Cleveland Sports Forum

Wednesday:

CLE AA #3 Brayan Rocchio, SS 4 0 0 0 .217
CLE AA #4 George Valera, SS 3 0 1 0 .245 BB (15),
CLE AAA #5 Gabriel Arias, SS 5 1 0 0 .194 SB (2),
CLE AA #11 Jose Tena, SS 4 0 0 0 .234
CLE MAJ #13 Richard Palacios, 2B 4 0 1 0 .254
CLE AAA #16 Bryan Lavastida, C 4 1 1 1 .190 HR (1), BB (4),
CLE LoA #32 Isaiah Greene, OF 3 0 0 0 .245
CLE LoA #32 Isaiah Greene, OF 4 1 2 1 .245 E (1),
CLE LoA #33 Milan Tolentino, 2B 1 0 0 0 .364 2 BB (10), E (2),
CLE LoA #33 Milan Tolentino, 2B 2 0 1 1 .364 2 BB (10),
CLE LoA #37 Luis Durango, OF 2 1 0 0 .146
CLE LoA #38 Yordys Valdes, SS 3 1 2 0 .211 SB (1),
CLE AA #39 Will Brennan, OF 3 1 1 1 .370 HR (1), BB (8),
CLE LoA #40 Jake Fox, SS 1 0 1 0 .280 2 BB (17),
CLE LoA #40 Jake Fox, SS 2 0 1 1 .280 BB (17),

CLE AA #9 Logan Allen, LHP 6.0 2 0 0 3 6 2.14 Espino, Williams and Logan Jr. are having fine starts to 2022
CLE AAA #30 Konnor Pilkington, LHP 2.2 4 4 3 2 1 3.86

Jake Fox leads the Carolina League with those 17 walks in 67 plate appearances, and as a result is also 5h in On Base Pct with 471 3rd round pick 2021

Milan Tolentino is 4th in on base with 473 due to his 364 avg, and 10 walks surpassing his 9th strikeouts. 4th round pick 2020

Both are, surprise!, infielders.

In the Midwest League, High A, Gavin Willams ranks:

No. 5 in ERA 2.63
No. 5 in WHIP 0.80
NUMBER ONE in avg against .111
No. 5 in strikeouts with 24 ----
however that's in only 13 2/3 innings and registered just under 60% of outs by strikeout is NUMBER ONE

in the same league,

J. Noel with 4 homers is tied for 5th]
A. Martinez is #7 in On Base Pct with 432

Surprising Joe Naranjo is among lost of leaders:

homers 4, 5th
rbi, 3rd
walks 8th
on base pct 2nd
slugging 2nd
OPS 3rd

J. Rodriguez with 2 triples is tied for 3rd

All the kids on the way to rescue the Guardians:

CLE AA #3 Brayan Rocchio, SS 3 2 1 2 0.222 HR (2), 2 BB (7),
CLE AA #4 George Valera, SS 5 2 2 1 0.259
CLE AAA #5 Gabriel Arias, SS 5 0 1 0 0.194 SB (3),
CLE HiA #10 Angel Martinez, SS 3 1 1 0 0.289 BB (9), SB (5),
CLE AA #11 Jose Tena, SS 5 2 2 1 0.246 3B (1), BB (4),
CLE MAJ #13 Richard Palacios, 1 0 0 0 0.250
CLE AAA #16 Bryan Lavastida, C 3 0 0 0 0.167 BB (5),
CLE HiA #20 Jhonkensy Noel, 3B 4 0 1 0 0.239
CLE MAJ #24 Ernie Clement, 2B 3 0 0 0 0.194
CLE HiA #25 Aaron Bracho, 2B 4 0 0 0 0.261
CLE LoA #32 Isaiah Greene, OF 4 1 1 1 0.245 HR (1),
CLE LoA #33 Milan Tolentino, 2B 3 2 2 1 0.383 2B (5), BB (11),
CLE LoA #37 Luis Durango, OF 3 0 0 1 0.137
CLE LoA #38 Yordys Valdes, SS 3 1 1 0 0.220 3B (1), BB (7),
CLE AA #39 Will Brennan, OF 4 1 0 0 0.345 BB (9), SB (2),
CLE LoA #40 Jake Fox, SS 4 1 1 0 0.278

COMBINED LINE FOR THESE BUDDING STARS [excluding Palacios' major league at bat
56-13-13-7 1 double, 2 triples, 2 homers 7 walks 232/317/428 pretty impressive!

