JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK: HORRIBLE TIME FOR PROMOTIONS JETHAWKS LOSE LOTS OF KEY PLAYERS.

Byline: Gideon Rubin Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Among the JetHawks' most glaring weaknesses this season have been their lack of consistent starting pitching, speed and power. Recent promotions have hit them hard in all the above areas.

Despite a 4-10 record, JetHawks pitcher Casey Daigle, who was promoted to Double-A El Paso (Texas) last week, led the team with 122 innings pitched. Daigle, the staff ace, struggled this season, but he was 2-1 with a 1.71 ERA over his past three starts, and pitched at least 5 2/3 innings in each of his past six starts.

Outfielder Victor Hall, also promoted to El Paso last week, led the team with 26 stolen bases and a .373 on-base average.

And catcher Craig Ansman, who was sent to Double-A on Tuesday, led the parent Arizona Diamondbacks minor-league system with 18 homers and led the team with a .543 slugging percentage.

To put the impact of the promotions in perspective, although their bullpen is among the California League's best, the JetHawks are ranked second to last in the league with a 5.13 team ERA. They're last in stolen bases 69 and tied for the third-lowest home run total with 69.

So far, the greatest impact of the recent promotions has been felt on the pitching staff, which already had taken a hit before the Daigle promotion when starter Sam Taulli suffered a biceps injury in a July 18 start against Lake Elsinore.

Taulli hasn't pitched since, leaving the JetHawks with a six-man bullpen for their last 10 games, and Lancaster starters have lasted just four innings or less in five of the team's last 10 games.

There is good news, though. Taulli threw a pain-free side outing on Tuesday, and is expected to be available out of the bullpen this weekend. Also, new edition Beltran Perez, who comes to Lancaster from Double-A, is expected to bolster the team's beleaguered starting rotation.

And despite all the upheaval, the JetHawks remains in a pennant race. Entering Friday night's game against Bakersfield, Lancaster (20-21), winners of four of its last six games, trailed first-place Lake Elsinore (22-19) by two games in the second-half standings. The team was also eight games behind High Desert in the wild card race, which is based on overall records.

Nevertheless, JetHawks manager Bill Plummer believes the JetHawks will only go as far as their starting pitching takes them.

``We've got to start getting some quality starts,'' he said. ``We need our starters to go five to seven innings and keep us in the ballgame. I don't expect anybody to be perfect, but we've got to keep our pitch counts down so we can pitch into the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, and we need to be more aggressive on the mound and throw strikes early in the count.''

Plummer noted that in Sunday's 10-5 loss to Lake Elsinore, JetHawks pitchers combined to throw 203 pitches and walked 15 batters.

``The defense suffers when you do that,'' Plummer said. ``Everything suffers because everybody stands around. We're throwing 180, 200 pitches every night, and that's too much.''

--Much-needed rest: The JetHawks' off day Thursday - their first since July 8 - couldn't have come at a better time. On Wednesday night, Lancaster established a record for the longest game in franchise history, outlasting the San Bernardino Stampede 15-14 in 15 innings in a game that lasted 5 hours, 10 minutes.

The previous night, they played one of their shortest games in franchise history in a 3-2 victory over the Stampede in 1:58.

With two off days in a five-day span - they're also off Monday - the JetHawks also will have a chance to reshuffle their starting rotation, pitching coach Royal Clayton said.

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Victor Hall was one of several JetHawks recently promoted to Double-A El Paso (Texas). He led Lancaster with 26 stolen bases.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer