Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Lost, 6-5 | @ Syracuse, 1:05 p.m. | Abbott (2-4, 5.29) vs. Lucchesi (6-5, 4.64) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 6-4 | @ Altoona, 6 p.m. | Alvarez (0-2, 3.60) vs. Solometo (2-4, 4.56) |
| Wilmington | Lost, 4-2 | @ Brooklyn, 7 p.m. | Díaz (3-4, 4.37) vs. De La Cruz (1-1, 3.00) |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 4-0 | @ Delmarva, 5:05 p.m. | Sullivan (1-0, 5.25) and Leon (Low-A debut) vs. De Los Santos (1-9, 4.40) and Chace (5-2, 4.43) |
Syracuse 6 Rochester 5
• T. Romero 3IP, 4H, 0R, 1BB, 2K
• Harris (H, 4) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• G. Moreno (BS, 7; L, 7-5) ⅔ IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 1K, HBP
• Lindsly 3-4, 2RBI
• García 3-5
• Tostado 2-5, 2R, HR, RBI
The Red Wings blew a 3-0 lead then scratched their way back to a 5-4 lead only to give it away in the bottom of the 9th, 6-5 to the Mets. Tommy Romero went the first three innings, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out two. Gerson Moreno, who was inexplicably named the I.L.’s best reliever, coughed up two in the bottom of the 9th for his fifth loss and seventh blown save. Brady Lindlsy and Luis García both had three singles while Frankie Tostado hit his first AAA homer for Rochester’s sole extra-base hit on the night. Roster moves: LHP Joe La Sorsa optioned from Washington.
Harrisburg 6 Altoona 4
• Saenz (W, 4-5) 5IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 3K, WP
• Schoff (H, 5) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 1K
• Wood 2-4, R, 3B, RBI, SB
• Crews 2-5
• Lipscomb 1-3, R, BB, HR(10), RBI
Harrisburg ended a seven-game losing streak while collecting four extra-base hits in a 6-4 victory over Altoona. Dustin Saenz turned in five innings of one-run ball on four hits, no walks, and three whiffs to earn his fourth AA win. Brady House hit his first AA homer to start the scoring with a two-run shot in the 2nd while J.T. Arruda tripled in two in the 9th for a pair of insurance runs that turned out to be needed as Malvin Peña gave them back in the bottom of the 9th. James Wood (triple) and Trey Lipscomb (homer) also had long hits as the Sens totaled eight hits total on the night and left on just four baserunners.
Brooklyn 4 Wilmington 2
• Cáceres (L, 0-6) 3+ IP, 4H, 3R, 1ER, 4BB, 5K, HR, HBP, WP
• Huff 3IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 2K, 2-2 IR-S PO @ 1B
• Morales 3-3, BB, 2B(5), RBI, E
• Suggs 2-4, RBI, PB
The Blue Rocks bats went silent in the final two and 2/3rds innings as the Cyclones took the opener, 4-2. Bryan Cáceres gave up three or more runs for the 13th time in 19 starts, losing for the sixth time as he walked four and allowed four hits (one HR) over three-plus innings. Yohandy Morales reached base four times with two singles, a walk, and his fifth A+ double while Matt Suggs singled twice. Andrew Pinckney also singled to round out Wilmington’s six-hit barrage.
Delmarva 4 Fredericksburg 0
• Cornelio (L, 4-8) 6IP, 8H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 6K, 2WP
• Green 1-4, 2K
• Glasser 1-2, 2BB
Fredericksburg was shut out for the seventh time, 4-0 on two hits by Delmarva. Combined with a Mudcats win, the FredNats tragic number was reduced to one. Riley Cornelio lost for the 8th time despite turning in his team-leading third quality start of two runs on eight hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out six. Newcomer Phillip Glasser broke up the no-hitter with two out in the 7th while Elijah Green collected the second and final hit for Fredericksburg with a single in the 8th. Roster moves: RHP Travis Sthele placed on 7-day I.L.; RHP Johan Otanez reassigned from the FCL.
With Amaral and Sthele being added to the IL in recent, does this mean they’re actually injured or just been shut down the season? If it’s the former, that would be really frustrating, since there’s little value to be gained from rushing them to play in 2023 (see: Sykora not appearing, and Bennett and Cornelio last season).
On Gerson Moreno, I don’t have access to BA. But how on earth could he be called the IL’s best reliever?! Sure, he’s having a good season, striking out well over 1 per inning, and keeping a low ERA (2.55 ERA), but it all kind of ends there. First, he’s no prospect. He turns 28 in 4 days. Second, he’s walking 6 batters per 9IP, has an unsustainably low .230 BABIP, aided in part by a high flyball rate (52%) and yet an extremely low HR per flyball rate (6.2%) which is especially strange in the hitter friendly IL. Altogether it amounts to a fine, but unexceptional, 4.02 FIP. Basically, Moreno has been a solid, even good, reliever, but very lucky. Just looking at the stat leaderboards, Kody Funderburk or Anthony Maldonado have much better stats than Moreno, but I’m no BA scout, so what do I know…
Last chance for Johan Otanez. “Reassigned” from FCL is doing some Atlas-ian heavy lifting, as Otanez brings his 25.07 ERA and 27 walks per 9 IP (no, those are not typos) to Fredericksburg.
Pro tip: Unless you see it with your own eyes, do not assume that a player on the I.L. is actually injured. Given that there’s less than a week left in the season, they’re functionally being shut down… until instrux at the least. Unfortunately, with the destruction of the NYPL teams no longer have much choice but to use Low-A to further evaluate the draft picks. Another quirk from years past: the NYPL sometimes went until the Sunday after Labor Day, enabling the Nats to “demote” guys from Hagerstown for one last appearance (or few more ABs) with the Doubledays.
Good to see the Harrisburg bats show up! Hope they can finish the season strong. Morales and Pinckney have never slowed down. Both are hitting .327 at Wilmington after 13 games there.
I’ve never known quite what to think of Saenz. He’s at AA in his second full pro season, which is solid progress, even though he’s been up and down. He’s only given up one run or less in five of his last seven appearances, though, earning wins in four of them, so he’s trending in the right direction. He’s not a Rule 5 decision until next year.
He is a strange one. His strikeout rates are all over the place, even going back to college. Right now in AA, he’s only struck out 37 in 67 IP (5 per 9IP). Not being able to miss bats with any regularity will be hard to succeed in the majors. However, across 50 innings in Wilmington he was striking out more than 9 per 9IP… It was a similar story last season too, high Ks in Fburg, then low Ks in Wilmington… However, he also does induce a lot of bad contact. His groundball rate sits around 50% for his career (and currently in Harrisburg), so it’s not surprising he’s induced 11 double plays in Harrisburg (a good way to get outs if you can’t get them by strikes!).
I don’t think his stuff will translate at the major league level, but I didn’t think Jake Irvin’s would either! With Saenz poised to start next season in AAA, we should find out relatively soon!
Saenz, Alvarez, Knowles, Hernandez and to a lesser extent Troop and Cate are all the same guy. southpaws throwing low 90s with good command. if one or two make it all the way that will be about it
I am encouraged by Pinkney as he is starting to get walks at a good rate. when I look at Lipscomb I fear we are seeing the second coming of Luis Garcia
Lipscomb took 26 walks in 66 games for Tennessee in 2022, but he’s only taken 27 in 119 games this season. Yikes. Did someone give him the old-school “you’re not being aggressive enough at the plate” talk?