The Stripers notched their second victory of the young season, defeating Nashville 4-1
Things are not going well in Atlanta at the moment, but thankfully we have some positive outcomes happening at the minor league level.
(2-3) Gwinnett Stripers 4, (1-4) Nashville Sounds 1
- Luke Waddell, SS: 3-5, RBI, R
- Charles Leblanc, 1B: 1-3, 2 RBI, BB
- Nathan Wiles, SP: 4 IP, BB, 5 K
- Amos Willingham, RP: 3 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K
Unlike their big league counterparts, it was W’s all around for Gwinnett on Tuesday as Luke Waddell, Amos Willingham and Nathan Wiles carried the Stripers to their second win of the season.
For those unfamiliar, Wiles is a former Tampa Bay farmhand who was traded to Atlanta on March 21 and Willingham was claimed off waivers from the Washington Nationals during the offseason.
Wiles doesn’t have much to offer in terms of standout pitches or velocity, but he managed to make things work as he tossed four hitless innings while issuing one walk and striking out five. Wiles was great in his own right, but the biggest breakthrough of the day was reliever Amos Willingham who tossed three scoreless innings of his own while striking out five and walking one.
Coming into this season a few baseball pundits tossed around the idea that Willingham could eventually work his way into the Atlanta bullpen and actually be a significant piece. Like Wiles, Willingham’s stuff isn’t overwhelming as he topped out at 94.3 miles per hour on his fastball. However, Willingham’s stuff plays up due to his pitches having the tendency to have a higher vertical break and a significant vertical drop as well.
On Tuesday, the 6-foot-4 righty had multiple pitches with an induced vertical break of at least 20 or more inches, meaning the pitch appeared as though it was rising coming out of his hand. Willingham also had several pitches that dropped by at least 11 inches, which tends to be around league average, but is good to see from the 26-year-old. He mostly utilized a 4-seam fastball and a cutter while mixing in a solid changeup and a shaky slider that he only threw twice.
Buck Farmer and Wander Suero — two other MLB journeymen looking to crack Atlanta’s roster — also had solid performances out of the bullpen, allowing just one run between them while striking out four total.
At the plate, the Stripers only outhit Nashville 5-2 on the day, but thanks to the stellar performances on the mound, that was more than enough to get the job done.
Luke Waddell put together the best performance on Tuesday, going 3-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Waddell produced three of the top 10 exit velocities on the day with his three hits, registering at 94.9, 96.9 and 101, respectively. While it’s still relatively early, Waddell has been locked in to begin the year. After going hitless in the season-opener, he has notched at least one hit in each of Gwinnett’s next four games, with three of those being multi-hit affairs as he’s posted 1.072 OPS through 20 at-bats.
The highest exit velo of the day belonged to Conner Capel at 104.6 miles per hour off the bat, albeit he had nothing to show for it as he lined out in the seventh inning.
Charles Leblanc also had a good day at the dish, going 1-3 with a pair of RBIs he drove in on a weak single he pulled into right field to plate two runners. Eddy Alvarez had the Stripers lone other RBI on the day.