LEARNING THE ROPES

By Pete Mollica

Scrappers’ record under .500, but Fryman likes effort of young players

NILES — The Mahoning Valley Scrappers have lost more games than they’ve won during the first three weeks of the New York-Penn League season, but first-year manager Travis Fryman isn’t concerned about the team’s play.

“The one thing that I know about this team is that they’ve giving me a tremendous effort, playing hard for all 27 outs every game and I really appreciate that and there is really not much else I can ask of this team,” Fryman said.

The Scrappers (8-12) conclude a six-game road trip that began in Staten Island, N.Y., today in Brooklyn, N.Y. They return home to Eastwood Field Wednesday to open a three-game series with the Vermont Lake Monsters and then take on Hudson Valley to wind up the six-game home stand.

“I never really came in here with any impressions as to what to expect,” said Fryman. “I took over a roster that I had never seen before. At times we’ve shown signs of being a very good team, but we certainly still have a lot of work to do.

“We’ve been inconsistent at times and we’ve lost some close ball games,” he said. “I don’t want them to get discouraged when those things happen.

“From what I’ve seen thus far I’d say that this team would rank among the upper tier of this league,” he added.

The Scrappers began Sunday’s game against Brooklyn in fourth place in the five-team Pinckney Division of the New York-Penn League, four games behind first-place Jamestown.

“Offensively, we are not hitting home runs and that means that we have to make up for that by running the bases more aggressively and we definitely have to cut down on our strikeouts,” said Fryman.

The Scrappers hit only four home runs in their first 19 games, which ranked at the bottom of the league with Hudson Valley.

However, one of those homers was a grand slam by Ramon Hernandez in the 10th inning of Saturday’s 6-1 Scrappers’ win in Brooklyn.

As a team the Scrappers are batting .243, which ranks seventh in the league, but fifth in the Pinckney Division. But they lead the league in walks (91) and were second in on-base percentage (.343) entering play Sunday.

Mahoning Valley’s top hitter has been rookie outfielder Brock Simpson, who is sixth among league hitters with a .350 average. Jeremie Tice is 17th with a .318 mark and the No. 1 draft pick of the Cleveland Indians, Lonnie Chisenhall, is hitting .286.

Pitching has been inconsistent for the Scrappers, who are ranked 11th in the league with a 3.86 ERA.

Brad Hinkle, who has made four starts with no decisions, has a 3.38 ERA, allowing seven earned runs in 182‚Ñ3 innings. He started Saturday night’s game, allowing one earned run in five innings.

The Scrappers are ranked eighth in attendance as they have averaged 3,454 fans in nine home games. Brooklyn is the league leader, averaging 7,332.

mollica@vindy.com