Alen Hanson extended his hit streak to 11 games last night with this third inning single that scored Jarek Cunningham. Hanson is hitting .372 during the streak and is now tied for the Curve lead with 36 RBIs. He’s tied with Mel Rojas Jr, who has been promoted, so Hanson will soon have that top spot to himself. Considering the fact he is in the lead-off spot often, that is an impressive total. Hanson also leads the team in hits, triples and stolen bases.
Gift Noepe is regarded as the best defensive infielder in the Pirates system and he shows why on this play at second base. Ngoepe was hitting well early in the year, but the average has dropped off and the strikeouts are starting to pile up, so it’s still questionable as to whether his great defense will be enough to get him to the Majors at some point.
Is there any logical reason to explain Gift hitting .300+ with runners on but sub-.200 with bases empty?
Could be small sample size. Could be that when a runner is on base, a pitcher is struggling, or he may have a different mindset with runners on. Might be a combo of 2/3 of those things