July 23, 2019 at 5:18 p.m.
Williams-Sutton does it painfully
Line Drives
If someone can have a “talent” for getting hit by pitches, a TinCap sure has a knack for it.
Dwanya Williams-Sutton had a night to remember Monday as he was hit by a pitch four times in the Fort Wayne TinCaps’ 10-2 win in the series finale against the Cedar Rapids Kernals at Parkview Field.
“Right now I’m just feeling a little down,” he said following the game. “My arm is hurting. I’m going to go in the training room and get some ice on it. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow.
“Good thing we have an off day tomorrow because no way I will be able to play tomorrow.”
Williams-Sutton’s four HBP game was part of a night with which he almost had a perfect evening. He drew ball four on Kernal starter Tyler Palm’s 3-1 offering in the first inning.
In the second, Palm’s first pitch struck Williams-Sutton on the left arm with bases loaded to give the 22-year-old Wilson, North Carolina, native an RBI.
Alex Schick’s first pitch of the fourth inning also hit Williams-Sutton on the left arm. In the fifth, Williams-Sutton stepped into the right-handed batter’s box with bases loaded.
Schick hit him again.
Another plate appearance. Another hit by pitch. Another RBI.
Two innings later, following a Blake Hunt leadoff double, Williams-Sutton walked toward the plate hoping to put the ball in play this time.
Certainly he can’t get hit again, right?
Ball one missed low and away. Ball two was even closer to the dirt. Nate Hadley’s 2-0 pitch? A changeup to Williams-Sutton’s left arm.
“It’s frustrating but then it’s not,” he said. “The Padres organization really focuses on on-base percentage. That’s the good thing. The bad thing is not being able to swing the bat.”
Minor League Baseball’s available statistics only go back to 2005. Monday night, Williams-Sutton became just the sixth MiLB player to be hit by a pitch four times in one game.
No player in Major League Baseball has been hit more than three times in a single contest.
“I don’t try to get hit by a pitch,” he said. “My teammates think I try to lean into it.”
Williams-Sutton says it’s a product of where he stands in the box, close to the plate so he can reach pitches on the outside corner.
His coach at East Carolina told him to never move his feet in the box; doing so will mess with his head and his ability to cover the far side of the plate.
“I just don’t move my feet and they keep throwing in,” he said “I’m just going to keep getting hit, I guess.”
In his first five plate appearances Monday, Williams-Sutton reached base each time, didn’t register an at-bat and had two RBIs, all while not swinging at any of the 11 pitches he faced.
Williams-Sutton got another plate appearance in the bottom of the eighth inning with one out and bases loaded. After getting ahead in the count, 2-1, he finally got to swing the bat, fouling off five consecutive pitches. As if he hadn’t been beaten up enough already, one of those foul balls deflected off his leg.
Poor guy.
Williams-Sutton eventually grounded into an inning-ending double play, but the pain had already been endured.
The outfielder entered Monday with a team-leading .386 on-base percentage, and was third in the Midwest League in HBPs with 15. As of this morning, his OBP increased to .397, and his 19 HBPs is now tops in the MWL and tied for fifth among all full-season MiLB leagues.
Although TinCap manager Anthony Contreras and Williams-Sutton both stressed the organization’s importance with getting on base — the TinCaps got on base 28 times Monday night with 14 hits, eight walks, Williams-Sutton’s HBPs and two errors — they just hope it doesn’t come at a cost.
“It’s frustrating because I’m looking out for the health of my player,” Contreras said. Williams-Sutton missed more than two weeks in June with a wrist injury. “You just want him to be as healthy as possible, trying to keep his spirits up and laugh.”
The Padres and TinCaps both put high value on an ability to get on base. Fort Wayne’s team OBP of .332 is fourth, trailing the Great Lakes Loons (.346), Bowling Green Hot Rods (.338) and Kane County Cougars (.333).
