Travelers’ pitching staff aiming for 3.00 version
It’s been 27 years since a Texas League baseball team did what this season’s Arkansas Travelers are attempting to do.
That feat, posting a team ERA under 3.00, is rare at any level of professional baseball. The Texas League, with its windblown west Texas outposts, is no exception.
But the Travelers came into Saturday’s game 71/2 games better than any of the other Texas League teams, and it’s the men on the mound who have made the difference.
“Our pitchers have done a phenomenal job all season,” Manager Cesar Nicolas said. “They know what they need to do to get ready, and when they are on the mound they’re competing. Just a group of professionals.”
The numbers they have posted are impressive no matter which of the metrics — ERA, WHIP (walks, hits per inning pitched) — you choose to use.
Arkansas’ team ERA dropped to 3.02, more than a half run less than second-lowest Tulsa’s 3.54, after Friday night’s 6-1 victory over the Springfield Cardinals.
The Travelers have allowed 28 fewer home runs (58) than any other team in the league, allowed fewer walks, and its league-leading WHIP is 1.15.
“That’s an incredible feat,” Travelers pitching coach Pete Woodworth said, “but we’ve still got another month.”
Woodworth was taken aback when told that the 1992 Travelers (2.89) were the last Texas League team to break the 3.00 barrier.
“2.89,” he said. “Wow.” The only other Texas League team to approach 3.00 during the past 27 years was the 2003 San Antonio Missions (3.03).
Woodworth didn’t venture to predict whether his pitchers could maintain or improve on their performance in August, but he did admit the group is trending up.
“They keep getting better,” Woodworth said. “We were really good in April. We keep getting better.”
A walk rate of 2.4 per nine innings is the core of success.
“That’s our foundation,” said Woodworth, looking for the nearest wooden table to tap his fist on when talking about walks. “That’s our DNA. We’re coming right at you. We’re not wasting pitches. We’re not afraid of anybody. We know how important it is to get ahead in the count, to win that first pitch.”
Left fielder Kyle Lewis said the way the pitchers attack makes it easier for the defenders to do their job.
Arkansas came into Saturday’s game with the fewest errors (60) and tied for the highest fielding percentage (.984) in the Texas League.
“It’s real fun playing behind them,” Lewis said. “You got guys that pound the zone, attack the zone. It makes the game a lot more upbeat.”
Friday night’s performance against Springfield was a prototypical effort. The Travelers displayed competent starting pitching (5 innings, 1 run from Ljay Newsome) and stifling middle relief from side-arm specialist Jack Anderson and left-hander Aaron Fletcher in the sixth and seventh innings.
Strikeout specialists Joey Gerber and Art Warren took over in the eighth and ninth.
“There’s a lot of stuff in that pen, but it’s all different stuff,” Woodworth said. “Different angles, different arms. It’s fun to press the buttons.”
And not all the praise and celebration are for Travelers who are currently on the team.
Woodworth, beaming like a proud father Friday night, nudged Nicolas and offered a quick beer toast to celebrate a couple of former Travs who have moved beyond North Little Rock.
He wore the No. 21 as a tribute to former Traveler Zach Grotz, an undrafted free agent who made his major-league debut with two innings of onerun relief in Seattle’s 10-2 loss to Houston.
“The versatility he had here as a starter, reliever, setup guy, he embraced it all,” Woodworth said of Grotz, who posted a 4-4 record with a 2.51 ERA in 571/3 innings earlier this season with the Travs.
The fact that Reggie McClain, another 2019 Travelers pitcher who made his major-league debut Friday, allowed 3 runs in 1 inning of work didn’t faze Woodworth.
“The determination and the drive that kid had this year,” Woodworth said. “The work he put in during the offseason to completely change his DNA and his stuff.
“It’s really cool to see both of those guys. It’s cool to see any of them, but those two guys, it’s unreal.”