'Finishing Strong' Grasshoppers Still Have Eyes Set On Playoffs In Last Week

With just six games left in the schedule, the Grasshoppers still have playoff hopes.

There’s just a week left in the Greensboro campaign and while it might be easy to get those plans ready for the offseason, there is one collective mindset for the Grasshoppers heading into their final series;

Finish strong, and win.

“Continue to win,” said Jase Bowen when I asked about his focus over the last few games of the season. “That’s what we do here. We put a focus on winning.”

Bowen has put together maybe the best offensive season by any player in the South Atlantic League, leading in RBI, second in home runs and is the only 20/20 player currently.

But personal glory isn’t where his mind is, but just going out there and doing things the right way.

“Go out there and continue to compete, not really worrying about stats too much, just kind of having fun and enjoying the game, playing the right way.”

It’s a sentiment that isn’t owned by him alone.

Jack Brannigan is just two home runs away from a 20/20 season of his own between his time in Bradenton and Greensboro but isn’t something he is focusing on as he wraps up his first full season in the Pirates system.

“If it happens it happens, I’m not really too worried about it,” Brannigan said of a potential 20/20 season. He instead had a different focus going into the last week.

“Just kind of finishing strong, ending the year on a high note, kind of something you can look back on like ‘I finished strong’ and take that into next year.”

He also reiterated about winning games and even making a playoff push here at the end of the season.

Entering their final week of the season, the Grasshoppers would need some serious help, but do have a shot at making the playoffs.

They currently sit 4.5 games out of the first place tie between the Jersey Shore BlueClaws and Brooklyn Cyclones.

The task won’t be easy, as they face Bowling Green, a team with a +119 run differential in the second half of the season and have won seven of their last 10 games.

If there is a positive to take out of the matchup, the Grasshoppers have won eight of the 10 games they’ve played against the Hot Rods this season.

They’ve struggled in each of the last two series, dropping four of six each time, but before that rattled off 22 wins in a 33 game span, so they are certainly capable of winning games.

The ultimate goal for each minor leaguer is to one day get the call to the show, so padding the scoresheet can help here and there, but at the end of the day, winning the biggest prize in the game will take a mindset shift that needs to start before the majors.

It’s one that you can see here as they prepare for their final series of the season.