Goldeyes in championship form

It’s fair to say the Winnipeg Goldeyes have set a rather high standard.

Scan the entire landscape of North American professional baseball — from MLB all the way down to the independents — and you’ll find the Fish trail only the mighty New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers in terms of the number of winning seasons since an umpire first yelled “Play Ball” down at the old Winnipeg Stadium in 1994.

That’s some stellar company to be keeping. In addition to those 25 campaigns above .500 there have been 21 playoff appearances and four championships for the local nine.

However, sports is very much a “what have you done for me lately” business and the answer around here in recent years has been “Not much.” The Goldeyes have missed the American Association post-season in five of the past six seasons and bowed out quickly and quietly in their lone appearance during what’s been a mostly forgettable stretch.

It sure looked like another lost campaign could be in the cards when Winnipeg limped out to a 3-7 start back in May under first-year manager Logan Watkins. Sure, there were some tight, hard-fought losses that could have gone the other way, but the bottom line was the baseball club quickly found itself in the basement of the standings.

Fortunately, the regular-season is a marathon, not a sprint. When the race finally came to an end on Labour Day, it was the Goldeyes who crossed the finish line first in the West Division with an impressive 56-43 record. Only the East Division champion Cleburne Railroaders (60-40) had a better mark in the 12-team loop.

Now playoff baseball is upon us, with a total of eight clubs attempting to win seven games over three rounds and, a couple weeks from now, be the last ones standing.

The Goldeyes appear to have a great opportunity to scratch a seven-year championship itch.

“Very proud,” Watkins told the Free Press on Tuesday. “We have a roster completely capable of winning the entire thing but we need to play good baseball and continue to be the team we were throughout the season. Nothing is guaranteed though in playoff baseball. Anyone can get hot or cold at any time.”

“We have a roster completely capable of winning the entire thing but we need to play good baseball and continue to be the team we were throughout the season. Nothing is guaranteed though in playoff baseball.”–Goldeyes manager Logan Watkins

First up is a best-of-three series against the Sioux Falls Canaries, which opens Wednesday in South Dakota and then moves back to Manitoba for games on Friday and Saturday (if necessary). The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (53-47) and Sioux City Explorers (49-51) meet in the other divisional semi-final.

One of the quirks of the AA playoff system is that the first-place team gets to pick its first-round opponent. Curiously, the Goldeyes picked the Canaries, who finished just a single game behind them at 55-44. Winnipeg went 7-6 against Sioux Falls this year, with an additional game rained out and not re-scheduled.

If you’re going by shortest travel distance, Fargo-Moorhead would have been the obvious selection. But maybe Winnipeg still has some emotional scars from the fact their closest rivals ended their most recent playoff pursuit back in 2022. The Goldeyes also went 5-7 this year against the RedHawks, for what it’s worth.

If you’re going by worst record, Sioux City checks off that box. But it’s also the longest bus ride to go play one road game and then head back, so that may have factored in. Winnipeg went 8-4 against the Explorers, but lost all three games in their most recent series down at Blue Cross Park in mid-August.

“There were positives and negatives to whichever team we faced. The biggest factor was evaluating how each team played this final month and against us head-to-head,” said Watkins. “Everyone’s overall record was close but these teams have all changed since the first half of the season.”

Over in the East, Cleburne picked third-place Chicago (55-45), leaving second-place Kane County (55-45) to face fourth-place Lake Country (53-47).

The winners of the four semifinals will meet in the divisional final starting next Monday, which is also a best-of-three with the same format (lower seed hosts Game 1, higher seed Games 2 and 3). Then it’s on to the championship final, which is a best-of-five beginning Sept. 14 (lower seed hosts Game 1 and 2, higher seeds Games 3, 4 and 5).

Here’s a detailed breakdown of Goldeyes vs Canaries:

PITCHING:

The Goldeyes led the league with a stellar 3.74 earned-run-average. To put that in perspective, Kane Country was second at 4.55. Sioux Falls ended up fourth at 4.74, a full one run per game behind Winnipeg.

