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Morning Jam: Vote for Helpi
Who has the best name in minor league baseball? Well, it might just be Jamestown Jammers starting pitcher Helpi Reyes, who moved on to the second round in a fan vote held on the official website of Minor League Baseball, MiLB.com.
The sixth annual “Moniker Madness” is a 64-name bracket — identical to that of the NCAA Tournament, with seeding 1-16 — that allows fans to vote for the best name in the minors. Two players are pitted against each other with a fan vote solely deciding the winner all the way through the championship.
There is not a prize for the champion. It’s merely a softhearted game that gives some players recognition for nothing else than a fun name to say.
Reyes, a No. 3 seed, defeated Roidany Aguila, a catcher for the South Bend Silver Hawks (Arizona) in the first round. He’ll now face Yogey Perez-Ramos, a rookie outfielder playing for the Yakima Bears of the Northwest League.
You can vote for Reyes and on the rest of the bracket by logging on to MiLB.com. Round Two voting will go from July 17-23. If Reyes wins, he’ll move into the final 16 where he’ll face either Delta Cleary Jr. or Boss Moanaroa. That voting is only three days long and will go form July 24-26.
Among this year’s favorites are No. 1 seeds Caleb Bushyhead, Rougned Odor, Duke von Schamann and Forrest Snow. Odor and Snow made the final eight last year. My personal favorites such as Bear Bay and Rock Shoulders are also still alive in the voting.
The five previous winners are Seth Schwindenhammer (2011), Rowdy Hardy (2010), Dusty Napoleon (2009), Will Startup (2008) and Houston Summers (2007).
You can also keep up with Moniker Madness on both Twitter (@monikermadness) and Facebook (facebook.com/monikermadness).
ON THE FIELD
The Jammers snapped the three-game losing streak by defeating Batavia last night 5-3. Kentrell Dewitt broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run homerun in the 6th. Sharif Othman followed up with a back-t0-back homer to put the Jammers up three, which would be enough to win.
Nick Wittgren nailed down his eighth save of the year. In two innings of work, he struck out four and only allowed one baserunner, which reached on an error. Now, in 14 innings, Wittgren has allowed 9 hits, 1 walk and struck out 20. Opponents are hitting .173.
Jesus Solorzano went 2-for-4 to bump his batting average up to .250.
I’m working on a new usage chart, one a little easier to read. Look for that later in the week.
The Jammers finish up a mini two game set with Batavia tonight at home. It’s probably Matt Milroy tonight. He doesn’t usually follow Mason Hope in the rotation, but with the rainout and the doubleheader, things have been pushed around. He’s on his usual four days rest. Tomorrow is Helpi Reyes.
Morning Jam: Heaney “likely headed to Jamestown”
Well, we’ve heard it a lot. And I’ve read it a lot. So with the Miami Marlins first round pick Andrew Heaney (No. 9) finally signing, I decided to do some research and see what the folks down in South Florida are talking about.
“Likely headed to Jamestown”
• In the Miami Herald, Clark Spencer wrapped up the late push for Heaney. He says he’s likely to be assigned to Jamestown.
• Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post says the Marlins see him “as a top-of-the-rotation starter.” Capozzi says he’ll report to Jupiter before mentioning a certain city here.
• Over at the Sun-Sentinel, Juan C. Rodriguez has some quick notes about the signing. Basically the same as the previous two articles, but again “likely” and “Jamestown”.
• And where it was reported first, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com has a video and a lengthy article about the rookie lefthander.
When?
Should be a while still for Heaney. After being evaluated, then Miami will decide where to send him. Again, it’s likely Jamestown, but not definitely Jamestown. Should be at least two weeks.
On the field
Jammers won their sixth in a row yesterday by a score of 6-5. It’s now 9 of 12. So after starting 3-9, they went 9-3. They host the Tri-City ValleyCats for three starting tonight. Staff ace Helpi Reyes (1-0, 2.84) is on the mound.
Morning Jam: Friday the 13th
A happy Friday the 13th to all. For the Jammers, it’s been a happy July. They’re now 7-3 in the month and own a 5-2 lead over Auburn for a game that will be continued next Monday, July 23.
• Jamestown won it’s fifth in a row and eight out of its last 11 with a 12-6 thumping of Vermont last night at Diethrick. Jamestown hadn’t scored more than seven runs in any one game this year, but accomplished that before even registering an out in the fourth inning last night.
