Chihuahuas are confident on the eve of their playoff opener
The El Paso Chihuahuas are no strangers to the PCL playoffs, which gives them plenty of confidence ahead of their first postseason game with Fresno.
“I see it being hard for us [to lose], you know, any series against any ball club,” said manager Rod Barajas. “You know, I’m confident in what we have. And I think we’re ready to attack these guys and go pitch-for-pitch against them.”
The Dogs will meet the Grizzlies in a best-of-five series beginning Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. at Southwest University Park.
The Chihuahuas wrapped up their fourth consecutive division title over a week ago, and they’ve been waiting for this series to get here ever since.
“I’m looking into this series and I see it being tough. I can see them being low-scoring, I can see them being high-scoring,” said Barajas. “You don’t know what you’re going to get. But I know we’re gonna give the effort. We’re gonna go out there and we’re gonna compete.”
The Chihuahuas will host the first two games before heading to Fresno for game three. Games four and five, if necessary, will also be played in Fresno.
Interestingly, the Dogs played better on the road this year. They went 45-24 away from home compared to just 37-33 at Southwest University Park.
Both El Paso and Fresno won 82 games during the regular season. That was a new franchise record for the Chihuahuas.
Although the Dogs are confident entering their PCL semifinal series, they are expected to be without 22-year-old catcher Francisco Mejia.
Mejia, rated as one of the top three prospects in the Padres organization, was reportedly called up by San Diego and is expected to play for the Padres beginning Thursday.
