The Kino Kokopellis played their first official games of the season this weekend, and it was definitely one to remember. You couldn’t have written out a better story than the one that the Kokopellis did this weekend. On Friday, they came out ahead of a high-scoring matchup, with a score of 12-8 over the Hermanos. Then just two days later, the Kokopellis weren’t done winning. They walked away on Sunday with a 5-4 win over the Cerverceros.
We were able to get a quick word from Co-Owner/Player Marcus Catalano regarding the incredible weekend for the Kokopellis.
“I think this opening weekend went well. We played two games to make up for not starting the weekend prior, but our guys want to play as much as possible anyways. I saw a lot of good things from our players, of course some things to improve on, but overall we played well against two good teams and came out with some wins.” Marcus told BSN after a two-win weekend. “We have picked up a lot of new guys lately so that’s been a fun part of this, especially with the growth of our team. Although it’s the same team and players, Tribe games are more chill/relaxed since they are usually just exhibitions or scrimmages, but the league Kokopellis games are a little more intense and exciting since we’re playing to win and we have to make important decisions during the game, all the while trying to get everybody their reps. It is fun to play other teams though, after a lot of innersquads basically, it’s nice to see how we play out against consistent outside competition.”
If you didn’t catch the games this weekend, you may be asking yourself. What stood out for the Old Pueblo Tribe’s league team though? Which players stood out? Well, don’t worry, we answered all your questions and more you didn’t even know you had. We also have some new features to look out for in our latest piece so keep reading and let us know what you think!
What Stood Out: The Offense
I asked myself before I started writing this article; what stood out this weekend from the Kokopellis? While I could’ve mentioned a number of things, it’s almost impossible to not start off by mentioning the incredible offense over the weekend. Over the course of the two games against the Hermanos and Cerverceros, the Kokopellis slashed an incredible .333/.478/.551 with a 1.059 OPS. That’s not just good, these are hall of fame team numbers.
Patience is also something that I’ve mentioned with this group of guys, and they’ve instilled that patience into the new players. The walk rate across the last two games was also an incredible 19.6%. If the Kokopellis aren’t getting the pitch they want, well, they are more than happy to take that free base. As a matter of fact, Kino took a total of 18 walks during these two games, and they took every chance they got to keep the pressure on. They attempted a total of eight stolen bases and were successful on five of those. The ball was also flying off of everyone’s bats, for a total of 10 extra base hits, with 7 of those being doubles, one of them a triple, and banging two home-runs across the fence. About 43% of their hits over the weekend ended in extra bases. Overall, I’d say it was a pretty awesome weekend for the Kokopellis.
The Kokopellis fiery offense was helped out by a five-hit weekend from Devin Alvarez, who just had one of the best two-game stretches I’ve ever seen. Alvarez may have only had 8 AB’s, but he made the most of every single pitch. Alvarez had 5 hits, 6 RBIs, 2 2B and 2 HR for 13 total bases. He also showed off his own patience and drew a walk himself. His slashes are just video game like as well, .625/.667/.1.625 with a 2.292 OPS. He currently holds the lead in OPS by a full .542 points. A huge congratulations to Alvarez for his stellar performance.
Estevan Garcia, Mike De La Cruz and Octavio Mendivil also walked away with performances they will remember for a long time.
Estevan Garcia – 4/6, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 2 2B, 3 SB
Mike De La Cruz – 4/6, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 2B, 1 SB
Octavio Mendivil – 3/8, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 2B, 1 3B
Overall, for the Kokopellis, it was an amazing weekend with 17 runs and 23 hits. It’s an amazing start and definitely something to build on, and with incredible patience at the plate. The sky is the absolute limit for the Kokopellis.
The Pitching Performance
The pitching was definitely the yin to the offense’s yang over the past two games. The performances were more than enough to keep the Kokopellis in front, and walking away with the wins. The pitching staff battled through traffic on the bases and continued to put the ball over the plate, when the pitches mattered the most.
Estevan Garcia got the inaugural Opening Day start for the Kokopellis, and did enough to walk away with the win. He pitched 3.1 innings, only allowing 2 hits, 2 runs, and 3 walks. He was able to get two strikeouts and forced tons of weak contact throughout the start. After some traffic on the bases in the fourth inning, that got the relievers up and moving around. Manny Zepada came in for relief and pitched 4.2 innings, allowing 6 hits, 2 earned runs, with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. Drew Vertes was tasked with closing the game out, since it was outside of a save opportunity. He allowed 3 hits with 2 earned runs, and getting the final three outs for the Kokopellis to win on Friday. The pitching staff did its job on Friday while the offense did theirs, and had more than enough breathing room to be aggressive in their selection of pitches.
