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Monday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Lost, 12-1 OFF DAY Hinkey-dinkey, parley voo
Harrisburg Lost, 2-0 OFF DAY Cheer up the face
Wilmington Won, 4-3 OFF DAY The season’s almost thru
Fredericksburg Won, 8-7 (13 inn.) OFF DAY Burma Shave

Worcester 12 Rochester 1
• Muñoz (L, 2-5) 4IP, 4H, 5R, 5ER, 4BB, 2K, HR, WP
• La Sorsa 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Hill 2-4
• Martin 1-4, 3B, RBI

Roddery Muñoz extended his streak of “dirty” (i.e., not clean) outings to seven as the (ugh) Woo Sox pounded him again for five runs in a 12-1 demolition of the Red Wings and took the series, 4-2. The 23-y.o. gave up four hits (one HR) and four walks while pitching four full innings for the second time for Rochester. Richie Martin broke up the shutout bid with an RBI triple in the 2nd while Derek Hill singled twice in his return from I.L. to lead the Red Wings’ seven-hit, one-walk offense. Roster moves: OF Derek Hill activated from the 7-day I.L.; OF Blake Rutherford optioned from Washington.

Reading 2 Harrisburg 0
• Herz (L, 1-2) 5IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 7K, PTV, PO @ 1B
• Rainey 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Fox 1-3
• Crews 1-4

Harrisburg was shut out for the 11th time this season, 2-0 by Reading. DJ Herz turned in five innings of two-run ball on three hits and four walks while striking out seven, but took the loss. Four relievers combined for four scoreless innings but the offense managed just two singles (Dylan Crews and Lucius Fox) and two walks (Terone Harris). The Senators lost the series, 4-2. Roster moves: RHP Odalvi Javier activatede from Developmental List; RHP Nash Walters placed on the 7-Day I.L.



Wilmington 4 Jersey Shore 3
• Luckham 6IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 3K, 2WP
• Donovan (W, 1-0) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Peterson (SV, 5) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• V. Peña 2-3, 2R, 2B, 2RBI
• Infante 2-3, R, 2B

The Blue Rocks rallied for three in the bottom of the 8th to erase a 3-1 deficit and take the game, 4-3, and the series, 4-2. Kyle Luckham made his 22nd start and had his sixth quality start of two runs on five hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out three and was rewarded with his 12th no-decision. Dakota Donovan got credit for the win for a goose egg in the 8th while Todd Peterson matched him with donut in the 9th for his 5th save. Viandel Peña singled, doubled, scored twice, and drove in two runs, as did Yohandy Morales with a groundout in the 1st and an RBI single to lead the Wilmington offense.

Fredericksburg 8 Salem 7 (13 inn.)
• L. Young 5IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 10K, PTV
• M. Diaz (BS, 1; W, 2-1) 2IP, 3H, 2R, 0ER, 1BB, 0K
• Simpson (SV, 2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Brown 3-6, 2B, RBI
• Vaquero 2-4, R, 3BB, 2RBI
• McHenry 2-7, 2B, 2RBI

The Fredericksburg ‘pen faltered in the 9th…and the 10th, 11th, and the 12th, but held in the 13th for an 8-7 win that secured a 4-2 series win. Luke Young struck out a career-high of ten over five innings, but gave up three runs on four hits and a walk. He was still in line for the win when Thomas Schultz let in the tying run in the bottom of the 9th. The “W” would go to Jared Simpson, the only FredNat reliever to give up neither hit nor a run as he retired the side in order in the 13th for his second save. Gavin Dugas singled twice and doubled once while Cristhian Vaquero reached base five times with three walks and two singles while driving in two runs as the FredNats totaled 13 hits on the afternoon.

10 Commments

  1. Quite the summary and box score for the FredNats, finally finding a reliever who could do the job.

    The reinforcements have made Wilmington a much better team. The lineup now has length.

  2. Herz lost the strike zone in the 2nd and walked three, but got out of it. In the 3rd, another walk scored when Crews misplayed a fly ball into a triple and then he scored on a double off the end of his bat. He did mix his pitches well and had 7 Ks. More concerning is the lack of offense given the lineup.

    1. Let’s hope this is just a blip on Herz’s upward growth, he’s looking like a steal. Joel Hanrahan sure looks like he fixed something.

      I’m confidant Dylan Crews will adjust but he’s had a rude introduction to AA ball.

  3. Crews is proving that the talent level from A to AA is rather big. His line of .143/.269/.190 looks worrying, but the numbers behind that are quite a bit less concerning. Firstly, he’s had terrible luck. His BABIP is only .167, quite a contrast to his BABIP of .436 in A. After a worrying propensity to strikeout in A, he’s hardly doing it in AA. He’s only struck out 4 times in 26 PA (15%), and is walking at a healthy rate (11.5%). He hasn’t been making great contact. Only 11% of his contact have been for line drives, while a lot are ground balls (50%). But still, it looks like a lot of lousy luck, as opposed to bad fundamentals.

    Speaking of good fundamentals, Cristhian Vaquero is showing a surprisingly mature plate approach. With three walks yesterday, he’s almost taken as many walks (38) as he has struck out (40). Like Crews in AA, the power hasn’t yet materialized. He only hit his first HR 2 weeks ago, and doesn’t yet have an XBH in Fredericksburg, but he’s still only 18 years old. That should come in time. And even if it doesn’t, the .418 OBP he’s posted between FCL and A ball this season will still keep him prospect-relevant.

    1. I think three of Crews’s four K’s were against Mick Abel. I don’t mind throwing him in the deep end for a few games at AA at the end of the season. I don’t mean this as a slam on his work ethic, as all reports are that he’s a hard worker, but it may give him a little extra impetus on offseason workouts from having been humbled a bit. He’s one for whom things have always come easy at every level where he’s played.

      Herz and Parker seem a lot alike — funky lefties who are almost unhittable when they’re locating their pitches but who struggle when they get wild. Both seem like likely 40-man additions this winter.

      Highlight-reel catch for our guy Jacob Young yesterday in the 8th, but then they actually doubled him up in the 9th to end the game. We’ll have to see if he can do more at the plate in the majors than Rutherford and Hill have.

    2. I’m a little surprised to see him in the leadoff spot, he’ll never hit there in the majors.

      1. Crews batted leadoff at LSU. I could see him batting #2 for the big club since he’s an on-base machine. His five caught-stealings as a pro suggest that he still has some things to learn on the base paths.

      2. It is a bit surprising, though when you look at the rest of the team there isn’t really a better fit. Hassell, if he was hitting, would be, but for whatever reason DeShields seems absolutely hell bent on having Hassell work out as the #2 hitter despite ample evidence to the contrary. Lipscomb, as great as he’s been, doesn’t have the on base skills you’d want in a lead off guy (walking only 3.7% so far). And Wood and House are pretty typical 3/4 guys.

        Also, the days where teams put guys like Ben Revere or Juan Pierre in the lead off spot solely because he was fast are gone. The best lead off hitters in the game are guys who are fast, yes, but are also damn good players: Acuna, Betts, Semien are some of the best power hitters in the game while batting lead off. It also helps that over the course of a season, your lead off guy will get about 70 more at bats than your #5 guy, so why not give your best player more at bats?

        Ideally, Crews is a #3 hitter, but he seems to have the speed to play anywhere. And at the major league level, I’m not convinced Abrams with his sub .300 OBP is the right guy to hit lead off. However, for the moment, there also aren’t many better options.

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