Listen, you’re just here to see how Gage Wood did last night, so let’s get to the good stuff.
Lehigh Valley 9, Buffalo 4
Felix Reyes continued to stay hot with the Ironpigs and makes the question of why not see what he can do again at the major league level one that deserves a longer discussion. Ultimately, the answer is probably somewhere between “he’s a quad-A player” and “they’re simply not going to sit Adolis Garcia right now”. Bryse Wilson was good, throwing five shutout innings, lowering his
ERA below 8 on the season. That’s not exactly the way to declare yourself “starting rotation depth” to the organization, but hey, gotta start somewhere.
Reading 5, Harrisburg 1
It was Gage Wood’s home debut for the Fightin’ Phils and he did not disappoint.
You can see from Mitch Rupert’s post that he only went four innings, so clearly they’re still trying to watch his innings, for good or bad. In those four innings, he sat in 94-96 range, hitting 99 at one point.
I mean, yeah, there was some offense tonight too, but the biggest takeaway is that even after two starts, Wood is starting to establish himself as a top pitching prospect in the game. He’ll have to start doing it over longer outings, something I’ll bet the team starts challenging him with as the season goes on, but he’s looking like the jump straight to Double-A is not a difficult one.
Jersey Shore 11, Frederick 2
Sam Highfill was the story tonight for the Blue Claws, firing five innings in which he struck out ten. Trent Farquhar was also in his bag, going two for four with three RBI in the the victory, but a larger story is Keaton Anthony continuing his minor league rehab assignment and going two for four of his own accord, racking up two RBI in the process. Anthony is likely headed for a new destination at some point in his near future. There really is nowhere for him to play at the major league level, so being used as a trade piece makes the most. If there is a team that could use some right handed pop at first base or DH, maybe he can translate minor league numbers into major league success.
Clearwater 12, Dunedin 11
Another offensive barnburner, this time, it was Robert Phelps and TJayy Walton leading the charge. Phelps had three hits, a double among them, while Walton had two hits and scored three times. Both also stole a base to chip in. One of those rare nights where all of the team’s minor league affiliates hit well and won.
Weird.
