Scott Van Slyke of the Chattanooga Lookouts.Scott Van Slyke and Will Savage made the most of their first full seasons with the Chattanooga Lookouts.
Van Slyke, who was demoted to high Single-A a year ago after hitting .235 with the Lookouts, won the Southern League batting title with a .348 average. The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder, who played first base and left field, also led the league with 45 doubles and had 20 home runs and 92 runs batted in.
“He made his adjustments last year when he went back down,” Lookouts manager Carlos Subero said Monday. “I think [Lookouts hitting coach] Franklin Stubbs has definitely had a major influence in Scott’s career, and Scott made the adjustments he needed to make. He’s an aggressive hitter who was able to lay off the balls that were out of the zone, and to me that was his biggest thing.”
Savage led the league with 12 victories, becoming the first Chattanooga pitcher to do so outright since Blaine Beatty won 14 in 1994.
The Lookouts had their regular-season finale washed away Monday, which will serve as an extra day off as they prepare to open the divisional series Thursday night at Tennessee. Chattanooga won its final five games to finish the second half with a 42-27 record, while the Smokies lost three of their last five to wind up 40-30.
Van Slyke is the sixth Lookouts player in the last 14 years to lead the league in hitting, joining Jason LaRue (.365 in 1998), Brady Clark (.326 in ’99), Ben Broussard (.320 in ’01), Bobby Darula (.325 in ’02) and Joey Votto (.319 in ’06). The 25-year-old son of former major leaguer Andy Van Slyke had a .374 average through the first 30 games and hit .429 in August.
“It’s just having the confidence when you go up to the plate and knowing what your job is, which is to hit the ball hard,” Van Slyke said during the season. “When you step to the plate you’ve got to have confidence, and I’ve got that this year. I can’t think about what happened last year.”
Savage threw 152 innings a year ago, the second-most of any pitcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system, and was spent by the time of his promotion to Chattanooga. He made four starts for the Lookouts and was roughed up for a 10.80 earned run average.
This season, the 27-year-old right-hander went 12-6 with a 3.95 ERA.
“Any time you can lead any category, it justifies having a good year,” Savage said Monday, “but wins are a team goal, so the fact they played well behind me is kind of a feather in my cap.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.