High Point Rockers vs. Lexington Legends (May 14-16)
The Rockers and Legends will start a three-game set on Tuesday at Truist Point. The two clubs are spiraling in opposite directions. Lexington has lost six straight games and rests in the cellar of the South Division, 13 games back of the Charleston Dirty Birds. The Rockers after winning their first five games to start the year, hit a bit of a wall, but have now won two straight and look to close ground on the Dirty Birds prior to their big series this weekend. These three games with the Legends continue a nine-game homestand for High Point. The Rockers won their previous series against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, which was the Rockers first series win since their sweep of the Legends to start the season. The Rockers will see plenty of the Legends, the two teams will battle 25 times this year, with 15 of those at Truist Point.
About the Rockers:
The Rockers come into this game at 9-7 tied with Gastonia for second in the South Division, four games back of the Charleston Dirty Birds who the Rockers will face Friday, Saturday and Sunday. After the Rockers got off to a scorching start winning their first five games, they dropped three straight series, before taking the first series of the homestand against Southern Maryland. Charleston just finished a six-game sweep of the Legends and High Point must handle business vs the teams in the basement, like Lexington to keep pace with the Dirty Birds in the first half.
Key Players:
Ben Aklinski:
The Rockers go as Ben Aklinski goes. Aklinski started the season with four homers and 15 runs batted in, then hit a mini slide that correlated with the Rockers slide. However, in the past three games, Aklinski is 4 for 12 with two homers and eight runs batted in. In the Rockers’ first series against Lexington, Aklinski hit .500 with three homers and 12 RBIs. On April 27th Aklinski had a two homer game, with one of those being the only Rocker grand slam this season. High Point needs Aklinski’s bat to stay hot to handle Lexington and gain momentum into the Charleston series.
Colin Moran:
Moran is the current Rocker with the most Major League experience. He has 50 big league homers and began to show off that power in High Point’s last series vs the Blue Crabs. Moran is the Rockers reigning Player of the Week. He hit .400, had a homer, four doubles, and drove in three runs. On Sunday Moran had a four-hit game, becoming the third Rocker to do so this season, joining Ben Aklinski and Connor Owings.
Connor Owings:
Connor Owings has been the most consistent Rocker this year. He has a .350 batting average, the highest on the team, and has three homers and 15 RBIs. Aklinski was not the only High Point player to hit Lexington hard as Owings had a .444 batting average with two homers during that four game series. In the absence of Nick Longhi, High Point needs the rest of the lineup to step up and Owings in particular.
Keys Trends:
HR ball:
The Rockers have the most homers in the Atlantic league with 27 and have won every game this season that they hit more homers than their opponent. More than 53% of their offense production comes via the HR, demonstrating how vital it is to the Rockers success.
Stolen Base Battle:
The Rockers struggled stopping the running game earlier this season. A week ago, they had allowed the second-most stolen bases including a stretch of four games where they conceded 15 stolen bags. However, High Point has done a much better job recently and has picked off three base runners in the past two games. When the Rockers are on base, they don’t steal a whole lot. They have the second fewest stolen bases with 14. However, when the Rockers steal, they have success. This season the Rockers have won every game that they have as many or more stolen bases than their opponent.
Dominance on the mound:
In 2023, the High Point pitching staff had the best strikeout to walk ratio in the Atlantic League. They had the second-most strikeouts and fewest walks, with 69 fewer than the team with the second-least. This season the Rockers are demonstrating a similar dominance. They have the third best ERA at 3.97 and have a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.96, which is nearly 1.5 more than Gastonia, the team with the second-best mark.
About the Legends:
Lexington comes into this three-game series at 3-13, six games behind High Point, and 10 behind the division pacing Charleston Dirty Birds. The Legends have dropped six straight games, all to the Dirty Birds. They are by far the youngest team in the league, and their inexperience has cost them thus far.
Keys Players:
Keenan OBrien:
The Lexington backstop has only played 10 games this season, but when he has, he’s been productive. He has a .368 batting average with three doubles a triple and 11 RBIs. Against High Point he was two for six with four runs batted in and in his last seven games he is hitting .385. He is a bat to pay attention to this series.
Matt Bottcher:
Another lefty High Point has to look out for is Matt Bottcher. He has a .284 batting average thus far and has four doubles as well. His power has been on the rise; last year he clubbed a career high 13 homers, and already has three this year. He is a guy with speed as well. He stole 21 bags last year and has three this season. Bottcher will have to make an impact on the game in all areas to give Lexington a fighting chance.
Key Trends:
Can the offense keep up:
While Lexington’s record is the worst in the league, do not be fooled into thinking the Legends can’t hit. The Legends have scored the second-most runs in the league and have the most doubles. They don’t hit a lot of homers, but they walk, get on base, and can cause havoc. They have scored five or more runs in four of their past six and scored 10+ in their last two games. High Point has an explosive offense, and Lexington will have to score a whole lot to steal some wins.
Keeping the ball in the park:
We just mentioned how the Legends can hit, but Lexington’s pitching is a different story. The Legends have the highest ERA in the league at 8.08, which is 2.2 higher than the Long Island Ducks who have the second-highest ERA in the league. The reason for the high number, the long ball. The Legends have allowed 32 homers this year, which is 10 more than any other club has allowed and have walked 107, 26 more than Hagerstown, who has walked the second-most in the league. The Rockers have hit the most homers in the league and draw the third-most walks, making this series a matchup of strength vs weakness. Lexington has to be able to prevent throwing ball four and keep the ball in the park to give themselves any shot.
Pitching Matchup:
Tues: LEX – Nic Laio vs HP – Ryan Weiss
Laio: 13.2IP (3G-2GS) / 6.58 ERA / 5BB:18Ks / 2HR allowed
Weiss: 14.1IP (3GS) / 9ER (5.65 ERA) / 6BB / 25Ks / 4HR allowed
Wed: LEX – Dustin Beggs vs HP – Taylor Guerrieri
Beggs: 14 IP (3GS) / 7.71 ERA / 7BB:9Ks / 5HR allowed
Guerrieri: 8IP (3G-1GS) / 7ER (7.87 ERA) / 12Ks
Thurs: LEX – TBA vs HP – Jeremy Rhoades
TBA:
Rhoades: 15.1IP (3GS) / 7ER (4.11 ERA) / 5BB / 18Ks / 2HR allowed
Keys for Rocker Starters:
The Rockers have had impressive strikeout stuff this season, six strikeouts away from 200 on the season. The Legends batters have struck out the second most times this year. Rockers pitchers should be able to put away Legend hitters via the K and keep men offbase. Weiss made a start vs Lexington earlier this season that wasn’t his best. He gave up four runs over 4.1 innings. However, last time out at the Blue Crabs, Weiss tied a club record with 12 strikeouts and is in line for a more successful outing vs Lexington today. Rhoades also started at Lexington during opening weekend, and threw five shutout innings, striking out six. If the Rockers pitchers can replicate their success, they team should be in line for some wins.
Milestone Watch:
Rockers manager, Jaime Keefe, has the third best active win percentage in the Atlantic League and is four wins away from 300 Atlantic League Ws and 15 games away from 2,000 games managed.
How Can I Tune In?
Tuesday and Thursday our coverage will start at 6:20 p.m. EDT with a first pitch time of 6:35 p.m. EDT. Our pregame coverage for Wednesday’s 11:00 a.m. EDT game will begin at 10:45 a.m. EDT. Tune into the game on MixLR or watch the game on FloSports.