Link Report for 4/22 -- Nelson Cruz Leaves Game (Leg Injury)

[pogokat]

don't get me wrong, i love enrique cruz...and i'm glad to see a resurgence....he was hot in the second half last year...but he's gotta walk more...

 

and yes, callix is the man...i haven't looked at the stats..but callix seems to be alot like ronnie belliard...which is shaping up to be a pretty good guy to be...

 

has anyone ever gone from having less than a 1:10 bb:ab to having a 100 walk season???anyway...i hope it's brad nelson...if he hit 25 bombs and walked 85-100 times this year...then sweetzombie jesus...

 

anyway, some good stuff so far this year

[BillScottCanRake]

Al;

 

One of Huntsvilles regulars can answer this better than I can... but I'll add my own personal observation from last year.

 

When I saw Nelson in Huntsville, I thought his arm was pretty good- it wasn't a cannon or anything, but it seemed solid to me. It was a lot more accurate than I thought it would be, too, considering his relative lack of experience out there.

 

Overall, he looked to be in GREAT shape, and he moved around out there very well. He's not the lumbering first baseman I remember from Beloit or his first go around in Huntsville in 2003.

 

I'd say his arm is at least strong enough that he's got a shot at playing there, even if it would make him one of the weaker throwing ML RFers.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.zwire.com/site/news.c...&rfi=6

 

Captains victory worth the wait

95-minute rain delay not enough to derail Lake County

David S. Glasier, Willoughby News-Herald Staff Writer

 

The Captains overcame a 95-minute rain delay and a slow start with the bats to post a 3-2 victory Friday over the West Virginia Power at Classic Park.

 

First baseman Fernando Pacheco's RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning proved to be the game-winner, as the Captains broke a three-game losing streak and upped their record to 9-6.

 

Pacheco is hitting .340 with four home runs and a team-high 12 RBI.

 

The victory eased the frustration of a parade of Lake County runners stranded on base through the first six innings.

In the bottom of the first inning, West Virginia starter Josh Baker gave up a a two-out single to Wyatt Toregas and consecutive walks to Mike Butia and Chris Gimenez to load the bases. Baker got out of the jam when Pacheco hit a routine grounder to first baseman Grant Richardson.

 

After the Power took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by right fielder William Lewis, the frustration continued for the Captains in the bottom half of the frame. Leadoff batter Juan Valdes doubled to left-center field, but the Captains failed to capitalize when Baker retired Brian Finegan, Jose Constanza and Argenis Reyes in order.

 

The Captains again seemed to be on the verge of breaking through against Baker in the bottom of the fourth inning. Gimenez opened with a walk and moved to second base on Pacheco's single. The threat withered on the vine, though, as Baker got Valdes and Finegan on short flyouts before Constanza was retired on a routine grounder to Power shortstop Alcides Escobar.

 

West Virginia extended its lead to 2-0 in the top of the seventh inning on an RBI single designated hitter Carlos Corporan.

 

Finegan finally got the Captains rolling in the bottom of the seventh, against Power reliever Robbie Wooley, with a leadoff triple into the right-field corner. He scored on Constanza's RBI single. After getting his first RBI after 13 games and 42 at-bats, Constanza promptly stole second base and moved to third on a nifty drag-bunt single by Reyes.

 

The Captains knotted the score at 2 on a double-play grounder by Marshall Szabo.

 

Lake County reliever T.J. Burton worked out of a jam in the top of the eighth inning. He gave up a leadoff single to Escobar and walked second baseman Hernan Iribarren. A sacrifice bunt by catcher Nestor Corredor moved up both runners, but Burton buckled down to get Richardson on a line drive to Finegan and Josh Murray on a fly ball to Valdes in short center field.

 

Burton (2-1, 2.70 ERA) earned the victory by pitching two scoreless innings in relief of starter Aaron Laffey.

 

Kieran Mattison, promoted Friday from extended spring training in Florida, worked a scoreless ninth to earn his first save.

[Brian the Automator]

It would really demoralize the Power, but Will Lewis needs to be promoted to Brevard County ASAP.

[DHonks]

Al and BSCR, Nelson was supposed to throw in the 90s in HS, so I assume his arm is no problem. From what I saw in spring training, he's what I would call a momentum runner. Some guys can have a terrible first step and still kick it into gear. Brad Nelson is a guy who needs to learn a first step. Once again, I'd say this is like Jenkins or Lee. When Geoff or Carlos get a good read, they get to the ball, but if they don't get a good read, they has virtually no speed to make up for a mistake. So at times they can appear to cover a ton of ground, but at other times they can appear to have poor-to-terrible range.

[Mass Haas]

Oklahoma's Jason Standridge:

 

RedHawks starting pitcher Jason Standridge needed only three pitches to retire the first two batters in the seventh inning Friday night.

 

But before the inning was over, Standridge himself was retired from the game.

 

Nashville broke open a tied game by scoring five two-out runs in the seventh inning, en route to a 7-2 win, with a north wind blowing in at SBC Bricktown Ballpark.

 

"They're not that good of a hitting team," Standridge said. "It's just that we made some bad pitches when they did hit it. But they're not good of a hitting team. We can't give them too much credit. We just made some bad pitches and we walked guys."

 

Hmmm...bulletin board?

[huntsvillefan]

What DHonks said, plus he'll always bust his gut at least trying to make the play. I put him on a par with Lee & Jenkins, probably slightly ahead of Cruz. Remember I haven't seen that much of those three.