Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Baseball

South Atlantic League

Lexington Legends
at Lakewood BlueClaws

What: Three-game series

When: Tuesday through Thursday (7:05 each night)

Where: FirstEnergy Park (Lakewood, N.J.)

Major League affiliations: Houston Astros (Legends), Philadelphia Phillies

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Tuesday, LH Luis Cruz (5-1, 2.84) vs. LH Ethan Stewart (0-6, 4.21); Wednesday, RH Jonas Dufek (1-1, 5.84) vs. RH Colin Klevan (3-4, 3.59); Thursday, RH Nick Tropeano (4-3, 2.94) vs. LH Lino Martinez (3-3, 6.79).

Drew Muren

Legend to watch: OF Drew Muren (6-foot-6, 195 pounds, from Ramona, Calif.), who bats left-handed and throws righty, takes a .289 batting average into the series, with 13 RBI and 22 runs. Among his 44 hits are 11 doubles, a triple and two homers. He’s riding a four-game hitting streak, going 7-for-17 (.412). He has four stolen bases, a .341 on-base percentage and .414 slugging. Against right-handed pitchers, Muren is batting .321; against lefties, .200. Selected by the Astros in the 22nd round of the 2011 draft, Muren was an All-Big West selection for Cal State Northridge last year. He also was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, in the 35th round of the 2010 draft. Last summer, the Astros placed him with the Tri-City ValleyCats of the New York-Penn League. He was named the team’s Defensive Player of the Month for July and finished the season with a .257 average, two homers, 21 RBI and eight stolen bases over 67 games.

Aaron Altherr

BlueClaw to watch: OF Aaron Altherr  (6-5, 190, from Buckeye, Ariz.) leads the BlueClaws in hits (49), doubles (13) and total bases (78), and shares the lead in triples (2). Batting .241, with four homers, 24 RBI, 23 runs and 17 stolen bases, he has not committed an error. Selected by the Phillies in the ninth round of the 2009 draft, out of Agua Fria High School in Avondale, Ariz., Altherr is rated by Baseball America as the 15th-best prospect in the Philadelphia system. He spent 2009 and part of 2010 with the Gulf Coast League Phillies, parts of 2010 and 2011 with the Williamsport Crosscutters of the New York-Penn League, and part of last season with the BlueClaws. He earned mid-season all-star honors with the Crosscutters. For those three combined seasons, he batted .255 with eight homers, 82 RBI, 94 runs and 55 stolen bases over 195 games. This season, he’s batting .272 at home, .216 on the road. He bats and throws right-handed.

Radio: WLXG-AM 1300

This entry was posted on June 5, 2012 at 6:00 pm and is filed under Baseball, Baseball America, Cal State Northridge, Gulf Coast League Phillies, Houston Astros, Lakewood BlueClaws, Lexington Legends, New York-Penn League, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, South Atlantic League, Tri-City ValleyCats, Williamsport Crosscutters. Tagged: Aaron Altherr, Colin Klevan, Drew Muren, Ethan Stewart, Jonas Dufek, Lino Martinez, Luis Cruz, Nick Tropeano. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.