Baysox 2019 Playoff Thread

[MurphDogg]

Klimek strikes out Rashad Crawford to end it and the series is knotted up at 1 game apiece.

[Just Regular]

Betances reported to get another tune up appearance tomorrow night.  Borrowing from the other thread about how most minor league teams have only a handful of MLB talented guys, I imagine for the 15-20 other Baysox these cameos add a little extra spice to the postseason experience.  If Yusniel Diaz is too good/young to go to MLB until next May, a little bit of MLB can come to him.

[MurphDogg]

On the plus side, it looks like the Baysox will be spared Giancarlo Stanton.

[MurphDogg]

A pitcher's duel tonight with Clarke Schmidt going against Alex Wells.

Schmidt is the Yankees #5 prospect per MLB Pipeline, Fangraphs ranks him at #12.

Schmidt was the Yankees first round pick (16th overall) out of South Carolina in 2017. He had Tommy John surgery and didn't pitch professionally that year, and only made it as far as the NY Penn League last year as he recovered from Tommy John. This season, Schmidt started the season in Tampa in high-A ball, he missed 5+ weeks with injury between May 20th and June 27th and pitched three games in the GCL before rejoining Tampa on July 10th.

Overall he made 13 appearances with Tampa (12 starts) before being promoted to Trenton and making his final 3 starts of the regular season there. His ERA at Tampa was 3.84 (although it was 2.98 prior to his last start there which saw him allow 7 runs on three innings).

In his first start with Trenton he allowed 5 runs over 5 and a third innings, but over the 3 starts since, including one in the last round of the playoffs, he has thrown 19 and 2/3rds innings of shutout baseball allowing 7 hits and 1 walk while striking out 18.

Game 4's scheduled starters are Tyler Herb for the Baysox and Michael King for the Thunder. King is the Yankees #37 prospect, per Fangraphs and has had something of a lost season, bouncing all over and making only 11 appearances (8 starts) on the season between the GCL, A+, AA and AAA, pitching to a 5.48 ERA.

Excited for the game tonight. Hope some other Hangouters will make it out, there are tons of good seats available, the crowd at the game I went to last week against Harrisburg was small but passionate, not like a typical minor league crowd which tends to be more casual. Not sure whether I will make it tomorrow or not. If there is a Game 5 on Saturday, I will almost definitely be there.

[Frobby]

For what it’s worth, Alex Wells faced Trenton twice this year.   On June 15, he allowed 3 runs in 6 innings.    On August 7, he allowed 1 run in 4.1 innings.   That outing was cut short by rain.    

[MurphDogg]

McKenna with a great throw to cut down a runner trying to extend a single into a double. The arm definitely plays.

[MurphDogg]

Mullins with a clean single to right to tie the game at 1 and chase Schmidt in the bottom of the fifth. Schmidt looked good but the Baysox were patient and got the pitch count up. Mullins had the only two hits off of him.

Time to feast on the bullpen.

[weams]

Straight steal of home with bases loaded, two out and two strikes will lose this game for Bowie. 

[Frobby]

55 minutes ago, weams said:

Straight steal of home with bases loaded, two out and two strikes will lose this game for Bowie. 

Wells’ fault?

[MurphDogg]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Wells’ fault?

Wells didn't look over the whole time the bases were loaded (Wells loaded the bases with nobody out and got the next two batters out before getting two strikes on the third batter). The runner was dancing the whole at-bat, I saw him break for the plate a couple times either in that at-bat or the previous at-bat and he was completely ignored, the third baseman was playing well off the bag. Nobody gave Wells the heads up when he took off. Palmeiro finally yelled from first but it was far too late.

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, MurphDogg said:

Wells didn't look over the whole time the bases were loaded (Wells loaded the bases with nobody out and got the next two batters out before getting two strikes on the third batter). The runner was dancing the whole at-bat, I saw him break for the plate a couple times either in that at-bat or the previous at-bat and he was completely ignored, the third baseman was playing well off the bag. Nobody gave Wells the heads up when he took off. Palmeiro finally yelled from first but it was far too late.

Very tough way to lose.    I was following on my phone.    Got the bases loaded, struck out the side, but lost because of a steal of home with 2 strikes on the third guy.   The previous at bat was an epic battle that took about 10 pitches.   Wells pitched his ass off there and generally throughout the game.

[Frobby]

Wells struck out Kyle Holder and Angel Aguilar and got ahead of Brian Navarreto, 1-2, when Park sprinted for the plate and scored without a throw.

But that wasn't exactly the plan.

"We talked earlier, I think during Aguilar's at-bat, and I said, 'Go ahead and, if you want, fake steal a few times and see if we can get him to balk,'" Osborn said. "And that was the initial thought, and I think Hoy gradually [felt] him out and once it got to two outs and two strikes on 'Navie,' he just took it upon himself and it was a perfect storm. The crowd was really loud, so even if people were telling [Wells] to step off, he didn't hear them.

"It's a 10-out-of-10 gutsy play. If the guy delivered a pitch and it gets there it could have ended in disaster. No one had any idea he was going to do that, but it worked out and all the credit goes to Hoy, because it was just an amazing play and it took a lot of courage to do that."

For Park, the situation almost started to feel like a dare.

"Once we got one out, I thought about it, because [Wells] is really tough to hit," he said. "But I showed them a fake steal and they didn't do anything. I was almost halfway. But [Wells] wasn't doing anything -- he never looked at me. So, I was like, 'OK, should I go?' And after two strikes, I decided."

And the run held up, thanks to stellar pitching.  https://www.milb.com/milb/news/hoy-jun-park-steals-game-3-for-trenton-thunder/c-310703362

[weams]

12 hours ago, Frobby said:

Wells’ fault?

Yep. But no one screamed for him either. 

[survivedc]

I’ll be there tonight, somewhere behind the plate...looking forward to it even if I’d never heard of Tyler Herb before yesterday. 

[Luke-OH]

18 minutes ago, survivedc said:

I’ll be there tonight, somewhere behind the plate...looking forward to it even if I’d never heard of Tyler Herb before yesterday. 

He was in the mid to upper 90s at times earlier in the year, but below command, no good offspeed stuff.