Wed, 5/28 - Woodruff Appleton Matinee; Muddies Play Two; Maryvale Off

[Joseph Zarr]

We do see a 92 mph K here. Seems he was sitting 90 mph. Touching 92ish?

I think it's also important to remind ourselves: Ashby, who was also rehabbing recently, showed a very similar drop in velo. AND, then in his first outing with the MLB Brewers he was sitting 97-97.5 mph on his sinker. I think it is very 'possible' Woody isn't fully reaching back at present? I'm hoping that's the case. His off-speed was very effective as the game wore on. He was dropping in perfectly timed and perfectly located pitches. I would also add: today's game gives us a glimpse at the Dinges potential behind the dish. Really clean everything. His framing work has already progressed immensely in a month an a half in 2025. Hard not to continue being super jazzed up about his prospects given what we've seen in the first two months.

[sveumrules]

24 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

I just left during the rain delay... The fastest pitch read I saw on the scoreboard from Woodruff was 90 all day. Nothing higher that I saw. His first two innings he was sitting 87 -89 and then the remainder of the game. He was sitting 88-90.

Of course, this was just the scoreboard reporting so not sure if that is official or not.

Purely anecdotal, but the velocity readings at TRats games have always seemed a tick slow to me.

Wonder if they have the stadium gone trained on home plate instead of picking it up closer to the pitcher's hand like StatCast does?

[liveforoctober]

1 hour ago, sveumrules said:

Purely anecdotal, but the velocity readings at TRats games have always seemed a tick slow to me.

Wonder if they have the stadium gone trained on home plate instead of picking it up closer to the pitcher's hand like StatCast does?

If this is accurate then the above "sitting 90, touching 92" would make sense. The scoreboard was 88-90 all game.

[biedergb]

1 hour ago, Joseph Zarr said:

I think it is very 'possible' Woody isn't fully reaching back at present? I'm hoping that's the case.

If not - is there any other explanation since he was hitting 94-95 a couple of starts, and then his initial "last rehab" start he was lower velo, but came off smiling and I just assumed he dialed it back. But now he hasn't recovered. So I suspect the ankle injury drained his velocity and he will have to get his footing back, or he just is dialing it back so he doesn't re-aggravate anything until he gets back to the bigs?

It would seem unlikely that he had the velocity and lost it by pitching more, or could thab be a reality?

[wiguy94]

1 hour ago, sveumrules said:

Purely anecdotal, but the velocity readings at TRats games have always seemed a tick slow to me.

Wonder if they have the stadium gone trained on home plate instead of picking it up closer to the pitcher's hand like StatCast does?

Yeah I don't think that's at all true otherwise we would be seeing stark velo differences when they are on the home/road which just isn't the case.

[Joseph Zarr]

9 minutes ago, biedergb said:

If not - is there any other explanation since he was hitting 94-95 a couple of starts, and then his initial "last rehab" start he was lower velo, but came off smiling and I just assumed he dialed it back. But now he hasn't recovered. So I suspect the ankle injury drained his velocity and he will have to get his footing back, or he just is dialing it back so he doesn't re-aggravate anything until he gets back to the bigs?

It would seem unlikely that he had the velocity and lost it by pitching more, or could thab be a reality?

Well, I think it's going to come down to many man factors beyond our comprehension. The most important thing, via my unimportant perspective, is he hasn't had any real physical setbacks. Velo down? Yeah, that's not ideal BUT we don't really know why it's down. Like I said above: his off-speed was fantastic today. Maybe they were working more on that? We aren't privy to the conversations and the plans of attack. Do we want to see him sitting 94-95 mph? Ab-so-lutely. He also pitched 7 innings of 0 ER ball. Was it the Chiefs? Shoot. Yes. Can we pretend it was Quad Cities? Would that even matter?😂 We'll just use Mears, regardless. There I go again! Double darn!