CLE AA #28 Xzavion Curry, RHP 3.0 3 4 4 3 3 6.19

Chang Gets a Hit and the Ducks Come from Behind Again to Defeat the Curve 3-1

April 29, 2022

The Akron RubberDucks come from behind for the second straight night to top the Altoona Curve 3-1 on Friday night at Canal Park.

Turning Point

The RubberDucks found themselves down 1-0 entering the bottom of the sixth when Bo Naylor reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Victor Nova to score and tie the game. Later in the inning, Will Brennan lined a single through the hole between third and short to bring home Naylor and put Akron up 2-1.

Mound Presence

Daniel Espino got off to rough start allowing a solo home run on the first pitch of the game and surrendering a walk to the second Curve batter. Espino would find his form the rest of the way not allowing another run on his way to 4.2 innings allowing just three hits and one run while striking out five. Manuel Alvarez followed with an inning and third scoreless with three strikeouts. Kyle Marman tossed a scoreless inning. Nic Enright tossed two scoreless innings to close out the win.

Duck Tales

Cleveland Guardians infielder Yu Chang went 1-for-2 with a single in his first rehab game since being placed on the injured list April 15. The RubberDucks added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth when Brennan grounded out to the first baseman, which allowed Jose Tena to score and make it 3-1 Akron.

Notebook

Brennan's single extended his team lead in hits to 21, and his two RBIs extended his team lead in that category giving him 15... Naylor swiped his team-high fifth base of the season...Game Time: 2:26...Attendance: 2,916.

On the Pond

The RubberDucks will continue their series with the Altoona Curve on Saturday, April 30 at 7:05 p.m. Akron right-hander Tanner Burns (0-0, 2.13 ERA) will face Curve left-hander Omar Cruz (1-1, 1.46 ERA).



Hillcats Rally past Salem

April 29, 2022

The Lynchburg Hillcats used the late innings to take down the Salem Red Sox by a score of 6-3 on Thursday evening.

Lynchburg (9-9) and Salem (9-9) traded blows up until the seventh inning, when the Hillcats took the lead for good.

The Hillcats opened up the scoring in the first inning on a double to right field by Milan Tolentino. Salem would respond in the top of the second with a Nathan Hickey homerun to tie the game.

The Red Sox would score two more runs in the top of the sixth off of doubles by Hickey and Niko Kavadas. Lynchburg would trim into the lead in the bottom half of the frame on the first of two doubles for Jorge Burgos.
Then in the seventh, the Hillcats would tie the game on a groundout from Luis Durango that scored Yordys Valdes. One batter later, Isaiah Greene would hit his first homerun of the season to give the Hillcats the lead for good.

The Hillcats were not done as they would pick up two more runs. The first of which was another double off the bat of Jorge Burgos. The second run of the inning came on a ground ball single into right by Will Bartlett, scoring Burgos.

On the mound, the Hillcats combined for seventeen strikeouts between three pitchers. Will Dion would record seven in nearly five innings, Juan Zapata would tack on eight of his own, followed by two strikeouts by Elvis Jerez in the ninth.

The Hillcats improve to .500 for the first time this season and will look to capture a winning record as they take on the Red Sox on Friday evening at 6:30.




Martinez Homer Walks off Lugnuts in a 4-3 Triumph

April 29, 2022

(EASTLAKE, OH) - The Lake County Captains (8-10) gained their first walk-off win of the season with an Angel Martinez two-run home run over the right-field wall and into the Eastlake night in a 4-3 win over the Lansing Lugnuts (6-12). The Captains first walk-off of the 2022 season.

Lenny Torres started his second home game for Lake County on the season. The right-hander retired six of the first seven batters he faced. In the third, Lansing strung together three singles, two plating runs. Jordan Jones entered to finish the third inning.

