Bryan Rocchio reaches base four times in Clippers loss

Columbus Clippers 2, Charlotte Knights 6

Box Score · Clippers fall to 0-4

The Columbus Clippers can’t seem to get out of their own way. Yesterday they extended their season-opening losing streak to four games as Peyton Battenfield allowed two earned runs and three more crossed the plate with the help of several fielding errors.

The onset of Baseball Savant tracking Triple-A games means that we get to see exactly what Battenfield was throwing. It was mostly four-seamers and cutters, and a few pitches I think Statcast might have miscategorized.

Savant also lets us understand how unlucky the offense was last night. Clippers batters recorded the seven hardest-hit balls of the night, but four of them — including Bo Naylor’s 111.1 mph groundout in the sixth — were for outs. This Zach Collins double was the only one hit for extra bases, and it finally gave the Clippers a run in the bottom of the fifth.

On the plus side, Brayan Rocchio reached base every time he came up to bat, going 3-for-3 with a double (that was almost a home run), a walk, and a stolen base. He has a hit in every Clippers game so far this season, with a total slash of .455/.571/.636. A four-game sample is hardly enough to demand a call-up, but he’s off to a scorching start already.