Every matchday brings its share of surprises and dramatic twists. Here’s the lowdown on the highlights from the 4th round.
Thanks to the readers
We complained after the 3rd round about an offensive feast and a comedy of errors that killed the suspense and quality of the games. We’re certain that the D1 players and coaches read us, as they’ve tightened things up: last Sunday, we had 13.25 points per game, an average margin of 8.5 points and 5.25 errors per game. Yesterday, we dropped to 11 points per game (and without Sénart – Montigny’s 25 points, it would be even better), a 4-point margin and just 3.25 errors. It’s so much better this way! So thank you to our readers for listening…
Here, if you swing, you win.
Naturally, a few lines from Claude Nougaro’s sublime ode to Toulouse come to mind with Stade’s takeover. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the Toulousans at such a party, certainly since the Jeff Zeilstra years, with a certain… Randy Perez at shortstop. Now a coach, Keino’s brother even allowed himself a decisive relief appearance on Sunday. The way the Toulousains corrected La Rochelle in game 2, after making the Buccaneers cave in a suffocating arm-wrestling match in game 1, is even more impressive. Yet Toulouse doesn’t dominate the statistical categories, 4th best offensive average, 5th best ERA… But the collective wins, knows how to impose itself when necessary. It’s interesting that Toulouse hasn’t moved much in the offseason, unlike almost all other clubs, with just the arrival, or rather the return, of Scavo. The Mendoza-Soriano duo is giving headaches to opposing batters, youngsters like Ciegielski (19), Saumande (18) or future NJCAA D1 Navarro (19) are answering the call, everything is running perfectly, or almost. The concern comes from the health of Keivy Rojas, who, in his last two starts, had to leave after 3.1 innings and then 0.2 innings. It will be hard to last long if the absence of Toulouse’s rotation ace were to occur. But in the meantime, everything is going well in Toulouse, as if the inspiration of Mathias Lacombe’s draft is blowing over the Argoulets plain.
Slipping Back
This start to the season reminds me of a stage in the Tour de France. Every time a breakaway tries to get out of the peloton, it’s quickly caught. We thought La Rochelle could break away, but the Buccaneers have heavily fallen back to earth with three straight losses. Now it’s Toulouse’s turn to try the solo adventure, but without dropping anyone. The peloton is perfectly grouped, with 6 teams separated by just 2 games and 3 teams playing at .500. All this promises suspense every matchday and a merciless battle for the 4 semifinal spots. It’s undoubtedly one of the most exciting championships in a very long time. On the other hand, one runner has been completely dropped, and we can start to worry about him: Montigny lost 2 games they shouldn’t have against the Templiers, and their 0-6 record is their worst since the club’s return to D1 in 2017. A sign that things are going badly in Montigny, the loss in game 1, even though Dylan Mayeux’s men were leading after 8 innings. Over the last 5 seasons, they had a record of 44-0 in such a situation. Montigny isn’t at full strength, of course, but their pitching really leaves something to be desired, and they’ll have to work hard to get out of this rough patch.
Home Run Inflation
« The number of home runs seems to be increasing this year. Is it due to the JFL? » When Baseball TV France boss Didier Cannioux asks a question, we hurry to check. So, first part: the number of home runs does seem to be increasing. That’s true. Indeed, there have already been 16 hit (including 7 for the Lions), an average of 0.53 per game. This is, by far, the best average over the last 10 seasons: 0.25 (2023); 0.29 (2022); 0.24 (2021); 0.39 (2019); 0.37 (2018); 0.35 (2017); 0.22 (2016); 0.11 (2015); 0.19 (2014). Now to see if Savigny can catch up with the 23 HR hit by the 2019 Huskies, led by bombers like Sosa, Dagneau, Soriano, Gauthier, Lefèvre… Is it the presence of the JFL that contributes to this inflation? Yes, probably, since out of the 16 HR, 12 were allowed by JFL, including 3 for H.Py alone and 2 for A.Rault. Only Gosselin, Mastre, Parades and Romero conceded a home run among the non-JFL. So, bravo to the boss for his intuition.
When we compare ourselves…
We criticized the French championship’s defenses last week, so to see if the situation is really bad, nothing better than to compare ourselves to other major leagues. And in the end, French defenses have nothing to be ashamed of, with a collective average of .949 after 4 rounds, which is roughly the same level as elsewhere: .960 in Belgium, .948 in the United Kingdom, .947 in the Czech Republic, .940 in Austria, .959 in Italy, .954 in Spain, .942 in Germany, .946 in the Netherlands, .936 in Sweden.
The Podiums
Batting
- Yeixon Ruiz (Metz). When you hit 4 of your team’s 5 base hits, you show your importance in a lineup. That was the case for Ruiz in game 2. He has been one of the most dangerous hitters for several seasons, and he proves to be an extremely effective contributor to the Cometz’s strong start to the season.
- Léo Jiminian (Savigny). He continues his stunning start to the season, with another 4/9, 2HR in the first game, 4 RBI. One of the hottest hitters in the championship.
- Jordan Ouanyou (Sénart). He was at the heart of the Templiers’ two victories, finishing his day at the plate with 4 in 10, but above all by producing the winning run in extra innings of game 1 and starting the machine in game 2, hitting the first hit of the 8-run 3rd inning.
Pitching
- Euri Garcia (Toulouse). Not easy at all to come in relief after the very first inning. He perfectly fulfilled his mission for 4.2 innings, conceding no runs and no hits, setting the table for Stade’s victory.
- Kevin Canelon (Montpellier). Another very clean job by the Barracudas’ ace, who had to face some tight situations, but conceded no runs in 6 innings, with 6 hits, 1BB and 4K.
- Chikara Igami (Rouen). He pitched a no-hitter for 6.2 innings, before a fielding error by Antonac and a double by Spring ended his performance. But he held on for 9 innings with 1 run allowed, 3 hits and 5K, and it’s really not his fault if Rouen lost.
François Colombier
