MiLB Recaps June 4th (DSL Opening Day!) and June 5th

[King]

I was away this past weekend, but now I am home.

 

Saturday, June 4th

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The Bisons' beat the Columbus Clippers 13-4 on Saturday, thanks to 19 hits from nine different Buffalo batters, with seven hitters driving in runs . The club has won five straight games, and are now in a three-way tie for first place with the Red Wings and RailRiders in the IL North, thanks to losses by both Rochester and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Saturday night.

 

After besting the Clippers in a two-game series in Buffalo on Thursday and Friday, the Herd took game one of a two-game set in Columbus from NBT Bank Stadium.

 

A big four-run seventh inning was the key for the Bisons' victory. David Adams lined a ball into right field. scoring Dalton Pompey, to give Buffalo a 4-3 lead. Domonic Brown, Casey Kotchman and Junior Lake each collected RBI singles later in the inning, as the Herd ended the frame with a 7-3 lead.

 

Chris Leroux went 6.0 innings, his lone mistake being a three run home run to Scott Sizemore. The righty starter finished strong, retiring the final nine hitters he faced following the homer. He picks up his fourth win of the year, and Leroux is a perfect 4-0 since rejoining the Bison' starting rotation on May 14.

 

With one on and one out in the bottom of the third, Matt den Dekker flew a ball to centerfield, when Dalton Pompey made an over-the-shoulder catch in front of the warning track. Leroux left the bases loaded in the third, getting Caleb Ramsey to ground out to short, ending the threat.

 

Casey Kotchman gave the Bisons a 1-0 lead in the fifth, grounding out with runners on second and third, scoring David Adams.

 

The Herd's lead did not last long, as a three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth by Scott Sizemore made it a 3-1 Syracuse lead. Sizemore has gone deep in back-to-back games against the Bisons.

 

Buffalo cut the deficit to 3-2 in the fifth, as A.J. Jimenez doubled, and he was brought home via a RBI single by Dalton Pompey.

 

Kotchman struck again in the sixth, this time with a home run, tying the game at three with a shot to right-center field.

 

Patrick McCoy relieved Chris Leroux for the seventh inning, and after walking back-to-back hitters, fanned two straight Chiefs' batters. Ben Rowan, pitching in the eighth, surrendered a RBI fielder's choice to Scott Sizemore, cutting the Bisons' lead to 8-4. Chad Girodo pitch a perfect ninth inning for Buffalo.

 

Chiefs' starter A.J. Cole also pitched 6.0 innings and allowed three earned runs, an improvement over the four allowed over 3.2 innings in his last start against the Bisons on May 8. Trevor Gott entered in the seventh for the Clippers, when he allowed four earned runs on four hits.

 

Andy Burns made it 8-3 Bisons, driving in Alexi Casilla with a single off Columbus' reliever Abel De Los Santos. Buffalo added five runs of support in the ninth, as six straight hitters reached base against reliever Juan Gutierrez. Casilla and Dalton Pompey each added two-run doubles in the inning.

 

Drew Hutchison will take the mound for the Herd on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. from NBT Bank Stadium. Taylor Hill is set to start for the Chiefs.

 

BISONS NOTES:

Matt Dominguez was removed from the game in the fourth inning, and was replaced by David Adams. Dominguez went 0-1 at the plate, ending a five-game hitting streak. Every other Bisons' batter, including the pinch-hitter Adams, had at least one hit… Dalton Pompey's infield single in the third inning extends his hitting streak to seven games. He went 4-6 in the game, and now has a hit in 17 of his last 20 ballgames… Casey Kotchman, who drove in three runs on Saturday, has four multi-RBI games in his last eight games played.

 

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READING, PENNSYLVANIA - The New Hampshire Fisher Cats suffered a walkoff defeat for the second consecutive night, losing 6-5 in 10 innings to the Reading Fightin Phils at FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading.