Ace Joey Matulovich is sure to be named the league’s pitcher of the year after compiling an 11-3 record with a sizzling 2.11 ERA and 145 strikeouts. He’ll be on the bump on Wednesday night. Zac Reininger (9-5, 4.49 ERA), Mitch Lambson (2-0, 4.74 ERA after returning from Mexico) and Canadians Travis Seabrooke (8-3, 3.63 ERA) and Landon Bourassa (8-7, 4.01 ERA) give the Goldeyes as deep a starting five as they’ve ever had.

“By having such a strong pitching staff we kept every opponent close and had a chance to win nearly every game going into the final inning,” said Watkins.

Given the best-of-three format, expect two of those hurlers to shift to a bullpen that is already filled with talent including Winnipeg’s Ben Onyshko (1.03 ERA over 43.2 innings), Thomas Ponticelli (2.37 ERA), Joey Steele (2.41 ERA), Nick Trogrlic-Iverson (3.07 ERA), Ryder Yakel (3.56 ERA) and Tasker Strobel (3.76 ERA).

Sioux Falls has a true No. 1 starter in Ty Culbreth, who led the league with 12 wins along with a 2.94 ERA. He’ll face Matulovich on Wednesday, meaning runs could be at a premium. Tanner Brown finished third in the league in strikeouts with 113 along with a 10-6 record and 3.33 ERA, so expect to see him in Game 2 on Friday. Neil Lang (7-1 in eight starts with a 3.10 ERA) has been terrific, too. If the Canaries get a late lead, good luck rallying against closer Charlie Hasty, who finished second in the league with 20 saves.

OFFENCE:

The Goldeyes finished fifth in the league with 537 runs, while the Canaries were ninth with 509. Winnipeg was third in hits, Sioux Falls 10th. One area the Canaries can do some damage is with the long ball, as they belted 115 homers to finish second. The Goldeyes were dead last in that category with 62.

Individually, Winnipeg has two of the league’s top hitters by average in 2B Dayson Croes (third, .342) and OF Miles Simington (sixth, .329), along with big run producers in veteran OF Max Murphy (73 RBI, tied for eighth) and C Ray Emery (70 RBI, tied for 11th). Add in OF Roby Enriquez (.296) and SS/3B Ramon Bramasco (.286) and the Goldeyes top six is stacked.

For Sioux Falls, OF Mike Hart is one to watch after hitting .323 with 41 RBI over 65 games. IF Josh Rehwaldt led the club with 23 home runs and 66 RBI, while IF Trevor Achenbach (19 HR, 62 RBI) and OF Jabari Henry (19 HR, 52 RBI) can also do some damage at the plate.

DEFENCE/INTANGIBLES:

Expect to see plenty of great plays in the field given that only Lake Country committed fewer errors this season than Sioux Falls (58) and Winnipeg (63). One mistake can make all the difference, especially in the small sample size of the playoffs.

When it comes to crowd support, the Goldeyes would appear to have the advantage. Winnipeg played in front of an average of 3,714 fans this year, which was third most in the league behind only Kane County and Chicago. The team is hoping to pack Blue Cross Park this weekend, and post-game fireworks on Friday night is a nice addition. Sioux Falls averaged 1,781 spectators per game this year at the “Birdcage,” which was eighth in the league.

When it comes to championship pedigree, Winnipeg has a clear edge with the four titles on its resume (1994, 2012, 2016, 2017). Sioux Falls, an original member of the Northern League when it began play in 1993, just one — way back in 2008.

SCHEDULE:

Game 1: Winnipeg @ Sioux Falls, Wednesday Sept. 4. 6:35 p.m.

Game 2: Sioux Falls @ Winnipeg, Friday Sept. 6, 7 p.m.

Game 3 (if necessary): Sioux Falls @ Winnipeg, Saturday Sept. 7, 6 p.m.

[email protected]

X: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre
Sports reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.