Montpellier

Pas facile d’y voir clair avec les Barracudas. D’un côté, il y a une attaque dévastatrice, qui frappe collectivement pour près de .400, avec 7 joueurs qui ont un OPS supérieur à 1.000, 5 joueurs qui frappent pour plus de .475, 33 points et 33 hits frappés de plus que le deuxième. On peut même y ajouter un total hallucinant de 24 bases volées, pour comprendre que le line-up de Montpellier détruit tout sur son passage. Oui, mais… Une ERA colossale de 7,39, 57 points encaissés (dont 46 mérités), 45 buts sur balles accordés, un adversaire qui frappe pour plus de .300, dans toutes ces catégories les Barracudas sont 7e. Alors, certes, Montpellier a prouvé sa force morale en se sortant de pièges contre le PUC (15-14) et Savigny (17-15). Mais dans ces deux victoires improbables, Montpellier menait 6-1 (7e manche) ou 7-1 (2e manche), avant de voir ces avances fondre comme neige au soleil. Il y a clairement un problème de pitching, enfin surtout de défense.

In Rouen, the Huskies are doing the job. Nothing too exciting, but solid baseball, with a very effective defense (only 3 errors and 3 stolen bases allowed) and a pitching staff that doesn’t give anything away – 1.59 ERA, no other team is below 4.00. And if the offense wins games, well, that’s just icing on the cake.The pitching is what wins the championship, so the Huskies can legitimately be considered a strong favorite for their own succession. However, they will have to learn to do without the best pitcher of this beginning of the season, Thibault Mercadier (3-0, 0.90, 29 K in 20 innings), who will soon cross the Atlantic and join the Canadian Baseball League, under the colors of the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers. The good news for Rouen is that the team is not yet at full strength, with the upcoming arrivals of Esposito, Pierre, Saumande and Japanese pitcher Ryusuke Ito. With the Japanese stream, we could have some concerns about the performances of Nishikawa and Megumi, rather discreet since the beginning of the season, but the two men have fixed the target against the Templiers, 4 in 9 for the first named and especially 4 in 7 for the second who had only collected one hit so far. The depth of the Huskies’ line-up allows them to overcome days without key players (Brainville 4K countered Savigny, Blondel 0 and 7 against Sénart) and continue to produce from 1 to 9. Théo Rioux, under the fire of the opposition’s pitchers, has been exceptional with a 0.90 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched.

La Rochelle

The Boucaniers are accustomed to good starts to the season. 5-1 in 2024, 5-1 in 2025. It’s just a little bit less good this year: 4-2. But the Boucaniers are looking upwards, it remains to be seen whether they will keep up the pace, which has been their recurring problem in recent seasons. La Rochelle is reassuring in attack, with the second-best offensive average. The Japanese Hashimoto (but what do they all have, with the Japanese?) has made Johnston’s departure forgettable and is establishing himself as a real offensive leader. We’ll see what the season will bring.The late arrival of Israeli U23 international Aviad Schechter, who could play an interesting role, is encouraging for La Rochelle. What is encouraging for La Rochelle is that Pena is not yet launched (.200), while several other batters are already in rhythm, with Laufenbuchler confirming his progress from year to year, the Esteban brothers doing the job, like a relieved Clément (.391), Rosell who collects walks (8) or Briones, always clutch. However, La Rochelle only has 4 stolen bases in 9 attempts, it should be possible to do better. But what makes the Boucaniers’ eyes bulge is the cannon start of the season by Kryzkawiak (3-0, 1.59 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, .203 BAA). Even if he had done relatively well last year, we were not expecting such an explosion. This compensates for a mediocre start by De La Rosa and Paredes, while Nieves closes the door with as much authority. We are looking forward to the duel against Rouen on May 9 and 10, an opponent who has always done well.Toulouse has a record of 4-2 so far, which is not bad, but it is not as good as they could have done. Over the past three seasons, Toulouse has an average of .700 at home at the Argoulets against .385 on the road. So, Toulouse builds their winning streaks at home, and it is a bit of a slow start for Randy Perez’s team. However, it could have been worse… Toulouse fought hard on the first day to hold off Sénart (who scored 4 points in the last two innings, came back from behind in the 9th inning to tie the game and in the 10th to win against Béziers, and played the same trick against PUC. This kind of victory is good for morale, it makes you want to fight until the end and respect the old baseball adage, « it’s not over, as long as it’s not over. »

Toulouse Baseball Club

The Toulouse Baseball Club has had a mixed start to the season. Offensively, they have struggled, with the lowest batting average and on-base percentage in the league. However, their pitching has been solid, with Nathan Laot having a great start against Sénart and Garcia-Delgado performing well as the number one starter. Rojas has been called upon to close out games, but with a history of injuries, his playing time is a concern. The team will need to improve offensively if they hope to compete for a playoff spot.

Ariel Soriano has been a standout player for Toulouse, hitting a walk-off three-run homer against the Pirates. Ivan Bamberger has also been productive at the plate, often being the key player in turning games in favor of the Red and Black. Despite this, Toulouse needs to address their offensive struggles if they want to compete at the top of the league.

On the mound, Toulouse has had some solid performances. Nathan Laot had a great start against Sénart, pitching seven innings without giving up a run and striking out seven batters. He has since moved to the bullpen, as Toulouse has given the ball to Duquenoy twice, who has done well with a 2.70 ERA in those two starts. Garcia-Delgado has been a consistent reliever in the past, but is now the number one starter and has been holding his own. Rojas has been called upon to come in and save games, and while he has 20 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched, his history of injuries raises questions about his playing time.

