7/7/19 luck be a lady

[texasdave]

Louisville is back to doing what it does best - losing ballgames. They, once again, are the frontrunners in the Elimination Race. 32 is their tragic number with 54 games to play. They are barely holding off the Norfolk Tides and the Pawtucket Red Sox. Alex Wood made a rehab start, so there's your good news for the night. Louisville led 1-0 in Friday night's 6-4 loss, falling to 21-23 (.477) this season when scoring first, the only IL club with a below-.500 record when scoring first in games. Last season, the Bats finished 42-27 (.609) when scoring first, lowest winning percentage in the league. Bullpen help, anyone? Over the course of the last 9 seasons (including 2019), Louisville has finished in the top half of the I.L. exactly once. That was in 2016 when they came in 6th (with a losing record of 71-73).

Sal Romano gets another turn in the starting rotation. He went four hitless innings in his first start. Another one just like the last one, Sal.

Jackson Stephens got kicked around pretty good last night. He always seems to be on the cusp of making to the Show, but there is some little thing missing. He is no longer all that young, 25, so this seems like a make-or-break year for Stephens.

Tristan Archer with his 3rd scoreless outing in a row last night. It beats the alternative. Archer was born in Garden City, Michigan. The city was patterned after the "garden city" concept that became popular in England during the 19th century, with most home sites sectioned off into 1-acre (4,000 m2) plots to allow adequate farming area to support the family with fruit and vegetables. Now, most sites are considerably smaller, some as small as 40 feet by 135 feet, with little room for gardening of fruits and vegetables, Some call that progress. Items to note about Garden City include: The first KMart was opened there. The first Little Caesar's started there as well. Pizza! Pizza! Finally, Michigan's first dine-in MacDonald's.

I'm not saying the ball is juiced, BUT, Louisville is on pace to set the franchise record in home runs, yet they are only 8th in the league in that hitting category. Columbus has launched 45 more home runs than the Bats. Sheesh! Columbus has 4 hitters with 20 or more home runs as the league nears the All-Star Break. Double Sheesh! (There has been a 57% increase in neck injuries to pitchers this season.) <--- Stats made up upon demand.

Christian Colon has an 8-game string going. He is 13-34 (.382). Colon has belted 2 home runs over the past 3 games. As a kid, we might have said that Colon was cooking with Crisco.

[texasdave]

Since the present is going so great, let's drop in a bit of history. Virne Beatrice "Jackie" Mitchell Gilbert was born in Chattanooga in 1913. At an early age, her father took her to watch a baseball game, and Jackie was smitten. Her next-door neighbor happened to be Hall-of-Famer, Dazzy Vance. Vance taught Jackie to pitch, and showed her his "drop ball". The president and owner of the Lookouts was a man by the name of Joe Engel. Old Joe had a lot of Bill Veeck in him, and was not above using a publicity stunt to up the attendance. He saw Jackie pitch and signed her to a contract. Now it turns out the in 1931 the New York Yankees were rolling through town on an exhibition tour. With 2 men on and nobody out, Jackie was brought in to the ballgame. The first two batters that she faced were Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Using the old drop ball, Jackie struck both of them out on 7 pitches. And a Lookouts legend was born.

It is Reiver Sanmartin's turn to toe the rubber. He is not doing so well since coming up from Daytona (6.35). Is this the Peter Principle personified? We will have to wait and see. Sanmartin and Naughton were born one day apart. They are one day apart in the rotation. I am using their uniform numbers in the lottery tonight. Ryan Lillie was born 2 weeks later. Three-fifths of the Chattanooga rotation were all born in a 2-week span. Synchronicity.

Taylor Trammell is playing in the Future's Game up in Cleveland. Ironic, since everyone knows Cleveland has no future.

After the game, you can 'have a catch' with dad on the field. I had never heard that expression until I watched the movie. Anyone out there ever 'have a catch'? Tennis balls will be provided. Sounds like a racquet to me.

