The Chattanooga Lookouts are screaming toward a .500 overall record, and that’s not a good thing.
After a scorching 43-25 first half that contained reservations for the Southern League playoffs, the Lookouts are 3-12 in the second half following Saturday night’s 5-1 loss to the Mississippi Braves at AT&T Field. The Braves took a 4-0 lead in the first inning and have outscored the Lookouts 14-1 the past two nights.
Left fielder Adam Walker and designated hitter Levi Michael were the only batters in the lineup Saturday who were opening-day Lookouts, with the likes of center fielder Byron Buxton and third baseman Miguel Sano having been promoted to Minnesota and middle infielder Jorge Polanco to Triple-A Rochester.
“We’re not good,” Lookouts manager Doug Mientkiewicz said. “We’ve got a lot of new faces, and I would like to think this club was more than just Buxton and Sano. We’ve had a rash of injuries and have dealt with stuff that every team goes through during the season, but we definitely need to play better.”
The latest setback for the Lookouts is a shoulder injury to Max Kepler, who led the league in hitting through the first half. Kepler got injured in Wednesday’s series finale in Jacksonville and was placed on the disabled list Friday, scratching him from today’s Futures Game in Cincinnati.