The Lexington Legends won’t play at home again until Friday night. If you missed their season-opening home stand, you might want to check them out this weekend.
The new-look version of Lexington’s minor league baseball team, not unlike its predecessors, is racking up W’s.
The Legends entered a three-game series at West Virginia on Tuesday night with a 7-3 record, good for first place in the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
The Legends, who won back-to-back South Atlantic League championships in 2018 and 2019 before last season was canceled because of the pandemic, are playing in 2021 for the first time in the independent ALPB. Lexington was one of dozens of teams to lose its major league affiliation last fall when MLB decided to downsize its minor league operations.
Rather than rookies finding their way in Class A ball, the Legends’ roster now is packed with veterans winding down their careers or seeking a different path to the majors.
The new mix has led to some professional-looking results in the early going. The Legends won all six games in their season-opening home stand that ended Sunday, averaging 9.2 runs and 10.2 hits per game while not committing an error during the entire stretch.
Lexington beat the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 5-4, 12-2 and 8-4 before sweeping the West Virginia Power 15-6, 5-3 and 10-7.
Former University of Kentucky player Ben Aklinski leads the Legends and is seventh in the ALPB with a .435 batting average. He leads the Legends with four home runs and nine RBI, good for second and sixth in the league, respectively.
Kevin McGowan, a former New York Mets and Washington Nationals prospect, is off to a 2-0 start on the mound.
Offensively, the Legends lead the league in home runs (14). Defensively, they’ve committed the league’s fewest errors (four).
Former Cincinnati Reds All-Star and Legends part-owner Brandon Phillips has two homers and eight RBI, as does teammate Tillman Pugh. Roberto Baldoquin is second on the team in batting at .414, has driven in nine and been walked seven times.
Former University of Louisville and Caverna High School pitcher Derek Self is tied for the ALPB lead with three saves out of the Legends’ bullpen.
Lexington was to play three games at West Virginia Tuesday through Thursday before returning home for games Friday through Sunday at Legends Ballpark against the Gastonia (N.C.) Honey Hunters.