 

The Fisher Cats (25-29) and Fightin' Phils (38-18) traded runs in each of the first four innings, before both teams went silent offensively until the tenth inning. New Hampshire squandered a two-homer performance by outfielder Melky Mesa, and gave up three homers to the Fightin' Phils for the second straight game.

 

New Hampshire jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first against Reading starting pitcher Anthony Vasquez. Roemon Fields laced a leadoff single up the middle, and Mesa jumped on a 2-0 fastball, sending it over the right-field wall. It was Mesa's third homer of the year, and it put New Hampshire in front 2-0.

 

Reading answered at once in the bottom of the frame, with starting pitcher Casey Lawrence on the hill for New Hampshire. Roman Quinn singled to lead off the frame, and moved to second on a bunt by Jesmuel Valentin. After Quinn swiped third, Jorge Alfaro singled to bring him home. Dylan Cozens singled, advancing Alfaro to second. A fly out to right by Rhys Hoskins advanced Alfaro to third base, and Jake Fox doubled up the left field line, scoring Alfaro and tying the game at 2-2.

 

The Fisher Cats moved back in front in the top of the second. Matt Dean drew a walk to start the inning, and moved to second on a ground out by Ian Parmley. A wild pitch by Vasquez advanced Dean to third base, and he scored on a weak ground-out by Christian Lopes to give New Hampshire the 3-2 edge. However, in the bottom of the inning, Aaron Brown led off with a triple, and he came in on a sacrifice fly from Harold Martinez to even things up at 3-3.

 

The teams traded runs again in the third inning. Mesa led off the inning with a solo homer to left, putting New Hampshire ahead 4-3. But in the bottom of the inning, Rhys Hoskins answered with a solo blast of his own to tie it at 4-4.

 

In the fourth, New Hampshire and Reading traded blows again. Dean led off with a double, and scooted to third on a single by Ian Parmley. With runners at the corners, Vasquez threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt, allowing Dean to zip home and put New Hampshire in front 5-4. That lead wouldn't hold either, though, as Harold Martinez lined a fastball from Lawrence over the left field wall with one out in the bottom of the inning, tying the game at 5-5.

 

The game stayed tied until the bottom of the tenth. Danny Barnes had already dealt a perfect inning of relief when he came in and had to face Hoskins. The batter mashed a first-pitch fastball over the left field wall, giving Reading the lead and touching off a celebration at FirstEnergy Stadium.

 

Lawrence took a no-decision, allowing five runs on 11 hits and a walk in six innings; he fanned six. Brady Dragmire tossed two scoreless frames of relief, surrendering one hit. Barnes gave up just the one hit in an inning-plus of work, but the homer was all that Reading needed for the win.

 

New Hampshire will hope a day game will turn their fortunes around on Sunday, with righty Jason Berken getting the ball for the Fisher Cats against Reading righty John Richy. First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m., and Ben Gellman has the call starting at 1:45 p.m. on the Fisher Cats Radio Network.

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Lane Thomas

 

LANSING, Mich. - Lane Thomas belted a two-run homer in the second inning, but the Lansing Lugnuts (28-26) were otherwise stymied in a 5-2 loss to the Bowling Green Hot Rods (29-26) on Saturday night at Cooley Law School Stadium.

 

Thomas's big fly, his third of the season, gave the Nuts a 2-0 lead in the second inning against Bowling Green starter Blake Bivens.

 

But the Hot Rods quickly responded with a three-run third inning against Lugnuts starter Ryan Borucki (Loss, 2-2), capped by a Brandon Lowe two-run double, taking the lead for good.

 

Joe McCarthy added an RBI single in the fourth for the visitors, and Kevin Padlo closed the scoring with a solo home run in the ninth.

 

Lansing threatened in the fourth inning before stranding the bases loaded, and left runners at first and second in the fifth inning, but was largely smothered by the pitching of Bivens (Win, 2-0) and relievers Bryan Bonnell and Diego Castillo.

 

Bivens (Win, 2-0) tossed five innings, allowing six hits, two runs, two walks and five strikeouts. Bonnell followed by facing the minimum in the sixth, seventh and eighth, giving up one hit and striking out five. Castillo (Save, 4) struck out two batters in a scoreless ninth, reached for only a two-out Connor Panas single.