[Ro Mueller]

3B Luis Pena (.905 OPS, 21 SBs in 115 PAs) returns to the Low-A Carolina lineup after a 10-day absence, as they host Red Sox affiliate Salem this week. The teams commence the series with a doubleheader, with RHP Jack Hostetler (6.30 ERA, 10 Ks in 10 IP) getting the Game 1 start. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Peña just missed an oppo taco inside the RF foul pole by about 6'. Dang. That was close. 0-0 game here in the bottom of the fourth. Instead, he flies out high up the LF wall. MAN, he was all over that AB. Sheesh.

[Joseph Zarr]

Bitonti follows by smoking a single to RF.

[Joseph Zarr]

Anderson grounds into an inning ending 6-4-3 DP. 0-0 and we head to the 5th in a 7-inning game one of two.

[Ro Mueller]

AA Biloxi commence their series at Angels’ affiliate Rocket City tonight, with RHP Alexander Cornielle (1.93 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 8.4 K/9 in 37.1 IP) on the mound tonight. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Hernandez just gave up a 119 mph single past the diving Made. Don't know how he didn't catch that warm-burner. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Seigler lead off triple high off the deep right CF wall. Missed a HR by what seemed 3 feet. Dunn will try to knock him home. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Dunn does just that ripping a hard hit liner for a single into RF. 1-0 Sounds. Nobody out. Dunn at 1B.

[Joseph Zarr]

Dalbec follows ripping a hard hit single into deep right CF. Men on the corners. Nobody out.

Meanwhile, Hernandez has given up consecutive singles in the top of the 7th. Men on 1st and 2nd. Nobody out. This is a 7-inning game, remember. Muddies trail 1-0.

[Joseph Zarr]

Another hard hit ball up the middle. Di Turi can't snag it and it deflects to CF. Payne over ran it due to the deflection. Run scores. 2-0 deficit. Runner is thrown out trying to take 2B. Man on 3rd. One down.

[Joseph Zarr]

EMJ struck out but Alfaro singles hard to RF. 2-0 Sounds. One down. Men on 1st and 2nd. 

Meanwhile, a hard hit grounder eats up Bitonti when he tries to corral it and throw home. He rushed the gather there, clearly. It was right to him. Di Turi grabs the deflection and gets the 2nd out. But, it's now 3-0 Salem.

[Joseph Zarr]

Rosario rips a double down the RF line past the diving 1B. He scores Dalbec. Men on 2nd and 3rd. One down. 3-0 Sounds. Noice!

[Joseph Zarr]

Down 3-0. Full count. Hernandez sees a low heater absolutely rocked off the top of the video board. 4-0 Salem. Ouch. 111 mph off the bat. 449 feet. Yup. That left the yard.

[Joseph Zarr]

Another smoked liner to right CF. Getting absolutely peppered here in the 7th. Man on 2nd. Two down. 

Meanwhile, Zamora hits a liner sac fly chased down in the left CF gap. 4-0. Both runners advance. Two down. Man on 3B.

[Joseph Zarr]

Bitonti pops up sky high behind 2B. Anderson flies out to shallow RF - lunging diving catch. Nice play. Payne is called out on strikes. Homeplate ump likely blew two strike calls in that AB. He went down looking but that 3-2 pitch easily looked a good several inches off the outer black. Yeah that isn't close to a strike. Apparently, the ump wanted to head to game two. Sheesh.

[Joseph Zarr]

A lead-off triple. How about a first pitch single poke into CF on a low curve for Seigler? Can you say scorching? No broken finger is going to stop Seigler's heater. My goodness.

[Joseph Zarr]

Dalbec scorches a double down the LF line past the diving 3B. Seigler slides in under the tag of the C. The throw beat him. Realllllly good slide and the catcher couldn't corral the hop. 5-0 Sounds. Seigler and Dalbec are 2-for-2. The Sounds have 7 Hits in the 2nd inning. 

[MilwaukeeBeers]

Do we know when Game 2 of the mudcats game starts? Didn't see it on MiLB.com 

[Joseph Zarr]

5 minutes ago, MilwaukeeBeers said:

Do we know when Game 2 of the mudcats game starts? Didn't see it on MiLB.com 

Typically it's 30-to-45 minutes after the end of the first game. Should be any minute.