Second Half Struggles

I mentioned last night that the second half offensive struggles encompass the entire team.  Here's your proof.

Second Half Batting Averages:

Arbelo (.123)

Castillo (.154)

Gallego (.100)

Gomez (.258)

Helm (.183)

Inciarte (.183)

Jarrett (.200)

Montilla (.230)

Ortiz (.132)

Pimentel (.235)

Rodriguez (.224)

Walters (.268)

Oops

So less than a day after the Silver Hawks played arguably their best game of the season (4-1 win over West Michigan on Tuesday night), they easily played their worst.

Consider:

• 21 hits alllowed
• 11 runs allowed
• 6 errors committed
• Held to just five hits

It was ugly. That's all you can really say. It was a horrible game. Those happen from time to time. I'm trying to stay positive with this club, and at the same time, I'm keeping in mind that this stretch of schedule through June and early July is very tough (Fort Wayne 12 times, West Michigan for 8, Great Lakes for 4). At the same time, it would be nice to start beating some of these teams.

As for the rest of this series, I'd say it's important to get at least one more win. It's very early, but for confidence reasons, if you take game one of a four-game series, you certainly don't want to lose the next three games (see: Dayton, early June).

This series aside, the four games at Lansing beginning on July 4th looms large. That is a team the Silver Hawks beat 7 out of 10 times in the first half. Again, it's early in the second half, but that series could set the tone for the rest of the season. Win 3 out of 4, and you realize that you can still beat up on some of the other teams that you had success against in the first half. Lose 3 out of 4 and it could turn into a long second half as confidence levels will probably drop.

But again, hopefully South Bend will get one or two more against West Michigan to wrap up this home stand.

Welcome to the Second Half

And after a light 3-4 days, I will resume my normal production on this blog.

The big story right now is AJ Pollock, the first round pick from Notre Dame. By all accounts, he has signed with the Diamondbacks and is going to be assigned to South Bend (at least that's what all the local media keep telling me, even if I have not heard it myself).

So the question becomes when does he play?

For the record, this is not unusual for other people to know something about a player with me still in the dark. Even if I hear the rumors (as I have), I certainly can't release anything or publish anything until it becomes official. Partly because that's my job, and partly because things change all the time in baseball.