3/29/24 to 4/4/24 - MILB Game Thread

JM3

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Since the 1st game day of the season for Portland, Greenville & Salem is April 5th, & since WooSox play today, might as well just do one game day thread for all of those Worcester games.

As always, box scores can be found here:

https://www.milb.com/scores/all/all/redsox

6:05 p.m. - AAA WooSox (TBD) @ Lehigh Valley (Phillips)

Not sure who is starting for Worcester.
 
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simplicio

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Very curious about where Uwasawa ends up, I guess extended spring training means he simply isn't getting assigned till later?
 
JM3

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simplicio said:
Very curious about where Uwasawa ends up, I guess extended spring training means he simply isn't getting assigned till later?
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I think they're going to work on a few things down there & then send him to Worcester in a couple weeks.
 
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LogansDad said:
Love Meidroth in the 2 hole. Can't wait to see this kid take the next step.
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1st time through Meidroth walked & everyone else got out.

Gambrell has pitched 2 scoreless, but 2 walks, a hit & an HBP.
 
Chainsaw318

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Gambrell is one of the non-elite guys in the system I hope to follow closely this year. I wonder if he can get beyond “a bunch of average pitches” and become an interesting bulk guy, middle bullpen arm or back-end starter.

There seems to be more to like than it would have initially seemed. He’s gotten bigger and stronger, added some to his pitches and moved 2 levels last year.

Combining that real improvement with losing some development time to COVID and another year to the ankle issue that was resolved by surgery, he may have another level which makes a real MLB piece.
 
JM3

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Chainsaw318 said:
Gambrell is one of the non-elite guys in the system I hope to follow closely this year. I wonder if he can get beyond “a bunch of average pitches” and become an interesting bulk guy, middle bullpen arm or back-end starter.

There seems to be more to like than it would have initially seemed. He’s gotten bigger and stronger, added some to his pitches and moved 2 levels last year.

Combining that real improvement with losing some development time to COVID and another year to the ankle issue that was resolved by surgery, he may have another level which makes a real MLB piece.
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He's only throwing 90 today which is a bit concerning. But pitched around a lead off double in the 3rd with the help of 2 strikeouts for a scoreless inning. 5 k's through 3.

Meidroth walked again.
 
JM3

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Gambrell had another scoreless inning in with a double & 2 strikeouts in the 4th. & threw the fastest pitch I've seen from him today, 91.8.
 
simplicio

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My mlb.tv app has a space for affiliate games but isn't showing this, what gives?
 
JM3

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On Meidroth walk watch, he tried to walk a 3rd time, but got called on strikes on a 3-2 pitch, 7th pitch of the AB.
 
JM3

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Jorge Benitez is done after 5 outs, no hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts. Leaves with a runner on 1st. 39 pitches, 22 strikes (56.4%).

Luis Guerrero came in & picked up a strikeout on the splitter to end the 6th.
 
amfox1

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JM3 said:
Gambrell had another scoreless inning in with a double & 2 strikeouts in the 4th. & threw the fastest pitch I've seen from him today, 91.8.
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According to baseballsavant.mlb.com, Gambrell topped out at 92.6, Benitez 92.8 and Guerrero 97.1.

Romy Gonzalez with a 402 ft home run (106 exit velo)
 
JM3

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JM3 said:
Jorge Benitez is done after 5 outs, no hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts. Leaves with a runner on 1st. 39 pitches, 22 strikes (56.4%).

Luis Guerrero came in & picked up a strikeout on the splitter to end the 6th.
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Guerrero got out all 4 hitters he faced, including 1 strikeout. 16 pitches, 10 strikes (62.5%).

Bernardino in for the bottom of the 8th up 2-0.
 
Chainsaw318

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amfox1 said:
According to baseballsavant.mlb.com, Gambrell topped out at 92.6, Benitez 92.8 and Guerrero 97.1.

Romy Gonzalez with a 402 ft home run (106 exit velo)
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Guerrero is typically a bit higher on the gun, so maybe either everyone’s throwing a bit below their average velocity, or the Lehigh Balley gun is a little low?
 
amfox1

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It's also early in the year and the weather's not warm, so being below average velocity wouldn't be too surprising.

Bernardino is topping out at 90.0. In his last appearance last year (9/28 vs. BAL), he topped out at 91.6.

EDIT: David Hamilton with a home run (397 ft, 100 exit velo) in the top 9th, now 3-0.
 
