Another in a long series of excellent reports by NYPhilsmaniac19.
August 6 Williamsport Game Report
WP played at Hudson Valley last night and looked like the losing (record) team that they are. They failed to get key hits with runners in scoring position, were shaky in the field, and K’d 13 times (though the home plate ump had a huge strike zone).
PITCHING:
Feliberto Sanchez started and was hit pretty hard. Here is a synopsis of his innings.
1) Gave up an oppo single into LF on 0-2 pitch/Baserunner took off for 2nd- Grullon’s throw went into CF, Aaron Brown charged hard as the runner took off for 3rd and the ball went right through him which allowed the runner to score. (This was a harbinger of the sloppiness to come)/Hard Lineout to CF/Hard groundout to 1st
2) Foul Popout to RF/K on a FB (half-hearted swing)/Line single over 2Bman’s head/During next AB, ball squirted through Grullon’s legs- he ran back and grabbed it at the cutout behind home, threw from his knees and nailed the runner who took off when he saw the ball get by. VERY impressive play from Deivi.
3) Hard hit oppo single between 1Bman and 2Bman/E-3 grounder that Hoskins couldn’t field cleanly/Hard Lineout to CF/Weak swing that led to an oppo RBI single/4-6-3 DP, Campbell (2B) made a nice glove flip to Marrero who relayed and got the runner. It was a cool play, but it looked like Campbell could have taken it himself and made an easier DP due to his proximity to 2B.
4) Line 1B to LF/Walk/WP moved up runners, 4-3 RBI groundout/SF to pretty deep LF/6-4 FC
5) Ground single up the middle/Grullon threw runner out attempting to steal (another excellent throw), swinging K/6-3 easy groundout
Sanchez was done after 5. His control was good, but they hit numerous hard shots. The shoddy fielding didn’t help him. Based on the stadium gun, he topped out at 88 and mostly sat at about 85. Not one pitch that I saw (gun didn’t show up until the 3rd inning) was below 82 so not much difference between his FB and off-speed pitches.
I was pleased to see that Chris Oliver came on in relief but I shouldn’t have been. The first two batters reached on plays that should have been made- throwing error by Hernandez, then a hot shot grounder that went right through Hoskins at 1B (ruled a hit, but was right at him). After an RBI groundout and a lineout, Oliver walked to next two (4 pitches and 7 pitches), the inning ended on a liner that Brown ran down in the gap in left-center. The next inning Oliver gave up 2 singles, a double steal, 2 more walks, and a run. Oliver did top out at 94 on the gun. He was mostly in the high 80’s with his FB and 75-76 with his offspead stuff.
Mark Meadors came on in the 7th with bases loaded and one out and got out of the jam stranding all three of Oliver’s runners. Meadors also had an easy 8th giving up just one single. He was throwing in the mid 80’s.
OFFENSE:
Cord Sandberg went 2 for 5. After fouling off 3 two-strike pitches, he smoked a base hit up the middle that almost hit the pitcher in the head. He then fouled out to third, K’d swinging at a high FB, and singled on a swinging bunt up the 3rd base line but then got thrown out trying to advance to 2nd when the throw went by the 1Bman. The last AB, he K’d looking on a pitch that was clearly outside to end the game.
I was not impressed with his wheels. He failed to score from 1st on a no doubt double to the wall by Tromp in the first, and although he was awarded a hit on the swinging bunt, a good throw would have gotten him. He had an uneventful night in RF.
Jiandido Tromp went 2 for 4. He doubled in his first two AB’s- the first was over the RF’s head in RC, and the second was a hard grounder just inside the 3rd base bag. He struck out in his other two AB’s (swinging at a high FB, and looking at a pitch that appeared to be outside). He took some mighty swings but was able to do a better job of making contact once he had two strikes. He tracked the ball well in LF.
Aaron Brown went 0-4 with 2K’s (both swinging). He did advance a runner from 2nd with a no-out groundout to the 1Bman. His other out was a hard liner the other way that was caught by the RF. Brown went back well on two liners over his head that he caught. The ball that got through him on Grullon’s overthrow was a case of him charging over-aggressively. I can see what people say about how the fans will love the way he plays the game. He struck me as being much more serious and focused than the rest of the team before the game.
Rhys Hoskins (pronounced like Reece- I was curious about this) went 1-3 with a 5 pitch walk. His single was a liner between the SS and 3Bman. His two outs were a shallow very high flyout to CF and a hard hit 6-3 RBI groundout. On defense, he did not impress though he did make a nice tag on a wide throw from Hernandez at third. He made one error on a grounder and could have been charged with another.
Wilson Garcia went 1-3 with a walk. He smoked a double into the LC gap, grounded out hard 4-3, and hit a weak liner to the 2Bman. No defense to report as he DH’d.
Derek Campbell went 1-4 with a hard line single up the middle and a looking K. He also flew out to deep RF and popped up to 2nd. He played a solid 2B.
Jan Hernandez had a rough day. He went 1-4 with two K’s, a lazy flyout to CF and a soft single over the SS’s head. He made a throwing error on one play and Hoskins saved him from getting charged with another. He did not appear to play with much urgency,
Deivi Grullon had a nice day throwing out runners trying to steal (besides the one he threw into CF in the 1st). They did execute a double steal but he held onto the ball because the runners got a great jump. At the plate he went 1-4 with a hard line single up the middle.
Emmanuel Marrero had the roughest of all days as he took the Golden Marrero going 0-4 with 4 K’s. He and Campbell (who played 2B) had trouble turning DP’s which could have bailed the Cutters out a few times.
submitted by nyphilsmaniac19
