2017: Lighting Up The Zone
March 26 was Opening Day for the 2020 MLB season… or at least it would have been, if not for the COVID-19 outbreak that has put our entire world, and basically all sports, on an indefinite hold. However, without the coronavirus, today would have been 3 days until MiLB Opening Day. With 15 seasons in the books for the West Virginia Power, it’s to turn back the calendar and revisit each of the first 15 Opening Days in Power history.
We opened the first chapter of the West Virginia Power with the 2005 Opening Day game in Hagerstown. Friday, we looked back at the first home opener in team history in 2006. The winning streak continued Saturday with the 2007 opener, and then we dredged through the rain-soaked 2008 debut. We relived the excitement from the 2009 All-Star season, moved on to the 2010 campaign, and dove into the 2011 opener. We broke down one of the heaviest MLB-laden teams in the 2012 season, and then we saw a return trip to the postseason in 2013. After looking through the team’s worst overall record ever in 2014, we dove into the team with the best record in Power history in 2015. Then, we reminisced on the incredible season for Mitch Keller in 2016, and now we push on to the 2017 campaign.
The 2017 season came with a bit of deja vu for the Power, as the team finished with an above-.500 record (69–67), did not make the playoffs and had an incredibly dominant pitcher (or two). In 2016, that honor belonged to Mitch Keller, but in 2017, Luis Escobar stole the spotlight. He and Eduardo Vera were two of the most feared pitchers in the South Atlantic League, while West Virginia also got their first taste of Oneil Cruz and had a basher named Albert Baur victimize SAL pitchers the entire season.
However, we always start with Opening Day, which, for just the second time in team history, was postponed (2008, postponed 2 days at Hickory). This time, the Power opened at home against the Rome Braves (the only time these teams have squared off to begin the season in club history), and it’s safe to say that new manager Wyatt Toregas’ tenure did not get off to a good start. West Virginia dropped its first six games of the year, as Rome swept the Power in a four-game series, while the Asheville Tourists took the first two games of their road trip to Charleston. In that six-game skid, West Virginia dropped three one-run decisions, was shut out once and experienced three consecutive extra-inning contests.
As for the two Opening Night games (due to the postponement), the Power lost 3–0 and 3–2 to Rome April 7. Baur had the lone hit in game one, a double in the first inning, which kept the Braves from spinning a perfect game, as they faced just one batter above the minimum. James Marvel, one of three future big leaguers from the 2017 team so far, toed the slab in game one, spinning five scoreless frames, but Matt Anderson succumbed to the Braves’ offense in the sixth, allowing two homers to give Rome all the firepower it needed to claim the doubleheader opener.
In the back half of the twin bill, the Power and Braves went back-and-forth, with Rome scoring in the opening stanza of Vera’s debut, while Logan Ratledge tied the game in the fourth with an RBI single. The Braves responded with two more in the fifth, but Geoff Hartlieb, another future MLBer, came in and slammed the door with two shutdown frames to keep West Virginia within striking distance. The Power slimmed the deficit to one on Baur’s run-scoring single that put runners at the corners with one down, but Hunter Owen grounded into a game-ending 5–4–3 double play to seal the doubleheader sweep for Rome.
By the way, if you hadn’t guessed it yet, Escobar is the third member of the 2017 Power trio that has made it to The Show so far. Escobar had a tremendous year in The Capital City, including in his Power debut later in that opening series, where he fired five innings of one-hit ball with a career-best 12 strikeouts. By year’s end, Escobar had fanned 168 batters, the second-best mark in Charleston, WV SAL history (trailing only John Roper’s 189 Ks in 1991 with the Charleston Wheelers). His other stats included a 10–7 record with a 3.83 ERA in 25 starts, working 131.2 innings and holding batters to just a .200 clip against him. His 10 wins also tied the fifth-best mark in Power history. Escobar’s tremendous campaign garnered him Baseball America Low A All-Star honors, as well as a trip to the Futures Game in July.
Escobar’s strikeouts led the South Atlantic League, as did his opponent batting average, while his win total was tied for fifth-most.
As for the other record-holders this season, Vera locked in a 3.33 ERA in 27 appearances, notching the eighth-best ERA in Power history, while Baur smashed his way to a .298 average despite missing a month of the season, placing him 10th in Power history in that category.
Vera slotted in the league’s eighth-best WHIP (1.11) and tied for the league lead with three complete games. Meanwhile, Baur’s average was third-best in the SAL, and he boasted the sixth-most doubles (31) and seventh-best OPS (.805).
Towards the end of the season, West Virginia saw their first glimpse of Cruz, who was traded to Pittsburgh from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the deadline along with RHP Angel German for LHP Tony Watson. Though Cruz played just 16 games in 2017 with the Power, he blistered a pair of homers and flexed his strong arm at shortstop, where he was stationed despite being a wiry 6–6 and 160 pounds. The Dominican native would have plenty more memorable moments in store during the 2018 season.
One last note for 2017: The Power accomplished something that had not been done since the 2008 season, scoring 10 runs in a single inning. They did so July 22 against the Lexington Legends, nine years and five days after they posted a double-digit frame against Columbus back in 2008. West Virginia won their 2017 bout 16–2, compiling 19 hits, while Marvel spun seven brilliant innings and Trae Arbet, one of four Midseason All-Stars for the Power this year, went 4-for-5 with three doubles, four RBI and three runs scored.
The other three Midseason All-Stars: Jordan Jess, Ty Moore and Cam Vieaux.
Our penultimate season breakdown article comes your way tomorrow with the 2018 campaign!
