The Hickory Crawdads have MiLB's best record in the low-A division
Crawdads' shortstop Angel Arredondo (6) catches Hub City's Anthony Gutierrez (25) in a rundown between first and second during an exhibition game at L.P. Frans Stadium.
Crawdads' center fielder Hector Osorio (18) leaps at the wall trying to catch a deep fly during an exhibition game at L.P. Frans Stadium.
Over the first two-plus weeks of the season, the Hickory Crawdads have shown they are a team that can never be counted out.
Through their first 15 games, Hickory is 12-3, which is the top record among all 60 A-ball-affiliated teams. The common thread in many of the victories has been the ability to come back from deficits. Of the 12 wins, the Crawdads have rallied in seven of them, including four in the most recent series at home against the Salem (Va.) RidgeYaks. During the last two wins, which capped a nine-game winning streak that ended Sunday afternoon, Hickory bounced back from five-run deficits.
Crawdads skipper Nick Janssen said when the team has fallen behind, the talk in the dugout has remained confident.
“They do feel the energy,” Janssen said. “You still feel the kids have energy, because they know that they're a few good at-bats away from being back in the game. That’s what you want to see. You want to have belief amongst the team and people don't get down when you're down by a couple of runs. Even if you don't win that night, you could still affect the series.”
Six of the seven come-from-behind wins, so far, have occurred when the team has trailed after the fifth inning or later. A lot of the success has come from the pitching staff, which has been nearly unhittable late in games. Over the first 15 games, the Crawdads have a 1.43 ERA after the sixth inning with just 46 batters allowed to reach over 44 innings and 67 strikeouts — all of which leads the Carolina League. At a level in which pitchers are slotted for use in a set schedule, as opposed to strategic considerations, the work by the staff has been impressive.
“It’s a good mix of guys,” Janssen said of the late-inning work. “There's a lot of guys to be excited about, maybe not some big names or prospects, but a lot of guys have done a really good job working hard and attacking the zone, and you can just rely on them to get in there and execute their stuff and give us a chance by putting zeros on the board.”
While the pitchers have held the fort, the lineup has been able to work back into games. After the sixth inning, the Crawdads lead the league in runs scored (37) and batting avg. (.267). The Crawdads have also powered up in the past week. After going homerless over the first six games this season, Hickory has 10 bombs in the last nine games.
Marcos Torres, Hector Osorio and Deward Tovar have nine of the 10 blasts. Along with top-30 prospects Yolfran Castillo and Paulino Santana, the group of five have managed to be a tough gauntlet for opposing pitchers to go through.
Janssen was especially impressed with first baseman-outfielder Tovar, who leads the team with four homers and 13 RBIs to go with a .579 slugging percentage. Tovar showed the combination of power and speed on Saturday with a pair of homers — one, the conventional over-the-fence kind, the other an inside-the-park homer to the centerfield track.
“I can't say enough about that kid,” Janssen said. “He works his (tail) off. He's had injury issues in the past, but he's worked hard to stay healthy and it's good to see him move around the diamond and show off his versatility and what he does in the box.”
The Crawdads, which dropped the series finale against Salem 4-2 on Sunday, begin a two-week road trip on Tuesday in Lynchburg, Va., against the Hill City Howlers. The next home game at L.P. Frans Stadium is Tuesday, May 5, against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
