View From Burger Box: 2026 Season Ends

The second season of professional baseball’s return to Spartanburg is in the books. While it did not end in a second straight postseason appearance for the Hub City Spartanburgers, that is the nature of being a Minor League Baseball team. In the world of developmental baseball, there will always be the sense of purity — enjoying a form of the sport that is not all about earning big contracts and building super rosters with good old fashioned fun. But, with control of the team roster in the hands of the team’s Major League parent club, there will almost always be more bad/average seasons than postseason appearances/“good” years.

The second season of “Burger Ball” in Spartanburg was one that was full of highs and lows. Hub City finished the season 61-71 overall, which would land them 22 games out of first place at fourth place in the South Division if there were such a thing as full season standings.

The ‘Burgers went 34-32 in the first half, tied for fourth with the Rome Emperors. But after losing several key pieces and a tough stretch of schedule early in the second half, ended up 27-39 and in a deadlock with the Asheville Tourists for last place in the division.

Statistically, the Spartanburgers ranked fifth in the entire South Atlantic League offensively with 726 runs scored, 1,070 hits — including 195 doubles, 22 triples, and 162 home runs, 655 runs batted in, 542 walks drawn, 1,192 strikeouts, 165 stolen bases, a .246 team batting average, .341 team on base percentage, .413 slugging, .754 on base plus slugging, and 1,795 total bases.

The pitching staff ranked sixth in the league with a 5.58 team ERA, 7 shutouts, 28 saves on 45 opportunities, 1,139 innings pitched, 1,063 hits given up, 783 runs surrendered (706 earned), 186 home runs, 129 hit batsmen, 674 walks, 1,255 strikeouts, a 1.53 WHIP, and a .248 average against them.

Two Hub City hitters ranked among the top 25 in the entire SAL and three more were inside the top 50.

Maxton Martin ranked 10th with 63 runs scored, 107 hits (22 doubles, 5 triples, 21 homers), 78 runs batted in, 38 walks, 128 strikeouts, 14 stolen bases, a .233 batting average, .291 on base percentage, .439 slugging percentage, and a .730 on base plus slugging.

Gleider Figuereo, who was one of 15 Spartanburgers to receive a promotion to the next level in 2026, getting the call up to double A Frisco back on September 1st, ranked 16th. “Figgy” scored 69 runs, racked up 101 hits (20 two baggers, 2 triples, 19 homers), drove in 72 runs, walked 60 times, struck out 111 times, stole 11 bases, had a .237 batting average (.337 on base, .427 slugging, .764 OPS).

Luke Hanson, an August recipient of a promotion, ranked in a tie for 38th with two other Burgers. He scored 58 runs, 103 hits (19 2Bs, 14 HRs), 60 RBIs, 50 BBs, 76 K, 14 steals, and a .266 BA (.356 OBP, .424 slg, .780 OPS).

Yeison Morrobel, who was also among those that will be playing in the postseason for the Roughriders after spending about a month in AA, also tied for 38th in the league. “Morro” scored 59 runs, tallied 89 hits (14 2B, two 3B, 14 HR), notched 59 RBIs, drew 35 bases on balls, struck out 57 times, swiped two bases, and had a near-.300 average (.297, .370 OBP, .497 SLG, .867 OPS).

Quincy Scott II was the last to be part of that tie, scoring 63 runs with a nice 69 hits (eight 2B, one 3B, 14 HR), 42 RBIs, 51 BBs, 67 Ks, 16 steals, and a .234 avg (.357 OBP, .410 SLG, .767 OPS).

Two more hitters had 10 or more home runs on the season — Rafe Perich, who was one of the first former Burgers to find his way onto the Triple A Round Rock Roster, had 11 with 34 RBIs in his 38 games in High A this year. Malcolm Moore, who was promoted to Frisco back in May, hit 10 four baggers and drove in 37 runs over 48 starts.

As mentioned earlier, among the highs this season, 14 players received a call up to the next level — Reliever Joe Adametz, starter Aidan Curry, reliever Joey Danielson, versatile pitcher J’Briell Easley, starters Dj McCarty and Dalton Pence, relievers Brock Porter and Cole Stasio, catcher Malcolm Moore, first baseman/DH Arturo Disla, third baseman/DH Gleider Figuereo, shortstop Luke Hanson, first baseman Rafe Perich, outfielder Yeison Morrobel, and as of Monday — starter Ismael Agreda.

The team’s biggest accomplishment of 2026 was winning the season series 13-11 over the Greenville Drive for the 2nd straight year. That feat was aided by another one of the highlights of the season — winning four in a row to take the series in Greenville the first week of May.

Hub City also had a season-longest win streak from June 10th-16th in which they won five in a row at home against Asheville before going on the road and taking the first game of the series from the Frederick Keys.

Among the low points of the season, the Burgers experienced a season-longest losing skid at six games from May 29th to June 4th. That streak included dropping the last three games of a road series at Greensboro as well as the first three of the next set at Winston-Salem, who clinched the 2nd playoff spot in the SAL this week.

The team almost matched that skid, dropping five of six at Asheville from June 30th to July 5th. That was followed by another 5 game losing streak from July 5th to the 10th, dropping the finale to the Tourists and then four in a row to Bowling Green.

The month of July was probably the biggest low point as the Burgers ended up all but eliminated from the postseason with 18 losses over the span of the month. For further perspective, granted against a brutal schedule, Hub City went 8-16 to start the second half of the season. At one point, that stretched to 10-23.

Eventually, the Spartanburgers were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs following a walkoff loss to Greensboro back on August 29th. But all in all, they finished the season fairly strong. Not only did they win four of their last five to close out with a series win over Jersey Shore — but Hub City also went 16-16 over the last 32 games of the season.

The 2027 season has a few question marks with the ongoing threat of a lockout. Sure, it is possible that even if MLB goes into a strike that it won’t affect the MiLB season. But nothing is set in stone, especially when it comes to a Collective Bargaining/Labor dispute. The deadline for an agreement to be reached is December 1st. So, it is a matter of waiting to see. But should there be a season three of “Burger Ball,” the home slate will begin on April 6th. As of now, no road schedule has been finalized.