GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Currently, only one full-season affiliate in the Pirates' organization is set to play in the postseason, the Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers.
But they aren't hitting, either.
The Grasshoppers booked their postseason berth by leading the South Atlantic League North division during the first half of the season. Even with the guaranteed spot in the postseason locked up, they haven’t let off the pedal. They still have an outside shot of finishing in a tie for the most wins in the league overall.
How they've reached this point has been a little unorthodox. Looking at one of their lineups from earlier this week, you wouldn’t have guessed that this team was prepping for the postseason. On Sept. 6, facing the Bowling Green Hot Rods, Greensboro started six players with a batting average under the Mendoza line (.200). However, they’ve found a way to make it work, mainly by focusing on the three true outcomes.
Among South Atlantic League teams, the Grasshoppers' offense ranks either first or second in home runs (first), strikeouts (second), or walks (second). They’ve had 44% of their total plate appearances end in one of those three results. They’ve averaged 5.49 runs per game, mainly because they have more than 20 home runs than the next ranked team, Asheville, and scored the most runs. Greensboro has three players in the top 10 for home runs and eight of the top 25 if you expand it a little further.
Shawn Ross leads the league with 23 home runs this season, despite hitting just .195. Nearly half of his hits have been homers, and 56% of his plate appearances have ended in one of the three true outcomes. Two other players on the roster -- Lonnie White Jr. and Josiah Sightler -- have double-digit home runs with a batting average of less than .200. White currently has 14 homers with a .165 average, while Sightler has the same number of long balls with a .192 average.
When looking at strikeouts, the Grasshoppers currently have four players who rank in the top 11 and have averaged more than 10 per game as a team. This week alone, they have punched out 49 times in the first four games of their current series.
They do make some of that back up with drawing walks, averaging a little over four per game, although many of those were lost when Termarr Johnson -- 78 in 110 games played -- was promoted to Class AA Altoona on Aug. 27. On top of Johnson, they have two additional players in the top 10 in walks drawn this year as well, Ross and Mitch Jebb.
It’s not the most traditional path and one that isn’t generally sustainable, but it’s the one that Greensboro took all the way to the playoffs.
