Down on the Farm: AA Report

New Britain Rock Cats (2-4)
T-4th -- Eastern League Northern Division

Rock Cats Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Nick Blackburn - 2 starts [1 start]
2.) Jesse Floyd - 1 start, 1 RA [1 start]
3.) Brad Baker - 1 start, 1 RA [1 start]
4.) Anthony Swarzak - 1 start, 1 RA [1 start]
5.) Brian Duensing - 1 start [Did Not Pitch]

Who's Hot: Brad Baker went 5.2 innings of shutout ball in his first start of the year, giving up just 2 hits and a walk while striking out 5 batters. On the season, he's gone 6.2 innings and has a 0.00 ERA and a WHIP of just 0.60, having allowed just 3 hits, a walk, and a hit batter. Hard to argue with those numbers!

Who's Not: Anthony Swarzak went just 3 innings, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits with 3 walks. On the plus side, he struck out 5 batters. On the season, Swarzak has an ERA of 11.12 and a horrendous whip of 2.47 (9 hits, 5 walks, and a hit batter in 5.2 innings). Jesse Floyd and Nick Blackburn have been better than Swarzak, with Floyd going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs on 6 hits in his start and Blackburn giving up 2 runs on 5 hits in 4 innings of work. Unfortunately, Floyd still has a season ERA of 6.00 in 9 innings, and Blackburn has an ERA of 6.43 in 7 innings.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Tim Lahey - 3 RA [2 RA]
2.) Jose Mijares - 3 RA [2 RA]
3.) J.P. Martinez - 2 RA [2 RA]
4.) Brian Forystek - 2 RA [2 RA]
5.) Jay Sawatski - 2 RA [1 RA]
6.) Daniel Powers - 2 RA [1 RA]

Who's Hot: J.P. Martinez went a total of 4 innings, giving up just 1 hit and 2 walks while allowing 1 unearned run this week, and still has a perfect 0.00 ERA for the season. Meanwhile, Jose Mijares picked up a save in 1.1 innings over 2 games, walking 1 and striking out 2. Like Martinez, he is still perfect on the season.

Who's Not: Danny Powers got banged up, taking a loss in the one game he pitched this week when he gave up 4 runs on 3 hits in just 1 inning of work. On the season, his ERA is 23.14, which translates to 6 runs in 2.1 innings. His WHIP, meanwhile, is sitting at an astonishingly high 3.00 (5 hits, 2 walks, and 2 hit batters).

Catchers
1.) Korey Feiner - C (4) [C (3)]
2.) Kyle Geiger - C (3) [C (1)]

Who's Hot: Korey Feiner went 4-for-9 this week, and is hitting .538 on the season with 2 runs and 3 RBI's. He's also played error-less ball behind the plate.

Who's Not: Kyle Geiger went 0-for-4 in his one start this week. While he's still hitting a respectable .286 on the season, these categories are meant to describe how a player has played over the previous week, and 0-for-4 has to qualify as "not hot."

Infielders
1.) Brock Peterson - 1B (3), DH (2) [1B (2), DH (1)]
2.) David Winfree - 3B (2), 1B (2), DH (2) [3B (2), 1B (1), DH (1)]
3.) Brian Buscher - 3B (3), 1B (1), DH (1) [1B (1), 3B (1), DH (1)]
4.) Felix Molina - 2B (3), DH (1) [2B (2), DH (1)]
5.) Luke Hughes - 2B (3) [2B (2)]
6.) Trevor Plouffe - SS (5) [SS (3)]
7.) Gil Velazquez - SS (1), 3B (1) [SS (1), 3B (1)]

Who's Hot: Trevor Plouffe was 5-for-13 this week, and is hitting .286 with 5 runs and 3 RBI's. He also hasn't yet made an error for the Rock Cats. David Winfree also had a solid week despite bouncing around all over the place, going 5-for-15. He's now hitting .304 this season with a HR with 3 runs and 4 RBI's. Gil Velazquez and Luke Hughes, meanwhile, both went 2-for-6 this week, which has Velazquez hitting .333 for the season and Hughes hitting .444.

Who's Not: Brian Buscher (2-for-11 this week, .190 on the season), Brock Peterson (2-for-12 this week, .167 on the season), and Felix Molina (1-for-12 this week, .063 this season) have all struggled mightily at the plate. Buscher has also made 2 errors, while Peterson and Molina have made one each. Not a solid way to start off the year.

Outfielders
1.) Garrett Guzman - LF (6) [LF (4)]
2.) Brandon Roberts - CF (5) [CF (3)]
3.) Matt Allegra - RF (5) [RF (3)]
4.) Rashad Eldridge - CF (1), RF (1) [CF (1), RF (1)]

Who's Hot: Garrett Guzman went 6-for-17 this week, including his 2nd homerun of the year. He's now hitting .370 on the season with 5 runs and 6 RBI's. Brandon Roberts, meanwhile, went 5-for-13 in his 3 games, which bumped up his season average to .273.

Who's Not: Matt Allegra went 2-for-11 this week, and is hitting just .211 on the season with 7 K's. Rashad Eldridge, meanwhile, got his first two starts for the Rock Cats, but hit just 1-for-7 on the week for a .143 season batting average.