A better week on the farm for our Baby Birds, managing to go 10-13 overall, improving from a shakier showing the previous week. Tons of good storylines to hop into, including the bomb squad that is the Norfolk Tides:
Norfolk Tides
Lost series vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 2-4
-Norfolk Four: Not too shabby a series for 3 of the 4 here. Heston's power is very real, Coby Mayo is super productive too. I can't help but feeling more and more certain that Kyle Stowers isn't much more than a AAAA All-Star...and time is running thin for him to prove me wrong
-Heston Kjerstad: 8-25, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 7 R, 3 BB, 6 K
-Coby Mayo: 7-25, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, 0 BB, 5 K
-Connor Norby: 7-25, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 5 R, 4 BB, 8 K
-Kyle Stowers: 5-25, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R, 0 BB, 10 K
-Recent signee Livan Soto made a splash in his Norfolk debut, going 2-4 with a long ball and 2 RBI. Crazily enough, he was playing for the Louisville Bats, a Reds' affiliate, on Saturday to wrap up the week. Baseball comes at you fast sometimes
-Maverick Handley's warming up a little bit, going 3-3 on Tuesday and finishing week 5-17. It's a long shot, but he's doing his best to make a push for James McCann's backup spot
-Much more encouraging start from Chayce McDermott Tuesday, giving up 2 earned with only 2 walks 2 plus 6 strike outs. Sunday was uglier, as he struggled in relief of Kyle Bradish, surrendering 5 hits and 3 base on balls through 3.2
-Speaking of Bradish, not a great AAA start. 6 hits, 3 walks and 4 earned runs while not being able to escape the 4th inning isn't what we were looking for, but he's still got a little time to figure things out
-Cade Povich though...such an encouraging way to start the season out. He struck out 9 across 5.1 frames, giving up 3 hits, 4 BBs and no runs along the way. Room to improve, but he's been a really tough assignment for opposing batters
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| Photo: Billy Schuerman/ Virginian Pilot |
-Wandisson Charles' push for a big league roster spot seems to have hit a snag, with another blown save in the series opener, giving him 2 in his last 3 opportunities. He got back on track Saturday, striking out 1 in his sole inning
-4.1 innings, 4 hits, 3 walks and 1 run for Nick Vespi on the week. Nothing world-beating, but he's only bolstering his case to get a look in the O's pen
-I talk a lot of shit on Bryan Baker, so I need to give him credit when he manages 2 innings without allowing a run on the week. No need to expedite him up to Camden however
-Jonathan Heasley gave up a solo shot in the final inning of the series, reminding Baltimore fans why he's down in the International League
Bowie Baysox
Won series vs. Altoona Curve 5-1
-Basallo bombs! Baltimore's second ranked prospect started his week right, going 2-5 Tuesday with a solo shot. He finished the series 6-24. Fun observation as well, Basallo has yet to earn a free pass at the dish this year, rocking a 16:0 K:BB ratio and an on-base percentage below his batting average as of typing this
-Dylan Beavers launched his first long ball of 2024 on Tuesday too, 3-4 with 2 RBI. He'd rip another on Sunday, going 8-20 on the week with 2 HR and 5 RBI
-TT Bowens stayed hot at the plate too, going 5-19 in four appearances with 2 long balls and 5 driven in
-Don't let Billy start to Cook! After an icy start to 2024, the 25-year old had multiple hits in 3 of the 5 games he started this week, going 8-19 when it was all said and done-- raising his batting average nearly 100 points in the process
-Frederick Bencosme can just flat out rake, posting a .391/2/7 line on the week. Outside of a little hiccup in 2023, he's done this at every level. Will be interesting to see just how high he can fly
-Kyle Bradish had an encouraging rehab stint for Bowie, striking out 4 and allowing just 1 hit on the way to a scoreless 3 innings
-Trey McGough stayed hot, allowing his first earned run of the year in his 5 innings of relief work, raising his ERA to a minute 0.90
-Strong start out of Kyle Brnovich Sunday, allowing 1 hit through 5 shutout frames, striking out 8 Curve as he went
-Two more scoreless showings for Kade Strowd. He's yet to allow a run in any of his 6 appearances, boasting an 8:1 K:BB ratio too
Aberdeen Ironbirds
Lost series vs. Hudson Valley Renegades 2-4
-Creed Willems went yard Tuesday in a failed comeback attempt, his fifth of the year. He went on to post a .250/1/4 line on the series
-4 hit game for Matthew Etzel on Wednesday, finishing with 5 in 5 games against the Renegades, plus 3 runs driven in and 3 swiped bags
-Mac Horvath and Hudson Haskin added their first long balls of the season on the road stand. Mac finished with 3 of his 4 hits going for extra bases and 5 RBI
-Enrique Bradfield Jr. gets all the shine for being a nuisance on the base paths (5 SB on the week), but Tavian Josenberger has been every bit as pesky. The 2023 third rounder is currently leading Aberdeen in stolen bases with 11, on exactly 11 attempts. He's got to get that .162 average up like 100 points, but he gets on base at a .373 clip, making pitchers work once he's there
-Cameron Weston stayed in the driver's seat Wednesday, continuing his torrid start to 2024 with a scoreless 4 inning start, giving up 4 baserunners while striking out that same number. He's currently rocking a 0.75 ERA
-Juan de los Santos was due for a strong appearance and got one Thursday, walking 2 across a scoreless 2.1 frames, plus 5 strikeouts. He's notch two more outs (and walks) in the series finale
-Third career win for Carter Baumler Friday, going 2.2 innings without surrendering a run in relief of Jackson Baumeister
-Bradley Brehmer was sharp, sealing the deal for Baumler's decision. The Hoosier struck out 2 and walked 1 in 2 shutout innings of action
-Moises Chace allowed his first 2 earned runs on Saturday while walking 6. It's the first time this season he's looked human
-Sunday gave us Teddy Sharkey's first W for 2024. The reliever didn't surrender a hit in either of his two appearances, totaling 4.2 innings and 6 strikeouts
-Graham Firoved was also effective versus Hudson Valley, racking up 3.1 scoreless frames of his own
Delmarva Shorebirds
Lost series vs. Down East Wood Ducks 1-4 (Sunday game cancelled)
-Thomas Sosa's starting to feel things out in Delmarva, going 7-19 with 8 walks. The lineup definitely could use some more consistent bats
-Pretty productive couple of games for Angel Tejada at the plate, going 6-16 and scoring twice for the Shorebirds
-First career home run for Cole Urman on Saturday. 2023's 16th round pick had the only longball of the week for the team
-Great dual-effort by Nestor German and Braxton Bragg to kick off the series, combining to allow just 2 hits and 1 unearned run with 12 total strikeouts in the 1-0 loss
-Hell of a relief appearance by Trey Gibson Wednesday, lasting 5 scoreless innings while striking out 8
-Another quality start for Michael Forret, allowing just 3 hits across 5 frames in the Shorebirds' only win of the week, notching 8 K's along the way. The 14th rounder's had an excellent last two outings
-Riley Cooper seems to be his righthand man of late-- or left hand in this case-- preserving the shutout and victory on Saturday with 4 scoreless of his own to follow up Forret.
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@Choppinglines
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