Happy Sunday, all. Since I can’t get Game Notes any longer, for some unknown reason, I’m going to write my own. Sometimes.
The ‘Pigs took a 3-2 series lead last night on the back of a Darick Hall 2-HR game at Coca Cola Park. There was some bullpen funniness to make it interesting, but otherwise it was nice to take the series lead.
This afternoon should be a good one with Nationals top prospect Cade Cavalli on the mound for Rochester. He was a first-round pick, number 22 overall, in 2020, out of Oklahoma. He pitched at three levels last season, 7 starts with A+ Wilmington, 11 starts for Double-A Harrisburg, and 6 starts for Triple-A Rochester. His season totals were 7-9, 3.36ERA, 24 Games, 123 innings pitched, 96H, 46ER, 5HR, 60BB, 175K, .213BA/A, 1.26WHIP. So far this season he’s 0-1, 9.00ERA in two starts. He was on turn to start Tuesday in the series opener, but was skipped. No official word out of the Washington organization, but the RedWings did have a double-header in the last series at home versus Buffalo, and the Nationals had a double-header of their own which might have required extra pitchers. In any case, this will be only his third start of the season and it will be interesting to see what we get.
On the mound to face Cavalli will be RHP Colton Eastman. Somewhat of a forgotten guy in the Phillies system, he went 1-1 with 3.00ERA in four starts with the IronPigs last season after coming up from Reading, where he had a 3.55ERA in 11 games. So far this season in three starts he has a 3.86ERA with a tremendous amount of ground ball outs.
With a win today the IronPigs can pull back to .500 on the season, tie the RedWings in the standings, and rank as high as 4th (tied) in the 10-team International League East. It would be the first series-win of the season for the ‘Pigs.
Following today’s game, the Pigs will have their usual Monday off-day, and head to Moosic for a series with the 7th-place RailRiders, and then off to Syracuse for a series with the last-place Smets before returning home on Tuesday May 10 for a home set with the Bisons. The two-week roadie is tied for the longest of the season.
Over that time away, there will be a “Great Reckoning” with the roster. The big league team will need to get down to 26 from 28, and perhaps they’ll actually start counting the players at Triple-A at that point. We could see some guys added to the various injured lists, or trades, or perhaps have to say good-bye to a guy or two. Some additional players might need “Development List” time. Then again, a guy like prospect Bryson Stott could be on his way here to play every day. We’ll see, and we’ll cover it for you here at the Top Level of the Minors, where things are never boring.
See you at the park,
@Kram207
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