AAA: El Paso 8, Sacramento 2

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Sacramento Notes:

  • Sacramento’s offense struggled on a day that two of their high-level starting pitching prospects struggled.  Kyle Harrison couldn’t make it out of the first inning, while Keaton Winn lasted longer but gave up four runs.
  • Kyle Harrison gave up three runs on two hits and four walks, while going only 0.2 innings.  Harrison threw 35 pitches, but only 13 were strikes.  After two rough outings, Harrison has a 13.50 ERA.
    • Harrison was working 93-96 mph with his fastball, and 81-83 mph with his slider.  He missed with his fastball mostly up above the zone, while his slider was consistently missing glove side.  Out of 35 pitches, batters swung only eight times, twice whiffing.
  • Keaton Winn had the most innings of any of the six River Cats pitchers, as he went 3.1 innings, allowing six hits and three walks, leading to four runs, with just one strikeout.  Winn had a 9.95 ERA with ten hits and six walks in 6.1 innings in two games so far this season.
    • Winn’s fastball varied from 92-97 mph, but he struggled mightily with control with it, only hitting the zone with it barely a quarter of the time.  He was much more accurate with his changeup and slider, but his changeup got hit pretty hard.
  • Reliever Nick Avila went 1.1 innings in relief of Harrison, allowing one run on a hit and a walk with no strikeouts.  Avila’s got a 4.50 ERA through three appearances so far this season, with two runs allowed on two hits and three walks with just two strikeouts in 4.0 innings.  His fastball sat 93-95 mph.
  • First baseman Armando Alvarez hit the team’s only home run of the game, going 1-for-4.  It was Alvarez’s first home run of the season.  He’s 6-for-23 (.261) but with two doubles, a triple, and a home run, with five walks to five strikeouts.
  • Second baseman Brett Wisely was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Wisely is off to a good start, with a batting line of .318/.483/.455 through six games, with three doubles, and six walks to seven strikeouts.
  • Joey Bart was the designated hitter, and went 1-for-4, and had no strikeouts.  Bart is 3-for-7 with a walk, and has yet to strike out, after two games in Sacramento.
  • Will Wilson was just 1-for-3 with a walk, but check out this defensive gem of his while playing shortstop!

AA: Richmond 7, Reading 3

Link

Richmond Notes:

  • Richmond rode a big 5-run third inning, with a little help, to a 7-0 win and a 3-0 record on the season.  The Squirrels led off the inning with three straight singles by Luis Matos, Patrick Bailey and Brett Auerbach, leading to their first run.  A second run came in on an error, and a third on a sacrifice fly.  Simon Whiteman’s RBI single plated a fourth run, and then another error allowed a fifth, and Richmond was up 5-3, a lead they’d keep the rest of the way.
  • Patrick Bailey led the way for the Squirrels offense, going 2-for-4 with a double, his second of the season, and a walk.  It’s been a good start for Bailey, who is 3-for-7 (.429) with two doubles and the walk.
  • Tyler Fitzgerald, playing shortstop, went 2-for-4 with his first double of the season and stole his first base of the season.  Fitzgerald is 4-for-8 with that double, plus two walks and three strikeouts.
  • Playing third, Brett Auerbach was 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, and an error.  Auerbach has only played third in the first three games of the season.  While Auerbach is a swiss army knife on the field, he had played just 20 games at third base previously in his pro career.
  • Richmond starter Mason Black had ups and downs.  He allowed three runs on four hits, but he also struck out six without allowing any walks.  That gives Black a 6.75 ERA to start the season.
  • Reliever Nick Swiney went three scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out three.  It’s a great start for the 2020 2nd compensation round pick, who vacillated between highs and lows in 2022, with a 3.84 ERA in 21 games at High-A Eugene.

High-A: Postponed – Rain

Eugene Notes:

  • No date for the rescheduled game was announced.  The Ems will face Everett again, but in Eugene, in late May.  They’ll next travel to Everett at the end of June through the start of July.  They will also face off in Eugene in August, and travel one more time to Everett in early September.

Low-A: Scheduled Day Off

San Jose Notes:

  • San Jose got an unusual Sunday off in the early part of the schedule thanks to Easter.  With Monday also off, San Jose will next play on Tuesday, April 11th, traveling to Modesto to meet the Nuts.