Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

South Atlantic League baseball

Coming up

Lexington Legends vs. West Virginia Power

What: Four-game series

When: Wednesday through Saturday (7:05 each night)

Where: Applebee’s Park

Tickets: Call   (859) 422-7867  

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Wednesday, LH Brad Dydalewicz (7-4, 3.36) vs. RH Quinton Miller (1-3, 6.19); Thursday, RH Robert Bono (8-7, 3.24) vs. RH Brett Lorin (0-0, 1.50); Friday, RH Ross Seaton (8-9, 2.89) vs. RH Hunter Strickland (7-4, 3.05); Saturday, LH David Duncan (2-3, 4.67) vs. RH Aaron Pribanic (1-1, 3.00) or RH Gabriel Alvarado (5-9, 4.95).

Quincy Latimore

Power to watch: LF Quincy Latimore (5-foot-11, 191 pounds, from Apex, N.C.) leads the Power in hits (107), doubles (19), triples (9), RBI (57), total bases (174), games (93) and at-bats (379), and shares the team lead in homers (10) through Monday. Batting .282, he is second on the team with 53 runs scored. Selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fourth round of the 2007 draft, he hit .257 in 45 games that season for the Gulf Coast League Pirates. He also had three homers, 17 RBI and 13 stolen bases, with a .429 on-base percentage over 59 at-bats in the leadoff position. In 2008, playing for State College of the New York-Penn League, Latimore hit .244 with three homers, 20 RBI and 25 runs scored over 59 games. This season, he hit .249 over 58 games before the all-star break. In 35 games since the break, he is batting .331. 

Wilder Parra

Legend to watch: C Wilder Parra (6-0, 175, from Guigue, Venezuela) was assigned to the Legends last Thursday. Parra, now 18, signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros on Jan. 27, 2008. He spent last season with the Venezuelan Summer League Astros, going 26-for-111 (.234) over 32 games, with a homer, 12 RBI and six runs scored. This season, before joining the Legends, Parra played 13 games for the Gulf Coast League Astros. He went 9-for-39 (.231), drove in six runs and scored seven. Through Monday, his only appearance with the Legends came Friday at Greenville, where he struck out in a pinch-hit role.

Radio: WLXG AM-1300

South Atlantic League baseball

Coming up

Lexington Legends vs. Lakewood BlueClaws

What: Four-game series

When: Friday through Monday (7:05 each night except Sunday, 5:05 p.m.)

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

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Friday, RH Ross Seaton (6-8, 2.57) vs. RH Jason Knapp (2-7, 4.01); Saturday, RH Kyle Greenwalt (7-8, 3.62) vs. RH Jesus Sanchez (5-5, 3.90); Sunday, RH Jordan Lyles (5-7, 2.92) vs. RH Heitor Correa (6-3, 3.56); Monday, LH Brad Dydalewicz (5-4, 3.47) vs. RH Trevor May (1-1, 3.34).

Travis d'Arnaud

BlueClaw to watch: C Travis d’Arnaud (6-foot-2, 195 pounds, from Lakewood, Calif.) leads Lakewood in RBI (49) and doubles (21), and shares the lead in homers (9). Hitting .236over 81 games, d’Arnaud ranks third on the club in runs scored (46) and walks (25). Rated by Baseball America as the seventh-best prospect in the Phillies organization when the season began, d’Arnaud was drafted out of Lakewood (Calif.) High School in 2007, a supplemental first-round pick and 37th overall. (His older brother Chase, a shortstop, was a 2008 fourth-round pick of the Pirates.) Travis made his pro debut with the Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2007, hitting .241 with four homers and 20 RBI over 41 games. Last year, he earned New York-Penn League all-star honors with the Williamsport Crosscutters, hitting .309 with four homers and 25 RBI over 48 games. He finished the season by playing 16 games with the BlueClaws, batting .297 with two homers and five RBI. What really attracted the Phillies, according to Baseball America, is d’Arnaud’s “premium catch-and-throw tools, such as soft hands, quick feet and plenty of arm strength.”

Brian Wabick

Legend to watch: RHP Brian Wabick (6-0, 180, from Des Plaines, Ill.) had one of his worst outings of the season (2.2 innings, 3 ER) Tuesday at Delmarva. As his record shows, though, most often he has been effective. He’s 5-0 with two holds and a 4.78 ERA over 24 games, including one spot start. Over 49 innings, he has 40 strikeouts to 14 walks. Over five July appearances, he is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA. Selected by the Houston Astros in the 34th round of the 2007 draft, out of Oakton Community College in suburban Chicago, Wabick spent 2007 with Greeneville of the Appalachian League, then split 2008 between Greeneville and Tri-City of the New York-Penn League. His combined totals for those two seasons included a 3-4 record, eight saves, 4.11 ERA, 39 games, 81 innings, 67 strikeouts and 23 walks.

Radio: WLXG AM-1300

Had a chance to talk with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman when the Cincinnati Reds Caravan visited Lexington on Saturday.

Always delightful, Brennaman usually is optimistic at Caravan time.

Here’s some of what he had to say about the 2009 Reds.

Brennaman

“I’m optimistic. I know this time last year I was, and I was dead wrong about the team. Everybody seemed to be as one last year that they were going to be better. Now, fast-forward to a year later, I’m still optimistic, and a lot of the people become naysayers. It’s going to be interesting.

“I think they improved themselves behind the plate in Ramon Hernandez. I think they improved themselves in center field with Willy Taveras. They picked up a situational left-hander in Arthur Rhodes, who will help the bullpen.

“I think you have to look at this division before making some type of prediction. If the Cubs have improved themselves — and I’m not so sure they have — (and) if they are able now to go out and get (pitcher) Jake Peavy before the season begins, they will separate themselves even more from the rest of the division. But if you assume they’ve helped themselves. The only other team in this division who I think has (improved) has been the Reds. I don’t think Milwaukee has, Houston has, St. Louis has or Pittsburgh.

“It’s a different team from what we’ve been watching for the last however-many years because it’s a team that’s going to rely pretty much on pitching, defense and speed, and not feature the big home-run bats that they’ve been noted for all these (recent) years. They go into Great American Ball Park, and the park was built to take advantage of the power of Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. And it didn’t work out. So they’re going to strike off in a different direction, and I agree with that 100 percent.”

Read more from Marty in Sunday’s Herald-Leader.