Raul Mondesi, Sean Manea spur Wilmington into contention

Sean Manaea made a tweak in his delivery recently that has led to across-the-board improvement. Mandatory credit: Ken Inness, Wilmington Blue Rocks

THE REGULAR SEASON comes to an end just 12 days from Thursday and, as often is the case, the playoff picture for the Carolina League is magnificently muddled.

The first-half winners from both divisions are leading once more (Potomac in the Northern, Myrtle Beach in the Southern) and if that holds true, then the teams with the second-best records in the second-half from each division will be the wild cards.

Today, those two teams would be Wilmington and Salem. Both are a surprise, considering where they were just a week ago.

The Blue Rocks have gone a respectable 7-3 over their past 10 games entering Thursday to get above .500 at 28-27. That was more than plenty to bypass Lynchburg, since the Hillcats have dropped seven in a row.

Though Salem (27-27) dropped two games this week, the Red Sox are coming off a nine-game winning streak that pushed them past Winston-Salem (28-30). The Dash remain right in the thick of it, however, by dealing Salem both of those losses and can pull even with the Red Sox by sweeping their series Thursday night.

Things then get very interesting over the weekend as Salem plays host to Wilmington. Could the two pick each other off, allowing the Dash and Hillcats to sneak back into that playoff berth? Stay tuned.

For now, though, just what has been going right in Wilmington and Salem to get those two teams in position?

In Wilmington, look no further than shortstop Raul Mondesi and pitcher Sean Manaea.

Mondesi, the youngest player in the league, has bashed five home runs over the past 10 games, including clouts on three consecutive outings against Frederick. Amazingly, Mondesi is only hitting .230 for the month of August despite plugging away at a .297 clip during these past 10 games.

For the season, Mondesi’s batting average sits at a very deceptive .220. Mix in the 14 doubles, 10 triples and eight home runs, sprinkle with 15 stolen bases then frost with outstanding defense and what you end up with is perhaps the Royals’ top position prospect at this point.

Mondesi turned 19 last month and his torrid streak puts the Royals in an interesting position: Do you promote him to Double-A NW Arkansas in 2015 to likely become the youngest player in that league as well, or do you start him out back at Wilmington?

So far, the Royals have been very deliberate, jumping Mondesi a level each season despite the age consideration. Add in the fact Mondesi would be leaving an extreme pitchers’ league and an even more extreme pitchers’ park for the friendly confines of NW Arkansas and perhaps the move is obvious.

On the mound, Manaea spent a majority of the season’s first half rounding into regular duty after a hip injury in college the year before led the Royals to be cautious. At the All-Star break, Manaea was a mere 2-5 with a 4.84 earned run average. While he struck out well more than a batter per inning, his wildness led to very low inning totals as he exhausted his pitching counts quickly.

“The first couple months, pretty much the whole first half, it was frustrating. I really wanted to come out and dominate like I know I can, but things weren’t working,” Manaea told MILB.com earlier this month. “I had to switch up my mechanics a little bit. I’m starting to not have my throwing arm behind me and just going straight back and throwing the ball. And I felt like that was a big factor in me throwing strikes.”

In the second half – August in particular – Manaea appears to have traded strikeouts for increased command to great effect. In 25 1/3 innings this month, Manaea has permitted just six walks and 16 hits while fanning 28.

During these past 10 games, Manaea ticked off a pair of milestones. On Aug. 13, he tossed his first complete game during the opener of a twin bill against Frederick, allowing just two hits and a walk against seven strike outs.

He followed up by winning back-to-back starts for the first time despite not having his best stuff in a Aug. 19 win against Myrtle Beach. In that contest, he lasted 5 1/3, giving up five hits and three runs, but walked just two and fanned nine.

For the season, Manaea has a whopping 130 strikeouts in just 107 2/3 innings. If there is an area of concern, it is Manaea’s wild splits at home and on the road. In 13 starts at Wilmington, Manaea owns a 4-4 mark and 2.32 ERA while in 10 starts on the road, he’s 2-4 with a 4.74 ERA.

Manaea also scuffles a bit with runners in scoring position. In those situations – amounting to 25 total innings – he has walked 14 batters and coughed up 25 hits, resulting in a 11.88 ERA that would be far worse if the 11 unearned runs he allowed were folded into that figure.

In Salem, recent history has been dominated by an impressive string of outfielders moving through town. First it was Jackie Bradley Jr., then last year came Mookie Betts. This year, somewhat surprisingly, the defending Carolina League championships have been buoyed by the emergence of Matty Johnson.

Tuesday, Johnson reached base twice – by walk and by beaning – but saw his 17-game hitting streak come to an end. Perhaps not coincidently, Salem’s winning streak was dashed (by the Dash … pun intended).

Johnson got right back in the saddle Wednesday night with a pair of hits and is hitting .382 since the start of his hot streak.

What makes Johnson’s story particularly interesting is the fact he’s one of the league’s oldest players. At 26, Johnson is as well-traveled as virtually anyone in the minors at the same age. His vagabond ways began before his pro career when he bounced between three different colleges after not playing baseball during his senior prep season.

Undrafted out of college, Johnson went the independent baseball route and excelled to such an extent that Baseball America rated him as the No. 1 prospect among independent players.

The Red Sox signed him at that point and since 2011, Johnson has bounced between short-A and Triple-A before winding up at Salem for the second consecutive season.

Johnson told Aaron McFarling of the Roanoke Times that his years going up and down in the organization had been eye-opening:

"“It taught me a lot about the game, actually. It taught me that you’ve got to come out every day not knowing what to expect, just come out with the same mentality every day, ready to play. If you’re in the lineup, you’re in the lineup. If you’re not, be ready to go in whenever. Coming from an independent league I was pretty much expecting not to play as much as I wanted, but when I got the opportunity I wanted to take advantage. It’s been paying off lately, the hard work and everything, so I’m happy.”"

In general, it has been the offense boosting Salem into contention this month after pitching carried the water throughout the first part of the season. This past Saturday, the Red Sox banged out 21 hits in a 17-9 win against Myrtle Beach. Jantzen Witte, a midseason call-up from Greenville, accounted for four of those hits.

In fact, Witte has nine hits in 11 at-bats after going 0-for-20 prior to Saturday’s outburst. He doubled twice on Tuesday and now has 42 on the year between Greenville and Salem.

Another more recent call-up is making it clear the Red Sox’s center field pipeline is plenty intact. After going hitless in his Carolina League debut this past Friday, Manuel Margot has hit in each of his four games since then, going .529 (9 for 17) at the plate. Though he was caught stealing in his lone attempt since the promotion, Margot has 39 steals on the season to go with modest power (10 home runs, 35 extra-base hits).

Margot will not turn 20 until after the season.