Around the Diamond: Big weekend test; Bullpen shines

With three tough opponents this weekend, Majors to find out where they stack up as playoffs draw closer; A convincing bullpen win; More hitters than spots a good problem. Catch our latest news & notes …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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1) Moment of Truth? The Majors (24-9), second place in the IBL standings (a half-game behind Welland), face perhaps their most challenging test yet this season with a three-game weekend schedule where they’ll face each of the other top four teams in the league. It’s fourth-place Toronto (21-13) on Friday, third-place Guelph (23-11) on Saturday, and then first-place Welland (25-9) on Sunday.

Friday’s and Sunday’s games will be played at Labatt Park, while the team will hit the road Saturday for the Guelph matchup. The Majors recently enjoyed an eight-game winning streak, their longest since the 2017 season. And while it’s hard to win eight in a row regardless of opponent, it is notable that only two of those wins came against teams with a winning record. London beat up quite a bit on Brantford, Hamilton and Kitchener during that stretch.

It was Kitchener who put an end to the streak with a win in Game 2 of last Sunday’s doubleheader at Jack Couch Park. Monday’s game against Brantford was rained out before it could get started, so the Majors will look to start a new streak Friday night against Toronto. The weekend will certainly be a test for London, and perhaps provide a good idea where they stand amongst the rest of the best as the playoffs draw closer.

How have they stacked up so far? In previous matchups this season, London is 3-1 against both Toronto and Guelph, and 2-3 against Welland. In the most recent games between the teams, London beat Toronto 14-8 on July 17, lost to Guelph, 5-4, on July 9, and lost to Welland, 9-5, on July 10.

2) A bullpen beauty. With a fourth starter needed last Friday night, the Majors turned to Fernando Fernandez, and the left-hander dazzled in his first start in a Majors uniform. Fernandez, whose 10 previous appearances had come out of the bullpen, worked into the sixth inning against Hamilton, going 5 2/3 scoreless on the way to a win at Labatt Park. He allowed five hits and a walk while striking out two.  

Then, his bullpen colleagues took care of the rest. Anderson Acevedo worked 1 1/3 scoreless with a pair of strikeouts, Daniel Gore tossed a perfect inning of his own, and then Braeden Ferrington closed things out with a scoreless ninth to secure a 7-0 shutout victory for the home side.

It was a nice showing from a bullpen that doesn’t get a lot of attention since the Majors’ starters, Jose Arias, Owen Boon and Pedro De Los Santos, account for so many of the team’s innings on the mound. But make no mistake, bullpen arms can be crucial in the playoffs, and London’s reliever corps are looking to round into form and peak in time for the postseason.

All four of those arms who pitched last Friday will be counted on as key arms down the stretch. On the season, Ferrington has enjoyed the most success of the group thus far. Coming off an exceptional 2021 season, the right-hander has continued his reliable pitching ways, posting a 1.26 ERA in 21 1/3 innings over 13 appearances.

Fernandez has a 5.00 ERA in 11 games, but that mark is a bit misleading due to a rough outing back on June 24 (5 ER in 2 IP vs. Welland). With that outing off the ledger, the lefty’s ERA goes down to 2.81. Since July 3, in fact, the lefty has allowed only one earned run in 9 2//3 innings.

Gore, who made two starts earlier this year, has a 5.40 ERA in eight outings, with 20 strikeouts in 20 innings. Acevedo has recovered from a couple of rough outings upon joining the Majors as a replacement for Cesar Cabral and delivered two straight scoreless appearances, striking out three in 2 1/3. Bo Lewington, meanwhile, has posted a 5.40 ERA in nine games, tallying 15 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings.

Braeden Ferrington closed out last Friday’s 7-0 win during which four relievers (Fernandez, Gore, Acevedo the others) combined to shut out the Hamilton Cardinals, 7-0. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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3) Name the time and place. The Majors have shown impressive consistency no matter there they’ve played this season. They own nearly identical records at home (12-4) and on the road (12-5), the latter mark being the best in the league.

And they’ve beaten some good teams on the road. They’ve won both games in Toronto this season (with one remaining), they’ve split their first two games in Guelph, and they beat Welland big, 14-6, in their most recent road trip to play the Jackfish. They’ve also split their two road matchups against Barrie (20-15), another team making noise as the playoffs approach.

The Majors had won four straight on the road before falling 11-7 in the second game of last Sunday’s doubleheader. The first game was a different story, as ace Arias went the full seven for his league-leading ninth win. The right-hander allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits while striking out nine. Arias continues to lead the IBL in ERA with a 1.17 mark. His 109 strikeouts rank second (Boon’s 85 are third most).

4) Loaded lineup. Majors fans got a sense just how well the team’s been hitting this year when they got a look at the lineup card last Friday. Byron Reichstein, last year’s MVP, who hit over .400 during the 2021 regular season and was the playoff hero, was in the No. 6 spot. And Taylor Wright, fresh from returning from a stint with the Frontier League’s Ottawa Titans who had batted .392 in 13 games with London earlier this year? He was in the No. 7 spot.

That kind of offensive depth is a good problem to have. Wright did find himself in the two-hole Sunday, with Austin Wilkie taking a rest, and Reichstein will surely move up in the order once he gets going at the plate, but for now the Majors are doing just fine with a lineup that has been putting up big offensive numbers.

Jakob Newton has become a mainstay near the top of the batting order. Last weekend, the outfielder-turned-second baseman went a combined 6-for-12 with two homers (four extra-base hits) and four runs scored. Cleveland Brownlee and Robert Mullen have excelled in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots all, giving opposing pitchers nightmares all season (Mullen leads the IBL with a .423 batting average, while Brownlee is tops in both home runs, 13, and RBIs, 44).

And then there’s Starling Joseph, whose .353 batting average is top 10 in the league. He leads the team with 37 runs scored and trails just Mullen and Brownlee in both homers and RBIs. If everyone is healthy and present, Majors fans may end up seeing Newton move into the leadoff spot, with Wright or Reichstein taking turns in the No. 2 spot (depending on whose bat is hotter), with the other batting fifth or sixth (flip-flopping that spot with Joseph).

Will it be tough to keep everyone happy? Sure. But if you’d asked Majors manager Roop Chanderdat at the beginning of the year if he’d be happy having a tough time getting all his producing bats in the lineup, and he’d surely say yes. A good problem to have.