10 opportunities with runners in scoring position last night and the IronPigs came away with nothing. That’s really the crux of it.
About Last Night
I’m not going to blame the pitching. Once again the starting pitcher kept us in it. Nabil Crismatt with only one run over five innings is really good enough. It’s hard to hold it against any of the relievers–Hoffman just got here, and then we’re looking at guys trying to be perfect because we’re already losing. It’s the hitting. The lack of hitting and the inability to take advantage of opportunities. I see guys maybe pressing a bit, trying too hard, swinging too early in counts.
So, Where Do Things Stand?
It’s a dead heat, for all intents. Jacksonville didn’t finish their game last night because of rain, so they’ll play a doubleheader tonight in Syracuse. Syracuse is getting pilfered by New York to get pitching for this weekend in Philadelphia. No more magic numbers. We need to win and we need Jacksonville to lose. A tie does us no good on the “last 20” tiebreaker. We have three opportunities left to get a win. They have four opportunities to lose.
Players Arriving On White Horses
Well, not exactly. Let’s review yesterday’s roster moves before getting into projections for today.
- RHP Gabe Mosser to the Development List: Not a surprise place to find a roster spot, the guy who just pitched
- INF Nick Dunn to the IronPigs, from Reading: A little early, given only two games in Reading and his horrible performance in Tacoma. But he was hitting .429 in the micro-sample at AA. He has perhaps more positional flexibility than 3B/1B Alex Binelas, who is also playing well in Reading. Dunn had four at bats last night and made five outs.
- INF/OF Weston Wilson optioned from Philadelphia, INF Buddy Kennedy selected by Philadelphia: This in two parts: I’ve been predicting the return of Westy for a while now. He’s been backed into a corner in Philadelphia where he’s not playing well enough to get playing time, and thus can’t get into a rhythm or improve. They don’t trust him at the plate or in the OF and they don’t need him in the infield. I thought this would come with the Bryce Harper activation, but…Kennedy had a “mobility” clause in his contract that he exercised. Basically, that he get added to the 40-man by a certain time or he can opt out. It was probably June 1, but with the IronPigs doing well and if no other team was sniffing around with an MLB job, why not stay? I don’t think it’s the losing or that he’s giving up, I do think that the combination of Kemp chosen over him for the Bryce call-up combined with perhaps another team talking to his agent they felt they needed to force the Phillies’ hand. Just like with the Marchan/Stubbs thing as well as the Kody Clemens decision at the start of the season, the Phillies just want to preserve depth as much as possible at this point in the season. We’ll see who comes down when Bryce is ready–and we know Bryce wants to play this weekend versus the Mets, although it may not work out. Opinion: Gotta be Kemp I would think, because he has options. If Buddy doesn’t perform then he gets the DFA again and Kemp goes back, but they’ll give Buddy some run, a la Clemens.
- RHP Nolan Hoffman got activated. We talked about him yesterday. He got in the game last night and gave up a home run. Perhaps he would not have been in that spot if we weren’t already losing. Continue to observe his pitch mix and his command and see if you think it makes sense. (I don’t know; that’s just what went sideways for him with the Texas organization.)
Projected Today (unofficial):
- RHP Wil Crowe will come up from Reading to start tonight’s game for the IronPigs. As you recall, he pitched in Korea last season, and with the Pirates before that. He has good numbers with Reading, and has MLB experience.
- A player, probably a pitcher, will be added to the Development list to make room for Crowe.
- INF/OF Weston Wilson will report. He should get most of his time in LF because that’s what makes him attractive to Philadelphia. If he’s not getting Left Field, it’s a bad sign for his opportunity to return to the big leagues this season. He may have another day to report and I know he had to travel from Miami and get his things from Philly, but I kinda think he’ll be here.
- A position player will go to Reading maybe. It could be Nick Dunn making the quick trip like Verdugo did before, but I’m thinking Matt Kroon needs the playing time because he still hasn’t looked right since returning from injury.
Stay tuned to see what actually happens today.
Game Day!
Friday night at the ballpark always has a little different energy. Let’s go!
First Pitch: 7:05PM
Main (Center Field, East) Gates: 5:45PM
Club (West) Gates: 5:30PM
Promotions:
- Scout Night Please no camp fires on the field this year
- Pinewood Derby in the plaza, pre-game
- Shark Night
- Poster giveaway (Adults)
- Post-game Fireworks Hopefully some in-game fireworks from our bats, amirite?
Weather: 79° and sunny at game time. Humid. Light breeze.
Pitching:
IronPigs: RHP Wil Crowe (IronPigs Debut, 2-1, 1.59 with AA Reading)
Rochester: RHP Cade Cavalli (2-1, 4.22). He’s been a big-time prospect for them but hasn’t completely broken through. He was a first round pick in 2020 just like our Mick Abel, but in his case out of Oklahoma. And, he’s working back from Tommy John in 2023, having missed a lot of 2024, like our Andy Painter. We’ve seen him before, even this season, so if the bats are going to come alive now might be the time.
Photo: Jack Mitroka
Up Next
What was it that Billy Corgan said about the “Infinite Sadness?” It’s going to be a horrible thing if this collapse continues and we don’t get to spend the whole second half planning our playoff series. “Just win the second half” is no good because I’m not traveling to Iowa or some place for three games.
We can put up with bad baseball around here–most times it has been. But, to squander this opportunity is very, very disappointing. More to come on that, depending on how it shakes out. After Sunday and the close of the first half, the team will shuffle up to Buffalo for the start of the second half. Following that series, we return home for a split series with Scranton on July 4 week–we get the early games they get the weekend.
See you at the park,
@Kram207
Featured Image by Jack Mitroka. It has been heavily cropped to fit the space.