 

Borucki finished 5 2/3 innings, giving up nine hits and four runs (three earned), walking three and fanning four batters.

 

Ryan Cook pitched the final 3 1/3 innings for the Lugnuts, striking out three batters and only allowing one hit - Padlo's eighth home run of the season.

 

In defeat, Andrew Guillotte went 2-for-4 and Juan Kelly was 1-for-2 with two walks and his team-leading 18th double of the season. It was a tough night for Thomas despite his home run; the second baseman struck out three times and committed three errors.

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Here is some information on a few of these players, that we signed last summer:

 

To avoid paying any further penalties, Guerrero was the only player the Blue Jays signed last year from July 2 on, other than $10,000-and-under bonuses, which are exempt from the bonus pools. One of those $10,000 exemption signings, 17-year-old Venezuelan outfielder Mc Gregory Contreras, is a sleeper who showed good hitting and running ability when he signed on July 2, but his tools have ticked up since then. His speed and arm strength are both above-average to play center field and he has impressed the Blue Jays with his ability to hit and show power from the right side from his 6-foot-1, 170-pound frame.

 

Another other player in that exemption group of noteworthiness was 16-year-old Venezuelan righthander Maximo Castillo, who was a high-profile pitcher coming into the year after he pitched for the Venezuelan 15U World Cup team in 2014. Castillo had an agreement with the Yankees, but that deal fell through because of an issue with his elbow during his physical. The Blue Jays were able to sign him for $10,000 in September. Castillo has a heavy frame (6-foot-2, 230 pounds) and has struggled with his control at times, showing a fastball that was 86-89 mph last spring but has been up to 93 with an inconsistent breaking ball.

 

They also signed 20-year-old Dominican righthander Orlando Pascual (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) under the exemptions in August, when he was touching 93 mph, but after signing his velocity jumped and he’s been up to 96-97.

 

Right at the end of the 2014-15 signing period in June, the Blue Jays gave out two low six-figure deals. Dominican righthander Wilton Mueses, 20, signed for $135,000 and pitched in a six Dominican Summer League games out of the bullpen. The Blue Jays saw him throwing 88-91 mph but he had arm problems after he signed and had to shut it down the rest of the season.

 

Toronto also signed 18-year-old Dominican shortstop Ronald Concepcion for $120,000. Concepcion projects to stick at shortstop, where he’s light on his feet with a good glove and average speed. At 6 feet, 170 pounds, he’s a righthanded hitter with gap power.

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Kings 3 Stars of the Day

 

1) Dalton Pompey: Pompey had an excellent day at the plate on Saturday, going 4/6 with a double.

 

2) Melky Mesa: Mesa mashed on Saturday hitting 2 dingers, finishing 2/5.

 

3) Alvaro Galindo: Galindo, the 18 year old RHP in his 2nd year in the DSL, was excellent in his 2016 debut going 3 innings, striking out 4, walking just 1 and allowing just 1 hit.

 

 

Kings Platinum Arencibia

 

1) Justin Shafer: Shafer continued to be atrocious this season lasting just 4 innings, giving up 9 hits, 7 earned runs, 3 walks and recording just 1 strikeout.

 

Honorable mention to Yeison Estevez, Jonelvy Molina and Cristian Peguero who combined to go 0/8 with 8 strikeouts for the DSL Blue Jays. That's not a fun start to the season!

 

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Sunday, June 5th

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READING, PENNSYLVANIA - The New Hampshire Fisher Cats rode a huge Double-A debut from Jason Leblebijian to victory Sunday afternoon, hammering the Reading Fightin Phils 8-0 at FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading.

 

The Fisher Cats (26-29) put up a five-run fifth inning and snapped out of a two-game stretch where they lost on walk-off hits. The Fightin Phils (38-19) snapped a five-game winning streak, and had no extra-base hits in the game. New Hampshire benefited from a big effort from Leblebijian, who contributed a single, a double, a homer, two runs scored and two RBI in the win.

