Game Notes 5/16/14: Another chance to face Vader, then it’ll be Luc…
KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS vs. DELMARVA SHOREBIRDS
20–18 (Chicago White Sox) 19–19 (Baltimore Orioles)
Friday, May 16, 2014–5:00 p.m. — Doubleheader
CMC-NorthEast Stadium — Kannapolis, N.C.
Games #39 & #40
RH James Dykstra (2–4, 3.86) vs. RH Sebastian Vader (4–1, 3.62)
LH Andre Wheeler (0–2, 3.71) vs. RH Luc Rennie (1–3, 6.75)
Episodes II and III: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) wrap up this 3-game series against the Shorebirds (A, Orioles) with a doubleheader today. Kannapolis, which took the series opener 3–2 on Wednesday before yesterday’s rain out, can clinch the series with a victory today as Opening Day starter James Dykstra returns to the mound for the first time since fog in Lakewood cut short his last outing. Dykstra, who pitched at Cal State-San Marco, will face San Marcos, Calif., native and Delmarva starter Sebastian Vader. Vader will be succeeded by Luc Rennie, who will pitch Game 2 for the ‘Birds while the Intimidators counter with Andre Wheeler, who will make his fifth start of the season.
Swamps of Degobah: Only two of Thursday’s seven South Atlantic League games played as five rain outs took out the majority of the Sally League slate. Additionally, the only White Sox affiliate to play on Thursday was Birmingham as both AAA Charlotte and High-A Winston-Salem were also rained out.
Return of the Jedi: James Dykstra, 23, returns to the mound for his seventh start and fourth at home when he faces an Orioles affiliate for the first time in his career. He is 1–2 with a 2.70 ERA in three home starts compared to 1–2 with a 4.91 ERA on the road. His last time on the mound came in the May 9 fog-out at Lakewood, a game that suspended in the fourth inning. Prior to that, Dykstra suffered consecutive losses and has allowed at least three runs in each of his last four starts. He leads all of Minor League Baseball in groundout-to-airouts ratio (5.09) — fellow White Sox farmhand and former Intimidator Charlie Leesman of AAA Charlotte ranks second in the minors at 4.00. Dykstra ranks tied for first in complete games (1) and ranks third among starters in lowest walks/9 IP ratio (1.29). The White Sox selected Dykstra in the sixth round of the June 2013 draft out of Cal State San Marcos. As a senior in 2013, he went 9–4 with a 2.02 ERA in 13 starts, working 89 innings en route to being named All-Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) First Team for the second straight season.
Tuscan (Red) Raider: Andre Wheeler, 22, makes his fifth start and 10th appearance for Kannapolis in the second game of today’s doubleheader. Wheeler, a former Texas Tech Red Raiders reliever, is 0–2 with a 4.24 ERA (8 ER/17 IP) in four starts compared to 0–0 with a 2.79 ERA (3 ER/9.2 IP) in relief. This is his third career appearance against the Shorebirds — he faced them twice in 2013 out of the bullpen, going 1–0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/5 IP). He is coming off of one of his best outings as pro, striking out a career-high six over 5.0 innings in a no decision in a start at Hagerstown on May 11. The White Sox selected Wheeler in the 15th round of last June’s draft, and he made nine appearances with Advanced Rookie Bristol before joining Kannapolis in late July 2013.
Revenge of the SIth: Sebastian Vader, 21, makes his seventh start and fourth on the road on the heels of three straight wins in his last three outings. He has pitched better on the road, going 2–0 with a 2.25 ERA in three starts compared to 2–1 with a 5.19 ERA in three outings at Delmarva. He ranks fifth among starters in the SAL in lowest walks/9 IP ratio (1.45) and fewest baserunners/9 IP ratio (9.88). Vader is in his first year at Class A Delmarva after spending the last two years at Short-A Aberdeen, going 8–11 with a 3.01 ERA (52/175.2 IP) in 27 games (27 starts) for the IronBirds. The Orioles drafted Vader in the 18th round of the June 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of San Marcos (Calif.) High School.
