Charleston Overview

by Akula Wolf on Jun 3, 2010 10:40 PM EDT

Pitching

Charleston Starters		ERA	FIP	IP	K/9	BB/9	K:BB
Kevin Decker	RHP	3.79	4.28	73.7	7.3	3.9	1.9
David Peterson	RHP	5.03	4.27	82.3	6.9	2.0	3.5
Christian Powell	RHP	6.63	5.35	76.0	7.3	4.3	1.7

(FIP = fielding-independent ERA. Thanks to College Splits.)

Kevin Decker is Charleston's typical Friday starter and figures to get the ball against NC State tomorrow, though I haven't been able to find anything on the tubes to confirm it. If it's not Decker, it's Peterson, who has pitched just as well as Decker despite what their respective ERAs say to the contrary. Those guys can run their fastballs in the low 90s but aren't especially formidable from a stuff/strikeout standpoint. Decker's control issues could prove a big problem against a patient Wolfpack offense.

Right-hander Heath Hembree provides the heat out of the pen: he strikes out 13+ hitters per 9 innings and his fastball has been clocked as high as 99 mph. But he either doesn't command the heater very well or doesn't have much in the way of secondary pitches; he walks six guys per 9 innings and Aaron Fitt calls him "surprisingly hittable." Kinda sounds like Carlos Marmol. We're most likely to see Hembree in a save situation.

Charleston manager Monte Lee says middle-relievers Tom Schiller (RHP) and Owen Brittle (LHP) aren't overpowering but "make you swing the bat." The latter contention is debatable--neither has a good walk rate. Schiller has made the most appearances and pitched the most innings out of the pen this season

Casey Lucchese (RHP) is a power guy like Hembree and probably will be counted on to get his team through the 8th should they have a slim lead at that point. His control is a lot better than Hembree's, which makes him arguably the scarier power arm of the two.

Hitting

The bulk of the heavy lifting is done by these four guys:

Greg Blake: .341/.442/.704 (15 HR and 14 2B)
Matt Leeds: .325/.430/.697 (20 HR and 23 2B)
Rob Kral: .342/.479/.618 (14 HR and 11 2B)
Jose Rodriguez: .346/.424/.627 (15 HR and 17 2B)

That's a terrifying middle of the order, Leeds and his 20/20 numbers especially. Blake and Kral are lefties, Rodriguez hits from the right side, while Leeds is a switch hitter. (Of course he's a switch hitter.) It looks like there are going to be four lefties total in the lineup, so I'm wondering if that's enough to have Avent leaning towards Alex Sogard.

Cole Rakar, Joey Bergman, and Baker Knox have accounted for 65 of the team's 114 stolen base attempts; they're the only guys with double-digit steal attempts. Opponents have had little trouble running on NC State all season, and while I'm sure Charleston will test us, at least their options are somewhat limited.

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Comments

"Kinda sounds like Carlos Marmol"

Dude,

I know you’re a White Sox fan, but Marmol surprisingly hittable? That’s a surprising comment from someone with such an amazing handle on statistics. Opponents have hit .179 off Marmol in his career, and this year he’s striking out a ridonkulous 18 per 9 innings. Maybe Kyle Farnsworth would’ve been a better example?

~DS

by Marmol! on Jun 4, 2010 12:11 AM EDT reply actions

you're right, and i even double-checked Marmol's numbers after I wrote it

I actually meant that comment in reference to his high K and BB rates…should have found a more logical place for it.

Backing The Pack

by Akula Wolf on Jun 4, 2010 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions

upon looking at Charleston's schedule,

i wasn’t too worried until i noted that Charleston beat Coastal both times they played them this year. then a poster at SFN stated that Charleston has beaten Coastal the last five times they played them. this same poster gave a pretty good run down of Coastal, State and Charleston as the poster is familiar with all three teams. maybe Jake should start tonight. Charleston might be too good to play “winning the regional” over “winning the first game”.

by sbas2 on Jun 4, 2010 8:32 AM EDT reply actions

the following was written by awsmothers at sfn:

As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, although I’m a lifelong Wolfpack fan, my son goes to Coastal and I also love the Chants. I’ve seen Coastal play 30+ times this season (including all of their BSC Tourney games last weekend), make no mistake, CCU is every bit a Top 5 team in the Nation. Several of their stars started out (& were 1st teamers) in a power conference (Chance Gilmore, the coach’s son went to UVa before returning home, both Jose Iglesias & Tommy LaStella were at St. John’s), but Gary Gilmore is one of the best developers of talent in America, not to mention one of the great talent evaluators! CCU is faster than NC State, hit for as much power as NC State, have 10 regulars that hit over .300, and have 2 All-American Pitchers in Cody Wheeler & Anthony Meo (1 of 20 Semi-finalists for the Golden Spikes Award)… C of C has beaten CCU the last 5X they’ve met and are also BIG and talented. Coastal is clearly the favorite in the Regional, but the Top 3 are close and it may be the second toughest overall behind the UCLA Region, which also has 3 teams that can not only get to Omaha, but win the whole damn thing!

by sbas2 on Jun 4, 2010 8:34 AM EDT reply actions