Your 2021 Edmonton Prospects roster has been updated on their website. By my count there are five returnees from the 2019 season. The number is subject to change before the season is scheduled to begin on Thursday May 27th. Let’s take a look at the 5 returning players:
- RP Scott Gillespie, 15 games played (GP), 16 1/3 innings played, 5.51 ERA, 13 Walks (W), 13 strikeouts (K)
- RP Jesse Poniewozik, 10GP, 25 1/3 IP, 1.77 ERA, 7 W, 17 K
- RP Haden Dow, 9 GP, 9 1/3 IP, 6.75 ERA, 7 W, 9 K
- OF Travis Hunt .347 batting average (BA), 7 Homers (HR), 40 Runs Batted In (RBI), 28 Stolen Bases (SB)
- IF Brendan Luther .281 BA, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 8 SB
The 2019 Edmonton Prospects finished with a 29-27 record. With the cavernous Re/Max Field as their home park the team’s home run total ranks in the bottom quarter of the league. Understanding the Club played in the league’s biggest park, Coach Jordan Blundell encouraged his players to be aggressive on the base paths. The team led the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) in stolen bases with 153. That’s 60 more than the Okotoks Dawgs who finished second in the category. We will have to see if Coach Blundell tweaks his game approach in 2021 since the Club will be playing all their games on the road this season.
Impress your friends with some Prospects trivia knowledge. Let them know that the returning Travis Hunt is the team’s all-time* single season record holder for home runs and RBI.
*league stats only go back to 2010 while Prospects have played since 2005
The 2019 pitching staff had allowed the second fewest walks in the league but also finished fourth last in striking out batters. Despite allowing the third most hits in the league, the Prospects still finished with the fourth best team E.RA at 4.19.
Jesse Poniewozik, who was in the top ten of innings pitched on the Club, finished with the best ERA on the team. Poniewozik also featured the team’s second lowest WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings played) at 1.07.
A popular saying after the NFL Super Bowl game is complete is, “baseball the floor is yours”. Here’s hoping that saying comes true this year for all levels of baseball.
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