• A night after falling a triple short of the cycle, Cameron Flynn had another three hit night, including a double, and knocked in two runs. His batting average has now risen 80 points in two days.
• Viosergy Rosa hit his second homer of the year in the first inning, a two-run bomb that started the Jamestown rout. Rosa went 4-for-5 with nine total bases. He also knocked in three runs in what was definitely his best game of the year and arguably in a Jammers uniform.
• Jesus Solorzano went 3-for-5 along with his team-leading third homerun of the year.
• But, it was the top of the order, going 11-for-20 with seven runs scored and seven RBI that defined the night. Also, everybody in the starting lineup had a base hit.
• Pitching wise, starter Blake Logan finally allowed a run — two to be exact — but picked up the win. After not having a single win from their starters over the first 19 games, Jamestown starters now have three in their last four games. Logan’s ERA moved to 1.29.
• Jose Rodriguez made his 2012 Jamestown debut and threw two scoreless innings.
• Hard to believe, but Jamestown’s 3.07 ERA is only good for sixth in the league. Offensively, they’re up to .248, good for eighth in the NYPL.
• They’ll go for their second straight sweep tonight with Matt Milroy on the mound. Milroy is 0-2 with a 4.48 ERA. He hasn’t gone more than four innings in any one start this year. You would have to assume the goal is to get him through five tonight.
Morning Jam: July 6
A good combined outing from Mason Hope and Jacob Esch was spoiled last night as the Jammers lost 2-1 while only picking up four hits, all by the top two hitters in the lineup.
Esch, in particular was great. He threw three more scoreless innings to drop his ERA to 1.69. The collegiate second baseman has been their long man, throwing 16 innings in five games this year. He’s been rock solid for them out of the pen.
The four hits came from Yefri Perez and Pedro Mendoza, two NYPL veterans at the top of the order. Jammers are now 6-11, six games out of first place in the Pinckney Division and 3.5 out of the wild card.
Jamestown team’s ERA is now 3.39 after that fine outing. But while that number is pretty impressive, the starters’ ERA is 5.10. It’s the bullpen that has been so tremendous and with Esch’s three scoreless innings, the bullpen ERA is down 2.23. Plus the bullpen has thrown 96.2 innings compared to just 65.1 out of the starters.
Not much else to report. Jamestown finishes up their three-game series with Staten Island tonight. That game will be on MiLB.tv. Also, after Jamestown finishes its three game set with Brooklyn, they will have 12 out the next 15 games at home. If Jamestown can keep that record right where it is now by going 2-2 over the next four, they’ll have a great shot to make a move in the standings before July ends.
No word on who is starting tonight. It’s is the fourth spot in the rotation, usually Ryan Newell’s, but the Blake Logan started in his place the last time this spot came up. Newell then came on in relief.
Morning Jam: July 4 Recap, Transaction Notes
Hope everyone had a great July 4. Back to work for me. Going to recap a few notes since Tuesday night — and there was a lot – and we’ll go in with a pitching report later on in the day. We’re just about at the 1/4 mark of the season (19 games) so I’ll be doing some mid-semester report cards on Saturday. That would have been Jamestown’s 20th game, but the suspension Tuesday killed that.
Notes
• Well the Jammers have played good ball since I last talked to you on Monday. They were winning 5-2 Tuesday before the rain came and cancelled it in the third. That game will be made up July 23 in Jamestown starting where it left off with one out in the Auburn third inning. By rule, that game will still be a nine inning game with the originally scheduled game to be a 7-inning contest and start a half hour after the conclusion of the first game. The doubleheader is scheduled to start at 5:05 p.m. in Jamestown.
• But, it was a nice come-from-behind victory Wednesday night that made the start of a six-game roadswing promising. Jamestown beat Staten Island yesterday 5-3 in 12 innings, largely thanks to first baseman Felix Munoz. Jamestown led early 2-0, but Staten Island scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth to take the lead. When Munoz came to bat in the bottom of the eighth with two out and nobody on, it looked like the Jammers were on their way to another loss. But, Munoz crushed a homerun to tie the game. Jheyson Manzueta then got out of a bases-loaded, nobody out jam in the bottom of the 11th and the Jammers scored two in the top of the 12th to win a stunner.
