Courtesy of NYPHILSMANIAC19
Threshers vs Tampa Game Report, August 27
Last night’s Thresher game was an exciting one, which CW won with 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th. Severino Gonzalez started and pitched 7 strong innings but was matched by two Yankee pitchers which left the game knotted at 1. Ryan O’Sullivan pitched a scoreless 8th but couldn’t find the plate in the 9th (he walked 4 though 1 was intentional). In the bottom of the ninth, the Yanks reliever returned the favor by walking 4 as well, and with one out, Harold Martinez lifted a fly ball to RF that wasn’t very deep. Aaron Altherr tagged anyway, and scored the winning run with an awesome slide around the catcher, just catching the plate with his left hand.
Offense (or lack thereof):
To be honest, I was following Altherr, Serritella, Perkins, Stassi, and Martinez. They went a combined to go 0-14, with not one ball hit out of the infield except the aforementioned Martinez Sac Fly. They did all walk once and Altherr stole a base. Serritella had a rough night, striking out swinging the first three times up.
Severino:
I was quite impressed with our boy Severino. He seemed to have some zip on his fastball but there was no gun readings to give you specifics. He was able to throw it by some hitters. His off speed stuff was excellent- both change and curve, and he really had the hitters off-balance. He also very nearly picked a runner off of 1st (I thought he was out, but the ump had a slightly better angle). Here is the batter by batter rundown:
1st: Line single the other way into RC/6-3 DP (stepped on bag, threw to 1st)/High Lazy Fly out to CF
2nd: K (tried to check on a curve)/K swinging on another curve/5-3 easy grounder
3rd: Laser shot off the LF wall, Lavin grabbed the carom nicely and fired to 2nd to nab a very surprised batter who had been dogging it a bit/BB/6-4 FC (almost a DP)/Swinging K (curve, of course)
4th: They hit him hard this inning but all 3 were outs- Hard liner caught near the LF line/sinking liner caught in CF/Another hard hit liner right to LF
5th: 5 pitch BB/Looking K (fastball down middle- probably expecting the curve)/Humpback liner to SS/6-4 weak grounder
6th: Swinging K (looked like a change-up)/BB on a full count/Ground 1B (possible DP ball but runner was in motion and the ball went right in the hole where SS was)/RBI single to left of SS (Mojica almost got there)- runner from 1st was thrown out by Altherr/4-3 (cue shot off end of the bat)
7th: Swinging K (fastball!)/Sky High Flyout to RF/Bloop to shallow CF caught by Altherr
Nice to see him finish with a strong inning. With a little luck, he could have thrown 7 scoreless. In his 7 IP, he gave up 7 baserunners with 6 K’s. All total, they only had about 5 hard hit balls off him.
Phuture Phillies 
By far the most glowing report I’ve read of his secondary offerings. I’d heard that the fastball was up to 94 MPH, but nothing about such an effective curve. Great stuff.
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Sev might be the only future major leaguer on that team (and Giles) so it’s great to hear such a positive report. I want to think Altherr has a chance to make it but odds aren’t good.
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Yeah Altherr seems to tease us with his athleticism and hot streaks, but I also have doubts that he will make the Bigs. He needs to show much more consistency, and contact rate
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Thanks for this report. Severino gets the first three K’s on that nasty 12-6 curve, then starts throwing fastballs and changeups in two-strike counts when hitters start sitting on it. That’s pitching. I’m really excited to see Gonzalez in Reading next season.
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