The Lookouts Little Kids Club is sponsored by Little Debbie Snack Cakes, which are made there. Nice. Here is a picture of little Debbie Mckee then, and adult Debbie Mckee now. She was the owner's daughter, by the way.

Attachment 15065

Attachment 15066

Still as cute as the proverbial button.

[texasdave]

Daytona must be sick of seeing St. Lucie sitting in the other dugout by now. The Tortugas have lost 3 straight to them, scoring just 4 runs in the process.

Jared Solomon (4.32) is being tasked with ending that nonsense, but his 7+ ERA over his last three starts is giving me pause. Solomon will be facing off against Kevin Smith, who experienced a rough month of June. So, it's probably a tossup. One factor that Daytona has going for it is that the team ERA while playing day games is an impressive 2.89. Daytona hitters have been outhitting the opponent (.260-.233) when the sun shines.

Andy Sugilio is second in the league with a batting average of .306. He ranks third in hits with 85.

Bruce Yari is an interesting case. He is a 6'3", 225 pound punch and judy hitter. His career slugging percentage is .367. Yari is very patient, having seen the second-most pitches in the league. He looks at an average of 4.4 pitches per plate appearance. This has resulted in 38 bases on balls, 4th in the league.

The team's highest-ranked category is in triples. They have smoked 27 three-baggers, good for third in the league. Leading the way is Lorenzo Cedrola with 6, and Jonathan India with 5.

[texasdave]

Dayton Dragons swung from their best offensive performance of the year on Friday, to possibly their worst on Saturday. 13 runs on 18 hits, to 0 runs on 5 hits. Welcome to Schizophrenia. Lyon Richardson was outstanding, Adrian Rodriguez even better. It did not matter. This is the Dragons 20th season. They have led Class A minor league baseball in attendance every season. In their 19 full seasons, they have made the playoffs 7 times, but just twice in the last 10 campaigns. 2019 ain't looking so good either. They have never won the Midwest League championship. The clubs' all-time won-lost record is 1274-1,453. They have come in 1st, 2nd or 3rd a mere 5 times. In other words, it is tough to be a fan of the Dragons.

Alexis Diaz gets a rare start, stepping in for the injured James Marinan. Diaz has not thrived in the pen (5.77-ERA), but I think we might just be surprised at what he does in the starting rotation. His 12.5 K/9 is a good indicator that he just might be a better pitcher than he has shown in 2019 to date.

In case anyone was wondering and/or cares:

REDS MINOR LEAGUE COORDINATORS/ROVERS (IN UNIFORM) Chris Tremie: Field Coordinator Milt Thompson: Hitting Coordinator Tony Fossas: Pitching Coordinator Billy Hatcher: Outfield/Base Running Coordinator Corky Miller: Catching Coordinator Barry Larkin: Special Assistant to the General Manager Eric Davis: Special Assistant to the General Manager Mario Soto: Special Assistant to the General Manager Bill Doran: Special Assistant to the General Manager

[texasdave]

DSL-Reds - Never on a Sunday for the team, who by far, has the best record of any Reds' affiliates. Their 20-11 record has them sitting pretty atop the Baseball City (Ciudad de Beisbol) Division.

Leading hitters include: Jose Acosta (1.111 OPS), Daniel Vellojin (1.041 OPS) and Darlin Guzman (.973).

Leading pitchers include: Luis Aquino (1.45 ERA) and Jose Franco (1.61).

[texasdave]

Billings won a pitcher's duel yesterday, 2-1.

Miguel Medrano (1.50) erstwhile ace, until Lodolo starts going longer, gets the Sunday nod. He has bookended 5 IP, 1 H efforts
among his 4 starts so far.

Nick Lodolo is looking like all that and a bag of chips. The Reds appear to have gotten it right. Of course, it's a long way from Billings to the bright lights of Cincinnati. Lodolo's numbers: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 HR, 11 K. 0.00 ERA. 0.90 WHIP.

