Can Majors find success on the road?
Around the Diamond: London Majors (4-8) hit the road this week for three games. Can they reverse losing skid?; Starling finding a groove; Pedro a boost to staff?; Brownlee seeks milestone. Read the latest Majors news & notes …
(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).
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It was not ‘home, sweet home’ for the London Majors last weekend, as they dropped both their Father’s Day weekend games to fall to 4-8 on the season through 12 contests. They didn’t get blown out. Their bullpen pitched well. They fought back in both games, showing no quit.
Alas, they still came up short, in the process extending their losing streak to five games. Five weeks into the season, the Majors currently find themselves looking up at a lot of competitors in the Intercounty Baseball League standings. At 4-8 entering action Thursday (June 22), London sits in sixth place, 6.5 games behind the first-place Welland Jackfish (11-2). They’re 2.5 back from Kitchener, the team they’ll face Thursday in the first of three road games this week.
Still, there were positives to take away from their two most recent losses, a 7-5 decision against the Toronto Maple Leafs last Friday, and a 5-4 contest against the Barrie Baycats on ‘Pack the Park’ day Sunday. There have to be. Manager Roop Chanderdat and his troops do not believe that all is lost on their 2023 season.
Once again, the games they lost were close final scores. They’re 0-4 in one-run games this year. Besides their 9-3 loss to the Maple Leafs in this year’s home opener, they really haven’t lost lopsided contests. Yes, Kitchener did beat them 9-2 earlier this month, but London tallied nine hits in that one, just two fewer than the Panthers.
Still, something needs to change. Even if just for morale purposes, the Majors need to win one of those close games – and soon – to prove to themselves they’re better than their current record indicates. They’ve got Kitchener Thursday, Hamilton Friday, and Guelph Saturday …
1) Better bullpen. Majors fans looking for positives need look no further than the bullpen, which performed well last weekend, allowing just a run in 8 1/3 innings. Skylar Janisse, Cam O’Reilly, Abdiel Velasquez and Braeden Ferrington combined to scatter six hits over that stretch, striking out 10 batters along the way.
After Anfernee Benitez, a newly signed import arm, allowed six runs (on three hits and an unsightly 11 walks) in just 2 2/3 innings in his London Majors debut Friday, that foursome largely held the Maple Leafs off the board the rest of the way, as they scored just once more off Janisse in the fourth inning.
Janisse has been perhaps the most steady of the bullpen arms. In five appearances thus far, the right-hander has posted a 3.24 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings. His 1.08 WHIP is tops among London’s relief corps. O’Reilly, a lefty, hasn’t shown the same strikeout stuff yet, but he’s recorded a 1.28 ERA in his 7 innings of work thus far.
Ferrington, long a reliable arm out of the Majors’ pen, has posted back-to-back scoreless outings. His 9.44 ERA is inflated due to a pair of poor outings early in the year. In his last five appearances, it’s a much more respectable 3.38. He’s walked just one and struck out five during that span.
Velasquez’s work in the bullpen last weekend was also a promising sign for the right-hander who normally serves as a starter (and he’ll be tabbed for Thursday’s game in Kitchener). The righty, who has struggled this year, mostly with walks, worked a combined 4 scoreless innings in London’s losses, walking two and striking out four. He gave up just one hit in those innings.
2) Pedro makes his pitch. With Owen Boon unavailable last weekend, the Majors turned to Pedro De Los Santos to make a start Sunday, and the left-hander, now in his third season in London, delivered a promising outing in a losing effort.
Despite having pitched only out of the bullpen in his first four appearances this season (a season-high 2 2/3 innings May 14), De Los Santos worked a full 7 innings Sunday against Barrie. And he kept the Majors in the game, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits and a pair of walks. He struck out eight.
“It was a good start. He pitched well and gave us a chance to win,” said Chanderdat. “He gave up those early runs, but the only real blemish was that two-run shot to [Ryan] Rijo in the seventh. You feel more comfortable down 3-0 than 5-0, but he pitched well. We needed that kind of start.”
It was a hot day, and perhaps he ran out of gas – understandable since he topped 100 pitches (106, 71 for strikes) for the first time since last year. But it was certainly encouraging for the Majors, whose import starting pitchers have not pitched to expectations up to this point.
De Los Santos, 34, will almost certainly get another start. And maybe he ends up being relied on more in the rotation than originally expected. He’s worked as a starter and a reliever throughout his IBL career. His best self? That came during the shortened 2021 when he led the league with a 2.19 ERA in nine regular season starts – and helped London win its first IBL title in over four decades.
(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).
3) Starling showing signs. He was a major part of the Majors’ league-best offensive attack last season, and London may need him to produce even more this year. Last weekend, Starling Joseph showed what he’s capable of at the plate.
Friday night, hitting out of the No. 6 spot, the 24-year-old outfielder went 2-for-3 with a double and his third home run of the season. He also drew a walk and showed off some opposite field power. And that wasn’t an accident.
“He’s been trying to work on that right-centre gap in batting practice,” said Majors manager Roop Chanderdat. “His bat is coming along. It’s a lot closer to what it was last year. He’s similar to Cleveland [Brownlee] … when they’re not chasing pitches and they’re having good, disciplined at-bats, they’re so dangerous.”
On Sunday, Joseph produced a bigtime hit that brought the Majors to within a run in an eighth-inning rally against Barrie. With the bases loaded, he cleared them with a double down the left field line to turn a 5-1 game quickly into a 5-4 contest. Unfortunately, he was left stranded on second, with one out, as London wasn’t able to push across another run.
Joseph’s nice weekend has his batting average up to .298 (14-for-47) for the year. His nine extra-base hits are most on the team, while his 14 RBIs are second only to Eduardo de Oleo (15). Last year, Joseph, who hails from San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic, hit .351 with nine homers and 38 RBIs in 42 regular season games for the Majors.
4) Miller and more new faces. Playing in his first game in a London Majors uniform since 2019, Myles Miller acquitted himself quite well last Friday night, going 3-for-5 with a triple, an RBI and a run scored.
“He was dynamic. That’s the best word to describe it,” said Chanderdat. “He gives us an element we don’t have a lot of – speed. He’s a sparkplug, for sure. It’s nice to have him. If he does what he should, he’ll be our leadoff guy.”
Miller wasn’t the only new face in the lineup Friday, as import pitcher Anfernee Benitez, fresh from Panama, drew the starting assignment against the Maple Leafs. It did not go well. The 27-year-old left-hander walked 11 batters (and gave up three hits) on the way to allowing six earned runs in just 2 2/3 innings before coming out after 100 pitches.
Benitez was replacing Edisson Gonzalez, who was placed on the inactive list prior to the game. The new import arm will get another shot this weekend, and the Majors are hoping his debut performance can be chalked up to some combination of jetlag, tired legs and nerves.
Meanwhile, London has added Josh Williams to its roster, and the slugging first baseman is expected to see action as soon as Thursday night in Kitchener. Williams, you might remember, joined the Majors in 2021 but was sidelined early in the year with a major knee injury. Back healthy this year, he signed with Welland but only appeared in four games before parting ways with the club.
Finally, the Majors will welcome Robert Mackie, another former Jackfish player, to the roster this week. The utility player and relief pitcher hails from Vancouver, BC, and he’s expected to provide the team with depth at various spots. Mackie, 24, appeared in 10 games as a position player and seven games as a reliever for Welland during the 2021 season.
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