Baysox Face EL’s Hottest Hitter in New Britain, May 5 to 8

Bowie Baysox vs. New Britain Rock Cats, May 5 to 8 at New Britain Stadium

Monday, May 5 – 6:35 p.m. LHP Chris Waters vs. RHP Yohan Pino
Tuesday, May 6 – 6:35 p.m. RHP Brad Bergesen vs. LHP Ryan Mullins
Wednesday, May 7 – 6:35 p.m. RHP David Hernandez vs. RHP Anthony Swarzak
Thursday, May 8 – 10:35 a.m. RHP Jason Berken vs. RHP Jay Rainville

No one in the Eastern League has gotten off to a hotter start than New Britain lead-off hitter Luke Hughes (.373 EqA through May 3). The 23-year-old from Perth, Australia has nine home runs and a Bondsian .07 HR/PA. In 2007, Hughes had nine home runs all year as a utility player for the Rock Cats and four in a similar role with Fort Myers (high A) in 2006.

Luke Hughes (from rockcats.com)

There are clouds on the horizon for Hughes, however. His batting average on balls hit in play is an unsustainable .412 (about .300 is average). And his .719 slugging percentage is more than 300 points above his career mark.

For the moment, Hughes and his .450 OBP must be pretty popular in the clubhouse. Number-three hitter Brock Peterson’s (.275 EqA) 24 RBI is third in the EL and clean-up hitter David Winfree’s (.247 EqA) 23 RBI is fifth.

The Rock Cats fielders are making some friends in the bullpen themselves. Starter Yohan Pino (1.80 ERA in 25 innings), and relievers Zachary Ward (0.51 in 17.2), Kyle Aselton (1.13 in 16), and Armando Gabino (1.13 in 16) have some unreal unadjusted ERAs. But their defense adjusted ERAs are more modest (3.00 for Pino, 2.08 for Ward, 3.52 for Aselton, and 2.45 for Gabino).

Among the fielders these pitchers have to thank is shortstop Trevor Plouffe (.261 EqA) whose fielding runs above average (FRAA) has improved from -12 in 2007 to 0 this year.