Search your feelings, Luc: Luc Rennie, 20, makes his sixth start of the season and fourth career start against the Intimidators in the second game of today’s doubleheader. Last season, he went 2–1 with a 3.60 ERA (6 ER/15 IP) with 12 strikeouts and four walks in three starts against Kannapolis. The Intimidators hit .323 against him with most of that damage coming in just his second outing at the Class A level last July. Rennie is coming off a his first win of the season, a 6.0-inning outing against Lakewood in which he allowed one run on five hits. The Orioles drafted him in the 16th round of the June 2012 draft out of Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, Calif.
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Attack of the Clones: The Intimidators have played five doubleheaders this season, going 5–5 in those games with all five twin bills resulting in a split on the day. Kannapolis split a doubleheader on Sunday at Lakewood, taking Game 1 before falling in Game 2. It was the fourth time the Intimidators won the first game of a doubleheader this season. Kannapolis split a pair of doubleheaders against West Virginia on consecutive days (April 29 and 30), taking the first game of each. The only doubleheader in which Kannapolis dropped the first game came April 15 at Hickory.
Shutting down the Shorebirds (and all garbage compactors on the detention level): The Intimidators edged the Shorebirds, 3–2, in the series opener behind a qualiy start from Tyler Barnette, who struck out a career-high 7 over 6.0 innings to earn the win. After Delmarva took an early lead on a Drew Dosch home run, Trey Mancini committed an error in the bottom of the first that allowed Kale Kiser to score, tying the game, 1–1. Carl Thomore followed with a base hit to drive in Cleuluis Rondon for a 2–1 lead. Jacob Morris added a solo home run (4) in the third. Andrew Mitchell tossed 2.0 innings of relief before David Putman secured the save (2) with a scoreless ninth. Kannapolis pitchers combined to strike out 12 Shorebirds on the night, the team’s 10th game this year with double-digit strikeouts.
Podracing around the bases: Leadoff man Adam Engel had just his second day off of the season on Wednesday. He still leads the South Atlantic League with 17 stolen bases. Engel is also tied for second in the league with 27 runs scored. His stolen base Tuesday at Hagerstown was the 50th by an Intimidator this season. He is 17–23 on the year stealing bases.
Walks, not Ewoks: First baseman Danny Hayes leads the SAL with 24 walks. He leads Kannapolis with a .383 on-base percentage and an OPS of .805.
That Blast Came from the Death Star: Jacob Morris blasted his team-leading fourth home run of the season on Wednesday, leading off the bottom of the third with a shot off Mitch Horacek to left-center field. It was the 10th home run by an Intimidator this season and the first off a lefty. Kannapolis had not hit a home run at home since April 6 against Greenville when three players left the yard.
A Great Knowledge of the Force: Kannapolis starting pitching has shown great control on the mound since May 4, going 5–1 with a 1.06 ERA (6 ER/51 IP) over nine games. Intimidators starters were 8–11 with a 4.53 ERA (69 ER/137 IP) leading up to that point. Tyler Barnette worked the fourth straight quality start by an Intimidators pitcher on Wednesday. He worked 6.0 innings to match a career high while striking out a career-best seven batters to earn the win. Barnette followed quality starts by Tyler Danish on Sunday, Robinson Leyer on Monday, and Jake Sanchez on Tuesday.
Padawan Promoted: Tyler Danish, the White Sox second round pick in the June 2013 First-Year Player Draft, earned a promotion from Kannapolis to Class A-Advanced Winston-Salem. Danish was 3–0 with a 0.71 ERA (3 ER/38 IP) in seven starts for the Intimidators, the second-best ERA in all of Minor League Baseball among qualifying pitchers. Danish is expected to make his Carolina League debut on Sunday against Frederick. In a corresponding move, the Intimidators received RHP Thaddius Lowry, the White Sox fifth round pick last June, from Extended Spring Training.
Broadcast: Today’s game will be broadcast live on IntimidatorsBaseball.com beginning at 6:50 p.m. Josh Feldman will broadcast all 70 home games and select road games in 2014.
