Somerset Patriots Fight This Week for Final Playoff Spot
It all comes down to this. The Somerset Patriots postseason chances hinge on the final week of baseball at TD Bank Ballpark this summer when the New Hampshire Fisher Cats come to town, September 10 through the 15.
As it stands Monday, the Yankees double-A affiliate is only 1.5 games behind the Red Sox double-A affiliate, Portland Seadogs, for the final playoff spot in the Eastern League’s East division.
It’s been a heck of a ride for the Patriots, especially over the last four weeks where Somerset rallied off a record of 17-7 to pull themselves back into the mix. It wasn’t that long ago this team was as many as six games out of the final playoff spot.
Now it comes down to this final week, and it will be very tricky for Somerset. Why? Because a game between Somerset and Hartford scheduled for August 18 was canceled due to rain. The game was never made up or rescheduled.
That would mean the Somerset Patriots would have to be two games better than Portland over the final week of the season to get into the playoffs.
Case in point, If Somerset (38-24) were to go 5-1 this week against New Hampshire, and Portland (40-23) were to play .500 ball (3-3) against Binghamton, then the Patriots would qualify for the playoffs by a half game.
However, if Somerset were to go 4-2 this week, and Portland, again, played .500 ball (3-3), the SeaDogs would make the playoffs by a half-game.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Spencer Jones, of course, is the top player to watch for the Somerset Patriots. The Yankees number 2 prospect has been scalding hot the past two weeks. In his last 15 games, Jones is hitting .314 with 12 extra-base hits and 10 RBI. He was just recently named Eastern League Player of the Week for the third time this year.
Rafael Flores who came up to Double-A in July has been mighty impressive. Over the past 15 games, he has four homers, 11 RBI, and his hitting .326. Since coming to Somerset, Flores has been a long-ball machine, bashing 15 home runs in 59 games.
Bailey Dees and Zach Messinger. These two guys have been the aces of this Somerset staff in the second half of the season. Dees own a 2.11 ERA in his last four starts and is a perfect 2-0. He has struck out 28 batters in his last 21.1 innings of work.
Messinger has been equally good. While he isn’t racking up the K’s, Messigner is 2-0 with a 2.01 ERA in his last four starts.
See you at the ballpark for what figures to be an amazing week of baseball.