Toulouse will now face off against Sénart again, looking to improve their record and continue their climb up the league standings.

Thanks to M. Yogi Bera for the quote.

affronter back to back Savigny (away), Montpellier (home) and Rouen (away) which will give a more accurate picture of their true level this season.

Savigny

Savigny’s start to the season has been average, if not ordinary, with a 3-3 record. However, Savigny has already faced the two heavyweights, Rouen and Montpellier, with a .500 record, including a rare win at Veyrassi, which almost turned into a spectacular sweep. The Lions remain the Lions, a team that is tough to play, that never gives up: trailing 1-7 after three innings against La Rochelle, they came back within two points of the Boucaniers, trailing 0-3 in the 8th inning by Rouen, they won 4-3, trailing (again) 1-7 after two innings by Montpellier, they took the lead 14-11 in the 7th before giving up in the end. In short, with Savigny, the show is guaranteed, even when Acuna gets injured and has to miss two games. Savigny needs to win these games to show their true level this season.src= »https://i0.wp.com/www.sudouest.fr/2021/05/18/rugby-pro-dax-le-bilan-des-lions-en-demi-de-saison-6059907.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1″ alt= »rugby-pro-dax-le-bilan-des-lions-en-demi-de-saison-6059907″ width= »1200″ height= »630″ />

Le bilan des Lions en demi-saison

Dax est actuellement 4e de Pro D2 avec 36 points, à 4 points du leader

Biarritz. Les Lions ont remporté 11 de leurs 18 matchs, dont 9 à domicile. Leur attaque est la 3e meilleure du championnat avec 48 essais marqués, derrière Mont-de-Marsan et Bayonne. Leur défense, elle, est la 5e plus mauvaise avec 44 points encaissés de moyenne par match. Le pack daxois est le 3e meilleur du championnat en mêlée (82% de réussite) et en maul (84% de réussite). Les Lions ont également le 2e meilleur buteur du championnat en la personne de leur demi d’ouverture, Baptiste Serin (103 points). Le leader offensif, Baptiste Nunez, est encore à sec, mais ses coéquipiers Keurinck et Bernardi-Chiba ont déjà marqué 9 et 5 essais chacun. Le staff daxois peut également se réjouir de la progression de certains jeunes joueurs comme le troisième ligne centre, Jules Amoros, auteur de 2 essais cette saison.

Sénart

Les Templiers ont été totalement déclassés par les Huskies. Cela jette une ombre sur un début de saison assez correct, avec une victoire à l’arraché aux Argoulets et une belle mercy-rule contre La Rochelle. Après ces deux journées, on pensait que Sénart, après deux saisons négatives, allait pouvoir jouer pour .500 et finir tranquillement autour de la 5-6è place. Mais les faiblesses affichées contre Rouen posent des questions. Vera n’est l’ombre de lui-même, Mathieu Brelle-Andrade a senti le poids des ans contre les bâtons rouennais qu’il sut si bien faire taire par le passé, Emile Brelle a connu des difficultés, l’attaque a été silencieuse et la défense n’a pas rassuré. Les Templiers possèdent pourtant une certaine force de frappe, avec leurs 3 home-runs, mais il est vrai que leur bullpen ne rassure pas. Avec 19 extra-bases frappés par les adversaires, ce qui ne compense pas le faible nombre de buts-sur-balles (23). Do Carmo, derrière le marbre, fait le travail, on vole peu contre Sénart, Mayeux est un joueur(.364) est le seul à avoir un slugging supérieur à .500. Il y a de l’espoir, mais il faut vraiment que les Biterrois montrent plus de constance s’ils veulent éviter une saison compliquée.Béziers 2-0

Béziers a remporté le Challenge de France, battant Paris 2-0. Gonzalez a lancé 7 manches remarquables, et la défense a été solide avec seulement 17 erreurs. L’attaque a eu du mal, frappant pour .259 contre lui, mais cela pourrait être le vrai début de la saison de Béziers. Ils débuteront à domicile lors de la prochaine journée, mais ce sera contre Rouen, ce qui n’est pas forcément une partie de plaisir.

UC

Le PUC is 0-6. However, there are some extenuating circumstances. Firstly, they faced the top three teams from last season, which is a tough way to get back into the thick of things in D1. Secondly, with a bit of luck, some ability to close the door and hit a timely hit, the Parisians could easily be 2-4, as they have lost twice in extra innings. But that’s done and dusted, and there’s no point dwelling on it now. The 2026 season is likely to be a long chase for 7th place. On the negative side, collectively: too many strikeouts (76) and not enough pitches thrown (35), not enough hits (50) and too many given up (71), and too many errors in the field (16). On the positive side, success on the bases (16 steals in 18 attempts), an excellent ratio of ground balls (63%, but the defense needs to get their act together). The Parisians showed a willingness to fight, not to give up, and the two young promising pitchers, Le Guillou and Rolland-Diamond, although their stats are still very low, will certainly gain experience as the season progresses.Matches: We are questioning the level of pitcher Osiris German. If you take away his amazing first 6 innings against Rouen, he has an ERA of 11.34. And his win-loss ratio of 0-4 says a lot: the PUC cannot hope for much if they do not start winning matches. The lack of depth in the line-up is also worrying. We need to find hits in the bottom of the line-up to relieve Bowers, Gonzalez, Dussart father and son, and Monbeig, otherwise the opposing pitchers will have too easy a task. It will clearly be complicated for the PUC, and we need to go and get a first victory that will clean up the air and give us the desire to reap others.

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