Forgive me if posted elsewhere, but I did not see an update. Good news for the Asheville Tourists in bringing McCormick Field up to standards outlined by MLB. Deadline to have a financing plan in place for improvements is March 31st. Now both the City of Asheville and the Buncombe County Commissioners have approved their parts of the financing. I try to make a couple of games each year, so this is good news. Tourism Authority and State of NC up next, but my understanding is the first two hurdles were the toughest part. Without the upgrades, this likely would have been the last year with a major league affiliation for the team.
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Glad to hear. Asheville is such a nice town…they deserve baseball.
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I was stunned by the unanimous vote from
our City Council.
Delightedly stunned of course, but still.
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I saw somewhere that Drew Gilbert will be starting the season in Asheville. Good for him. May his stay be short and his next stop Texas.
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Feels like he won’t be in Asheville much longer.
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Another Gilbert homer tonight
https://twitter.com/rvol365/status/1651014782936395778?s=61&t=v80u_yJ15DPUcpgFVeEI8g
Gilbert has hit a second home run tonight.
https://twitter.com/astrosfuture/status/1651025816917098497?s=61&t=v80u_yJ15DPUcpgFVeEI8g
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It is significant that he is doing this on the road. Coming into the game, he was hitting .348/.423/.653 at home in 6 games and was hitting .354/.417/.409 on the road in 5 games. The power gap could be attributed to McCormick Field being very hitter friendly. Closing that gap is a really, really good sign. (I realize this is a very small sample size)
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Ryan Wrobleski hit for the cycle last night.
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A well deserved promotion for Clifford. Hope he keeps doing what he’s been doing so far.
Last year’s 12th rounder from Ohio State had outstanding contact quality in college but severe contact-actually-happening issues. He still strikes out a lot, but not as much as expected, and he’s still crushing the ball. If he can keep this up he’s going to rocket up the rankings.
“Contact-actually-happening” made me chuckle.
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So … He has a contact-averse swing?
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Not only is he keeping it up…he’s actually stepping it up.
Slash for season now at: .411/.480/.636
Also has 6 stolen bases so can run a little for a guy listed at 6’4" 220lbs.
Hoping he gets promoted in the reasonable near future. Maybe he replaces Gilbert after he’s promoted to AAA later this season?
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There are even more encouraging signs there, too. In the first 6 games of the season he struck out 11 times and looked like the guy scouts thought he’d be out of college. But he’s struck out only 16 times in his 24 games since then, without sacrificing any power (.446/.505/.711 over that stretch).
And okay, sure, the Tourists play in a hitter’s park—but he’s hitting even better away from home: .386/.453/.561 in 15 home games; .440/.508/.720 in 15 on the road.
Not sure what more he can prove in Asheville. He needs a real challenge.
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Memorial Day check to see which Tourists are looking good:
Zach Denzenzo - Okay he is now in CC but he spent much of the spring in Ashville. When he left the mountains for the gulf coast, he was hitting .407/.474/.628. In the field, he mostly split time between 2B & 3B with an occasional appearance at 1B. Definitely one to watch in CC moving forward.
Tim Borden - Well let’s see we have already had three position players move up the CC (Loperfido, Gilbert, and now Dezenzo). Borden is doing pretty well and deserves a shout out. He is hitting .318/.414/.509. What is impressive is that he is hitting much better away from McCormick Field. At home he is hitting, .283/.394./.517, while on the road he is hitting .360/.439/.500. He has also taken 8 HBP so far this year.
No pitcher is really standing out to me. That may be a factor of pitching at McCormick Field but there are several guys on this roster who are struggling with control.
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