanced the runners with a sac bunt (54/G)

i. 89 MPH Fastball – in play

4) Dominguez knocked in Ciuffo with a sac fly to RF (SF9/F)

i. 85 MPH Slider – in play

5) Unroe walked (BB)

i. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0

ii. 84 MPH Changeup – ball 2-0

iii. 83 MPH Slider – ball 3-0

iv. 91 MPH Fastball – called strike 3-1

v. 84 MPH Changeup – foul 3-2

vi. 92 MPH Fastball – foul 3-2

vii. 86 MPH Slider – foul 3-2

viii. 93 MPH Fastball – ball 4

6) Velasquez struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0
*Unroe stole 2B

ii. 83 MPH Slider – called strike 1-1

iii. 83 MPH Slider – foul 1-2

iv. 92 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

Mike Hepple

8^th inning

1) James hit a groundout to Katz (3u/G)

i. 93 MPH Fastball – in play

2) Gotta hit a groundout to Hepple (13/G)

i. 81 MPH Slider – in play

3) Jackson struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 81 MPH Slider – ball 1-0

ii. 81 MPH Slider – called strike 1-1

iii. 93 MPH Fastball – fastball 2-1

iv. 79 MPH Slider – swinging strike 2-2

v. 81 MPH Slider – swinging strike 3

Corey Taylor

9^th inning

1) Ciuffo singled through the left side of the infield (S7/G)

i. 82 MPH Changeup – called strike 0-1

ii. 82 MPH Changeup – foul 0-2

iii. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 1-2

iv. 84 MPH Slider – foul 1-2

v. 93 MPH Fastball – ball 2-2

vi. 92 MPH Fastball – foul 2-2

vii. 92 MPH Fastball – in play

2) Toribio hit a double play grounder to Rosario (643/G)

i. 84 MPH Slider – called strike 0-1

ii. 84 MPH Slider – ball 1-1

iii. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 2-1

iv. 84 MPH Slider – swinging strike 2

v. 84 MPH Slider – in play

3) Milone flied out to Biondi (7/F)

i. 82 MPH Changeup – ball 1-0

ii. 91 MPH Fastball – foul 1-1

iii. 84 MPH Slider – ball 2-1

iv. 93 MPH Fastball – ball 3-1

v. 92 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3-2

vi. 84 MPH Slider – in play

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