Spokane Indians notebook: Lefty Stu Flesland continues remarkable streak; Indians host Vancouver this week
Since moving into the Spokane Indians starting rotation a few weeks ago, Stu Flesland – the Colorado Rockies organization pitcher of the month for July – has been almost untouchable. The 24-year-old lefty from Mt. Spokane High School continued his remarkable streak on Saturday.
Flesland struck out 10 over five shutout innings, allowing seven hits and no walks, but the bullpen undid all his good work in a disastrous seventh inning and the Indians lost to the Eugene Emeralds 5-4.
Since July 10, he’s allowed just one earned run over five starts covering 24 innings (0.37 ERA) with 23 strikeouts against just four walks – holding opposing batters to a .165 average.
It’s a stark contrast with the first part of the season, when Flesland was used almost exclusively out of the bullpen. Through his first 21 appearances Flesland pitched to a 5.89 ERA over 44 1/3 innings and opposing batters hit .290 off him.
“I think the main difference has just been being able to scout (opposing hitters) and kind of watch their (at-bats) and just kind of see how they do off other guys’ stuff,” Flesland said following a start on Aug. 3 at Avista Stadium.
Playoff watch: The Indians (21-21) lost four of six last week to first-place Eugene (31-11) and are now 10 games behind the Emeralds, and two games behind second-place Tri-City, for the Northwest League’s second-half title and a spot in the championship series with 24 games to play.
The Indians still have a series against both teams ahead of them if they can get on a hot streak, but it will be an uphill struggle all the way.
Hot/not hitters: Blake Wright had a torrid week in Eugene, going 9 for 23 (.391) with four doubles, a triple and a homer run and was on-base at a .423 clip. Unfortunately, not too many of his teammates joined him on the bases and he had just two RBIs and scored three runs. Andy Perez went 9 for 24 (.375) with five doubles and one RBI.
There were plenty of hitters who struggled, but EJ Andrews, Jr. had the roughest week, going 1 for 15 – though the lone hit was a home run. Six regulars hit .250 or lower this week, but the team hit six homers to mitigate the low averages a bit.
On the mound: Konner Eaton made two starts last week with mixed results. He gave up just one run over six innings on Tuesday – though he took a 2-0 loss as the hitters were shut out – but Sunday was roughed up for four runs over four innings on six hits and a walk. Everett Catlett made another strong start, striking out eight over six innings in a win on Friday.
Albert Pacheco, who was tied for the league lead in starts at the beginning of the week, was moved to the bullpen and the adjustment did not go well. The 22-year-old lefty made two appearances out of the pen and gave up four runs on four hits and two walks, allowing a pair of homers in the process, over 2 1/3 innings. His 15.43 ERA for the week pushed his season numbers to 6.26 over 100 2/3 innings.
Transactions: Jimmy Obertop, who is listed at catcher but has just five appearances at the position this season, was promoted to the Indians from Low-A Fresno at the start of last week’s series. Obertop, 25, got into games at first base, right field and designated hitter during the series. He hit .301/.396/.434 with two homers and 21 RBIs in 27 games for Fresno earlier this season.
The undrafted free agent, who played at Michigan and Clemson, was signed by the Rockies organization in April.
Reliever Davison Palermo was promoted to Double-A Hartford. He went 4-2 and had four saves in six chances over 35 games for the Indians with a 3.06 ERA.
This week: The Indians host the Vancouver Canadians (21-21) in a six-game series at Avista Stadium. Game time is 6:35 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Sunday at 1:05 p.m.