Pressure to perform looms as Broncos enter late stretch

By DENNIS SILVA II
LAREDO MORNING TIMES

Tuesday’s United League Baseball All-Star game provided a much-needed spectacle of fanaticism for the Broncos, who, prior to the premier contest, had lost six of their last eight games to fall under .500.

Broncos slugger Luany Sanchez, who drilled two home runs and compiled four RBIs, was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, and scouts drooled over fellow teammates Dwayne White, Santo Hernandez and Gregorio Martinez, all of whom had stellar outings in an 8-5 win against the Golden League All-Stars.

But today is a new day, and if the Broncos (29-30) want a realistic definition of who they are at the moment, all they need to look at is their place in the league standings — fourth — and realize that only four games sit between them and fifth place, meaning a playoff berth is no foregone conclusion.

No matter what happened on Tuesday in San Angelo, all that is of concern are the next 31 games — beginning with the start of a seven-game homestand tonight against Alexandria (37-22) — as the Broncos look to make the postseason for the second time in three years.

“We’ve got to have a good run because (fifth-place) Edinburg’s on our heels now and we’ve got to put them away quickly,” Broncos General Manager Jose Melendez said. “The all-star game showed we have elite talent, but we’ve just had so much bad luck.

“Alexandria is a team to be reckoned with. This (four-game) series is going to be a true test. If we can play with them, I’ll be confident about our chances. We know we can beat up on the Edinburgs and Harlingens, but we need to start going tit-for-tat with the good teams.”

Between Melendez and Broncos Manager Dan Shwam, the Broncos’ points of concern are the bullpen and situational hitting and fielding.

The Broncos rank last in the league in pitching with a 5.91 ERA.

They’ve committed 85 errors, which have led to 66 unearned runs.

Three of five starters in their rotation have an ERA of 3.95 or lower, yet the Broncos are just 17-15 in games decided by three runs or fewer.

But the most telling figure of late was their recent eight-game road trip, in which one run decided five of the six losses.

“A lot of our bullpen just didn’t do a good job,” Shwam said. “Any time we went to them, we couldn’t get outs and we gave up runs. It’s a big problem.”

Added Melendez, “The bullpen’s our main concern, and I’m really concerned with situational fielding. I know we’ll hit, and I know we have the pitching to eventually succeed, but costly errors are dooming us late, and we can’t have that. The errors with two outs and such have to stop.”

The team is hoping that Mickey Callaway, the team’s pitching coach and a major league veteran of five years, will help aid the relief.

Callaway, who has missed the last year with an elbow injury and signed with the Broncos in early June with the understanding that he would coach until being healthy enough to play, is expected to be activated today.

The team plans to use him in late-game situations, hoping his veteran experience, poise and know-how rubs off on the team’s other relievers.

“He’s a veteran and someone who we think can come in and show the younger guys how to get it done,” Shwam said. “He’ll help out in a big way because he’s been through everything in his career.”

Aside from lack of solid bullpen relief, situational hitting is also a primary issue.

While the team ranks second in the league in hitting (.301), and first in home runs (68), little things such as not leaving men on base and producing with two outs will come to light in a big way during the playoffs.

“Situational hitting has been awful,” Shwam said. “It’s frustrating. We’re relying too much on Luany, Dwayne and Edgard (Clemente), and all it means is that if one of those guys does not have a good game any particular night, our chances of losing improves.”

The Broncos know what’s at stake, and whether or not they choose to do anything about it will be revealed sooner rather than later.

The next 13 games will go a long way in determining who they are, as all the contests are against Alexandria, San Angelo (33-21) and Amarillo (33-26), the top three clubs in the league.

“We have a good team,” Shwam said. “For whatever reason, things have just not gone our way. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a season this weird where we can’t put everything together at the same time.”

BRONCO BITS: The Broncos have their eyes set on another move or two, hoping to bring in another hitter or guys who can create on the base paths and bring in runs. Melendez emphasized that no move will be made for the sake of making a move. It will be a calculated transaction if one is to occur … With the league’s decision to give San Angelo home-field advantage in the playoffs — even with Alexandria claiming an identical record and owning the series head-to-head matchup following the first half of the season — due to the Colts’ having better attendance, the Broncos are keeping a sharp eye on Edinburg. It’s possible, with the precedent that has been set, that should the Broncos and Coyotes tie, the Coyotes will be given a playoff spot due to better attendance averages, even if Laredo owns the head-to-head advantage. “It is what it is,” Shwam said. “I’ve told our guys that they better not put themselves in a position where Edinburg gets close to us because I can see the league putting them in instead of us since they have better attendance. I don’t agree with it at all. But all we can afford to do is look at what we can do and what we can control.”