Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Postponed | vs. Buffalo, 6:05 p.m. | Cavalli (0-0, 6.75) vs. Lawrence (1-0, 1.80) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 3-2 | vs. Portland, 6:30 p.m. | Herrera (1-0, 7.20) vs. Murphy (0-0, 2.25) |
| Wilmington | Won, 7-5 (10 inn.) | @ Aberdeen, 7:05 p.m. | Parker (0-0, 2.25) vs. Pinto (0-0, 18.00) |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 13-6 | vs. Carolina, 7:05 p.m. | Collins (0-0, -.–) vs. Moore (0-0, 5.40) |
Rochester vs. Buffalo – PPD
Rain washed out the Red Wings and Bisons on Wednesday night. They’ll shoot to make it up with a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon
Harrisburg 3 Portland 2
• E. Lee 2⅓ IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 4K
• Troop (W, 1-0) 3⅔ IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 6K, HBP
• Brill (SV, 3) 1IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 1K
• Longo 2-3, R
• Flores 1-3, RBI
Harrisburg took advantage of three walks, a wild pitch, and a hit batsman to score three times with just one hit and held on for a 3-2 win over Portland. Evan Lee hit his pitch count with one out in the 3rd after his fourth strikeout, He walked three and allowed one run on one hit. Alex Troop took over and built a bridge to the late innings with three and 2/3rds scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and two while striking out six. Brian Gonzalez added two more goose eggs before turning it over to Matt Brill, who got the save despite failing to register a clean inning for the third straight outing. Veterans Mitch Longo and Jecksson Flores combined for all three (3) Senators hits.
Wilmington 7 Aberdeen 5 (10 inn.)
• Merrill 3⅔ IP, 3H, R, ER, 4BB, 4K, HR
• Brzykcy (W, 1-0) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 1K, HBP, WP
• Stainbrook 1IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 2K
• Wilson 2-5, 2R, HR, 2RBI
• Mendoza 2-5, RBI
• Antuna 1-3, 2BB, SB
The Blue Rocks blew the lead in the 8th but got three in the 10th and held off Aberdeen for 7-5 win. Wilmington starter Matt Merrill was lifted with two out in the 4th and 69 pitches thrown. He gave up one run on a home run and three hits total while issuing four walks and fanning four. Zach “Can I Buy a Vowel?” Brzykcy picked up the win as the pitcher of record despite loading the bases with two out in the 9th. Troy Stainbrook let in the free runner on a leadoff double but struck out two and rolled a groundout to get the save.
Carolina 13 Fredericksburg 6
• Alvarez (L, 0-1) 4⅔ IP, 5H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 5K, WP
• Ribalta 6BF, 3H, 6R, 6ER, 3BB, 0K
• Greenhill 2IP, 1H, R, ER, BB, 2K, 2-2 IR-S
• Rivero 2-3, 3B, BB, 2RBI
• Emiliani 2-3, 2R, 2B, BB, 2RBI
• House 2-5, R, RBI, 3K
The FredNats let the Mudcats swim away with a seven-run 8th en route to a 13-6 loss. Andrew Alvarez was stung for four runs in the first and let in five total over four and 2/3rds on five hits and three walks. He struck out five. Orlando Ribalta put on all six batter he faced with three hits and three walks before Jake Lowery, um, hooked him. All six baserunners came around to score. Yoander Rivero and Leandro Emiliani both went 2-for-3 with two RBI while Brady House had another multi-hit game with two singles and an RBI but also three whiffs to bring his K total to seven in five games. The 18-y.o. also has 15 total bases.
Let’s hear it for Alex Troop. The southpaw had a shutdown performance yesterday. A 9th round pick in 2017, he has pitched 189 innings since with a 2.79 ERA across all levels.
Yasel Antuna so far has a .914 OPS. Seems not playing SS agrees with him.
Still no XBH for Antuna… if he’s going to live up to the prospect hype, especially now as a corner outfielder, he’s going to need to add quite significant power to his (small sample size so far) good contact skills.
Mark, you beat me to the praise for Alex Troop. He’s one who perhaps the lost COVID season actually helped, as it allowed his arm to get completely healthy. It’s good to see a lefty from the 2017 draft class actually making a contribution, unlike the still-MIA 1st-rounder (cough, cough).
Perhaps the most encouraging thing with Antuna is that he’s taking walks, five of them, to go along with five hits. What’s still missing are hits that take him beyond first base. If he’ll put some power with that patience, then we may finally have something.
[And Will was writing about no extra bases for Antuna at the same time I was. Totally true — he won’t make it at a corner position without power, like 30-homer power.]
The interesting story about Aberdeen Ripken Stadium is that if you dial
Back the clock a few years you could not buy a ticket into place even for an A ball affiliate
Very early days, but really encouraging signs from our IFA contigent in Fredericksburg. Emiliani, Pena, and de la Rosa had basically the worst possible seasons imaginable last year. To see them jump out the gate positively is really good to see. It would be great to see some of these guys that played their way out of prospect status re-enter the picture. That would be a big boost for a system that needs all the help it can get.
Troop looked impressive in person. High pitch count got Lee early.
Good scoop on the big lefties. I’m still not clear on why they’re so eager to try to make Lee a starter. They desperately need effective relievers, and that’s just what Lee was in college.
KW, I think with the pitch counts this month they’re all relievers. I’m curious how this will look in June.
Plus, it’s very hard for a failed reliever to become a starter, but relatively easy for a failed starter to become a reliever.
Leo Emiliani should get going with more PT as the weather warms up
Nice guy
Met him in WPB at that hotel