Situational hitting, power woes plague 51s’ offense

The 51s’ issues with runners in scoring position persisted through the weekend.

Missed opportunities have bitten the 51s this season and though the 51s rallied for three runs late in Sunday’s game, they still finished 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

“We had so many chances to win (Saturday) night and it’s been a lot of those nights where we lose those one- or two-run games where we’ve missed out on so many opportunities,” manager Wally Backman said before Sunday’s game. “Last year we would have thrived on those opportunities but we had more (veterans).”

A couple more hits with runners in scoring position and instead of being 6-10, the 51s would likely have a few more wins.

“To have that traffic on the basepaths, to have that many people on base early, it just takes one or two hits to get us some ballgames or to get things going, so it’s not something where you should be panicking,” catcher Johnny Monell said before Sunday’s game.

Monell also said most of the players didn’t play together during spring training and it’s taking some time to click as a team.

“I think it’s there. We’re real close to being where we need to be,” Monell said. “Some guys are still getting their feet underneath them and still getting used to playing on a daily basis.”

Backman said they talked about situational hitting during batting practice on Saturday.

“I guess I can say that’s part of the development. The guys are in a rut,” Backman said. “We’ve got guys that are just pressing right there trying to maybe do a little bit too much instead of just thinking about putting the barrel on the ball hard somewhere. … We are supposed to be a lot better than what we’re showing offensively, especially situationally.”

Power outage

The 51s hit four home runs in the first game of the season. Since then?

Just two, including one Sunday.

Matt Reynolds and Travis Taijeron lead the team with two and Roger Bernadina and Marc Krauss have one.

Last year, the 51s were second in the Pacific Coast League with 140 home runs.

“It’s a little bit of a concern. I thought we had more power than we’ve showed,” Backman said. “I still think we do have more power than what we’ve showed.”

Last year, Taijeron led the team with 25 and Alex Castellanos and Brandon Allen, neither of who are on the team this season, had 16 apiece.

“I would have thought we’d have a lot more home runs than we have,” Backman said. “This is a home run ballpark and so are the places we just went to and we haven’t been able to do it. I know as it warms up, the ball carries even better in this league.”

Betsy Helfand can be reached at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @BetsyHelfand