• That was without shortstop Austin Nola, though. The rookie infielder from LSU was called up to Greensboro yesterday. The Grasshoppers are battling some injuries, so no word yet on if Nola will return to Jamestown. Catcher Austin Barnes and outfielder Rand Smith were place on the disabled list Tuesday. In addition, Brent Keys and Terrence Dayleg were also on the disabled list leaving the Grasshoppers with just 11 active hitters. Nola went 1-for-4 in his Greensboro debut.
• Plenty of others moves for the Jammers too, though. Sean Donatello received a big promotion on Tuesday, getting called up to A-Advanced Jupiter. Donatello had been in Jupiter earlier in the year, but he had thrown 12 innings this year in Jamestown and had allowed just one run on eight hits.
• Collin Cargill finished his rehab stint in Jamestown. He was on rehab from Jupiter, but was sent to Greensboro. Cargill threw four innings in two games and allowed four hits. He wasn’t going to be here for long.
• Finally, Michael Vaughn was sent back down to the Gulf Coast League. I was a bit perplexed with what Vaughn was doing in Jamestown. While he was on the disabled list, Jamestown had three active catchers on the roster as is. Vaughn didn’t play a game for Jamestown.
• Confused by all these moves? Check out our active roster page.
• Tonight the Jammers send Mason Hope the mound as the 20-year-old starter looks to get Jamestown its second win in a row. Don’t forget the Jammers have a 3-run cushion in game still to be played, so even though it wouldn’t technically feel like the first three game winning streak this season, it would feel like it.
Morning Jam
Tough night for Jamestown yesterday as the Jammers lost 2-1 to the Auburn Doubledays. A day after Jamestown bashed out 15 hits, the offense — in its rather inconsistent form — had just three. Which is too bad, because it spoiled another great outing from the pitching staff, namely the bullpen, who threw five scoreless innings between Jheyson Manzueta and Beau Wright.
In particular it was Wright, who faced the minimum nine batters in three innings. The only baserunner he allowed was a hit batsman, which he quickly erased on a double play to the next batter he faced.
But, the offense couldn’t muster anything together besides the speed of Juancito Martinez. Martinez led off the fifth with a walk, stole second, advanced to third on a ground out, and advanced home on another ground out. A run is a run, though.
Some notes:
• Yeison Hernandez went 2-for-4 yesterday for Greensboro. He had started off with an 0-for-5 night.
• His roster move opened up space for Pedro Mendoza, who finally went hitless last night after a blistering 5-for-9 start since being activated. He’s still hitting .385 in the three games.
• Anthony Gomez picked up a hit last night, breaking an 0-for-18 slump, which I was starting to blame on myself. Gomez went nearly a week without a hit, which unfortunately started right after I talked to him.
• Blake Logan made his first start for the Jammers Sunday, taking the place of Ryan Newell. No word on if Logan will remain in the rotation, but it’s hard to imagine he won’t. The rookie threw three no-hit innings and has now allowed just four baserunners in five innings for Jamestown. No runs allowed and eight strikeouts. He’d be the ace on the staff at this point.
• Jamestown’s starters ERA was 5.93 heading in to play on Sunday. Logan helped drop that down to 5.58.
• Kentrell Dewitt had to be taken out of the game Sunday in between the second and third innings. Tough to say where Dewitt got hurt, but the team was mum on the outfielder’s condition. Dewitt missed three games earlier in the year with an undisclosed injury as well. He’s day-to-day and didn’t play Monday, so I doubt we’ll see him that soon.
• Errors continue to be a problem for Jamestown. They’ve made 24 this season (15 games), more than 1.5 per game. By, comparison, Auburn (leaders of the Pinckney Division) have made just 14.
• Fireworks at the ballpark tonight as Jamestown wraps up a 3-game set with Auburn. Staff ace Helpi Reyes will get the nod, his fourth start of the year as the Jammers look to take the rubber match of this series. It would be the first series victory of the year for Jamestown, which has lost three and split two.
Morning (afternoon) Jam
Jamestown bid June a fond farewell after scoring four runs in the ninth inning to have an improbable end to their 8-game losing streak and beat Batavia 6-5. July starts with Auburn, a team that just swept the Jammers in rather easy fashion last week in Auburn.
