Early game today for Fayetteville… Camilo Diaz (4) and Carlos Cauro (1) have gone deep for the Woodpeckers. Anthony Huezo extended his hitting streak to 7 games with a base hit in the 3rd. Nick Potter allowed a run on two hits, walked one, and struck out three in three innings. It took him 42 pitches (25 strikes) to get 9 outs.
Cauro is one to watch. He was really good in the complex leagues before losing last year to injury. I don’t know anything about his defense but he’s pretty consistently hit for power and taken walks without an egregious k rate. Diaz is firmly back on the radar. Hes only 20 so to be showing that level of power is really a great sign, especially since he should be able to play 3B and 2B and I don’t expect him to be relegated to just 1B. Huezo is scorching hot right now. Great sign.
Kevin Alvarez and Xavier Neyens are both 2-4 with two runs scored from the top of Fayetteville's lineup. Both of Alvarez's hits are triples; the first one led off the game and the second one drove in a run. Both of Neyens' hits are RBI singles that allowed Alvarez to score. Oh, and Juan Sierra is also 3-3 on the day.
With his 4th home run of the year, Camilo Diaz tied a career high in homers in his 12th game of the season. He hit 4 home runs for the DSL Blue team (in 48 games) in his debut season back in 2023.
Solid night for Ethan Frey so far as he has a couple of hits, 2 RBI, and 2 stolen bases for Asheville.
OF Lucas Spence went on the IL and was replaced on the roster by OF Mason Lytle, an UDFA from last year.
Pascanel Ferreras hit his 3rd homer of the year for Corpus. Bryce Mayer @ Arkansas: 4.1 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 8 K; the run came on a solo homer on his final batter of the night.
Hitters are starting to cross the 50 pa threshold. Early disappiontments: Walker Janek: 40.7% k rate is disturbing. Luis Baez: k rate is actually very low, but 3.7% bb rate and no power; 0 HR and only 1 2B so far Ethan Frey: bb/k rates are fine but he's hitting for no power; 0 HR and only 1 2B so far Alejandro Nunez: 3.8% walk rate; .243 babip should get better Caden Powell: 3% walk rate against 34% k rate won't cut it Early pleasant surprises: Josh Wakefield: nearly as many walks as k's and 10 SB so far. .421 babip is a yellow flag for regression Anthony Huezo: 3 HR and 7 SB so far; .406 babip is yellow flag Justin Thomas Jr.: taking a lot of called strikes and is propped up by .409 babip but has 3 HR so far Jason Schiavone: 22.7% walk rate and 5 HR so far; only hit 6 HR in 78 games last year Will Bush: insane 25% walk rate and has 3 HR already Trevor Austin: 4 HR in the early going after only hitting 5 HR in 105 games last year Pascanel Ferreras: as many walks as strikeouts, already has 3 HR Collin Price: .375 babip bodes poorly for sustaining his 123 wRC+
Jason Schiavone’s 6th home run of the season was a grand slam. He’s matched his home run total from 78 games last season in his 15th game played this season.
Early promotion candidates at the end of this month: AAA to MLB: IF CJ Alexander AA to AAA: P Bryce Mayer C/1B Will Bush IF Pascanel Ferreras High A to AA: C/1B Jason Schiavone P Cole Hertzler A to High A: None yet
Zach Cole is 0-2 with a walk, a run scored, and a strikeout in his first rehab game with Fayetteville.
Cole Hertzler vs. Greenville: 4 IP, H, 3 BB, 8 K Javier Perez vs. Myrtle Beach: 6 IP, 3 H, unearned run, BB, 7 K
Joey Mancini and Charlie Weber both turned in three perfect innings for Corpus and Fayetteville, respectively. Mancini struck out seven, while Weber fanned six.
Justin Thomas Jr. went 0-1, but drew 4 walks and stole 5 bases in today's game. He's rocking a massive .464 OBP so far this season, and now has 8 SB without being caught to go with 3 HRs.
Ethan Pecko gets his first start of the season for AAA tonight. He might be the best pitching prospect in the system.
