Sunday, September 01, 2013

Kiermaier within range of Southern League batting title

Kevin Kiermaier, had he posted one more hit while with the Biscuits, would be the Southern League's leading hitter going into the season's final day.

Kiermaier was promoted to Triple-A Durham in late July, but he already had enough plate appearances to qualify for the Southern League batting championship.

Kiermaier was 114-for-371, giving him a .3072 batting average.

Mobile's Justin Greene is ahead ... barely.

Greene, who is 0-for-11 in his last three games, didn't play Sunday. The BayBears finish the regular season Monday afternoon against Pensacola.

Greene is 117-for-379, giving him a .3087 batting average. Kiermaier, had he turned a single out into a hit, would be at .3099.

But Kiermaier could still win it if Greene plays and goes at least 0-for-2 or 1-for-6 Monday.
0-for-2 -- .307087
1-for-6 -- .306484


If Greene goes 1-for-5, imagine this: Greene wins at .307292 with Kiermaier second at .307277.

Kiermaier, when he was recently named the Biscuits' most valuable player, quipped that "it would have been nice to have had a few more hits to make it tougher" on Greene.

Last year, Montgomery's Omar Luna was the league batting champion with a .315 average. With a difference of one hit, Pensacola's Josh Fellhauer would have won.

If you're curious, a batter must have at least 2.7 plate appearances for every game a team plays to qualify. The Biscuits will play their 140th game Monday, so Kiermaier needed 378 plate appearances. He had 417 when he was promoted.

UPDATE: But Kiermaier won't win.

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