Lake County responded in the fourth. Joe Naranjo and Christian Cairo reached via a single and walk, to set up Jhonkensy Noel. Noel delivered a standup two-run double to left-field which knotted up the score at 2-2.

The fifth through seventh inning, saw no runs with two runners left on base for the Lugnuts and one for the Captains.
Lansing pushed ahead in the eighth, via an RBI single from Euribiel Angeles. They were three outs away from their third straight victory at Classic Park.

In the bottom of the ninth, Noel was intentionally walked after working a 3-1 count. Angel Martinez then stepped up and blasted a two-run home run, his first of the season sending 1500+ home happy.

Lake County Captains host the Lansing Lugnuts for a doubleheader tomorrow Saturday April 30, with first pitch of game one at 1:00 p.m. In game one the team takes the field as the Picantes de Lake County. Presented by Remarkable Lake County & the Lake County Taco Trail.




Castillo Fans Five, Bats Lose 8-4

April 29, 2022

COLUMBUS, OH - Former National League All-Star Luis Castillo tossed 3.2-scoreless innings and struck out five in his MLB rehab start for the Louisville Bats on Friday night, but the Columbus Clippers jumped on the Louisville bullpen and won the game 8-4.

Castillo, who is coming back from a shoulder injury, looked sharp in his first rehab start. The 29-year-old allowed just two hits on the night. He exited in the fourth inning after walking the final three batters he faced.

Louisville was leading 1-0 at the time Castillo left the game, but Columbus took control of the contest in the fifth. The Clippers plated five runs in that frame on two home runs. Oscar Gonzalez hit a three-run blast and David Fry added a two-run homer. The five runs were the most the Bats have allowed in an inning this season.

Columbus added three more runs in the seventh inning to take an 8-1 lead. The Bats battled back in the ninth inning, scoring runs on Lorenzo Cedrola's RBI single and Alejo Lopez's two-run double, but that would be all for the night in the 8-4 loss.
Cedrola finished the game with three hits, giving him 11 multi-hit efforts on the season to lead the team. Cristian Santana drove in a run in the first inning on an RBI single. Santana has five RBIs in four games against Columbus this week.

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Surprise Espino left in the 5th. 75 pitches. Is that his limit?

The walking star Jake Fox took 4 free passes yesterday for Lynchburg and scoref 3 runs
Teammate Milan Tolentino 2 his and a Walker

Both in top 5 in league on base pct
Tolentino is 2nd in avg
Fox witn a big lead in walks

Sometime No 1 prospect Tyler Freeman made his aeason debut Friday

Several times No 1 prospect Nolan Jones remains out of action

one month into the season Espino is the only one of our prospects who's getting special attention. However, the other 2 pitchers among the top 10: Logan Allen Jr. and Gavin Williams have done fine work, too. Among the position players, so many of them are among the youngest in their leagues, holding there own is not bad performance. Not too many among league leaders; I will take a look and post.
I do think Tolentino based on what I posted earlier wins Position Player of the Month award; Espino is Pitcher of the Month

International League leaders:

Oscar Gonzalez is 3rd with hits; 3 rd in doubles; 3 in homers; 5th in RBI; 8th in slugging, 10th in batting average. NOTE; he's drawn 2 walks; but his 13K is not too high either.
Mitchell Tolman [who? 27 year old IF] leads in walks and in On base pct

Jose Fermin 2nd in runs, 4th in walks

Eastern League leaders:

Espino: No. 1 in avg against, strikeouts, 2nd in WHIP, 6th in ERA and in HR allowed
Allen: 3rd in K and ERA 9th in WHIP and AVG
Note Reliever Andrew Misiaszek 11 2/3 IP 6 H 0 runs 3 walks 20 K. He and Mikolajcheck who's in AAA will potentially give us a couple hard to pronounce bullpen guys

Will Brennan a 24 year old OF, rated about no. 35 on our prospect list: 2nd in hits, in RBI 3rd in Avg, 6th in doubles
Valera is 5th with walks
and speedster catcher Bo Naylor is tied for the lead in triples and for 9th in steals

Answer to my Espino question

Espino removed with right knee discomfort (April 30)
On the heels of a 14-strikeout outing in which he fanned the first 11 batters he faced, Daniel Espino wasn’t able to finish his start on Friday night with Double-A Akron in Altoona. After tossing 4 2/3 innings, Cleveland’s No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline was removed from the game due to right knee discomfort that flared up while he was covering first base.

