Tuesday, August 27, 1996

MVP candidates showing stuff this week at PDog games
By LANCE FLEMING
Staff Writer

Two of the leading candidates for Most Valuable Player of the Texas-Louisiana League will be on display over the next three nights as Abilene and Rio Grande Valley continue a four-game series at Scott Field.

Rio Grande shortstop Lipso Nava and Abilene first baseman Rod Brewer have been two of the most dominant offensive players in the league this season.

Of everyday players in the league, only Lubbock's Mike Hardge and Amarillo's Jorge Alvarez can claim they belong in the same MVP discussion as Nava and Brewer. If pitchers are thrown into the equation, Abilene's David Haas and Ken Winkle must be considered candidates.

But of the everyday players, Nava and Brewer are the leading candidates. Nava is third in the league in hitting at .333, and Brewer is fourth at .325. Brewer is second in home runs (18) and Nava fourth at 17.

Brewer leads the league in RBI (81) and Nava is second (69). Brewer is 15 RBI short of the league record of 95 set last year by Amarillo's Kevin Tahan. Nava has 112 hits, while Brewer has 104.

Brewer is fourth in the league in on-base percentage at .405, fourth in the league in slugging percentage at .569 and fourth in the league in extra-base hits with 41. Nava is fifth in slugging percentage at .551 and is third in the league in stolen bases at 27.

So any vote for league MVP will be a close one.

"I guess it'll be neck and neck," Abilene manager Phil Stephenson said. Nava has done all this at a position - shortstop - that doesn't normally lend itself to big power numbers.

"He's got good speed and he can hit," Rio Grande Valley manager John Pacella said. "He hits all pitches, and he's got a good idea of the strike zone. He capitalizes on mistakes and hits mistake pitches real well. I've seen him hit about nine or 10 home runs on bad breaking balls."

Brewer, though, has done exactly what he was supposed to do when he signed with the Prairie Dogs: provide the team with power and the ability to drive in runs.

"Brewer's the type of hitter that it doesn't matter if he's been swinging the bat well or not, he can hurt you in one at-bat, one game or one series," Pacella said. "We can't let him beat us with the game on the line. His home run production is good for playing in this park. If he played in our park, he'd probably hit about 30."

The T-L League changed Abilene's doubleheader in Amarillo from Friday to Sunday at 5:05 p.m., and it has thrown Abilene's pitching plans into disarray.

"I'm not too pleased about it," Stephenson said. "I think this changes our rotation for about the fifth time in the last three days."

David Haas will start Friday night in Amarillo, followed by Kerry Knox on Saturday and Sam Arminio and Jared Baker on Sunday. Lance Schuermann will then get the start in Monday's series finale.

Abilene and Amarillo are then scheduled to come back to Abilene to play a doubleheader on Tuesday, and Haas will start the first game. Stephenson said the staff will then get the assignment in the second game.

If Abilene is then forced to play Lubbock on Wednesday in a one-game playoff to decide the second-half championship, Knox will get the start. That would mean that if Abilene doesn't win the second half, Arminio would start the first game of the playoffs on Thursday.

Kerry Knox (10-2, 3.38 ERA) will get the start for Abilene tonight, and will be opposed by Javier DeJesus (8-6, 4.69).

Tonight's promotion is Collector Photo Series Night sponsored by Photo Image Center. Tonight is also the Fabulous Fan Flyaway sponsored by American Eagle and TCI Cablevision.