Majors enter stretch drive with work to do

Around the Diamond: They’re 4th in the IBL standings, but Majors must find more offense; Two big ones against Barrie; Tyler Gillies a welcome addition to ’pen; Payano’s arm has been valuable; Our news & notes …

(Photo: Wild Ave Photography).

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A pair of wins against the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers – first, a completed contest on the road last Sunday, which finished off a rain-suspended game from earlier in the year, and then a 7-0 win at home the next day, holiday Monday – salvaged a stretch in which the London Majors have not been playing their best baseball.

A July lull saw the Majors play sub-.500 baseball, posting a 5-7 record for the month. They’re an even 7-7 over their last 14 – not bad, but not great, either. Since a hot stretch earlier in the season, the team has noticeably cooled off, struggling to put up the type of offensive numbers needed to beat the best teams in the league.

They’ll see one of those teams this weekend – twice. It’ll be a big test for the Majors when they play a home-and-home series against the Barrie Baycats on back-to-back days, Friday and Saturday. The Baycats (24-12) are currently in second place in the IBL standings, while the Majors (21-13) are two games behind in fourth spot. They’re 4.5 games back of the league-leading Welland Jackfish (27-10).

On Sunday, it’ll be a potential first-round playoff foe, the Hamilton Cardinals, back at Labatt Park. So far this season, London has gone 2-1 against both Barrie and Hamilton.

It’s now crunch time in the Intercounty Baseball League, where teams try to round into form and battle for playoff positioning to both get home field advantage and line up to get better first-round playoff matchups. There is still time to get more sharp, both on the mound and at the plate, and the Majors are hoping their best baseball is ahead of them.

UPCOMING GAMEDAYS

Friday (Aug 9, 7:35pm) vs. Barrie Baycats (Probable starter: Travis Keys)
Saturday (Aug. 10, 4:05pm) @ Barrie Baycats (Probable starter: Jose Arias or Victor Payano)
Sunday (Aug. 11, 4:05pm) vs. Hamilton Cardinals (Probable starter: TBD)

1) Jockeying for position. The Majors are pretty firmly entrenched in the top four of the league standings. The fifth-place team, Chatham-Kent, is a distant 5.5 games back, sporting a 17-21 record in the first 38 games of their IBL existence. So, London is all but guaranteed home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. But, there is room to improve their positioning – and face, arguably, an easier opening playoff opponent.

Despite their solid success against the Barnstormers this season (they’re a perfect 6-0), several of those contests were close ones, and Majors manager Roop Chanderdat is the first to say that the Barnstormers can beat anyone in the league. The Kitchener Panthers are right on their heels, so fifth place is very much up for grabs. Right now, those are the two likeliest opponents the Majors will see in the first round.

However, if the Majors make a late-season run and grab second place in the standings, they would face the seventh-place team, which, at the moment, is the Toronto Maple Leafs. The best chance to reach No. 2? Sweep their two games this weekend against the Barrie Baycats, the current No. 2 team. Kitchener and Brantford round out the standings, while the Guelph Royals are currently one spot ahead of the Majors (and Welland holds down first place).

2) Gillies great in relief. The newest member of the Majors, local pitcher Tyler Gillies, looked really good in his second appearance since signing with the team for the stretch run – and he could play a key role in London’s bullpen the rest of the way.

On holiday Monday, the 29-year-old, pitching in relief of Victor Payano, who tossed five scoreless innings, turned in four shutout innings of his own against the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers to earn a save in a 7-0 win at Labatt Park. The righty scattered four hits while striking out two.

It was an improvement on his first outing, in which he allowed a pair of runs against the Welland Jackfish on July 31 – a game in which no London pitcher fared well in an 18-0 drubbing against the league’s top team. And it was more in line with the expectations his manager had when signing the London native, who has plenty of pro experience under his belt.

Gillies reached High-A ball in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. In 2019, at the Single-A level, he posted a 3.17 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 54 innings over 42 appearances out of the bullpen. After health issues forced him from the game for two seasons, he returned in 2022 and pitched in 23 games for High-A Wisconsin.

“(Tyler) will help shore up the back end of our bullpen,” Chanderdat said upon the right-hander’s signing. “His professional experience will be a great asset for our pitching staff.”

He’s also familiar with the IBL, having pitched for the Brantford Red Sox prior to signing a minor league contract. Back in 2018, Gillies, who grew up playing in the London Badgers program, recorded six saves and 28 strikeouts in 17 appearances (20 IP) for the IBL’s Red Sox.

“I am excited to return home and play for London again,” Gillies said of his signing. “I started my career playing for London, and it feels like I have come full circle. Hopefully, I can play a role in bringing an IBL championship back to Labatt Park.”

Tyler Gillies tossed four scoreless innings in a 7-0 London win over Chatham-Kent on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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3) Victor a versatile arm. A pair of left-handers have really carried London’s pitching staff this season, and while the emergence of Travis Keys has been very impressive, it’s fellow southpaw Victor Payano who has arguably been the team’s most important arm.

The 31-year-old has been a strong starting pitcher, to be sure, but he’s also served in various capacities during the season, coming on in relief when needed. In other words, he’s been utilized in the most important moments for the Majors, and in doing so has been the team’s most valuable arm.

Payano has made 15 appearances overall, including nine starts. He’s posted a 2.71 ERA along the way – including a 2.39 mark since mid-June. The lefty has a 5-3 record, an 86/15 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and a pair of saves (the strikeouts lead all IBL pitchers entering action this weekend).

His most recent outing, on holiday Monday, included tossing five shutout innings and punching out eight Chatham-Kent batters en route to his fifth win of the year. He’ll pitch this weekend, although his role isn’t known yet. As usual, he’ll be used in a way that gives the Majors the best chance to win a game.

4) Lagging offense. It looked, earlier on in the 2024 season, like the London Majors may have had a potent offensive lineup – one that would look much more like their 2022 version than last year’s lineup. But that offense has dried up for long stretches this summer. Heading into action this weekend, the Majors are essentially middle of the pack in the IBL in hitting.

With eight regular season games left, London is hitting .276 as a team. That’s fourth in the league, but not far ahead of Guelph (.274) or Kitchener (.272) in the fifth and sixth spots in the nine-team league.

It’s been a disappointing year for Cleveland Brownlee and Byron Reichstein, although the latter is at least drawing a lot of walks. Starling Joseph, too, hasn’t played to his potential, entering action Friday with a .267 batting average (he hit .351 in 2022 and .304 last year).

Kaiden Cardoso continues to lead the team in hitting (among regulars) with a .333 average. But he, too, endured a recent rough patch, going hitless in six straight games from July 26 to August 4, dropping his average a whopping 56 points.

If the Majors are looking for positives, it’s the bat of Eduardo de Oleo, which has woken up after an early season slumber. The catcher has got his average up to .289 (it was .236 on June 28). de Oleo is riding a five-game hitting streak, where he’s gone 10-for-20 (.500) with six doubles.