Kettleers Korner
By Roy Reiss

Let’s mix it up a bit with some observations, a very little insight, and some ramblings that come to mind while watching the first week of the Cape Cod Baseball League draw to a close.

• It’s really an early indication but after 6 games the Kettleers pitching staff leads the Cape Cod Baseball League with the lowest ERA, 2.25 while opponents are hitting only .208 against Cotuit pitching. Last year the Kettleers were near the bottom of the league in this key statistic.

• Meanwhile the Kettleers bats are third in the league hitting, but they are one of two teams still looking for their first round tripper of the season, Hyannis being the other club.

• While the Kettleers defense has been inconsistent in their first 6 games, the defensive play of catcher Aramis Garcia really stands out. His rifle like arm and quick release has accounted for numerous base runners being thrown out.

• Speaking of that defense, 2nd baseman Jacob Valdez of San Jose State has been one of the steadier players in the infield. In the opener against Hyannis, his turn in the middle of a 5-4-3 double play helped the Kettleers escape further damage. Yes he was a bit shaky versus Wareham but maybe that’s to be expected from some of these college players who get some big time experience against the top notch competition in the Cape League. By the way Valdez was also hitting a robust .429 thru 6 games.

• Looking forward to Adam McCreery’s next start which should be Friday night against Brewster. The tall southpaw from Arizona State really wowed the scouts in his initial start against Chatham as he struck out 9 in his four and a third innings of work.

• There’s no greater treat than to watch a Kettleers game with Arnold Mycock. There’s not too much talking going on, but plenty of watching and listening as you can learn a lot if you pay attention.

• Tim Kiene, the Kettleers big first baseman from Maryland, chose baseball over hockey growing up. Bet you didn’t know his dad, Chris, was a Merrimack College hockey prospect that had a brief fling with the NHL New Jersey Devils.

• In all the years covering sports, don’t think I’d ever seen any team in any sport have 3 players on the roster at the same time whose last name started with a Z. The opening day roster for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks featured Brad Zebedis, Zac Zellers, and Taylor Zeutenhorst on it.

• One of the fun things about the Cape League is the small schools some of the players come from. Everyone recognizes the big schools and their locations, but how about Young Harris, Tusculum, Millersville, or Weatherford? Anyone want to venture a guess what city or town or for that matter what state these schools are located in?

• If you’re a Cotuit fan, it’s great to see Deven Marrero signing with the Red Sox and being assigned to Single A Lowell. We can all follow the former Kettleer shortstop as there isn’t a better minor league ball park than LeLacheur Park which is a short ride up Route 495.

Kettleers Korner will be anything and everything that might interest fans, past and present, about the Kettleers. Roy Reiss, who started his career working for Curt Gowdy Broadcasting, was a former sportscaster on Channel 7 and several radio stations in Boston. His son Mike now covers the Patriots for ESPNBoston.