LOUISVILLE BATS GAMEIN NOTES LOUISVILLE BATS SEASON REVIEW
JUNE 29, 6:35 PM E.T. 2025 SEASON IN REVIEWTHURSDAY, // FINAL NOTES, STATISTICS, AND HIGHLIGHTS LOUISVILLE BATS (40-33) VS. INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (33-41) LOUISVILLE BATS: 71-79 FINAL RECORD, 32-43 1ST HALF, 39-36 2ND HALF RHP Zack Brown (3-1, 7.28) vs. LHP Nate Fisher (5-7, 5.00) IL STANDINGS: 12th Overall (18.0 GB), 14th 1st Half (15.0 GB), T-9th 2nd Half (10.0 GB) Bats Media Relations: Aaron Cheris (acheris@batsbaseball.com), Nick Curran (ncurran@batsbaseball.com), Anthony Acquisto (aacquisto@batsbaseball.com) X/Twitter: @BatsBaseball
BATS LEAGUE RANKINGS
BATS NOTES
Bats Batting/IL Rankings AVG:.................257............. T-6th OBP:.................338.............. 12th SLG:.................419................ 7th Runs:...............760................. 7th Hits:............... 1,278................ 4th Doubles:..........277................ 2nd Triples:..............25............... T-9th Home Runs:.....158............... 12th RBI:.................713................. 8th Walks:..............548............... 18th Strikeouts:..... 1,264.............. 13th SB:...................127............... 14th CS....................28................ 20th Bats Pitching/IL Rankings Wins:................ 71................. 12th ERA:................4.79.............. 14th WHIP:..............1.45.............. 11th AVG:.................260........... T-14th Shutouts:.......... 9................. T-8th Saves:............. 29.............. T-15th Hits:............... 1,287................ 5th Runs:.............. 761.................. 8th Home Runs:... 187................. 2nd Hit Batters:....... 67.............. T-13th Walks:............. 571................ 15th Strikeouts:..... 1,133.............. 20th
2025 IN REVIEW: The 2025 season saw the Bats finish with a 71-79 record, 18 games behind the eventual International League and Triple-A National Champion Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in the overall standings. The Bats finished 12th in the 20-team International League in the overall standings, a vast improvement from a 20th place finish at 67-82 in 2024. The 2025 season marked the first time since 2022 that the Bats have played all 150 games on the schedule, with the last two seasons being slightly shorter due to weather cancellations.
RECORD BREAKDOWN Overall Record:................... 71-79 First Half:............................. 32-43 Second Half:........................ 39-36 Last 10:.................................... 3-7 Home:.................................. 41-33 Road:................................... 30-46 Day Games:........................ 23-25 Night Games:...................... 48-54 Extra Innings........................... 6-4 Series Record W-L-T.......... 7-10-9 Doubleheaders W-L-T:.......... 1-3-3 Shutout W/L:............................ 9-8 Last At-Bat W/L.................... 12-13 Walk-Off W/L:........................ 7-10 Score First:.......................... 44-33 Score 2nd/Didn't Score:....... 27-46 1-Run Games:..................... 13-18 2-Run Games:..................... 13-16 3-Run Games:..................... 12-12 4+ Run Games:................... 33-33 March:..................................... 2-1 April:.................................... 12-13 May:..................................... 10-17 June:.................................... 11-15 July:..................................... 11-13 August:................................ 14-13 September:............................ 11-7 Leading after 6:................... 51-10 Leading after 7:..................... 55-7 Leading after 8:..................... 55-4 Tied after 6:............................. 9-7 Tied after 7:............................. 7-7 Tied after 8:............................. 4-6 Trailing after 6:....................... 8-63 Trailing after 7:....................... 6-66 Trailing after 8:....................... 4-61 With HR:.............................. 47-40 Without HR:......................... 24-39 Allow HR:............................. 43-64 Allow No HR:....................... 28-15 With Error:........................... 23-39 Without Error:...................... 48-40 Vs. LH Starter:..................... 21-21 Vs. RH Starter:.................... 50-58
FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: After falling to a season-low 18 games below .500 at 53-71 after a loss in Nashville on 8/22, the Bats turned their season around with one of the best stretches in recent memory, winning 15 of their next 16 games and 18 of their final 27 to end the season. The best run of all was an 11-game winning streak, tied for the second-longest winning streak in franchise history, from 8/29-9/10 to get the Bats' second-half record back over .500 and locking in their first winning month of the season (August), their first winning month since May 2024. The Bats followed it up with a winning month of September. The 2025 season was the first time Louisville posted a winning second-half record (39-36) since the IL adopted its split-season format in 2023. It was a dramatic turnaround for the Bats, who went 29-46 in the second half in 2024 and 35-40 to end the 2023 season. 