The Harrisburg Senators roll into town Tuesday for a six-game series at Canal Park looking to spoil the fun of the RubberDucks, who hold the best record in Double-A Northeast.
Don’t expect the Ducks (56-33) to do the Washington Nationals affiliate any favors even if the Senators (33-56) are a much different team from the time the two played a month ago. Rubber Mixing Mill Sizes
“I actually think every single team needs to be treated with respect,” RubberDucks manager Rouglas Odor said. “Whether they have a positive or negative record, every single team has players that will do their best to win ballgames. We need to approach every single game the way we have. They have good ballplayers, too. We just need to go out and play our best.”
The Senators actually have quite a few ballplayers that are earmarked for the big leagues in the not so distant future.
According to MLB Pipeline, the Senators will bring stars in the Nos. 12, 15 and 26 prospects in the organization in pitchers Tim Cate, Matt Cronin and Seth Romaro.
What’s more, shortstop Jackson Cluff comes in at No. 24 for the Senators and outfielder Donovan Casey is No. 27.
It’s Casey that has wreaked havoc in two Double-A leagues with a combined .303 batting average, .844 OPS, 14 home runs and 46 RBIs.
He came over from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the trade for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner and is hitting .347 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in 12 games for the Senators and has logged a hit in 10 of those games.
“Every ballclub has good players and this particular team has a bunch of them that have a good future,” Odor said. “At the end, it’s about execution and treating every single team with respect. You have to compete and do your best.
“It’s about the preparation. It’s about knowing who you’re going to face. It’s about knowing the arsenal the opposition has and knowing what your strengths are. They have good arms, but we know your strengths. I tell the guys that it’s about winning every single pitch.
“We always like to think about the game as a whole, but it’s about staying in the game at the moment. It’s winning as a pitcher. Winning as a hitter and playing good defense. If you do that, you have a pretty good chance to succeed. At the end of the game, most of the time you’ll have good results.”
As has been the case throughout the minor leagues and especially with the Ducks this season, turnover is always key.
The RubberDucks enter the series without one of their best players in Andruw Monasterio (.291, 7 home runs, 51 RBIs, .818), who was called up to Columbus on Monday.
In 25 games in July, Monasterio batted .315 with three doubles, two triples, two home runs and 20 RBIs.
In 13 games in August, he hit .359 (19-for-53) with four doubles, a triple, three home runs and 12 RBIs to earn his call to the Clippers.
Despite all of that, the Ducks know they have a great chance to increase their 2½-game lead over the rest of the league with a good showing this week.
How they do that is by not upsetting the flow and just riding the current wave that has them winners of six of their past seven series.
Rubber Calender “If we think one game at a time and actually one pitch at a time, at the end of the game and the end of the week, the results should be there,” Odor said. “We don’t think about the whole week. We think about the game we’re playing that day.”