JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK: HITTING SOUTHPAWS A SLOW-MOVING TASK.Byline: Gideon Rubin Staff Writer LANCASTER - Soft-tossing left-handed pitchers' mastery of JetHawks hitters has at least as much to do with their velocity - or lack thereof - than which side of the mound they happen to be throwing from. That's according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. JetHawks manager Bill Plummer William Francis Plummer (born March 21, 1947 in Oakland, CA) was a catcher for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and the Seattle Mariners. While never a regular player (he was Johnny Bench's backup catcher during the Big Red Machine years), he did play solid defense. , citing Lancaster's poor production against Inland Empire In·land Empire A region of the northwest United States between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, comprising eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, northern Idaho, and western Montana. Farming, lumbering, and mining are important to the area. starter Shawn Nottingham in a 6-2 loss. The JetHawks managed just two runs on 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings against Nottingham, who typifies the preponderance of the left-handed pitchers in the California League The California League is a minor league baseball league which operates throughout the state of California. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High-A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth that sit in the mid-80 mph range and throw offspeed pitches on fastball counts. Unfortunately for the JetHawks, there's a lot more where Nottingham came from. The JetHawks are seeing more southpaws than anyone can remember, with 38 percent of their 1,184 at-bats having come against left-handers. ``We've had a hard time hitting left-handers and that showed up (Thursday),'' Plummer said. The JetHawks are batting .273 against left-handed pitchers compared to .287 against right-handers. But that 14-point disparity hardly does justice to the JetHawks' troubles hitting left-handers. The JetHawks' slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (abbreviated SLG) is the most popular measure of the power of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats: against right-handed pitchers is .433 compared .381 against left-handers. They've hit more than three times as many home runs (20) against right-handed pitchers than left-handers (6). Lancaster is averaging one run per 7.8 at-bats against left-handed pitchers, compared to one run per 5.8 at-bats against right-handers. ``They're throwing a lot of changeups and breaking balls and the young hitters aren't used to it because they don't see a lot of them,'' Plummer said. Lack of familiarity facing tough left-handers is also a factor. ``You're seeing the top left-handers who come out of college become starters (in the California League),'' Plummer said. ``A lot of the left- handers they've seen (earlier in their careers) weren't very good.'' A lefty-heavy lineup hasn't helped. Left-handed hitting first baseman Chris Carter Chris Carter may refer to:
Some of the JetHawks' right-hander vs. left-hander breakdowns are counter-intuitive. Slugging right-handed hitting outfielder Alex Frazier is hitting .311 (28 for 90) with four homers against right-handers, and .273 (12 for 44) with no homers against left-handers. Nobody, however, really seems to really bother left-handed hitting second baseman second baseman n. Baseball The infielder who is positioned near and to the first-base side of second base. Noun 1. second baseman - (baseball) the person who plays second base second sacker Erik Schindewolf and left-handed hitting shortstop Danny Richar Danny Adam Richar (born June 9, 1983 in La Romana, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball second baseman who plays for the Chicago White Sox. Richar originally signed as an undrafted free agent with the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 9, 2001. , who are batting .316 (24 for 76) and .340 (18 for 53) respectively against right-handers and .310 (13 for 42) and .292 (7 for 24) respectively against left-handers. Four of the six homers the JetHawks have hit against left-handed pitchers have been hit by left-handed hitters. --Steady hand: Montero mon·te·ro n. pl. mon·te·ros A hunter's cap with side flaps. [Spanish, hunter, from monte, mountain, from Latin m has been the JetHawks most consistent hitter.. A 21-year-old native Venezuelan catcher, Montero has played in all 33 JetHawks games and has reached base safely in all but five of them. He leads the team with a .324 batting average, seven homers, and with a .554 slugging percentage. And he can play small ball, too. In Thursday's game, he extended his hitting streak to eight games with a drag-bunt single leading off the sixth. The previous day, he homered twice in a 6-5 victory over the 66ers. ``He was a prospect coming in and he's having a great year for us,'' Plummer said. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. where we'd be without him.'' Gideon Rubin, (818)713-3607 gideon.rubin(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: JetHawks manager Bill Plummer said his team is having trouble hitting left-handed pitchers who throw offspeed pitches. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
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