Around the Diamond: London bats underrated early

Atop the IBL standings early, the 6-1 Majors play three this weekend (technically four, with the remainder of their suspended home opener Friday). Their pitching has (rightly) gotten the headlines, but the bats are quietly doing some damage, too.

Starling Joseph and the London Majors’ bats have quietly been productive, with a .302 team batting average and plenty of quality at-bats through their first seven games. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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1) About that home opener … Back on May 20, they enjoyed a pregame championship ring ceremony and then got to work on the 2022 season. Though they found themselves down early, back-to-back homers from Taylor Wright and Starling Joseph in the third inning gave the Majors a boost and they closed the deficit to 5-4 in the fifth when the game was abruptly suspended.

The good news was that everyone was fine (a suspected gas leak, which evacuated the stadium, turned out to be a false alarm). The bad news was that the club had the momentum on their side against the visiting Kitchener Panthers. They’ll try to rekindle that momentum Friday when the two sides resume and complete that game before playing their regularly scheduled matchup at Labatt Park.

The Majors enter Friday with a 6-1 record, percentage points ahead of the Welland Jackfish (7-2) for first place in the IBL standings in the early going. Kitchener is 3-4 through their first seven, their last game a 16-5 thumping of the 0-7 Brantford Red Sox (a rematch between the two teams Thursday was rained out).

Kitchener and London have been arguably the top two hitting teams in the early going. They’re first and second in team batting average, with the Panthers (.327) at the top, and the Majors (.302) in second spot. They’re also 1-2 in OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), at .908 and .884, respectively.

Besides Wright (2-for-2) and Joseph’s long balls, Keith Kandel was also having a good game back on May 20, with a pair of RBI hits (a single and a double). Cleveland Brownlee, Drew Lawrence and Dan Perrier had also picked up hits through the first five innings.

2) Age just a number. Speaking of Cleveland Brownlee, the long-time London Majors fan favourite is off to a fantastic start to the 2022 IBL season. As of this writing, heading into action the weekend of June 6-8, Brownlee, at age 37, leads the league in batting average (.481), on-base percentage (.563) and slugging percentage (1.037).

He has the most extra-base hits (7), and he’s tied for the most home runs (4) and most runs batted in (10). If you wondered if he had anything left in the tank, those early numbers suggest he’s got plenty. He’s been a full-time designated hitter for awhile now (we’re not sure if he owns a glove anymore), but Brownlee is still an impact bat in the middle of the lineup.

As manager Roop Chanderdat has said, “Every time he comes up, there’s a chance something special is going to happen.”

He’s up to 115 career homers during his 12-year Majors career. He’s won every award there is to win (including being named to the league’s all-time top 100 list). And he finally won a championship last season, which he felt cemented his legacy. Why not go out on top, with a league title?

It’s simple. He still loves the game, and he loves playing in front of his son, Cleveland Jr. Oh, and he can still hit a baseball.

He’ll turn 38 in August, but Cleveland Brownlee doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Entering the weekend, he led the league in several offensive categories, including batting average and slugging percentage. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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3) Controlling the zone. So far, the Majors are winning in the plate discipline department. They’ve kept their strikeouts low and drawn their fair share of walks. A favourite stat of mine is a hitter’s walk-to-strikeout ratio. It gives a good idea who’s controlling the zone – the pitcher or the hitter? London’s BB/K ratio is 29/39 (0.744) through seven games, a sliver ahead of the Welland Jackfish (50/68, 0.735) for tops in the league. Who sit in first and second place in the league? London and Welland …

Last Sunday’s 12-5 win over Hamilton certainly helped boost the Majors’ numbers in this regard. They walked an eye-popping 12 times in that contest at Bernie Arbour Stadium, compared to five strikeouts. Chris McQueen, who hasn’t gotten rolling at the plate yet, batting just .231 (6-for-26) in his first seven games, walked three times in that game, giving him a 5/1 walk-to-strikeout ratio on the season so far.

Likewise, rookie third baseman Taylor Wright, who is also off to a slow start (.192), is winning the plate discipline game. He’s got a team-high six walks, compared with three strikeouts. A good sign that the bat will come around. Phil Whelan, who played both contests last weekend (the other being a 4-2 Majors win over Toronto Friday, June 3), has an even three walks and three strikeouts.

And catcher Robert Mullen? He’s got four walks and zero strikeouts (the only IBL regular yet to strike out). You take your walks and limit your strikeouts and good things are going to happen. Mullen is batting .464 (13-for-28) so far, third best in the league …

4) Under the radar. Each of the four import roster spots are vital for IBL teams, so perhaps it’s merely expected that each player will put up big numbers. But that’s not always the case. Pitcher Jose Arias (2-0, league-leading 0.72 ERA, 31 K in 25 IP) has certainly done so thus far. As has Robert Mullen. But it feels like Starling Joseph’s production has flown a bit under the radar thus far.

The 23-year-old outfielder certainly has the pedigree. Signed at age 16 by the Texas Rangers organization, he played five seasons in the minor leagues. Back in 2018 in A Ball, he hit 11 homers in 227 plate appearances. But his career was a bit derailed during the COVID-canceled 2020 minor league season. With the Majors, he’s trying to get that career back on track and hopefully make his way back to pro ball. It’s an opportunity manager Roop Chanderdat enjoys giving players.

He started out a bit slow, but he’s gone 7-for-18 (.389) over his last four games to bring his season average over .300. He enjoyed his best game of the season Sunday. Batting fifth, he went 3-for-6 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and 2 RBIs in London’s 12-5 win over Hamilton. He’s also stolen a base in each of his last two games.

And don’t forget about that home run he swatted in London’s suspended home opener. Including the stats from that game, which will be made official after Friday night, Joseph enters the weekend hitting .313 with a pair of homers and six RBIs. Simply put, he’s an exciting player, and he has the ability to contribute in every facet of the game.