Goldeyes winning arms race

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This article was published 10/06/2024 (507 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The late, great Earl Weaver was once asked, “What is the key to success in professional baseball?”

“Nobody likes to hear it, because it’s dull, but the reason you win or lose is darn near always the same — pitching,” the Hall of Fame manager stated.

Wise words, indeed, and ones that are certainly ringing true these days for the Winnipeg Goldeyes. The American Association club has been piling up the victories lately, thanks mainly to the marvellous efforts of the men on the mound.

First-year manager Logan Watkins has assembled an 11-man pitching staff that currently tops the 12-team loop with a sparkling 3.59 earned-run-average. To put that in perspective, the league average right now is 4.73.

It’s a huge reason the Fish have moved past .500 (15-14) following a tough season-opening 10-game road trip in which they went 3-7.

Fittingly, it starts with the starters.

Joey Matulovich tossed a complete-game, six-hit, one-run gem with 14 strikeouts Sunday as the Goldeyes won the rubber match in Milwaukee against the Milkmen.

“You don’t often see complete games in anymore. It shows we still had a lot of confidence in how he was feeling and how he was looking,” Watkins told the Free Press on Monday from Illinois, where his team was set to play three in a row against Kane County. “He was fantastic all the way through.”

Landon Bourassa then followed that up with his own one-man show a few hours later, giving up five hits and just one run while striking out 11 in a complete-game 3-1 victory over the Cougars.

Both of these efforts came after Zac Reininger lasted 8 2/3 innings in a 7-4 triumph on Saturday evening, meaning Goldeyes starters have combined for 26 2/3 innings in the last three outings.

“It’s definitely a luxury. I know the guys in the bullpen are somewhat frustrated. They haven’t really got to pitch for a few days,” Watkins chuckled. “That’s a good problem to have.”

Matulovich — named the AA pitcher of the week on Monday — is now a perfect 4-0 on the year with a 2.02 ERA, while Reininger improved to 3-2 with a 3.58 ERA.

There appears to be no weak link among the five starters, which includes Canadians Bourassa (2-2, 3.08 ERA) and Travis Seabrooke (1-1, 1.80 ERA) and veteran California product Colton Eastman (2-4, 5.90 ERA).

“Starting pitching is one of the hardest things to find in affiliated ball and in independent ball. We’re pretty fortunate we’ve got five right now we really like,” said Watkins.

That will become a crowded rotation by this weekend when 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers draft pick Marshall Kasowski, who played AAA as recently as last year, joins the team in Winnipeg. The 29-year-old was signed in the offseason by the Goldeyes but suffered an oblique injury during training. He’s now fully healed.

Watkins said one of the current five starters is likely to be moved to the six-man bullpen as a result.

“We’re trying to make sure we have a good balance of starting pitching and (relievers),” he said.

Not to be outdone, the offence is starting to emerge from an early-season slumber. Winnipeg easily could have gone 7-3 on that opening road trip had the bats been a bit more active. The Goldeyes entered play Monday night tied for fourth in the league in runs and second in hits.

“We’re kind of a weird offensive team. We’ll be kind of quiet for four, five innings and then kind of explode all at once,” said Watkins.

“Maybe just psychologically we don’t have a sense of urgency when we start some of these games knowing we have pitching that’s always going to keep us in games. We’re starting to be a little more consistent. I just wish sometimes we didn’t wait till the sixth, seventh inning before we decide to put up five runs or something. It kinda stresses me out a little bit.”

Reigning rookie-of-the-year Dayson Croes sits third in the league with a .339 average, while slugger Max Murphy is second-overall with 29 RBI through 28 games.

Winnipeg is coming off a disappointing campaign in which they went 43-57. They are four games behind the league-leading Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks for top spot in the West Division. With 71 games remaining, there’s plenty of reason for optimism — especially if the arms keep performing the way they have so far.

“It’s definitely a marathon, not a sprint,” said Watkins.

“As much as I’d love to get off to a good start every year, I’d much rather have us be hot and the best team in the league towards the end of the year and going into the playoffs. It’s good to be back at 500. I think the key right now is we want to keep winning series. We’ve only lost one series since that opening road trip.”

After wrapping up their current road trip Wednesday afternoon, the Goldeyes will bus back to Winnipeg to begin a season-long nine-game homestand at Blue Cross Park on Friday night.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg