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Hitting Report: June 28
After a hot start, the Jammers have fallen quite hard over the past few days and have scored just nine runs in their past five games — and six in their last four. Not much of a coincidence that Jamestown is 0-5 in that stretch.
So why the power outage? Well, it’s Angel Espada’s duty to get everyone at bats and with 15 active hitters, that’s not the easiest task. While Jamestown does have five guys hitting over .300, they have the same amount hitting under .200. In addition, Jamestown has just four homeruns, all of which are solo shots.
Perhaps the most surprising stat, though, is Jamestown is batting .263 with runners in scoring position. That’s really not a terrible number and has a handful of guys doing pretty well in that situation. For whatever reason, they’re not scoring. The main reason may be their slugging percentage, which is just .322, fourth last in the league.
CATCHERS — Jose Behar (6), Sharif Othman (2), Brian Dice (2)
Behar started last night. My guess is Othman gets it tonight. He hasn’t started since Saturday. Back to Behar on Friday. Dice or Behar on Saturday.
Who should be playing — Behar. I like him defensively and he’s hitting .318/.375/.408. While he’s only played back-to-back days twice, Espada’s done a pretty good job settling on one guy so far.
FIRST BASE — Viosergy Rosa (6), Felix Munoz (4)
It’s been on-and-off here, but both players are fairly similar. They’re lefties without a whole lot of power and neither showed they were too much better than the other defensively. I suppose I’d prefer Rosa with the glove though. He’s also shown a great eye at the plate. But, Munoz is hitting .353/.389/.529. Rosa is .150/.250/.207.
Who should be playing — Looking at those offensive numbers and Jamestown’s mighty struggle at the plate lately, it should be Munoz.
SECOND BASE — Anthony Gomez (5), Yefri Perez (3), Yeison Hernandez (2)
This has been my headscratcher. Granted Gomez has DH’d a couple of times, but I’d like to see him out at second more often that 50 percent of the time. I really like Hernandez, who is hitting .290, and like what Espada is doing with him, moving him around the infield and getting him at bats. But to me, Gomez has a future at second. Get him more at bats.
Who should be playing — In an ideal 10-game stretch, I’d probably have Gomez start six or seven with Perez and Hernandez splitting the rest.
SHORTSTOP — Austin Nola (5), Hernandez (3), Rony Peralta (2)
Nola has played everyday, but has moved around which is somewhat OK in my book. Again, I like Hernandez playing this amount and him getting a few starts at shortstop every 10 games is great. Nola at .143/.262/.143 has been a hole in the middle of the lineup this year.
Who should be playing — Well, with Nola struggling as much as he is, this is a decent rotation. Ideally, I’d like to see him more at just short and give his at bats at third base to Peralta.
THIRD BASE — Matt Juengel (5), Nola (4), Peralta (1)
At this point, Jamestown/Miami is trying to figure out if Nola can play shortstop at the major league level. Thus, he’s getting a ton of work at third. It’s possible with Nola going back-and-forth that he is struggling so much at the plate. Whatever the case, I like Juengel. He’s hitting .267 with a .371 OBP. No extra-base hits yet, but they’ll come.
Who should be playing — The conundrum in whether or not Nola can play short. If he can’t, then Nola should be here, which I guess DH’s Juengel (unless he can play first against lefthanded starters?). If Nola can play short, then have Juengel here everyday with Peralta backing up both positions.
LEFT FIELD — Kentrell Dewitt (6), Jesus Solorzano (4)
Dewitt started 4-for-7. He’s 0-for-16 since. Coincidence or not, there were three days off in between those two numbers. Nobody said he was injured, but that’s a bit strange. Solorzano looks like a player and with his versatility in the outfield, he has a great chance to keep moving through the system.
Who should be playing — Dewitt unless he continues to really struggle. I’d rather see Solorzano in right.
CENTER FIELD — Juancito Martinez (8) Solorzano (2)
The MVP of the season so far has been Martinez. He has a team-high 10 hits and three stolen bases, while hitting .333 with three RBI and three runs. He does have an error, but he’s been fine to me defensively when I’ve seen him. Again Solorzano backing him up twice every 10 games is ideal.
Who should be playing — Martinez. He’s been great.
RIGHT FIELD — Cameron Flynn (7) Solorzano (3)
Flynn, a rookie out of Kentucky, has struggled so far. He’s just 5-for-28 with five singles. He is batting 3-for-8 with RISP and is tied for the team lead with four RBI.
Who should be playing — Well Jamestown only has four outfielders and if Solorzano is the utility man, I suppose it’s Flynn. The outfield rotation has actually been great so far so no real complaints here.
DESIGNATED HITTER — Juengel (3), Hernandez (2), Gomez (2), Dice (1), Rosa (1), Nola (1)
This is all about getting guys more ABs and there is no real reason to complain about any of the choices here. Again, once we know what they’re going to do with Nola, shortstop and third base will clear up more. I like Hernandez getting opportunities here.
Who should be playing — Any of the infielders. They’ve got plenty of them.
Morning Jam: June 28
Another blowout loss at the hands of Auburn. The three game series ended with a 7-0 loss on Wednesday meaning Jamestown had been outscored 22-5 in the series. They had just five hits and little-used infielders Yefri Perez and Rony Peralta had four of them. In addition, just one walk. Ugly cap to an ugly series.
• Jammers starters have thrown 36 innings, allowed 40 hits, walked 18 and allowed 27 runs (23 earned). Take away Ramon Del Orbe and those numbers are somehow even more brutal. It is going to be a very long year if that keeps up.
• Possible solutions? Well, I’m not sure, but Jake Esch and Blake Logan feel like real options at this point. Esch has done a marvelous job out of the pen and has had outings of three and four innings this year. Logan, a rookie out of college, was a starter this season. So was Drew Steckenrider, who is on the temporary inactive list right now.
• Jamestown is now hitting .244 as a team. Was just this weekend when I said the Jammers were in good shape with their offense. Well, Auburn settled that down as Jamestown batted exactly .200 (19-for-95) in the series and averaged less than two runs. I don’t know, at some point Angel Espada has to use guys that are swinging hot bats. Clearly, the plan has been to use Austin Nola everyday, but the rookie shortstop (who I said wasn’t nearly as bad as his numbers indicated last night) had another tough day at the plate, going 0-for-4.
• They’ll start a three-gamer with Batavia tonight. The Muckdogs are a game better than Jamestown at 4-6 and took two of three from Jamestown this past weekend. Again, they’ll go back-and-forth between Jamestown and Batavia starting in Batavia tonight. Helpi Reyes (0-0, 5.63 ERA) on the mound for the Jammers.
Gomez Finds Familiar Surroundings in Jamestown
It’s been one hectic, up-and-down month for Jammers second baseman Anthony Gomez.
His junior season at Vanderbilt came to a disappointing end in the NCAA Regionals on June 4. With the Commodores in the winners bracket, Vandy needed to beat N.C. State one out of two to advance to the Super Regionals. But a pair of losses by a combined three runs ended the ‘Dores’ season seemingly early.
Jammers second baseman Anthony Gomez is hitting .276 with a .353 OBP through nine games this season.
But, he was drafted the following day in the sixth round by the Miami Marlins with the 197th overall pick. Stay for his senior year or pursue a childhood dream?
He sat on it for a few days.
“It’s tough you know,” Gomez said referring to his decision. “You don’t want to get off to a bad start your team by not signing, but it was a crazy turnaround from losing in regionals to getting drafted. My season had just ended, I wanted to enjoy some time with my friends.”
Who could blame a 21-year-old college student for that? But with Short Season minor league seasons less than two weeks from starting, Gomez was short on time.
“It was obviously exciting to get drafted,” he said. “But I wanted to give it a day or two. Just relax and weigh the options. But, Miami was a good fit and getting drafted in the sixth round was a big compliment. Both of my parents agreed and I signed.”
And exactly two weeks after his season with Vanderbilt had ended, Gomez was batting second as the starting designated hitter on Opening Day for the Jamestown Jammers. He had two hits, a double and drove in a run in his first professional game.
But Gomez, like virtually all other rookies, didn’t know what to expect when starting pro baseball. Luckily for him, as Gomez said, he was joined on the Jammers 2012 roster with a pair of rookie hitters from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) who had just finished up their final college seasons as well. All three were embarking on their first season of pro ball in a bit of a rush. All three just played everyday in the best conference in college baseball and all three were now members of the Jamestown Jammers and the Miami Marlins.
That was Austin Nola from LSU and Cameron Flynn from Kentucky. Nola’s season had actually just ended on June 10 against Stony Brook. Had they won, he wouldn’t have been in Jamestown yet. Flynn’s Kentucky Wildcats season ended where Gomez’s did, in the NCAA regionals, although just one day before Vanderbilt’s. And while Gomez said none of the three were best friends prior to signing, the three quickly became acquainted with each other and flew into Buffalo late Friday night, just three days before Opening Day.
“It’s huge to play with those two guys,” Gomez said. “[Austin] Nola’s a four-year guy at LSU and is one of the great baseball minds I’ve ever met. I just try to pick up anything I can from him. [Cameron] Flynn’s one of the best hitter in the SEC last year. We’re all just feeling things out together, but it’s great to have two guys you’re so familiar with… guys that have the same background as you.”
And familiarity is always an issue at this level. For most of these players, it’s their first year of pro ball. In fact, it is for 10 of the 30 players on Jamestown’s roster (nine from college and one was injured for first two years). In addition, more than half of the other 20 players have little experience at the GCL (rookie) level. Very few guys on this roster are used to the everyday grind.
But while that’s been the toughest adjustment for Gomez, it certainly isn’t something he’ll complain about.
“It’s fun playing baseball everyday,” he said. “Not worrying about school and to be out with the guys everyday, it’s a new experience and its great.”
Switching from a metal bat to a wooden bat?
“Well it is something, but having (batting practice) everyday helps,” Gomez continued. “It sort of helps shorten the learning curve.”
That learning curve hasn’t appeared to affect the rookie infielder too much yet. Although it’s still early, Gomez is batting .308 with four RBI in six games (through June 25). He’s been a key cog to the lineup and has done exceptionally well in clutch situations. He’s hitting .667 (4-for-6) with runners in scoring position.
“You don’t want to worry about your average at this point,” Gomez said. “Right now, it’s about making sure you have quality at bats. I want to get used to the pitching and get used to playing second base.”
Gomez played shortstop and hit .353 in 63 games for Vandy. Remarkably, he had 57 RBI this year while only grabbing 15 extra-base hits. He’s proven to be a solid clutch hitter with plenty of speed to use at the top of the lineup.
But, already off of a long college season, time will tell if Gomez and his rookie teammates can handle the task of playing for another two-plus months.
“The game’s still 60 feet, six inches,” Gomez quipped. “I’m still getting used to the grind and used to the bus rides — getting ready to move from town to town in a hurry. You’re on your own much more than in college.”
Morning Jam: Jamestown drops fourth straight
It was an ugly 8-3 loss that could have actually been much worse had Auburn not batted 3-f0r-16 with RISP. But, nonetheless, Jamestown has been routed by Auburn on back-to-back nights and with more coming up against the Doubledays next week, they better figure it out soon.
• The lone bright spot was Austin Nola had two hits to bump his average to .161. Say what you want about his struggles, but the rookie shortstop has now reached based six games in a row and eight of nine. In his last five, he’s batting .286 with a .444 OBP. Things aren’t nearly as bad as they seem for him.
• Blake Logan’s pro debut was rather special last night. After being activated earlier in the day, Logan came on in relief of Newell and threw two scoreless innings while striking out five. I still think the 13th round pick is better suited for the rotation and with the way Jamestown’s starters have been this year, I wouldn’t think it would be the worst idea.
• Miguel Fermin did throw last night much like I thought he would. He finished off the eighth, but struggled a little allowing a double and a walk.
• 7 hits and 6 walks last night, but just 3 runs. No timely hitting and another solo homerun. They offense is actually tied for fourth in homers, 7th in average and OBP, but third last (12th) in RBI and second last (13th) in runs. They’re spreading the hits out and not hitting when guys are on. Pretty simple.
• Final game of a three-game set in Auburn. A much-needed win and Jamestown will send Matt Milroy (0-0, 4.50, 2 IP) to the hill to face Pedro Encarnacion (0-0, 2-8 ERA, 4.1 IP).
• Jamestown starts a three-gamer with Batavia tomorrow, but will be doing some traveling. Batavia Thursday, Jamestown Friday, Batavia Saturday.
• Birthday wishes: A happy 20th to Jammers starting pitcher Mason Hope, a fifth round pick in the 2011 MLB Draft.
Pitching Report: June 26
The bats have gone cold lately as Jamestown’s team batting averaged has dipped down to .254 (sixth in the league still). But, the Jammers pitching staff actually was on a decent roll until getting hit hard Monday night.
As reported earlier in the week, Drew Steckenrider was placed on the temporary inactive list. Today, Jamestown activated Blake Logan, a 13th round pick this year. I’m not sure how he’ll be used, but Logan was a starter as a sophomore this season at Eastern Oklahoma State.
Tuesday, June 26 at Auburn
Starter: Ryan Newell. He threw just two innings in his debut last week. Allowed a hit, walked two and let one run score. I’m sure he’ll be extended tonight.
Relievers: Jake Esch went four innings in relief of Newll last time out and hasn’t pitched since. I would expect to see Esch get at least an inning tonight. Closer Nick Wittgren has had three days off (all Jammers losses) and would likely see action tonight if Jamestown is ahead late. Besides that, Miguel Fermin, on two days rest, is likely to go tonight.
Wednesday, June 27 at Auburn
Starter: Matt Milroy or Blake Logan. It’s Milroy’s turn in the rotation, but I just figured he’d be a reliever for these guys. He only threw two innings last time out so there’s no reason to think he’s a fixture in the rotation. Logan, with starting experience, was just activated and should probably get some work soon.
Relievers: Whoever doesn’t start should probably get work anyhow. Brian Ellington and Bryan Berglund probably due for some work as well.
Thursday, June 28 at Batavia
Starter: Helpi Reyes. Reyes has a 5.63 ERA in two starts this year and is the de facto ace. Three innings on Opening Day. Five in his second. Espada will certainly expect at least five from him.
Relievers: They could go anywhere but from a pure schedule standpoint, Jheyson Manzueta might be targeted for Thursday. He threw three innings Sunday and I can’t imagine him going before then. Frankie Reed and Ellington — if not used Tuesday or Wednesday, which is unlikely for both — make sense here too.
News and Notes: June 26
I’ll be switching to a slightly new format this week with a daily morning report called the “Morning Jammer”. That will be an easier way for me to hit on a few things as I simply won’t be able to do a game report each night.
• I had a nice phone interview with second baseman Anthony Gomez. That story will be up on the website tomorrow.
• Jamestown placed Drew Steckenrider on the temporarily inactive list. The rookie righthander out of Tennessee has yet to pitch this year. The ensuing roster opening allowed Jamestown to take Blake Logan off of the temporary inactive list. No word yet on when Logan will be used.
• I have teamed up with Penn League Report and will start contributing to the website this week. They do a good job over there, including recapping games from around the NYPL each night. Be sure to keep up with that each day. I’ll mostly be doing Jammers-related stuff work over there.
• Jammers at it again tonight as they continue their three game set with the Auburn Doubledays. Ryan Newell will look to get Jamestown off of a three-game slide.
NYPL Week 1 Report
I’ll be doing this at the end of each week, we’ll go Monday through Sunday since we started on a Monday.
First things first, how did this Jammers do? A very unfortunate 3-4. Angel Espada certainly might be a little disappointed to be under .500 with the way his club has played, but the little things are hurting Jamestown early. Errors, baserunning mistakes and not hitting in clutch situations is why Jamestown is looking up in the standings despite pretty good team statistical numbers.
My NYPL Player of the Week: David Chester (Lowell) — Could go anywhere here, but from a purely statistical standpoint (since I clearly don’t see all the games), Chester is hit .448 with two homers, four doubles, seven RBI and eight runs scored. He played in all seven games this week as well.
Other notables — Austin Elkins (Tri-City) hit .476 with a homer in six games. Jobduan Morales (Tri-City) hit .450 with a homer. Dreily Guerrero (Lowell) hit a whopping .563 but only in four games. Juan Romero (Mahoning Valley) had three homers this week, two of which I was fortunate enough to see on Opening Day.
NYPL Pitcher of the Week: Gabriel Ynoa (Brooklyn) — This is going to be a tough award each week to hand out (especially without split stats on the league’s website) but Ynoa started two games, went 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings. Struck out eight and only allowed six hits and a walk.
Other notables — Josh Warner (Williamsport) Joan Monter0 (State College) Silvio Medina (Auburn) and Vincent Velasquez (Tri-City).
| New York Penn League Standings | ||||
| (Through Sunday, June 24) | ||||
| McNamara | W | L | PCT | GB |
| Hudson Valley Renegades (TB) | 5 | 2 | 0.714 | – |
| Brooklyn Cyclones (NYM) | 5 | 2 | 0.714 | – |
| Aberdeen IronBirds (BAL) | 2 | 5 | 0.286 | 3 |
| Staten Island Yankees (NYY) | 2 | 5 | 0.286 | 3 |
| Pinckney | W | L | PCT | GB |
| State College Spikes (PIT) | 5 | 2 | 0.714 | – |
| Auburn Doubledays (WSH) | 4 | 3 | 0.571 | 1 |
| Williamsport Crosscutters (PHI) | 4 | 3 | 0.571 | 1 |
| Jamestown Jammers (MIA) | 3 | 4 | 0.429 | 2 |
| Batavia Muckdogs (STL) | 3 | 4 | 0.429 | 2 |
| Mahoning Valley Scrappers (CLE) | 2 | 5 | 0.286 | 3 |
| Stedler | W | L | PCT | GB |
| Lowell Spinners (BOS) | 4 | 3 | 0.571 | – |
| Tri-City ValleyCats (HOU) | 4 | 3 | 0.571 | – |
| Vermont Lake Monsters (OAK) | 4 | 3 | 0.571 | – |
| Connecticut Tigers (DET) | 2 | 5 | 0.286 | 2 |
Jammers-Muckdogs Recap
Jamestown drops their second in a row with a tough 4-1 loss to Batavia. Bats weren’t all that quiet with 10 hits, but the only run came via a solo homer from Jesus Solorzano. Ran themselves out of a few innings and couldn’t string enough hits together.
The good: Everything, sort of. 10 hits is nothing to be unhappy about. Del Orbe was solid enough for six innings and Manzueta threw three pretty good innings as well. The problem was nothing was great, all just OK.
The bad: 0-for-7 with RISP. Left nine on. Two guys got caught stealing. The little things killed Jamestown tonight.
Game was over when: Jamestown had a leadoff double in the eighth from Yeison Hernandez for the heart of the order trailing just 3-1. Rosa struck out, Juengel struck out and Nola grounded out weakly. Batavia added insurance in the ninth, but it didn’t really matter. A two-out rally in the ninth was alright, but still needed more fireworks to become dangerous.
HITTERS
Anthony Gomez C — 1-for for the DH. Not a whole lot to talk about here.
Yeison Hernandez C+ — Leadoff double in the eighth in desperate need of a rally was huge. The 3-4-5 hitters going down so easily wasn’t.
Viosergy Rosa D — 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts.
Matt Juengel B — Juengel was 2-for-4 but struck out in a big spot in the eighth. Also had a throwing error in the 9th, but that didn’t cost Jamestown.
Austin Nola C+ — I thought Nola would break out of it, but his 1-for-4 day kept his average at .115. I might give him a day off tomorrow to relax.
Jesus Solorzano B+ — Homered for Jamestown’s only run. Also made a nice running catch down the line.
Kentrell Dewitt C- — 0-for-3 and was hit by a pitch.
Jose Behar A- — I like Behar a lot. He went 2-for-4 and threw a runner out.
Juancito Martinez —
PITCHERS
Ramon Del Orbe B- — Not a bad day from Del Orbe but dropped down a peg or two when he couldn’t get out of the sixth. There were runners on the corners with nobody out, but after Behar threw a runner out and a soft grounder to Nola with the infield in suddenly had Del Orbe practically out of a jam. But after getting up 0-2, a wild pitch allowed Garrett Wittels to score. Tough cap to his night. Had retired 11 of 12 at one point.
Jheyson Manzueta B- — Was rudely welcomed to the game with back-to-back singles on the first two pitches he threw. But he struck out the next two before getting out of it with a fly ball. Threw a great eighth and had two down in the ninth before serving up a fastball that was crushed by Gary Apelian to give Batavia an insurance run. Probably a B+ if not for the homerun. Would have been three scoreless innings.
Jammers-Muckdogs Lineups
Game No. 7 for the Jammers. They host Batavia looking to get back over .500 and erase last night’s loss.
JAMESTOWN
1. Anthony Gomez — DH
2. Yeison Hernandez — 2B
3. Viosergy Rosa — 1B
4. Matt Juengel — 3B
5. Austin Nola — SS
6. Jesus Solorzano — RF
7. Kentrell Dewitt — LF
8. Jose Behar — C
9. Juancito Martinez — CF
SP — Ramon Del Orbe
BATAVIA
1. Anthony Melchionda — SS
2. Garrett Wittels — 2B
3. Jacob Wilson — 3B
4. Roberto Reyes — RF
5. David Bergin — 1B
6. Jesus Montero — C
7. Kolby Byrd — DH
8. Gary Apelian — LF
9. Steve Ramos — CF
SP — Ben Freeman
Jammers-Muckdogs Lineups
JAMESTOWN
1. CF Juancito Martinez
2. LF Kentrell Dewitt
3. 1B Felix Munoz
4. 3B Matt Juengel
5. DH Austin Nola
6. RF Jesus Solorzano
7. SS Rony Peralta
8. 21 C Sharif Othman
9. 2B Yefri Perez
SP — Helpi Reyes
BATAVIA
1. SS Anthony Melchionda
2. 2B Breyvic Valera
3. 3B Jacob Wilson
4. RF Roberto Reyes
5. 1B David Bergin
6. 3B David Washington
7. C Jonathan Keener
8. LF Gary Apelian
9. 1B Steve Ramos
SP — Tim Cooney
Quick thoughts: Nice to see Kentrell Dewitt back in the lineup after sitting out the last three. Spot starts for Peralta, Othman and Perez. Not too much of a surprise for any of them. However, the glaring omission has to be Anthony Gomez who’s been playing really well.
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