4/6/26 : Minor League Initial Ten Day Review

I haven’t posted for a few days and no one seemed to notice 🤪.  My wife and I arrived back in the Philadelphia area on Thursday after a two month stay in Clearwater for a winter get away which included my Spring Training Camp daily reviews and a short stopover in Atlanta to visit our daughter and her fiancé. It’s nice to be back home but also hectic as we are preparing to move to a new house this coming week that we purchased before leaving for Florida in January. Long story short the writing effort got put aside the past few days.

In order to catch up rather than post each day’s Minor League Roundup here’s a summary of the first ten days of the minor league season.

Lehigh Valley : 7-2

The IronPigs season began on 3/27 in Allentown as they hosted the Toledo Mudhens. Felix Reyes continued the positive vibes from last season posting four hits (two singles & two doubles) to lead LHV to a 5-2 win. The following night five pitchers combined (including rehab assignment major leaguers Zack Wheeler (3 IP) and Orion Kerkering (1 IP) for a 1-0 shutout win. The five different arms (Wheeler, Kerkering, Gillispie, Cabrera, Shugart) combined for the earliest shutout the 'Pigs had pitched since blanking the then Pawtucket Red Sox on Opening Day 2014 for a 4-0 win. (Credit Sam Jelinek).  LHV swept the three game series on 3/29 as Cade Fergus doubled to score the game winning run in the bottom of the ninth in a come from behind 8-7 win - the IronPigs trailed by four runs entering the inning. Robert Moore had three hits in the game (two singles & HR).

On Tuesday 3/31 LHV opened a six game series in Durham, NC against the Bulls. They won 4-3 as RH Jean Cabrera pitched 4.2 innings allowing one run and Carter Kieboom delivered two hits (single & double). Durham won game two the following night 6-1.  Garrett Stubbs went 2 for 4 (double & HR) with three RBIs on 4/2 and RH Alan Rangel pitched six scoreless innings (three hits allowed) in a 4-0 win (McGarry, Trivino & Shugart each pitched an inning). Zack Wheeler made his second start on 4/3 (3 IP, 5 R, 4 H, 2 HB, 2 BB, 1 K) in a 10-6 win - Bryan De La Cruz went 3 for 5 (single, 2 HR’s) with five RBIs and two runs scored. Caleb Ricketts had two hits (doubles) and a walk. Durham won 9-7 on 4/4 - Garrett Stubbs had three hits (single, double, HR) with two RBIs and two walks. The IronPigs won the series on Sunday with a 5-3 victory led by home runs from Felix Reyes (two run homer) and Carter Kieboom (solo shot). LHP Tucker Davidson started and pitched 4.2 scoreless innings - relievers Chase Shugart and Seth Johnson went a perfect inning each to close out the game.

Reading  : 0-3

Reading opened their season on 4/2 in Akron against the RubberDucks - LH Adam Seminaris started and went five innings allowing two runs on four hits in a 3-1 loss - Austin Murr had three hits (singles). The following night in a 9-2 loss Aroon Escobar and Jordan Dissin each two hits (singles) and an RBI. In the series finale on 4/4 RH Chuck King started and pitched four scoreless frames - RH Andrew Baker struck out the side in a perfect inning of work however Akron prevailed 5-0 with all the runs scored in the sixth thru eighth innings. Raylin Heredia had two hits (singles) and stole a base.

Jersey Shore  : 1-1

The BlueClaws began their season with a bang - a 19-5 thrashing of the Wilmington Blue Rocks in Wilimington, DE. Devin Saltiban had three hits (two singles & triple) as did Nick Biddison (three singles) and Trent Farquhar (single & two doubles, walk, five runs scored). Raider Tello had two hits (single & HR) with five RBIs and three runs scored. Joel Dragoo (single, double, two walks, two runs scored), Jose Colmenares (two singles, walk, two runs scored) and Brady Day (two singles, walk, two RBIs) each had two hits. Kodey Shojinaga singled and walked three times, Luke Davis  walked twice and scored two runs.

The 19 runs scored bested the previous club record of 18 set in 2024 at Greensboro and 2011 at Asheville. It also marked the most runs scored by an MiLB team (full season league) in their season opener since at least 2005. Trent Farquhar’s five runs scored matched the team record previously set by Alan Schoenberger on 8/9/2010 at WV) - credit Greg Giombarrese

Wilmington won 5-1 on 4/4 - Raider Tello had two hits (singles) - RH Danyony Pulido and RH Brandon Beckel each pitched a scoreless inning in relief. The scheduled game on 4/5 was postponed due to rain.

Clearwater  : 2-1

The Threshers opened the season in Fort Myers against the Mighty Mussels. The 4/2 opener was rained out so a doubleheader was played on 4/3 - RH Gage Wood pitched four scoreless innings (1 H, 1 BB, 7 K’s) and RH Sean Youngerman three perfect innings in a 2-0 game one win. Fort Myers won game two 2-0 - Manolfi Jimenez was 2 for 2 (singles) with a walk. RH Cody Bowker (2.2 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 1 HB, 3 BB, 5 K’s) and RH Keegan Batka (1.1 scoreless frames - 2 BB, 3 K’s) made their pro debuts.

In the series finale on 4/4 Clearwater prevailed 7-5 - Alirio Ferrebus had three hits (two singles, double) with a walk and two RBIs. Griffin Burkholder and Tyler Pettorini each had two hits (singles). Pettorini had three RBIs. Jack Barker walked three times and scored three runs. Robert Phelps walked twice. Barker had two stolen bases. RH MT Morrissey (2.2 IP), RH Richie Cortese (1 IP) and RH Tyler Bowen (1 IP - FB 96-98 mph) each made their pro debuts.

Extended Spring Training :

For the 30 players assigned to the Player Development Center (PDC) in addition to the 31 players on rehab work recovering from injuries training continues with daily defensive drills, batting practice, strength and fitness conditioning along with running and throwing programs. Seven new players arrived stateside this past week from the Dominican Academy (LHP Yordanis Guerra, LHP David Hernandez, RHP Jesus Montiel, LHP Aneury Montilla, INF Jonathan Alcantara, OF Jalvin Arias and OF Esterling Rodriguez). Catcher Gabriel Flores will join the PDC training group on Tuesday from the Dominican Academy.

Some days simulated games are played to close out the day’s sessions - on 4/3 Ramon Marquez, Eligio Arias, Tegan Cain and Anderson Navas pitched in a simulated game. Akin to Spring Training Camp there are daily side bullpens and sometimes live BP’s as well.

Extended spring training games against opposing teams have been scheduled as follows :

4/7 - Pirates @ Bradenton

4/9 - Rays @ Port Charlotte

4/13 - Yankees @ Carpenter Complex

4/14 - Blue Jays @ Dunedin

4/15 - Team Canada @ Dunedin

4/17 - Team Canada @ Carpenter Complex

4/21 - Blue Jays @ Carpenter Complex

4/23 - Yankees @ Tampa

4/24 - Blue Jays @ Carpenter Complex

4/27 - Tigers @ Carpenter Complex

4/28 - Tigers @ Lakeland

4/30 - Yankees @ Tampa

Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️

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