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JM3

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Rough 8th for Bernardino including a HBP, a walk & only 7 strikes in 17 pitches.

But no runs.
 
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Jacques starts the 9th by allowing 3 straight hits.
 
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JM3 said:
Jacques starts the 9th by allowing 3 straight hits.
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Sorry, he started it with a walk, then 4 straight hits, & then another walk.

4-3, bases loaded, 0 out. Smh.

Finally bringing Politi in.
 
LogansDad

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He was dreadful for basically the entire spring, too. I have no idea why they are allowing this guy to take up a 40 man slot.
 
JM3

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LogansDad said:
He was dreadful for basically the entire spring, too. I have no idea why they are allowing this guy to take up a 40 man slot.
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Part of it is they haven't needed a slot with all the guys who they were able to put on the 60, but I was surprised they kept him over Max Castillo (who is an Iron Pig) & a bit surprised they kept him over Zack Weiss (on the Twins IL with a shoulder strain).
 
byAndrewParker

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As a guy who has defended the wall with Jacques for the past year, it has started to get worse.

He was nails last year in Worcester which obviously got him his spot on the 40-man. Something just isn’t right with him lately.
 
JM3

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byAndrewParker said:
As a guy who has defended the wall with Jacques for the past year, it has started to get worse.

He was nails last year in Worcester which obviously got him his spot on the 40-man. Something just isn’t right with him lately.
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Politi has also been pretty shaky for the last year+ now.

This just does not look like a competitive pitch.

View: https://twitter.com/MiLB/status/1773879794985550165


On the bright side, good days for Gambrell, Benitez & Guerrero.

View: https://twitter.com/ByAndrewParker/status/1773858922857648352

Swaggy G was not on my bingo card for '24.


View: https://twitter.com/Hunter_Noll/status/1773887749805813859
 
JM3

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Smh. Hunter Noll posted that Gambrell likes to look "swaggy" on the mound & said that while wearing a Gucci sling bag thing, & then deleted the post.

ETA: Tweet is back.

View: https://twitter.com/Hunter_Noll/status/1773902129788338524


Anyway, my issue with Jacques is that he 29 & is a 2-pitch pitcher. His sinker was effective in MLB, but his slider got lit up.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/joe-jacques-682175?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb

He did have good results in Worcester last year (2.59 ERA) but his underlying #s weren't great (8.1 k/9, 3 bb/9, 4.42 FIP).

I'm guessing the braintrust thought they could fix his slider and/or add a 3rd pitch. He did throw a few cutters today... but it's tough to think an 81 mph cutter is going to be a particular impactful pitch. His sinker was 88 today & his slider was 75.
 
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byAndrewParker

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I’m a bit concerned about lack of velocity with Gambrell on if it can play at next level, but he has missed plenty of bats in AAA in an obvious small sample size.
 
JM3

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JM3

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4:35 p.m. - AAA WooSox (BVB) @ Lehigh Valley (Allard)

We'll see if the pitching development team worked any wonders on Van Belle. He's always been a pitchability over stuff guy.

Brian Van Belle will take the ball and get the start for the WooSox second game of the season. Last season Van Belle made 12 starts (13 games) with a 5-4 record and a 6.41 ERA with the WooSox. He struck out 65 batters over 60 1/3 innings. First pitch is at 4:35 pm at Lehigh Valley.
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View: https://twitter.com/ChrisHenrique/status/1774096599762825386


He was more effective than that at Portland where he had a 3.00 ERA in 81 IP.

The actual difference wasn't as stark as the ERAs would indicate as he overperfomed his peripherals at Portland (4.43 xFIP) & underperformed them at Worcester (4.75 xFIP). The main difference was his homer to fly ball rate tripled in triple-A.
 
JM3

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Is the WooSox lineup older than the Red Sox lineup? lol

26, 22, 26, 27, 29, 28, 32, 28, 28, 27 (Avg 27.3)

Will compare to the Red Sox opening day...

27, 27, 31, 24, 28, 30, 23, 25, 27, 24 (Avg 26.6)

Yup
 
JM3

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In each of the 1st 2 innings the Iron Pigs had 1st & 3rd with 1 out & in both innings BVB picked up a strikeout & got out of the jam. The 3rd was a 1-2-3 inning.

He's using all 5 of his pitches - sinker, cutter, slider, curve & changeup.

2-0 WooSox, T4.
 
JM3

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BVB pitched a 1-2-3 4th inning...& somehow got through a 5th scoreless which included 2 guys getting thrown out trying to score.
 
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