NY Penn Baseball: Lowell Spinners Notes

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While it may be true that the Spinners first eight games have not gone the way the team would like, there is still plenty of baseball yet to be played in the NY-Penn League. The roster will continue to be tinkered with as draft picks from this June’s entry level draft make their way to Lowell to begin playing pro baseball. Patience will be key as the Spinners work on player development and adjusting to playing at the professional level.

Congrats go out to third-year player for Lowell, OF Victor Acosta on becoming the team’s all-time hit leader with 109 and counting. He passed Ronald Bermudez this past weekend to claim the top spot. Acosta was off to another solid start for the Spinners hitting .333 entering play on Monday night.

The roster influx that was mentioned at the beginning of this piece has already started for Lowell as three players were sent back to Florida to rejoin the Gulf Coast Red Sox. Another outfielder, Matt McLean, was sent there to began a rehab assignment. No timetable for McLean return has been set.

On member of the 2017 draft class that is off to a good start with the bat is third baseman Garrett Benge drafted out of Oklahoma State. He was taken in the 13th round by the parent club. In a small sample, Benge was hitting .400 with an on-base percentage of .667 in two games played. Garrett is a left-handed hitter who has shown the ability to take the ball the other way, something that if he makes it all the way to Boston will pay off.

The Spinners are faced with two problems that need to be solved quickly, One is on the defensive side like errors!!, It has plagued this team in the early going. Coming into Monday night’s game VS Connecticut, Lowell has already committed 18 errors in seven games. Another area of concern is wild pitches, The staff has thrown 13 of those in the same amount of time.

Pitcher Yorvin Pantoja ranks third in the league with 7 walks allowed this season. Meanwhile, Spinners outfielder Yoan Aybar leads the circuit in triples with three. Making contact has been a bit of a problem for him in the past. So far this season he is squaring the ball up which is a very good sign.

The team has struggled with the bat in their hands early on and their average of .198 ranks them third from the bottom with only Staten Island and Aberdeen below them. The Spinners pitching staff ERA is sixth with a 3.19 so far. The staff numbers are a bit out of whack because of the unearned runs they have allowed. They have given up 31 runs but only 21 have been earned.

Speaking of picks, 2016 first-round selection Jason Groome has been on a rehab from Greenville Drive of Single-A ball. He is 0-2 in his starts for the team. The losses tie him for the lead in the NY-Penn League with two other hurlers. His record is really not important as getting him back to the Drive is.