 

The Fisher Cats started the scoring for the third straight game with a big inning in the third against Reading starter John Richy (L, 2-2). Shane Opitz singled to lead off the frame, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Roemon Fields. Leblebijian drew a walk, and Rowdy Tellez singled, scoring Opitz and advancing Leblebijian to third base. Richy then hit Melky Mesa with a pitch, loading the bases for Dwight Smith, Jr. The outfielder worked his own walk, scoring Leblebijian from third and keeping the bases loaded. Wilkin Castillo then rapped a double to deep right field, scoring Tellez and Mesa and chasing Richy from the game. Reliever Tom Windle allowed a sacrifice fly to center, plating Smith and putting New Hampshire in front 5-0.

 

In the top of the fourth, the Fisher Cats kept the pressure on. Roemon Fields sliced a one-out double off of Windle, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Leblebijian then chopped a single over the drawn-in infield, scoring Fields and extending the lead to 6-0.

 

Solo homers extended the edge for the Fisher Cats. In the top of the fifth frame, Wilkin Castillo blasted a home run to left off Windle, giving New Hampshire the 7-0 edge. In the top of the seventh, Leblebijian put a fastball from new reliever Reinier Roibal out of the park for a solo jack that made it 8-0 in favor of New Hampshire.

 

Jason Berken made a fine spot start for New Hampshire, allowing only a single and a walk while fanning four in four innings. Chris Smith worked around four hits in two shutout innings, striking out three. Matt Dermody (W, 1-0) earned the win with two perfect innings, whiffing two. Wil Browning gave up one hit and fired a wild pitch in one inning, striking out one to finish the game.

 

The Fisher Cats will try to earn a series split Monday morning, with righty Jeremy Gabryszwski getting the start for New Hampshire against Reading righty Mark Leiter, Jr. First pitch is at 9:35 a.m., and Ben Gellman has the call starting at 9:15 a.m. on the WGIR Fisher Cats Radio Network.

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LANSING, Mich. - Sean Reid-Foley fired six scoreless innings and Justin Atkinson whacked a two-run go-ahead homer, helping the Lansing Lugnuts (29-26) top the Bowling Green Hot Rods (29-27), 6-2, on Sunday afternoon at Cooley Law School Stadium.

 

The 20-year-old Reid-Foley allowed only two infield singles, both from former Michigan Wolverine Jake Cronenworth, striking out five Hot Rods along the way.

 

Bowling Green grabbed a 2-1 lead in the seventh, however, with a pair of unearned runs against reliever Starlyn Suriel. Lansing quickly answered: Connor Panas drew a leadoff walk from Bowling Green starter Taylor Hawkins (Loss, 1-5), and Atkinson slugged his first home run of the year to put the Nuts in front for good.

 

Gunnar Heidt added an RBI single three batters later, and Lansing tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth to close out the scoring.

 

Suriel (Win, 2-1) tossed 1 2/3 innings, striking out two, and Dusty Isaacs recorded the final four outs for his league-leading 11th save.

 

In the win, Lane Thomas went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and Carl Wise was 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.

 

The Lugnuts avoided a three-game sweep in the brief homestand.

 

Monday is a league-wide off day before the Lugnuts embark on a six-game road trip to Lake County and West Michigan starting Tuesday.

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Kings 3 Stars of the Day

 

1) Jason Leblebijian: The 25 year old utility infielder spent 2012 to 2016 toiling between Vancouver, Lansing and Dunedin. He finally debuted in AA today, and did not disappoint going 3/4 with a double, home run and a walk.

 

2) Jonathan Davis: Davis, who is mashing High A this season and looking for a promotion like Leblebijian, continued to mash on Sunday going 2/3 with 2 home runs.

 

3) Sean Reid Foley: SRF was good throwing 6 innings with 5 strikeouts, and most importantly just 1 walk.

