No one was more pleasantly surprised by the start of the season for the Capitales de Québec than their manager Patrick Scalabrini. By virtue of a 30-14 record, the Belle Province organization reigns atop the Eastern Association, just days away from mid-season.
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“It’s super positive, that’s for sure, we are in first place in the general classification. We had a great streak of 13 consecutive winning games,” Scalabrini said Tuesday, when reached on the phone while the team was traveling to Troy, New York, to play a series of three games against the Tri-City ValleyCats.
And the Capitals do not intend to stop anytime soon. They welcomed the Cubans Yordan Manduley and Yoelkis Guibert at the end of June, in addition to trading for the Canadian Tristan Pompey during the last weekend. If the objective was not necessarily to finish in first place at the start of the season, it has become.
Moreover, the first of each association in the standings will automatically advance to the divisional series, while the teams that finish second and third in their respective association will have to play a knockout duel before accessing it.
"We didn't think we were so dominant early in the season because there were pieces missing, key pieces," Scalabrini added.
“We had a small wave maybe for 10 days, which is explainable, it happens in all seasons. In professional baseball, we play every day, of course there are small troughs, but I expect that we will start to play well again with the few additions that come to help us.
Still room for improvement
If the Capitals can thank their pitchers for this start to the season, the attack still leaves room for improvement. The Capitale-Nationale team is in the second half of the Frontier League standings in several offensive categories, a situation that caught Scalabrini off guard. The recent addition of the three regular hitters should help in that department.
“I thought we were going to be a more offensive team than defensive, said the manager. I was completely wrong on that, but I hope that there are some who will get up, who will give a little more in the second half.
“It is undeniable that we cannot have the offensive that we have had since the beginning of the year and hope to win the championship. It takes more on that side. We are aware of that.”
- The first duel scheduled between the Capitals and the ValleyCats on Tuesday was canceled and postponed to Wednesday due to rain.
The first series of the season between the Capitals and the Aigles de Trois-Rivières did not have the outcome desired by Scalabrini.
The Mauricie squad won the first two games at Stade Canac, before the crowd favorites responded with a crushing 17-2 victory.
It should also be noted that the two Quebec teams know each other particularly well since in 2021, members of each of the teams joined forces to form “Team Quebec”, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Personally, I take it more to heart, because there are a lot of players in there that I let go, admitted Scalabrini, about the lost series against the Eagles. For two years, there have been players who were with us, with "Équipe Québec" last year. These are guys I know better, it makes me doubly something to lose a series at home against them. You have to give them credit, they arrived ready, they performed well.
The two teams will get to know each other even better by the end of the season, as they are due to play three more series between them, all in August. Scalabrini has also circled the first with a red marker on its calendar, from August 5 to 7, again at Stade Canac.
“We can’t wait to face them again and represent ourselves. We are going to attack it a little differently, but I can't wait to answer them, ”he simply blurted out.