Omar Conoropo has been tied to Lodolo's hip, coming in after him on all 5 starts. If you cherry-pick one start out of there, Conoropo's ERA would be 1.04.

The Horses have some hitters: Cotton (.377), Seminati (.368), Willems (.342), Yang (.333) and Yon (.306).

Kids run the bases today. Just spitballin' here, but they should tell the kids to slide into home. And then the team should have a trapdoor that opens randomly. Talk about excitement! Here comes Johnny! He slides, he.....errr, where's Johnny? I'd send my kids around multiple times.

[texasdave]

Greeneville held a Star Wars Night on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Force was not with them, as they were hyper-drived 5-3. In a galaxy far, far away, the G-Reds might play winning baseball. Not in the Milky Way though.

Graham Ashcraft (11.45) will be on the mound for Greeneville. I hope therapy was successful, as Ashcraft was (pummeled, abused, clobbered, trashed <--pick your favorite) last time out. 10 earned runs in 2.0 innings. Chewbacca could have pitched better. (Cue plaintive Chewbaccian wail.)

Andy Fisher will likely get into the game today. He will likely pitch well. That is the norm for Fisher. The free-agent signee is averaging over 13 Ks per every 9 innings. He has walked 1 batter on the year, and nobody has taken him out of the ballpark.

Allen Cerda continues to spank the baseball. 5 homers - one off the league lead. 18 RBIs - tied for the league lead. 1.019 OPS - fifth in the league.

[texasdave]

AZL Reds fought back to earn a 5-4 victory.

Luis Lopez (.367), Wendell Marrero (.391), Debby Santana (.306) and Caleb Van Blake (.326) are all raking out in the desert air.

[texasdave]

They shook up the lineup a bit in Daytona. Jonathan India is up in the leadoff spot. Jose Garcia has moved up into the 2 hole. Alejo Lopez has been dropped in the lineup. Daytona trails 1-0 after 3. They have runners at first and second in the 4th.

[texasdave]

Daytona loses a tough one today. They led 3-2 going into the bottom of the 9th, when St. Lucie scored to send the game into extras. St. Lucie then scored with 2 outs in the 10th to win it.

Jared Solomon with an eminently acceptable 2 runs in 5.2 innings.
Michael Byrnes (1.1) and Diomar Lopez (1.0) got the game to the 9th.
Enter Andy Cox. Cox had allowed just 1 earned run 17 games as a Turtle. He blows the save in the 9th, and then garners the loss in the 10th.

Jonathan India had two hits out of the leadoff spot. He singled, doubled and stole a base (5).
Alejo Lopez singled and doubled.
Hendrik Clementina singled and walked.
Lorenzo Cedrola walked twice.
Yon Mendoza hammered a solo shot (2).

[texasdave]

Louisville and Columbus are scoreless through five.

Startin' Sal Romano was nigh on perfect again here in his second start of 2019. Romano faced the minimum 12 batters over his 4 innings. Sal did allow one hit, but that runner was erased attempting to steal.
Wandy Peralta is back on the bump, and worked a scoreless fifth.
Tejay Antone is coming out of the pen to start the sixth.

[texasdave]

Chattanooga trails 3-1 in the fifth.

Reiver Sanmartin allowed 3 runs to score in the first inning, but has shut them down since. Because he can (in my best Kurt Russell voice).

Jose Siri has both Lookouts base hits, one of which drove home Alfredo Rodriguez.

[texasdave]

Tejay Antone is having all kinds of trouble at the AAA level. He comes in to work the 6th inning, and gets roughed up for 4 runs on 5 hits. Not good. Louisville down by 4 now.

[texasdave]

Manuel Medrano walks 2 batters, and then is lit up for a 3-run blast in the second. He gone. Billings trails 3-0.

[texasdave]

The farm teams are not looking so hot today. 1 game is completed, and Daytona lost. 4 games are ongoing, and Louisville, Chattanooga, Dayton and Billings are all on the wrong side of the score. Time to walk the dog.