The Naturals Hold Steady and Remain a Game Above .500 – Farm to Fountains

Record on the Season: 19-18

The pitching kept most of the games realistic this week as the Naturals split the series with the Arkansas Travelers. After a week of high-scoring affairs, the arms succeeded, holding the Travelers scoreless in two contests. Kris Bubic even made an appearance during his rehab stint and looked great in the process. The bats followed suit, giving consistent production in the form of three or more runs a game. The outcomes weren’t as hoped for with these pieces coming together. It does, however, look as though the wheels are finally turning at the same time. 

— Northwest Arkansas Naturals (@nwanaturals) May 19, 2024

Yet again Chandler Champlain makes his mark on the mound. His sole start ended with 6.0 innings pitched, three hits, one walk, and 10 strikeouts. On the back of this start, the Naturals could hold the Travelers scoreless for the game. This looks like one of the more dominant starts for the AA squad this season. Batters hit just .136 in those six innings and Champlain produced a fantastic 0.63 WHIP. There isn’t much more to say about the start. Chandler Champlain was dominant for six innings and he put the team in a perfect position to win the game. He continues to look more and more like a big-league starter with every outing. 

Gavin Cross is officially figuring out AA after another scorching hot week. He slashed .400/.464/.560, playing in all six games this week and putting up a 1.024 OPS. He had 10 total hits and zeroed in on his gap-to-gap power with four doubles. Cross has looked better and better as the season goes on but each week he figures out another aspect of his game. He has begun to walk more often and mix his power to contact tools better. The strikeouts are still there but he will always have a few of those. 

On the season he has turned the corner, putting up a line of .298/.387/.440. Those numbers will play but there are a couple of things for him to iron out before he inevitably makes his way to AAA. Most noticeable is his groundout/air out ratio sitting at a very unmaintainable 0.47. Advanced analytics will tell us that hitting the ball in the air = good and hitting the ball on the ground = bad. In reality, it’s impossible to do either consistently all the time and a healthy mix would lead to the best potential production. Cross’ fantastic stretch may have something to do with the outstanding amount of balls he is hitting in the air. What will be interesting to watch is if his stats will continue to look as fantastic as that number climbs back towards 1.00.

Javier Vaz is back on the horse. He finally ran into some power with two doubles on a .333 average this week. He is still keeping his K/BB ratio pristine with an even number of both in five games this week.

Eric Carentola only gave up two hits and racked up five strikeouts over 5.0 IP. His opponent’s average was a measly .125 as he allowed zero runs in his start.

Luinder Avila twirled a great start with the help of some defense. He only struck out one but threw six scoreless innings with only three total baserunners. Two walks and one hit over six will certainly play.

Diego Hernandez slashed .357/.412/.429 over his four games. He doubled once and managed to get through all four games without a strikeout. We’ll see if this is a sign of more to come. 

The Naturals face out of division foe the Amarillo Sod Poodles. The A+ name is attached to an underperforming team that the Naturals will hope to take advantage of. The home stretch will prove interesting with players looking to continue success or get back on the horse.

 If I were a local fan I’d make sure to hit up Dollar Dog Night on Wednesday… I certainly do when the big league club runs the same promo.