The Omaha Storm Chasers and Columbus Clippers arrived at Isotopes Park on Monday afternoon to take some batting practice and get used to the setting for Tuesday night's Triple-A National Championship Game.
The two teams that claimed titles in their respective Triple-A leagues bear striking similarities. They both opened the season with some of their organization's top prospects and drew a lot of hype and attention.
Over the course of the year, most of those prospects headed up to the big leagues, while the mix of veterans, organizational players and second-tier prospects who remained all kept on doing the same thing.
They kept right on winning, propelling Omaha and Columbus into a one-game, winner-take-all showdown for Triple-A bragging rights.
"It's tough, any given day I'm sure either one of us could win," Omaha manager Mike Jirschele said. "But that's the way it's set up and you just go about your business and try to win the game."
While the big-league Royals were never seen as contenders, the Storm Chasers looked formidable at the start of the season, with No. 1-ranked prospect Eric Hosmer at first base, No. 3 Mike Moustakas at third base and No. 5 Mike Montgomery and No. 7 Danny Duffy in the rotation.
Only Montgomery failed to get a call-up, scuffling through a rough year (5-11, 5.32 ERA) before shining in the playoffs. Montgomery tossed five scoreless innings in the Storm Chasers' clinching victory in the Pacific Coast League finals against Sacramento last week.
To make matters even tougher on Omaha, the Royals recently recalled PCL pitcher of the year and playoff MVP Luis Mendoza (12-5, 2.18 ERA) while designated hitter Clint Robinson (.326, 23 HR, 100 RBI) left the team to have surgery to repair a sports hernia that had dogged him for some time.
"I think it's that way anywhere in the playoffs in Triple-A, you have your September call-ups, your stronger teams sometimes lose quite a few guys," Jirschele said. "If you have a strong organization, which I feel we do, we have the guys who come up and do the job."
If anyone can sympathize, it's the Clippers. They began the season with the Indians' Nos. 1 and 3 prospects, third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall and second baseman Jason Kipnis, only to lose both to Cleveland. Also heading up were starting pitchers Jeanmar Gomez and David Huff, closer Josh Judy and infielder Cord Phelps.
Even after the International League playoffs began, the Clippers lost middle infielder Luis Valbuena (.302, 17 HR, 75 RBI), backup closer Zach Putnam (6-3, 3.65, nine saves) and the ace of their rotation, Zach McAllister (12-3, 3.32).
Columbus still led the IL with 88 wins, swept Durham in the first round and defeated Lehigh Valley three games to one to claim a second straight league title.
"I think it's a credit to our scouting department with the Indians and our player development system," manager Mike Sarbaugh said. "It seemed like when we did lose a player, the player who would come up from Double-A would do a great job."
Omaha will send right-hander Sean O'Sullivan (8-2, 4.22) to the mound Tuesday, opposed by Columbus right-hander Joe Martinez (8-9, 4.04).
"You can't throw shutouts every time, so as long as I can try to keep us in the game I'll be happy," Martinez said.
Both teams still feature some big bats. Omaha has fleet-footed center fielder Jarrod Dyson (.279, 38 stolen bases) atop the batting order, while left fielder David Lough (.318, 9 HR, 65 RBI), right fielder Lorenzo Cain (.312, 16 HR, 81 RBI) and first baseman Kila Ka'aihue (.272, 11 HR, 65 RBI) form the core of the lineup.
"We've had our ups and downs but at the same time I think we've been pretty consistent throughout the year, hitting-wise and pitching-wise," Cain said. "We have a good team."
The Clippers have had left fielder Jered Head (.284, 24 HR, 70 RBI) for most of the year, while other players either came up at midyear from Double-A Akron, such as first baseman Beau Mills (.279, 7 HR).
The two clubs will square off at Isotopes Park beginning at 6:05 p.m. Ticket sales are closing in on the 10,000 mark, but tickets due remain on sale at the box office.
"It's definitely a good park, a good atmosphere," Cain said. "There are a lot of good fans. I think it's going to be a fun game. We're going to go out, try to have fun and finish this thing off."
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