2025 was a reverse of previous trends for the Bats, who had a winning first-half record in both 2023 (40-33) and 2024 (38-36) before a 32-43 start to the 2025 season. DEBUT SEASON: For eight members of the 2025 Bats, the 2025 season was one they'll never forget. While 66 players appeared in at least one game for Louisville, eight got the call and made their MLB debut, with seven of those debuting with the Cincinnati Reds. The full list of players to debut for the Reds this season features Will Banfield, Tyler Callihan, Sal Stewart, Chase Burns, Zach Maxwell, Luis Mey, and Chase Petty. Pitcher Brian Van Belle, who appeared in seven games for the Bats this year, was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays at the deadline and made his MLB debut for the Rays on 8/24. Stewart and Burns also appeared in the playoffs as the Reds reached the postseason for the first time since 2020 and were swept in two games by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Wild Card Series. Additionally, Sam Benschoter was promoted to the Reds on two separate occasions and was on the active roster, but did not pitch in a game to make his MLB debut. A QUARTER CENTURY AT HOME: Throughout the 2025 season, the Bats celebrated their 25th season at Louisville Slugger Field. On April 12, 2000, the Louisville Riverbats (now Bats) opened their new downtown home, Louisville Slugger Field, against Norfolk. That first game was an 8-5 loss to the Tides. While in Louisville on a rehab assignment from Cincinnati, Deion Sanders would score the first run in the ballpark's history, coming around to score on an RBI single from Chris Sexton in the first inning. Before the game, Governor Paul Patton, Louisville Mayor David Armstrong, and former Mayor Jerry Abramson all threw a ceremonial first pitch. This season, the Bats won the 1,500th regular season game in ballpark history on 5/20/25 vs. Gwinnett, with Wade Miley throwing a rain-shortened complete game shutout in the 4-0 victory. Since the opening of Louisville Slugger Field, the Bats have welcomed 12,474,158 fans through the ballpark gates in 1,549 game dates for an average of 8,053 per game. ABS-SOLUTELY RIGHT: In the 2025 season, the Bats used their Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenges to their advantage, especially from behind the plate. For the season, the Bats won 149 of their 279 challenges for a 53% success rate. Bats backstops were especially successful, as the primary catching trio of Will Banfield, P.J. Higgins, and Eric Yang combined to win 79 of 102 challenges for a 77% success rate. Higgins challenged and won more than anyone on the team at 41-49 (84%). Banfield ranked second in challenges and wins at 25-34 (74%) while Yang was 13-19 (68%). Offensively, Rece Hinds posted the best success rate of any hitter on the roster with at least five challenges at 56% (5-9) while Connor Joe's 50% success rate (3-6) made him the only other Bats hitter with at least five challenges to have a 50% or greater success rate. On the other end, Louisville's opponents had just a 46% success rate (132-289). IT TAKES TWO: After leading the International League with 146 double plays in 2024, the Bats had a similarly strong showing in 2025. Louisville's defense turned 128 double plays over the 150-game 2025 season, ranking 2nd in the International League, two behind Norfolk's 130, and T-11th in all of Minor League Baseball behind Reno's 151 double plays. For the season, the Bats turned at least one double play in 61% of their games (91-150), including 29 multi-double play contests. Louisville turned a season-high four double plays in a win at Gwinnett on 8/13. The Bats never went more than five games without at least one twin killing, with a season-long five-game drought from 8/15-20. Early in the season, the defense turned at least one double play in a season-high 10 straight games from 4/20-5/3. DOUBLE TROUBLE: In addition to turning two on defense, the Bats were strong at reaching second base with their bats. Louisville's 277 doubles led the club's attack, ranking 2nd in the International League and 7th in all of Minor League Baseball. Of the 26 players to log an at-bat for the Bats in 2025, only rehabber Austin Hays (3 games) went without a two-bagger. Francisco Urbaez led the way, hitting a career-high 32 doubles, tied for 3rd in the IL, as part of his dominant offensive season. Louisville's season-high of seven doubles came on 4/20 at Columbus, while the franchise record remains at 11, set on 5/3/10 at Buffalo. Louisville's lineup recorded at least one double in 123 of 150 games and multiple doubles in 79 contests, including 26 doubles over a seven-game series at Iowa from 6/10-15, when they tallied three or more doubles in five of the seven games. BATS IN A HURRY: The Bats wrapped up the 2025 season as one of the fastest playing teams in all of Triple-A baseball. Louisville's average time of a nine-inning home game was just two hours, 33 minutes, and 52 seconds, the second quickest mark at the Triple-A level, trailing only Gwinnett's 2:32:33. On the other end, Oklahoma City's 2:51:20 average ranked as the slowest across the 30 Triple-A clubs. As a whole, the average Triple-A nine-inning game time was 2 hours and 44 minutes, while the International League was slightly quicker at 2:41:55. At the Major League level, the Reds were within two minutes of their Triple-A club with an average time of 2:35:06, a couple minutes faster than the average Major League time of 2:38:23. As a whole (including all 150 games), the Bats' average game time of 2 hours and 32 minutes was below the Triple-A average.