 

 

Kings Platinum Arencibia

 

1) DJ Davis: The Jays 1st rounder and formerly highly touted prospect struggled mightily on sunday afternoon going 0/4 with 3 strikeouts.

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Edited June 6, 2016 by King

[Pendleton]

MC Gregory Contreras - my new favourite prospect . Aspiring big-league CF and hip-hop artist.

[King]

MC Gregory Contreras - my new favourite prospect . Aspiring big-league CF and hip-hop artist.

 

That is quite the name.

[TheHurl]

No players of the day? Once again thanks for doing these King. You tweet the thread out?

[King]

No players of the day? Once again thanks for doing these King. You tweet the thread out?

 

Players of the day are up check again. Yeah I can tweet it out

[King]

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Jason Leblebijian AA Debut Day

[Atothe]

Did Reid-foley make a mechanical change?

[TheHurl]

Did Reid-foley make a mechanical change?

 

His next start should be on MILB.TV I'm sure King or I could watch. Or if others would like to use my account I could oblige those that I don't hate.

[admin]

Pompey hitting .387 in last eight games. Hope this is finally it.

[King]

Did Reid-foley make a mechanical change?

 

His next start should be on MILB.TV I'm sure King or I could watch. Or if others would like to use my account I could oblige those that I don't hate.

 

Here is Clutchlings article, a report from MiLB.TV on SRFs May 31st start:

 

http://clutchlings.blogspot.ca/2016/06/another-look-at-sean-reid-foley.html

 

Florida HS RHP Sean Reid-Foley was the Blue Jays 2nd round selection in 2014. Projected by many as a first round talent, his stock dropped due to sign-ability concerns, but the Blue Jays were able to dissuade him from a commitment to Florida State after selecting him with the 49th pick.

 

Reid-Foley made his pro debut in the GCL, and in something of a surprise opened last year with full season Lansing. He caught a heavy dose of helium and soared up many rankings with a breakout year.

 

Reid-Foley has missed a lot of bats in his brief pro career, striking out well over a batter an inning. He's also missed the strike zone a fair bit, which may be one of the reasons he found himself back in Lansing to start this year after a late-season promotion to Dunedin last year.

 

Even with his premium velocity, the knock against Reid-Foley has been his fastball command, which seems to disappear from time to time. He will cruise along for several innings, then lose the strike zone. Scouts have suggested that he lacked the experience last year to know how to make adjustments to his delivery from inning to inning, driving up his pitch count, and forcing an early exit from some games. He's had some ups and downs since returning to Michigan (four four-walk outings in 9 starts), but things have been starting to come together for him.

 

I charted Blue Jays prospect Sean Reid-Foley's May 31st start against Dayton, almost exactly a year to the day that I charted another start against the same opponent.

 

One thing was obvious from the last prolonged look I had at Reid-Foley: he has altered his delivery somewhat:

 

 

 

The top GIF is from his start against Dayton a year and a day ago, while the bottom one is from that May 31st start. As you can see, in the top animation, he is perpendicular to the hitter at the start of his windup, and makes a deliberate stepping on the rubber with his back leg motion before initiating his front leg kick.

 

In the bottom video, he begins almost in a stretch position on the mound, and appears to be standing on the 3rd Base side, and he stands at a 45 degree angle to the hitter - similar to Marco Estrada and (from the left side) David Price. What's harder to pick up is the fact that in the bottom, he has a separation of his hands at the start of his windup - he removes the ball slightly from his glove as he goes into it.

 

Lansing pitching coach Jeff Ware says that the changes to Reid-Foley's delivery were made at instructs last fall, and were done to simplify things for him, reducing some moving parts from his windup into a streamlined version that would be easier to repeat on a more consistent basis. I saw Reid-Foley pitch a few innings in spring training at the Phillies minor league complex in March, and while I noticed a more streamlined delivery, I didn't realize the extent of it until I looked at last year's video.