According to Guardians manager Terry Francona, Espino felt the same discomfort in his previous outing, but was not removed from the game. He had undergone treatment on his knee all week leading up to Friday’s start.

“Sounds like he had patella tendinitis,” Francona said. “Think he was covering first and they didn't feel like he was moving really well. I think he's had some of that in the past.” -- Mandy Bell

here are the game stories for Saturday


Columbus Clippers 3, Louisville Bats 4

Box Score · Clippers fall to 15-8

Tobias Myers got the start, but he struggled, allowing three runs on five hits in 3.2 innings with two strikeouts and a walk.

The pitching hero for the Clippers was Kirk McCarty, who piggybacked with Myers for 5.1 innings, allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk.

The offensive hero was Will Benson, who did what leadoff hitters do, get on base. Benson went 2-3 with a pair of walks.

Gabrial Arias accounted for all of Columbus’ runs, blasting a three-run home run.

Bryan Lavastida went 1-4 with a walk and David Fry went 2-4 with a double.
Akron RubberDucks 4, Altoona Curve 2

Box Score · RubberDucks float to 10-10

Akron was outhit 8-5 and outwalked 5-3, but it didn’t matter, as the RubberDucks’ hits were bigger.

Jose Tena went 2-4 with a triple, but the big shots came from Brayan Rocchio, who went 1-3 with a two-run home run and a walk; and Marcos Gonzalez, who hit a solo shot.

Julian Escobedo walked and was hit by a pitch to reach base twice and Bo Naylor went 1-4 with a stolen base.

Starting pitcher Tanner Burns had another impressive performance, allowing just one run on four hits in 5.0 innings while striking out six and walking one.

Tim Herrin impressed with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief and Kevin Kelly earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
Lake County Captains 3, Lansing Lugnuts 0 (G1)
Lake County Captains 0, Lansing Lugnuts 8 (G2)
Game 1 Box Score · Game 2 Box Score · Captains move to 9-11

Gavin Williams took the mound in game one and he was incredible, nearly tossing a complete game. All in all, he tossed 6.0 scoreless frames with one hit, one walk and five strikeouts.

Cade Smith struck out the side in a scoreless seventh inning to earn the save.

Offensively, Jhonkensy Noel blasted a two-run home run and that was all the offensive Lake County needed. Johnathan Rodriguez also homered. Gabriel Rodriguez also went 1-3 and stole two bases.

Lake County managed just one hit in game two. Petey Halpin went 1-2 with a catcher’s interference and a stolen base.

Starting pitcher Doug Nikhazy had a strong first two innings before running into trouble in the third, allowing four runs. He finished with four runs allowed on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks in 4.0 innings to take the loss.
Lynchburg Hillcats 9, Salem Red Sox 4

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 11-9

Lynchburg’s recent offensive eruption continued on Saturday as the Hillcats blasted off for nine more runs. After an ugly 3-8 start to their season, Lynchburg has won eight of their last nine games.

The Hillcats didn’t collect an extra-base hit, but they walked a whopping 11 times. Milan Tolentino went 1-2 with three walks and a stolen base. Jake Fox went 1-3 with two walks, as did catcher Richard Paz.

Jorge Burgos went 2-4 with a walk, Luis Durango went 2-5 with a stolen base, Dayan Frias walked and was hit by a pitch and WIll Bartlett went 1-4 with a walk

Starting pitcher Jake Miller was downright sensational, striking out a career-high nine batters while allowing just one hit and walking two in 4.0 shutout innings.

Piggy-back partner Jake Leftwich also impressed with strikeouts, whiffing eight more batters in his 4.0 innings of long relief, but he was knocked around for four runs (two earned) on three hits with a walk.