66ers, Quakes need someone to step up

Both the Quakes and the 66ers lost their big bats in the past week. And now, they need someone to fill the offensive void.

Last weekend, the Sixers lost catcher Carlos Santana, who was leading the league in RBI at the time he was traded to the Indians organization. After Sunday’s game, the Quakes lost first baseman Mark Trumbo, who was second in the league in home runs before he was promoted to Double-A Arkansas.

In the six games since Santana’s trade, the Sixers have scored at least five runs three times, but they’ve also been held to one run apiece in the other three games.

In the five games since Trumbo’s promotion, the Quakes have yet to win. They’ve scored 11 runs (a 2.2 per game average) in those five games and have scored more than three runs only once.

The bottom line is, Santana’s replacement (Esteban Lopez) and Trumbo’s replacement (Efren Navarro) aren’t the same players as their predecessors, and they shouldn’t be expected to be. The Quakes and Sixers can get to the playoffs without those big bats. But to make any noise in the playoffs, they’ll need someone to go above and beyond what they had been doing to this point in the season.