It’s been two weeks since we checked in with the Double-A Southern League and the divisions remain in chaos, with the Montgomery Biscuits (Tampa Bay Rays) barely holding onto a share of first place in the North with the suddenly surging Chattanooga Lookouts (Minnesota Twins).
Both the Lookouts and Biscuits are 14-10 after Sunday night’s games. The Lookouts lost 6-5 to the Southern League South-leading Mobile BayBears (Arizona Diamondbacks), but the Biscuits couldn’t capitalize on the stumble, falling in the final game of the night to the Tennessee Smokies (Chicago Cubs), 6-4.
RECAP: The Lookouts Suffer Tough 6-5 Loss to BayBears.
STORY: https://t.co/9DeVXuiq1k pic.twitter.com/MY06I8OGJU
— Chattanooga Lookouts (@ChattLookouts) July 17, 2016
With a good month and a half of baseball left, every team is still very much alive in the second half. Even the Jackson Generals (Seattle Mariners), who seemed dead in the water after running away with the first half title by 10 games have battled their way back into the second-half race.
The Smokies, on the other hand, have fallen back into some old habits, dropping games late and falling behind early after a promising half to the second-half of the season after the All-Star break. Tennessee now sits in the spot its occupied for most of the season, last place in the North.
The first half was a two-horse race in the South between the Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee Brewers) and the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Cincinnati Reds). While the two teams battled for the top of the standings in April and May, this month they’re doing exactly the opposite. The Shuckers have the worst record in either division in the second half, 9-15. The Blue Wahoos are .500 at 12-12.
The Lookouts are making the push without a lot of high-powered prospects in the offensive line up. No position player on Chattanooga’s roster is in the Twins Top 10 prospects. Instead, the Lookouts are getting the job done with pitching three Top 10 prospects in the starting rotation and one in the bullpen.
Twins No. 7-ranked prospect, left-hander Stephen Gonsalves, has the best record of the three starters after Sunday. He’s 8-5 with a 2.61 ERA. His last start was a win over Tennessee on July 12 where he went six innings with four hits, no runs, no walks and recorded 11 strikeouts.
Kohl Stewart backs up first age-22 start by Stephen Gonsalves (6-4-0-0-0-11) with strong start today for @ChattLookouts (7-7-1-1-3-3).
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) July 13, 2016
Tyler Jay, Minnesota’s No. 5 prospect is 5-5 with a 3.39 ERA. The 2015 first round pick out of Illinois has had some bad luck over the last month and hasn’t recorded an official win yet in Double-A since the Twins called him up from the High-A Fort Myers Miracle on July 7. Jay has made two starts for Chattanooga and was shelled both times, giving up six hits, four runs, two walks while fanning four against the Smokies on July 10, then surrendering four hits, four runs and three walks with four Ks against Mobile on July 16.
.@Twins #2 Prospect Tyler Jay set to make his first Double-A start today for your #Lookouts in Knoxville. pic.twitter.com/54QrfEbBOX
— Chattanooga Lookouts (@ChattLookouts) July 10, 2016
Kohl Stewart got the call up from the Miracle on May 31 and is still trying to find his groove with the Lookouts. He’s 3-4 since he joined Chattanooga with a 3.74 ERA in eight starts. Stewart has won two of his last three starts, including seven innings of shutout baseball against Pensacola on July 3.
In the pen, middle reliever Nick Burdi has struggled staying healthy and hasn’t pitched at all in the second half. He’s been on the disabled list twice and hasn’t pitched since April 28.
So who is getting the job done with the bat for the Lookouts? How about 24-year-old third baseman Niko Goodrum. Goodrum, a second round pick out of Fayette High School in Fayetteville, Ga. is batting .311 with three doubles, a home run and four RBIs since getting the call up from Fort Myers on July 1. He only has one stolen base so far in Chattanooga but that number should jump as he gets more comfortable. He had the third most steals in the Twins’ minor league system in 2015.
3 H games for @ChattLookouts today from: @zgranite, @Ryanwalker25, and @NikoGoodrum #MNTwins
— Ted (@tlschwerz) July 13, 2016
Center fielder Zach Granite has been getting the job done for the Lookouts all season. He’s batting .309 with 10 doubles, four triples, four home runs and 30 RBIs. He’s no slouch on the bases either, racking up 34 stolen bases already this season. Granite was a 14th round pick for the Twins out of Seton Hall back in 2013.
