Armed and dangerous: Miners boast top pitching staff in ABL

PALMER — During each of Ben Taylor’s first two seasons as the Mat-Su skipper, the Miners were among the top teams in the Alaska Baseball League at the plate. Mat-Su led the league in team batting average in 2013 and was second and 2014.

This summer, as the Miners chase a league title after back-to-back runner-up finishes in the ABL, Mat-Su is once again producing at the plate. But there’s something that separates the current edition of the Miners from the last two clubs Taylor brought to the Valley.

The pitching staff.

As the Miners approach the midway point of the 2015 ABL season, the Mat-Su pitching staff is leading the league in just about every category. Through their 2-1 win over the Anchorage Bucs Thursday night, the Miners (14-4 heading into Saturday’s match against the Alaska Goldpanners) boast a league-low 1.25 earned run average in 18 league games. Opponents are batting a mere .174 against Mat-Su pitchers, another league best, and the Miners have fanned 155 hitters, nearly 50 more than any other team in the ABL. Mat-Su also leads in the league in shutouts (four) and saves (eight), and has allowed the fewest hits (99) and earned runs (22) in the league.

“Top to bottom, the pitching staff is fantastic,” Taylor said Saturday afternoon.

Of the 12 Mat-Su pitchers who have hit the mound for the Miners, four still have a 0.00 earned run average. Eight have an ERA less than 2.00. The highest individual era on the team is 4.91, and no Mat-Su pitcher has allowed more than five earned runs this season.

“Some of it is a bit abnormal,” Taylor said of the mind-boggling numbers the Miners are putting up this summer. “But I’ll take it.”

And there is no arguing the depth.

“We have 12 or 13 guys with really legit arms. The depth is not something we’ve had in the past,” Taylor said.

Not quite to the midway point of the summer, the Miners have already surpassed the total number of saves and shutouts they had in 2014. Mat-Su is also striking out an average of two more hitters per game this year, while allowing two fewer hits per contest.

The Miners are also ruling the individual statistic leaders with the four pitchers with a 0.00 ERA.

Starter Eli Morgan leads the list. The Gonzaga product is 3-0 with 23 strikeouts and the 0.00 ERA in 18 innings pitched. Relievers Trent Thompson (10.1 innings pitched) and Corbin Martin (8.2 IP) have both made at least seven appearances without allowing an earned run. Zebastian Valenzuela also has a perfect ERA through two appearances, including one start.

The Miners also have two starters, Calvin LeBrun and Zach Warren, who have allowed two and one earned runs respectively. LeBrun is 3-0 with 23 strikeouts and a 0.66 ERA in 27.1 innings. Warren is 2-1 with a 27 strikeouts and a 0.48 ERA in 18.2 innings.

Heading into action Saturday night, Mat-Su owned five of the top seven spots in the league strikeout leaders. Warren leads the ABL with 27 strikeouts in league games, followed by Morgan and LeBrun, each with 23. Brigham Hill (18) and Kyle Simonds (16) are also in the top seven.

Taylor said much of the success has to do with the Miners simply throwing strikes.

“They throw a ton of strikes. They don’t put themselves into counts where they have to kind of give in to the hitters,” Taylor said. “That’s been the biggest thing. We do a good job winning even counts. We haven’t had to throw a lot of 2-1 fastballs. We’re not getting behind in the count 1-0.”

Mat-Su’s starters have been stellar. The Miners have three pitchers (Morgan, Warren and LeBrun) with at least three starts who are averaging six or more innings per start. A fourth starter, James Harrington, has pitched at least six innings in three of his four starts.

“Our starters have gone deep enough we have not had to wear out the bullpen,” Taylor said.

With the starters typically pitching into the sixth and seventh innings, the Miners have had fresh arms in the bullpen. Pitchers like Thompson, Martin and Caleb McCann have come through the Miners late. Mat-Su also has the top closer in the league. Brick Paskiewicz leads the ABL with eight saves, twice as many as anyone else in the league.

“He’s a legit proven ninth-inning guy,” Taylor said of Paskiewicz. “But you’ve also got to look at the guys we use to get to him. Our closer is only as good as the eighth-inning guy. The eighth-inning guy is only as good as the seventh-inning guy kind of thing.”

Overall, Taylor lauded the work of the pitchers on the staff and Miners pitching coach Matt Greely.

“Matt’s done a great job of tapping into these guys as individuals, letting them be themselves and helping each guy develop as an individual within the framework of the pitching staff,” Taylor said. “There are a ton of guys showing up each day early. I’ve never had so many pitchers showing up early to get work in as we’ve had this summer.”