AFL Update: Oct. 8, 2023
Scottsdale dropped its second straight game, 1-0, with a walkoff by Mesa to close out Week 1 of the AFL Season.
Thad Ward made his first appearance of the fall, pitching two scoreless innings with two whiffs and two Robles as the second man out of the Scorpions ‘pen.
Robert Hassell led off and played centerfield, going 1-for-4 with one of the four Scottsdale singles on the afternoon. He also stole a base (pictured above).
Trey Lipscomb took another turn at shortstop but was 0-for-3 at the plate. He had two putouts and one assist on defense.
Orlando Ribalta took the loss with a home run surrendered to the second batter he faced after retiring the leadoff batter on a groundout.
Scottsdale (3-2-1) returns to action tomorrow with another trip to Salt River.
Interesting how low scoring Scottsdale’s games have been. Meanwhile, the rest of the league seems to be doing normal AFL things, one of the other games yesterday finished 18-11.
NOla May garner interest
Plus he is a Cajun Tiger alum
Nats love LSU
Lees lens captures Hassel like a rock star
Perfect symmetry on most snapshots
Bravo
Thank you very much!!~ He’s a fast one so I’m always ready.
I don’t know that we still really know what we have in Thad Ward. Because of the Rule 5 requirements, he jumped to the majors with only 41 innings of experience at AA (and none at AAA), which was a tall ask of anyone. The good news is that he still has three option years left, so they can stretch him out at Rochester. He turns 27 in January, but between the COVID season and TJ surgery, he still hasn’t totaled 300 pro innings yet despite being drafted in 2018.
Jeff Fassero blossomed into one of the best lefty starts in the bigs at a later age .