 

This start, in essence, saw three Sean Reid-Foleys: over the first four innings, he was a fireballing control artist, painting the outside corner with a fastball that touched 95, and featuring a curveball that was always lurking when he got to two strikes on a hitter. Reid-Foley retired the first 12 hitters he faced, needing only 42 pitches to do so.

 

In the 5th, things unravelled a bit for him. Dayton hitters were more aggressive, and began to hunt his first-pitch fastball. Leadoff hitter James Vasquez broke up Reid-Foley's perfect game by sharply lining the first pitch of the frame to CF. A one-out infield single by the third hitter came around to score when the fourth hitter of the inning sat on Reid-Foley's curve, and lined one down the right field line for a two-run triple. A 55-foot curveball eluded Lansing C Justin Atkinson, and allowed a third run with two outs to score. Reid-Foley threw 26 pitches in the inning.

 

He went to his curve far more often in the 6th and 7th, retiring 6 in a row on only 16 pitches. Reid-Foley pitched into the 8th inning for the first time in his career, and struck out the last two hitters he faced, tying his career high of 10. He set down the final 10 hitters he faced in order.

 

Down 3-2 heading into the 9th, the Lugnuts scored a pair of runs, and closer Dusty Isaacs slammed the door shut on Dayton in the bottom half of the inning, saving the game for Reid-Foley, and evening his record at 3-3. Take away that 5th inning, and he was perfect, retiring 21 hitters in a row.

 

Reid-Foley threw exactly 100 pitches (a high water mark for his career), an astounding 75 of them for strikes. He recorded 8 groundouts, against only one flyball out - Dayton hitters really only squared him up twice on the evening. Dayton hitters swung and missed at 14 of his pitches, and threw first-pitch strikes to 13 of the 27 hitters he faced, and got to 2 strikes on 18 of them. That 3-run 5th inning was the only time he had trouble staying ahead of the hitters.

 

Reid-Foley threw primarily that fastball, moving more to the curve as he began to tire, and threw in a few sliders and the odd change to show hitters a different look. It's that fastball/curve combo that was at the heart of his arsenal tonight. He threw both consistently for strikes.

 

It will be interesting to see where Reid-Foley's career trajectory takes him from here. In the short term, you would have to think that he finds himself in Dunedin before the end of the season, while in the long term, there have been comparisons to Jonathan Papelbon in terms of his potential as a back end of the bullpen arm. Results like this, however, will keep him in the starting rotation for some time to come, and won't see him in Lansing much longer.

[Pendleton]

^ Very promising report on SRF, we need a guy like that to start showing some helium.

[Atothe]

Here is Clutchlings article, a report from MiLB.TV on SRFs May 31st start:

 

http://clutchlings.blogspot.ca/2016/06/another-look-at-sean-reid-foley.html

 

Florida HS RHP Sean Reid-Foley was the Blue Jays 2nd round selection in 2014. Projected by many as a first round talent, his stock dropped due to sign-ability concerns, but the Blue Jays were able to dissuade him from a commitment to Florida State after selecting him with the 49th pick.

 

Reid-Foley made his pro debut in the GCL, and in something of a surprise opened last year with full season Lansing. He caught a heavy dose of helium and soared up many rankings with a breakout year.

 

Reid-Foley has missed a lot of bats in his brief pro career, striking out well over a batter an inning. He's also missed the strike zone a fair bit, which may be one of the reasons he found himself back in Lansing to start this year after a late-season promotion to Dunedin last year.

 

Even with his premium velocity, the knock against Reid-Foley has been his fastball command, which seems to disappear from time to time. He will cruise along for several innings, then lose the strike zone. Scouts have suggested that he lacked the experience last year to know how to make adjustments to his delivery from inning to inning, driving up his pitch count, and forcing an early exit from some games. He's had some ups and downs since returning to Michigan (four four-walk outings in 9 starts), but things have been starting to come together for him.

 

I charted Blue Jays prospect Sean Reid-Foley's May 31st start against Dayton, almost exactly a year to the day that I charted another start against the same opponent.