Williams-Sutton, who also has 40 walks to rank second on the team, sure has a knack for it.
Even if it’s a little painful from time to time.
Dwanya Williams-Sutton had a night to remember Monday as he was hit by a pitch four times in the Fort Wayne TinCaps’ 10-2 win in the series finale against the Cedar Rapids Kernals at Parkview Field.
“Right now I’m just feeling a little down,” he said following the game. “My arm is hurting. I’m going to go in the training room and get some ice on it. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow.
“Good thing we have an off day tomorrow because no way I will be able to play tomorrow.”
Williams-Sutton’s four HBP game was part of a night with which he almost had a perfect evening. He drew ball four on Kernal starter Tyler Palm’s 3-1 offering in the first inning.
In the second, Palm’s first pitch struck Williams-Sutton on the left arm with bases loaded to give the 22-year-old Wilson, North Carolina, native an RBI.
Alex Schick’s first pitch of the fourth inning also hit Williams-Sutton on the left arm. In the fifth, Williams-Sutton stepped into the right-handed batter’s box with bases loaded.
Schick hit him again.
Another plate appearance. Another hit by pitch. Another RBI.
Two innings later, following a Blake Hunt leadoff double, Williams-Sutton walked toward the plate hoping to put the ball in play this time.
Certainly he can’t get hit again, right?
Ball one missed low and away. Ball two was even closer to the dirt. Nate Hadley’s 2-0 pitch? A changeup to Williams-Sutton’s left arm.
“It’s frustrating but then it’s not,” he said. “The Padres organization really focuses on on-base percentage. That’s the good thing. The bad thing is not being able to swing the bat.”
Minor League Baseball’s available statistics only go back to 2005. Monday night, Williams-Sutton became just the sixth MiLB player to be hit by a pitch four times in one game.
No player in Major League Baseball has been hit more than three times in a single contest.
“I don’t try to get hit by a pitch,” he said. “My teammates think I try to lean into it.”
Williams-Sutton says it’s a product of where he stands in the box, close to the plate so he can reach pitches on the outside corner.
His coach at East Carolina told him to never move his feet in the box; doing so will mess with his head and his ability to cover the far side of the plate.
“I just don’t move my feet and they keep throwing in,” he said “I’m just going to keep getting hit, I guess.”
In his first five plate appearances Monday, Williams-Sutton reached base each time, didn’t register an at-bat and had two RBIs, all while not swinging at any of the 11 pitches he faced.
Williams-Sutton got another plate appearance in the bottom of the eighth inning with one out and bases loaded. After getting ahead in the count, 2-1, he finally got to swing the bat, fouling off five consecutive pitches. As if he hadn’t been beaten up enough already, one of those foul balls deflected off his leg.
Poor guy.
Williams-Sutton eventually grounded into an inning-ending double play, but the pain had already been endured.
The outfielder entered Monday with a team-leading .386 on-base percentage, and was third in the Midwest League in HBPs with 15. As of this morning, his OBP increased to .397, and his 19 HBPs is now tops in the MWL and tied for fifth among all full-season MiLB leagues.
Although TinCap manager Anthony Contreras and Williams-Sutton both stressed the organization’s importance with getting on base — the TinCaps got on base 28 times Monday night with 14 hits, eight walks, Williams-Sutton’s HBPs and two errors — they just hope it doesn’t come at a cost.
“It’s frustrating because I’m looking out for the health of my player,” Contreras said. Williams-Sutton missed more than two weeks in June with a wrist injury. “You just want him to be as healthy as possible, trying to keep his spirits up and laugh.”
The Padres and TinCaps both put high value on an ability to get on base. Fort Wayne’s team OBP of .332 is fourth, trailing the Great Lakes Loons (.346), Bowling Green Hot Rods (.338) and Kane County Cougars (.333).
Williams-Sutton, who also has 40 walks to rank second on the team, sure has a knack for it.
Even if it’s a little painful from time to time.
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