AFL/Offseason Update: Oct. 25, 2022
Peoria got single runs in the 1st and 6th and made it stand up for a 2-1 win over Surprise.
Four Nationals appeared in the game:
- Drew Millas caught and batted sixth, going 1-for-4 with a strikeout. He was unsuccessfully defending two base thefts.
- Yasel Antuna (pictured above) was the No. 8 hitter but was 0-for-3 with two whiffs and a GIDP. He played LF and had two putouts.
- Orlando Ribalta (pictured to right) pitched the 8th inning and set the side down in order for his third hold.
- Amos Willingham struck out the side in the 9th to earn the save.
The Javelinas (9-10) are off until tomorrow when they visit Glendale to play the Desert Dogs (9-8).
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2022 DRAFT REPORT CARD FROM BASEBALL AMERICA
The Boys in Durham have weighed in on the early returns from the 2022 First-Year Player Draft.
Here are some of the highlights…
- Best Pure Hitter – OF Jared McKenzie (5th Rd.)
- Best Power Hitter, Defender, Fastest Runner, Athlete – OF Elijah Green (1st)
- Best Fastball, Closest to MLB – LHP Jake Bennett (2nd)
- Obligatory Legacy Fluffing – RHP Marquis Grissom Jr. (13)
- Best Late-Round Pick – RHP Luke Young (11)
- One That Got Away – SS JeanPierre Ortiz (20)
As per usual, there’s no grade here… just a rundown of what the front office had to say about the picks and how they did in a small sample size.
Terrific photos Lee.
Love the Big Tuna photo , Lee
Like an Upper Deck card photo
Question Nats Roman chorus in the bleachers : does Rizzo add an arm to eat innings off Seattle excess rack ???
Happy to share Alou. Maybe Peoria needs to start playing the Nats more so they can get back to the early season winning ways.
Thank you Mark!!~ One of my favorite ballparks to shoot in. Great sightlines and lighting helps a lot.
Nice to see Antuna after a long layoff.
Quietly, our relievers have been pretty excellent so far.
Leading the charge is Orlando Ribalta. His 0.72 WHIP is the 6th best among all pitchers in the AFL this season, and he’s one of only 10 (out of 126) pitchers to not have allowed an earned run yet. Remember the league average is 1.66 WHIP and 6.03 ERA, so stats that look mediocre by MILB standards are actually really good in the AFL. Which is a neat segue to Lucas Knowles and Amos Willingham. Both have relatively unsightly ERAs (6.48 and 5.68, respectively), but they have encouraging underlying stats. Knowles, for example, has a 0.84 WHIP, so his high ERA is due to pretty insanely bad luck. He’s allowed only 7 baserunners in total, while 6 of them have scored. That’s unsustainable. For Willingham, he has a solid 1.26 WHIP and has struck out 10 batters in only 6.1 IP. His strikeout rate (14.21/9) is actually 11th best in all of the AFL. All three pitchers have displayed good control, with none of them walking more than 2 batters, Willingham being the highest at 2.84/9IP, which is half of the league average of 5.7/9IP
Our starter, Cate, meanwhile, the less that’s said about his performance, the better.
Ribalta was well regarded by brass out of college
Interesting off season decision will be what Kurt Suzuki does with his career cross roads
Retire and spend time with his family or jump into coaching .