Las Vegas 51s @ Tacoma Rainier
June 29, 2017
Teams
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
|
Las
Vegas
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
5
|
7
|
1
|
|
Tacoma
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
7
|
10
|
1
|
W: Pagan (2-1, 2.64
ERA); L: Robles (0-1, 8.10 ERA)
The Stats:
Pitchers
Ricky Knapp
(6.16 ERA) – 7 IP, 6 H, 4 R (4 ER), 6 TB, 3 BB, 3 K (2 K/Sw), 7 GB: 11 FB: 4
LD: 1 PU, 106 Pitches (71 Strikes), 4 Swinging, 26 Called, 3.8% SwStr, 8.9%
Whiff/Swing, 15.1 Pitches/IP, 30 BF
Hansel Robles (BS, 2)(L, 0-1, 8.10 ERA) – 1.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R
(3 ER), 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 10 TB, 2 BB, 2 GB: 3 FB: 2 LD: 1 PU, 44 Pitches (25
Strikes), 1 Swinging, 7 Called, 2.3% SwStr, 5.6% Whiff/Swing, 33 Pitches/IP, 10
BF
Table 1 – Knapp pitch stats by inning
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
5th
|
6th
|
7th
|
Total
|
|
Total
|
13
|
9
|
16
|
33
|
8
|
10
|
17
|
106
|
Strikes
|
8
|
7
|
12
|
19
|
6
|
8
|
11
|
71
|
Swinging*
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
*3.8% Swinging strike rate; 8.9% Whiff/Swing rate
Batters
CF - Victor Cruzado - 0-5, 3 K, 4.8% SwStr, 10% Whiff/Swing,
4.2 Pitches/PA
SS - Gavin Cecchini - 2-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 9.5% SwStr, 18.2%
Whiff/Swing, 4.2 Pitches/PA
3B - Amed Rosario - 1-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 3.4 Pitches/PA
C - Kevin Plawecki - 1-5, 1 R, 1 K, 3.4 Pitches/PA
RF - Travis Taijeron - 1-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K,
21.7% SwStr, 62.5% Whiff/Swing, 4.6 Pitches/PA
LF - Josh Rodriguez - 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K, 16.7% SwStr, 60%
Whiff/Swing, 4.5 Pitches/PA
1B - Cody Decker - 0-2, 2 BB, 4 Pitches/PA
DH - Jayce Boyd - 2-4, 1 RBI, 3 Pitches/PA
2B - Phillip Evans - 0-4, 1 K, 12.5% SwStr, 27.3%
Whiff/Swing, 6 Pitches/PA
Recapish
Looking
to earn a series split with the Rainiers, Las Vegas gave the ball to Ricky
Knapp Thursday night in Tacoma. For the most part Knapp turned in one of his
better recent performances, but he hit a four-run speed bump in the 4th
that left the 51s in a big hole. The 51s offense got off to a delayed start
because Tacoma starter Christian Bergman was dealing early. Bergman retired the
first thirteen straight before some walks opened the door for some Vegas
offense in the 5th. The 51s bats showed more life against Tacoma’s
pen too, but just after they charged ahead, Hansel Robles came in from the 51s
pen and gave the lead right back.
Outside
of the long 4th, Knapp was very effective Thursday night – just look
at the pitch count for the other six frames from Table 1. He started his night
with a pair of strikeouts during a perfect 1st, and he worked around
a single and E5 behind him to keep Tacoma off the scoreboard for the first
three innings.
 |
| K #1 |
 |
| K #2 |
 |
| Rosario at third |
Then,
for whatever reason, Knapp came out of the dugout for the 4th with
no control. He walked the first two batters and three total in the frame, which
accounts for twelve of the fourteen balls he threw during the inning. Tacoma
sent nine men to the plate in the 4th and finished 3-5 with a sac
fly and the three walks.
Similar
to Knapp, Bergman had been on cruise control when he suddenly walked three
straight in the 5th. The walks came with one out, so Bergman had an
easier time limiting the damage than Knapp did the previous inning. Jayce
Boyd’s RBI single made it a 4-1 game, but Las Vegas left the bases loaded in
the frame.
After
his troublesome 4th, Knapp allowed just a pair of singles while
facing one over the minimum over the next three innings for Las Vegas. He added
a strikeout of Tyler Smith in the 6th, and while he left trailing
4-1, he had rebounded to give his team length while maintaining the status quo,
and that momentum can often carry over into the lineup.
 |
| 46 double play |
 |
| K #3 |
The 51s were able to start rolling at
the plate after Knapp finished the 7th. The Rainiers brought in Pat
Light for the 8th, but he was gone after allowing a Gavin Cecchini
single and issuing a walk to Amed Rosario. Jean Machi came out of the Tacoma
pen next and he was greeted with a Kevin Plawecki single, which loaded the
bases for Las Vegas with Travis Taijeron coming up. Taijeron has been red-hot
at the plate for the 51s lately, and he came through in a huge way, launching a
grand slam to right center field for his 14th homer of the season.
The slam gave Las Vegas a 5-4 lead, and it suddenly looked like they were
actually going to force a series split.
 |
| Cecchini |
 |
| Taijeron |
 |
| Rosario added a single in the 9th |
But
then Hansel Robles came in, and his 2017 struggles continued. He can still get
his heater up to 98 MPH, but he’s stuck in an Armando Benitez-like decline this
year. Forget about the save totals, Benitez’s best year out of the Mets pen was
in 1999, when he finished with 128 K: 41 BB and allowed just four homer’s over
78 IP. Benitez was always going to walk a number of people, but that worked as
long as he wasn’t allowing homerun’s. Unfortunately, after that very awesome
first season with the Mets, Benitez’s homerun rate more than doubled over his
next three-plus seasons with the team, and he hit some “memorable” rough
patches indeed.
While
Robles never reached Benitez’s level of dominance in the majors, he was a
reliable arm out of the Mets pen the last two seasons. Just like with Benitez,
Robles’ homerun rate has more than doubled so far in 2017, and his wasn’t
really great the past two seasons anyway. Who knows what it’ll take to get
Robles back on track, but when he figures it out, the Mets will probably still
be ready to welcome him back with open arms. One thing I think he should try is
to get rid of the gimmick: ditch the quick pitch. Instead of trying to catch a
batter off balance by rushing his delivery, he should focus on making sure
every pitch is perfect, because he's shown his stuff is good enough keep hitters off
balance and then blow them away if he's locating well.
After
dropping three of four in Tacoma, the 51s are off to Salt Lake for a weekend
series with the division leading Bees. Mitch Atkins takes the hill for his
second start with Las Vegas in the opener, which is scheduled for 9:35 PM.
An argument for putting down the camera(phone) during your first total solar eclipse: https://t.co/evycFI7MxS #eclipse2017 pic.twitter.com/mnveex0VyU— Sky & Telescope (@SkyandTelescope) July 1, 2017
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