Series Preview: 6/5-6/7 - New Britain Rock Cats

The Harrisburg Senators (15-34) face-off against the New Britain Rock Cats(28-25), who are making their only trip to Harrisburg this season.

Senators posted a 5-6 record over their last 11 games, winning their last 3 games games vs New Hampshire. As a team the Senators are hitting a combined .244 (2nd to last place in the EL). The pitching staff enters the series with a 4.54 ERA. The Senators have logged only 7 saves this season (Zinicola has 5)

The Rock Cats come in with a 6-5 record over their last 11 games. As a team the Rock Cats are batting .273 (2nd in the EL) and are lead by 2B Brian Dinkelman .335, 1B Whitney Robbins .325, OF Danny Valencia .309 and OF Juan Portes .309.

As a team the Rock Cats pitching staff has performed about as “well” as the Senators combining for 4.24 ERA. The most consistant pitchers for the Rock Cats this season have been Cole DeVries who is 4-4 with a 2.68 era in 10 starts, closer Anthony Slama who is 3-0, 12 saves in 25 games with a 2.73 ERA, and Matt Fox 5-2 with a 2.81 ERA in 11 games.

New Britain recently added right handed pitching prospect Carlos Gutierrez. Gutierrez, scheduled to make his EL debut on Sunday, was 2-3 in 11 games with Fort Wayne (Florida State League). Dispite the 2-3 record he posted a 1.32 ERA and has only allowed 8 earned runs in 54+ innings pitched.

PROBABLE STARTERS
6/5/09: Harrisburg, RH Erik Arnesen vs. Rock Cats, LH Ryan Mullins
6/6/09: Harrisburg, RH Carlos Martinez vs. Rock Cats, RH Cole DeVries
6/7/09: Harrisburg, LH Cory VanAllen vs. Rock Cats, RH Carlos Gutierrez

Weather Forecast:


Weather Courtsey of: WHTM ABC27

Rosters
Harrisburg Senators Roster
New Britain Rock Cats

Top Prospects:
The Rock Cats don’t have a lot of prospects but they do have 3 quality prospects to make note of in Ramos, Valencia and Gutierrez. Below are both Baseball America (BA) and John Sickels (JS) list of prospects for each team. If necessary, I will also offer notes on players to watch. For more information on John’s grading system visit here

Rock Cats Top Prospects (Twins Affiliate):
C – Wilson Ramos 3(BA) / B(JS)
3B – Danny Valencia 5(BA) / B-(JS)
RHP – Carlos Gutierrez 9(BA) / B-(JS)
RHP – Jeff Manship 11(BA) / C+(JS)
OF – Rene Tosoni 18(BA)
RHP – Anthony Slama 25(BA) / C+(JS)
RHP – Alex Burnett C(JS)
RHP – Zachary Ward C(JS)
DH – Erik Lis C(JS)

Senators Top Prospects (Nationals Affiliate):
OF: Leonard Davis 16(BA) / C(JS)
1B: Bill Rhinehart 17(BA)
SS: Ian Desmond 19(BA) / C(JS)
RHP: Luis Atilano 27(BA)
LHP: Cory Van Allen 28(BA)
OF: Marvin Lowrance C+(JS)
OF: Mike Daniel C(JS)
LHP: Yunior Novoa C(JS)
Other pitching prospects to watch: Justin Jones, Josh Wilkie, and Zech Zinicola.
Hitting prospects to watch: OF: Edgardo Baez.