Rock Cats Starting to Rebound

B.J. Hermsen, perhaps
the MVP for the
Rock Cats this
past month

After winning 2 of 3 on the road at Erie over the weekend, the Rock Cats earned a much needed day off, though much of it was probably spent on the team bus headed back to Connecticut. Beginning tonight, the team is home for 6 games, before another week on the road. As I like to do once a week or so, I'll take a look at the team's performance, including a couple players that are currently standing out.

Importantly, the offense came back alive over the weekend. After scoring a combined 7 runs in 3 games against the Akron Aeros, the Rock Cats tallied 19 runs in their 3 games against Erie. Currently, New Britain is just 1 game back in their division, sitting in a tie with the Reading Phillies for second place.

Here are a few players that have been getting the job done this past week.

First, James Beresford: .296/.362/.340, 3 2B, 2 3B, 14 RBIs. Check out James' stats for the last 10 games: .417/.462/.556. 3 of his 5 extra base hits this season have come in these past 10 games. He's leading the Rock Cats in batting average far and away, and has been on a hot streak lately. Let's hope he can continue this recent success as we get into summer! It would be great to have one of the every-day players hitting above .300.

Evan Bigley: .243/.287/.410, 12 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 37 RBIs. Admittedly, I haven't written much about Bigley this season. For me, he has sort of flown under the radar. The 25 year old Texas native is an outfielder for New Britain, in his second full season with the team. His power stroke has been showing in the past 10 games: .317/.333/.634, 4 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBIs. Hopefully Evan will continue to knock the ball around.

B.J. Hermsen: 4-2, 2.59 ERA, 42 K, 11 BB, 55 and 2/3 innings. Hermsen has been nothing short of excellent for New Britain. This team has lost its most dependable pitchers, including Lucas French, to promotion, and that's part of the reason why the Rock Cats' record has stagnated to a degree. That's minor league baseball for you. The fact that Hermsen, 22, has been able to step up and can be counted on to pitch deep into games has been great for New Britain. His shortest start of the season for the Rock Cats is 5 innings; in 8 total starts, he has pitched 7 or more innings 6 times; 7 of his 8 starts have been quality starts. In fact, since he joined the Rock Cats on May 1, I might argue that Hermsen has been their most valuable player -- certainly their most valuable pitcher.

Up ahead: I'll be at either Wednesday's or Thursday's Rock Cats game, so expect a report, analysis and pictures from that. And tomorrow morning expect a recap and pictures from Justin Morneau's Casino Night, with a Rock Cats twist.