"It's Sunday! Time for NFL football and Carolina League baseball!"
Although prospects like Lynchburg's Clint Frazier and Winston-Salem's Carson Fulmer did not advance their teams to the Carolina League Championship, the Mills Cup Final will pit two of the strongest organizations in Major League Baseball against each other as the Wilmington Blue Rocks will face off against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
62-77 Wilmington Blue Rocks
(Affiliate of Kansas City Royals)
***Carolina League Northern Champions
at 81-57 Myrtle Beach Pelicans
(Affiliate of Chicago Cubs)
***Carolina League Southern Champions
Head-To-Head in Regular Season:
Myrtle Beach leads season series 10-8.
Hitters to Watch:
WIL-Mauricio Ramos
---.265 BA, 8 HR, & 59 RBI. (Season Stats)
MB-Chesny Young
---.321 BA, 1 HR, 30 RBI, & 12 SB. (Single-A Advanced Stats)
Pitchers to Watch:
WIL-Alec Mills
***15th Prospect in Kansas City's organization
---7-7 record, 3.02 ERA, 111 K in 113.1 IP. (Season Stats)
MB-Duane Underwood Jr.
***71st Prospect in Major League Baseball
***4th Prospect in Chicago's (NL) organization
---6-3 record, 2.58 ERA, 48 K in 73.1 IP. (Single-A Advanced Stats)
Who's Hot:
WIL-Carlos Garcia
---.750 (6 H/8 AB) BA, 3 R, 2 RBI, & 1 SB. (2 games versus Lynchburg)
MB-Victor Caratini
***22nd Prospect in Chicago's (NL) organization
---.250 (2 H/8 AB) BA & 3 RBI. (3 games versus Winston-Salem)
Schedule
Game 1-September 13
5:05 PM EST
Myrtle Beach (Jen-Ho Tseng)
at Wilmington (Zach Lovvorn)
Game 2-September 14
6:35 PM EST
Myrtle Beach (Tyler Skulina)
at Wilmington (Jake Junis)
Game 3-September 16
7:05 PM EST
Wilmington (Alec Mills)
at Myrtle Beach (Duane Underwood Jr.)
Game 4-September 17
7:05 PM EST
Wilmington (Matthew Strahm)
at Myrtle Beach (Brad Markey)
Game 5-September 18
7:05 PM EST
Wilmington (Zach Lovvom)
at Myrtle Beach (Jonathan Martinez)
Prediction:
They're back!
Even though Myrtle Beach is not affiliated with the Texas Rangers anymore, that has not kept them from advancing to the Carolina League Championship for the second straight season. The Pelicans, who were able to hold off two late Winston-Salem rallies in Games 2 and 3, persevered through a 1-0 series deficit in the semi-finals. More impressively, the affiliate of the Chicago Cubs was able to comeback with two of the organization's top four prospects, Gleyber Torres and Duane Underwood Jr., being nonfactors (Torres batted .200 and Underwood allowed four earned runs in six innings during Game 1). No one should plan on the shortstop and starting pitcher to struggle again in their upcoming series versus Wilmington.
If anyone had the Blue Rocks upsetting Lynchburg, then the next move that needs to be made is purchasing a lottery ticket. Though Wilmington won the Northern Division during the first half of the season, the team has looked absolutely awful since the second half began. What happened? The team simply did not play well. No major roster changes occurred to cause the affiliate of the Kansas City Royals to lose 45 games in their last 69. Yet, a "new season" began Wednesday, and Wilmington did not squander an opportunity to push reset as they outscored their opposition 10-4 in a two-game sweep. Will they be able to shock the entire state of Carolina by winning the Mills Cup with the worst overall record?
While momentum plays a huge factor in postseason baseball, this journalist believes the Blue Rocks will get "rocked" by Myrtle Beach. Why? The Pelicans had the best ERA of any Carolina League squad in 2015 as well as arguably the best two pitchers, Jonathan Martinez and Duane Underwood Jr. Despite Wilmington's offense putting bat on ball last week, a new week and new opponent will shatter their championship aspirations.
---Myrtle Beach Wins in 4 Games.