On Sunday, the load was lighter for the pitching staff with D.J. Ethridge getting the start and Memo Metzler finishing the job and earning the save. It was a solid Sunday for both pitchers with Ethridge walking away with the wins as well. Ethridge pitched 5.1 innings, allowed 5 hits, 3 runs, 5 walks, and struck out two.
Once Memo Metzler came into the game though, the chances for a comeback quickly faded for the Cerverceros. Through 3.2 innings pitched, Metzler only allowed four hits, and let the defense work behind him. Over his 3.2 innings of work, he didn’t allow a single run, and only walked one batter, and striking out four.
Through 18.0 innings pitched, the Kokopellis pitching staff only allowed 20 hits, 9 earned runs, 13 walks, and striking out 13. Out of 323 pitches thrown, the Kino pitching staff found the zone 55.1% of the time, facing a total of 84 batters during the course of two days. Overall, all machines are working really well together and the chemistry feels strong.
By The Numbers
I know baseball terminology can be confusing, so I’ve decided to add a new section into the Kokopellis/Tribe articles. Further explaining what might OPS and OBP mean. We’ve pulled some of the most interesting stats from all sides of the field, so you can learn the game more and understand the statistics behind baseball.
ERA: 4.50 – Earned Run Average – ERA is arguably one of the most talked about stats in baseball, well amongst fans. While there are better stats to understand if the ERA is the true definition of a bad pitcher or not, it’s the most talked about one, and the most easy to understand. Earned Run Average measures the average number of runs that a pitcher/pitchers gives up every nine innings. It’s also important to note that errors or passed balls do not get counted against pitchers ERAs.
WHIP: 1.83 – Walks + Hits per Innings Pitches – WHIP tells the story about a pitcher before they even throw a singular pitch. It’s a key stat that is used to measure how many batters each pitcher/pitchers allows per inning to reach the base paths, regardless if it’s a hit or walk. Intentional walks are included in this calculation, but hit-by-pitches, errors and fielders choices are not included.
K/9: 6.50 – Strikeouts per Nine Innings – This one is pretty self explanatory once you read it once. While strikeout per nine innings is a commonly used stat by scouts, it’s worth mentioning BB/9 (walks), H/9 (hits) are also used in the same matter to understand what a pitcher or pitching staff might let up in a game.
OPS: 1,029 – On-base Plus Slugging – A popular stat used to measure how well a team/player hits for power and gets on base. You find a players/teams OPS by adding up a players OBP (on-base percentage) and SLG (slugging percentage) together.
BABIP: .447 – Batting Average on Balls in Play – This stat measures how often a ball drops for a hit, which for the Kokopellis, is 44% of the time. This does exclude things out of the defense’s control, like home-runs or strikeouts but nonetheless, this .447 BABIP is incredible. The MLB league average stays steady right around .300.
Player of the Week – #001
I decided to start another new section in these Kokopellis articles. We will choose one player who stood out, whether that was on the field or even off of the field. We wanna make sure the boys get noticed and we hope with this section, we can do just that.
Estevan Garcia – 4/6, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 3.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO
This one definitely wasn’t easy to choose, but it’s hard to not look at Garcia’s stats this weekend and say he’s not deserving of this award. He got the start on Friday, and walked away with the win, and didn’t stop there. On came Sunday, and the bat also decided to make a name for itself. Garcia reached base safely all four times he went up to the plate. It was a Shohei Ohtani type of weekend for Estevan, and definitely one to remember in his first career games with the Kokopellis.
The Final Takeaway
As a fan of the Kino Kokopellis, you may be asking yourself. What should we take away from these games? Well the answer is quite simple to say the least, Kino’s early results should give plenty of reason to be excited. The offense produced at an extremely high level this weekend and the pitching has shown the ability to lock down, and locate the necessary pitches to close out tight games.
Through the first two games, Kino has scored 17 runs while collecting 23 hits and 10-extra base hits. The team is currently hitting .333 with a .478 on-base percentage and a .551 slugging percentage. The biggest takeaway is the depth of this offense; multiple players have already made an impact with Devin Alvarez leading the way after putting together a five-hit, two-home-run, six-RBI start over the course of these two games. Mike De La Cruz and Estevan Garcia have also given us plenty of production.
The pitching staff has also done its job when it’s mattered the most. The team carries a 4.50 ERA through 18 innings of work, and while there is still plenty of baseball to be played, the early results show that the staff is fully capable of navigating close games and giving the offense opportunities to win.
Most importantly though, Kino has walked away with two wins under their belt so far. Teams dream of this kind of start because it’s something you can build on, and with the offense already showing this much production. There is plenty to be optimistic about when it comes to what comes next for the Kino Kokopellis. While one may argue that this a small sample, that’s part of what makes this start so exciting. Kino has already given up plenty of moments to talk about, players to follow, and most importantly, two wins to build on.
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