Bottom of the order helping Wingnuts’ offensive surge
The Wingnuts have bottom-of- the-order hitters in name only.
The statistics for the final four hitters in Wichita’s order are hardly discernible – and sometimes better – when stacked against those who hit ahead of them, giving the Wingnuts a balanced offense that is the best in the American Association in multiple categories.
Four of the Wingnuts’ five .300 hitters are Richard Prigatano, Harrison Kain, Brent Dean and Leo Vargas, who usually hit 6 through 9 in Wichita’s order. Kain leads the Wingnuts with a .362 average and has taken most of his at-bats from the No. 7 or 8 spot.
“One through nine, anyone can pick us up,” Kain said. “We have a lot of confidence in the bottom half of the order as much as the top half. I’ve been down in the bottom half of the order most of the time this season, and I’m just trying to do my best.”
The batting stats may appear similar, but the contributions from the bottom part of the order have been different. The Wingnuts lead the league with 63 stolen bases, and 44 have come from Prigatano, Kain, Dean and Vargas.
That speed often puts runners in scoring position for the top and middle parts of the order, and the on-base ability from the bottom half creates an environment where every player has opportunities. The Wingnuts also lead the league in on-base percentage.
Eight Wingnuts players have at least 15 RBIs and eight have scored at least 16 runs. Kain, Dean and Vargas have three of Wichita’s four lowest strikeout totals and Vargas is second with 10 doubles.
“It’s incredible,” Wingnuts infielder Dustin Geiger said. “Leo’s on fire right now, he’s gotten some really big clutch hits for us and he’s continued to swing it well. When you have those guys performing well and we roll it over to the top half of the lineup, it’s a chance to score a lot of runs and win a lot of games.”
Late Tuesday
Wingnuts 4, Lemurs 3
Wichita | ab | r | h | bi | Laredo | ab | r | h | bi |
Stringer 2b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Valera 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Cox 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Martinez cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Clevlen rf | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Castro lf | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Mittelstt lf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Phipps rf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Geiger 1b | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Chavez c | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Prigtno dh | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Nieves 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Kain cf | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | Norris pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Salgado lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Morrisn dh | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Dean c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Pulfer 2b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Vargas ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rondon ss | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Totals | 35 | 4 | 10 | 4 | Totals | 36 | 3 | 10 | 3 |
Wichita | 000 | 130 | 000 | — | 4 |
Laredo | 003 | 000 | 000 | — | 3 |
E— Stringer, Cox. DP— Wichita 3. LOB— Wichita 8, Laredo 13. 2B— Dean. SB — Geiger, Kain, Martinez. CS — Kain.
Wichita | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Boshers | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Nading | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Reed S, 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Laredo | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Moskovits | 4 2/3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
De La Cruz | 1/3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Guerrero | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nivar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Usui | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Marks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
HBP — by Boshers (Pulfer).
T— 3:32. A— 475.
Sioux City at Wingnuts
- When: 7:05 p.m. Thursday
- Where: Lawrence-Dumont Stadium
- Records: Sioux City 15-16, Wingnuts 18-13
- Radio: KGSO, 1410-AM
This story was originally published June 22, 2016 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Bottom of the order helping Wingnuts’ offensive surge."