 

One thing was obvious from the last prolonged look I had at Reid-Foley: he has altered his delivery somewhat:

 

 

 

The top GIF is from his start against Dayton a year and a day ago, while the bottom one is from that May 31st start. As you can see, in the top animation, he is perpendicular to the hitter at the start of his windup, and makes a deliberate stepping on the rubber with his back leg motion before initiating his front leg kick.

 

In the bottom video, he begins almost in a stretch position on the mound, and appears to be standing on the 3rd Base side, and he stands at a 45 degree angle to the hitter - similar to Marco Estrada and (from the left side) David Price. What's harder to pick up is the fact that in the bottom, he has a separation of his hands at the start of his windup - he removes the ball slightly from his glove as he goes into it.

 

Lansing pitching coach Jeff Ware says that the changes to Reid-Foley's delivery were made at instructs last fall, and were done to simplify things for him, reducing some moving parts from his windup into a streamlined version that would be easier to repeat on a more consistent basis. I saw Reid-Foley pitch a few innings in spring training at the Phillies minor league complex in March, and while I noticed a more streamlined delivery, I didn't realize the extent of it until I looked at last year's video.

 

This start, in essence, saw three Sean Reid-Foleys: over the first four innings, he was a fireballing control artist, painting the outside corner with a fastball that touched 95, and featuring a curveball that was always lurking when he got to two strikes on a hitter. Reid-Foley retired the first 12 hitters he faced, needing only 42 pitches to do so.

 

In the 5th, things unravelled a bit for him. Dayton hitters were more aggressive, and began to hunt his first-pitch fastball. Leadoff hitter James Vasquez broke up Reid-Foley's perfect game by sharply lining the first pitch of the frame to CF. A one-out infield single by the third hitter came around to score when the fourth hitter of the inning sat on Reid-Foley's curve, and lined one down the right field line for a two-run triple. A 55-foot curveball eluded Lansing C Justin Atkinson, and allowed a third run with two outs to score. Reid-Foley threw 26 pitches in the inning.

 

He went to his curve far more often in the 6th and 7th, retiring 6 in a row on only 16 pitches. Reid-Foley pitched into the 8th inning for the first time in his career, and struck out the last two hitters he faced, tying his career high of 10. He set down the final 10 hitters he faced in order.

 

Down 3-2 heading into the 9th, the Lugnuts scored a pair of runs, and closer Dusty Isaacs slammed the door shut on Dayton in the bottom half of the inning, saving the game for Reid-Foley, and evening his record at 3-3. Take away that 5th inning, and he was perfect, retiring 21 hitters in a row.

 

Reid-Foley threw exactly 100 pitches (a high water mark for his career), an astounding 75 of them for strikes. He recorded 8 groundouts, against only one flyball out - Dayton hitters really only squared him up twice on the evening. Dayton hitters swung and missed at 14 of his pitches, and threw first-pitch strikes to 13 of the 27 hitters he faced, and got to 2 strikes on 18 of them. That 3-run 5th inning was the only time he had trouble staying ahead of the hitters.

 

Reid-Foley threw primarily that fastball, moving more to the curve as he began to tire, and threw in a few sliders and the odd change to show hitters a different look. It's that fastball/curve combo that was at the heart of his arsenal tonight. He threw both consistently for strikes.

 

It will be interesting to see where Reid-Foley's career trajectory takes him from here. In the short term, you would have to think that he finds himself in Dunedin before the end of the season, while in the long term, there have been comparisons to Jonathan Papelbon in terms of his potential as a back end of the bullpen arm. Results like this, however, will keep him in the starting rotation for some time to come, and won't see him in Lansing much longer.

 

Thanks king. Good to hear about simplifying his delivery

[spats]

His next start should be on MILB.TV I'm sure King or I could watch. Or if others would like to use my account I could oblige those that I don't hate.

 

I would love the opportunity to watch that game. Can I use your account?

[jays4life19]

His next start should be on MILB.TV I'm sure King or I could watch. Or if others would like to use my account I could oblige those that I don't hate.

 

I would love to watch it.