This Week in Bradenton: FCL Bucs Push for Playoff Spot
Marauders have a tough but thankfully short week
The FCL Pirates are in a remarkably narrow playoff race. The FCL has three divisions, and the best record beyond the three division winners gets a wild card. With two games left, the Bucs are in a three-way tie with the Rays and Red Sox for the division lead. The Bucs have games Tuesday and Thursday against the 20-37 Braves, while the Rays and Red Sox play each other those two days. On the wild card front, the Bucs, Rays, Red Sox, and Tigers are tied, so two of those four should be going to the playoffs.
The Bucs have been pretty top-heavy on offense. Most of it is coming from Jhonny Severino, Carlos Caro, and Yordany De Los Santos, along with the two catchers, Richard Ramirez and Luke Scherrer. Ramirez and Scherrer are playing every day, with one manning first. Tony Blanco, Jr., is injured, and the rest of the lineup is producing very little.
Scherrer is turning into an interesting player. He was signed as a non-drafted prep player, which isn’t very common. He’s gotten significantly better each month this season and, through Monday, is hitting 324/465/441 in July. On the season he’s batting 279/412/356, with good walk and K rates of 12.9% and 15.2%, respectively. He hasn’t hit any home runs so far, but he makes a lot of good contact and could develop over-the-fence power if he elevates the ball more.
The Bucs’ pitching hasn’t been outstanding apart from Zander Mueth, but they got a big game from Clevari Tejada on Monday. He threw five no-hit innings in a seven-inning game before allowing a leadoff single in the sixth. He came back with a strike-em-out throw-em-out double play, with help from Ramirez. David Matoma struck out the side in the seventh.
Speaking of which, Matoma returned from the IL at a good time after missing nearly a month. Since returning, he’s thrown three shutout innings, allowing a hit and a walk and fanning four.
The Marauders had a difficult week that, luckily, lasted only three games. They lost all three. Carlson Reed had another good start, throwing four shutout innings before the game was suspended. Otherwise, there’s not much positive to report.
The Marauders’ offense is sinking back toward its dismal early-season levels. It’s hard to see a reason not to promote several FCL players once that season ends. Of course, some of the college draftees could join the Marauders as well.
Apart from Reed, the starting pitching has also been less than stellar. It hasn’t helped that three of the four best starters have been on IL. Apparently, Michael Kennedy and Antwone Kelly will be back fairly soon. I haven’t heard anything about Khristian Curtis.
Harrington is 3rd on the BA hit sheet this week. Plaudits for how he’s getting the Ks now.
Fwiw, Shim was at the FCL game today, in street clothes.