Talk about the Tourist here when something worth talking about happens their season starts 4/5
Clips from Jake Bloss’ start last night. Last year’s third-rounder. Looks like he’s got some pretty wicked shit.
1 Like
RHP James Hicks, last year’s 13th rounder, promoted from Fayetteville. Like Jake Bloss (whose roster spot he’ll take), he quickly showed he was too advanced for his level and needed a challenge from a better tier of hitters. Had given up just one run over his eighteen innings at Fayetteville.
Here’s every pitch from his latest start, condensed into six minutes:
2 Likes
Efficient & effective first start for Hicks. 5 IP, 1 run on 3 hits. 61 pitches.
2 Likes
Astros signed Layne Henderson this weekend and assigned him to Ashville. Originally signed in 2018 as an undrafted FA, he spent five years in the Astros organization before being waived ahead of the 2022 Rule 5 draft. He was claimed by Detroit, but released in March of this year after splitting time between AA and AAA in 2023. Nothing to get excited about.
John Garcia goes 5-6 with 5 doubles last night -
Fifty players in AL/NL history have delivered a four-double showing – most recently, Jarren Duran of the Red Sox last July – but none of them could reach that elusive fifth two-bagger. (The mark has also not been reached in the Minors since at least 2005, which is when single-game totals became official.)
To add to the impressive nature of the accomplishment, Garcia doubled off four different pitchers, with his longest at-bat only lasting four pitches.
1 Like
Brice Matthews rejoined the Tourists in late May after a month on the injured list. He’s been on a ridiculous tear in the seven games since he got back:
- .483 AVG
- .559 OBP
- 1.138 SLG
- 6 HR
- 5 SB
Just got back from vacation and catching up on posts. Matthews has the most amazing Home/Away even by Asheville Standards.
Home 58 PA .447/.552/.936
Away 57 PA .234/.351/.234 - He has no extra base hits on the road this year. He has five doubles and six home runs at home. A tale of two cities you might say.
At least he’s getting on base. CC is the test.
2 Likes
And he’ll face it immediately. The Hooks twitter account just announced his promotion.
2 Likes
Ethan Pecko getting the call to Asheville, too.
1 Like
This is the time of year when there is a lot of movement in MiLB – some getting promoted and others released to make room for new draftees. For instance, James Hicks just got his second promotion of the year – from Asheville to Corpus Christi to replace Jake Bloss this time – and Alimber Santa, recovered (apparently) from injuries, just jumped Asheville to go directly from Fayetteville to Corpus.
But this post is about a different move – Cam Fisher, who has been on the “Development List” for a few weeks, was sent back to the complex league this week. Cam was drafted in the 4th round last year and did pretty well at Fayetteville, slashing .273/.396/.500 with 5 HR, 22 BB, and 44 K in 134 PA. He started at Asheville this year and was a regular, either in LF or at 1B, for the first two months of the season. As everyone here understands, results are not that important in MiLB, but it is clear that the brain trust was not seeing what they needed to see. And even the casual fan (no pun intended) could see that 70 K in 128 AB did not put him on the fast track. His slash line of .141/.308/.336 still shows some plate discipline and power, but he is clearly not making contact as often as he needs to.
This just underscores that the draft is not a sure thing. I hope he gets it straightened out, and I hope that this year’s early-rounders develop a little more quickly.
1 Like
Fisher is back with the Tourists now, though his contact woes continued in Florida.
Meanwhile, Jackson Nezuh has outgrown Fayetteville and gets his first start in Asheville tonight. In 18 games with Fayetteville, he pitched 81+ innings, struck out 105 against 32 walks, and posted a 1.15 WHIP. I’m not sure whether the 4.41 ERA is a function of Oswalt innings or park effects or maybe (probably?) just that he is still working on pitches and still makes low-A mistakes. At 22, he is a bit old for the league, but I have seen some pretty complimentary stuff about him online.
“Derek Fisher”?
My first thought as well. Believe this is Cam Fisher, a senior sign from last year’s draft who will strike out as often as he hits the ball hard (which is a lot).
2 Likes
Yes. Cam. I think there may have been a hint just above.
1 Like