Cecil Joyce

cjoyce@tennessean.com

The last time the Nashville Sounds won a Pacific Coast League division title was in 2007, and the Sounds haven't won the PCL championship since 2005.

That could change this season. Nashville leads the PCL's American Southern division, and the Sounds' 46-33 record is second overall in the league — one-half game behind El Paso.

Here are the top five reasons the Sounds are sitting atop their division and have made a big turnaround from last year's 66-78 mark.

5. Veteran leadership

There are several players with MLB experience either on the roster or have come through Nashville this season. Among those are Josh Reddick, Eric Surkamp, Jed Lowrie, Jesse Hahn, Henderson Alvarez, Ryan Doolittle and Arismendy Alcantara.

4. Ryon Healy

Healy was tearing it up for Class AA Midland early in the season and hasn't slowed down since being promoted to Nashville. The third baseman leads the team in batting (.346) and OPS (.963). In just 147 at-bats with the Sounds he has 14 doubles, five homers, 31 runs and 25 RBIs. In 298 total at-bats this season he is hitting .342 with 27 doubles, 13 homers, 58 runs, 59 RBIs and a .990 OPS.

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3. Manufacturing runs

The Sounds have 50 stolen bases and have been caught just six times. Prior to being promoted to Oakland, Alcantara burned up the basepaths for Nashville, collecting 26 steals without being caught.

Despite being in the bottom half of the Pacific Coast League in most offensive categories, Nashville has managed 386 runs, which is fifth among the 16 teams. Third baseman Renaldo Nunez has 12 homers and 46 RBIs to lead the squad in both categories.

2. Road warriors

The Sounds are on an epic pace in road games. Nashville is 24-12 in road games, compared to 22-21 at home. The Sounds are 6-1-2 in road series, including consecutive four-game sweeps over Las Vegas (May 23-26) and Salt Lake (May 27-30).

1. It's all about the arms

In a hitter-friendly league, the Sounds are among PCL leaders in almost every pitching category. Most important of those is ERA, where Nashville leads the league at 3.28. Nashville also leads the league in WHIP (1.24), is second in strikeouts (665) and second in fewest hits allowed (624). Recently promoted Daniel Mengden had a 1.39 ERA in seven starts while relievers Tucker Healy and Patrick Schuster have a combined for 10 saves, a 1.80 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 65 innings.