Already at the ballpark today and here are the lineups:
JAMESTOWN
1. Yefri Perez – DH
2. Pedro Mendoza – 2B
3. Austin Nola – SS
4. Matt Juengel – 3B
5. Viosergy Rosa – 1B
6. Jesus Solorzano – CF
7. Kentrell Dewitt – LF
8. Jose Behar – C
9. Cameron Flynn – RF
SP – Blake Logan
AUBURN
1. Tony Renda – 2B
2. Stephen Perez – SS
3. Shawn Pleffener – 1B
4. Angelberth Montilla – RF
5. Estarlin Martinez – DH
6. Khayyan Norfork – 3B
7. Jordan Poole – LF
8. Wes Schill – CF
9. Spencer Kieboom – C
SP – Gregory Baez
TRANSACTION NEWS
Pedro Mendoza was activated off the 7-day disabled list two nights ago to further clog up the infield. Subsequent move sent Yeison Hernandez up to Greensboro. Hernandez, who just turned 20 years old, was hitting .282 in eight games this year.
Morning Jam: June 30
Well… it’s going to be a long year in Jamestown.
The Jammers dropped their seventh in a row, fourth of their last five by at least five runs and didn’t show much of anything after a 4-run first inning from Batavia.
Jamestown’s starter Ramon Del Orbe walked four and balked home a run in one of the ugliest first innings I’ve seen as Batavia had a total of one hit (a single) en route to scoring the four runs. Jamestown finished the game with four hits.
• Juancito Martinez had another nice day at the plate. Went 0-for-1, but walked twice and stole a bag. He’s got five steals which is third best in the league.
• Austin Nola’s day off yesterday helped. He went 2-for-4 today with a couple of well hit balls. Nola has reached base in 9-of-11 games despite the batting average under .200. He looks like one of the few players on this team. Did well at third base, too. Not sure where he projects, but third might be the better choice for him.
• Not much else to say here. Jamestown only had seven baserunners and grounded into three double plays. Kentrell Dewitt had a leadoff double in the 8th, advanced on a grounder and scored on a fly ball. Small ball from the Jammers finally, but too bad it was when they were down by seven.
• Jamestown is now batting .227 as a team with a .296 on-base percentage.
• They’ll look to avoid the sweep tonight with Mason Hope on the mound. Ben Freeman is going for Batavia. He shut down the Jammers Sunday at Diethrick Park. Tonight is at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia.
Morning Jam: June 29
“Craziest game I’ve ever been a part of,” Muckdogs first baseman Jordan Walton, on Twitter.
That about sums it up there. Jamestown was one out away from losing in the ninth, one out away from winning in the 11th, had their manager tossed in the 14th and were out away from sending it to an extra frame in the 17th.
But, an error on shortstop Yeison Hernandez — with the bases loaded — allowed the gamewinning run to score after 4 hours and 41 minutes of baseball.
The marathon loss was Jamestown’s sixth in a row and dropped their record to 3-8. Hopefully a little home cooking will do the trick tonight when the Jammers host those same Batavia Muckdogs at 7:05 p.m. tonight.
• It will be interesting to see how the Jammers react tonight. Long losing streaks are tough on everyone. Losing a 17-inning came when you thought you had it won in the 11th is tough on everyone one, too. Now combine them and what does that make it? Still way to early in the season, but Jamestown needs this thing to end tonight for their own psyche. I won’t try to tell you they need this one if they want to make the playoffs, but you don’t want things to spin too far out of control before we even get to July.
• I will be at tonight’s game. Ramon Del Orbe goes for Jamestown, he’s been their best this season. They’ll need him more than ever tonight to break this long losing streak.
• Austin Nola had his first day off of the season yesterday just for maintenance. He’ll be back in the lineup today. Besides that, expect some wholesale changes because of the long, long night for the starters yesterday.
• Jamestown is still not in the basement of the NYPL. They share the same 3-8 record with Connecticut. They’re also only a game behind Mahoning Valley in the Pinckney Division. So as bad as everything has been, it’s still a bit too early to panic.
• Jamestown’s batting average has dipped all the way down to .232, which is fourth last in the league. Exactly a week ago, they were fourth in the league and hitting at a .264 clip. As bad as the pitching has been, this team needs to start hitting again.
• Kix Country Bases Merloted tonight at the ballpark. Should be a fun Friday night at Diethrick.
• Birthday wishes for Hernandez. Yeison turns 20 today.
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.
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