All Stars, Portland split, Vlad’s future and Trenton showdown

Sign Up For Our FREE Daily eNews!

400 Miles to Toronto: New Hampsire Fisher Cats ColumnThe All-Star break is over, and the pennant race is beginning to come into focus in the Eastern League.

It’s July 16, 2018 and members of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats continue their path to the major leagues. Here’s what’s been going on recently on that path 400 miles to Toronto.

Game Recap

Four Fisher Cats played in last week’s Eastern League All-Star Game, a 4-4 tie that saw the Western Division win after a one-on-one extra-innings “hitting challenge.”

Earlier in the game, New Hampshire’s Jonathan Davis and Cavan Biggio combined to go 1-for-4 with a pair of walks, with Davis replaced by Reading’s Trey Amburgey in the fifth.

New Hampshire staff ace Jordan Romano struck out two of three batters he faced in the first, and fellow Fisher Cat hurler TJ Zeuch retired the side in order two innings later.

The Eastern Division team also included Fisher Cat shortstop Bo Bichette, but he was not put into the game.

Bichette was one of three Eastern Division All-Stars not to enter the game, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also not participating, instead heading to the Gulf Coast League to begin a rehab assignment.

Following the All-Star break, the Fisher Cats went to Hadlock Field for a series with the Portland Sea Dogs, leaving with two wins and two losses.

In the first three games of the series, New Hampshire scored first, but permanently gave up that lead in the first and third games. In that third game of the series, the Fisher Cats scored two runs in the ninth and had two outs left to score the tying run, but quickly squandered hopes of a comeback.

Again, the key difference between those two losses and the Fisher Cats’ wins on Friday and Sunday was the bullpen.  In the losses, the bullpen gave up four earned runs in 7 1/3 innings, while in the wins they allowed just one earned run in 5 1/3 innings.

Although recent roster changes have taken a toll on the Fisher Cats’ bats, they were still almost dead even with Portland on hits over the series, and ended the series with more extra-base hits, runners in scoring position and most other offensive categories.

Fisher Cats of the Week

Batting: Andrew Guillotte – It was a difficult decision this week, with Harold Ramirez putting in a solid night on Thursday and adding hits over the next two days and Bo Bichette going 4-for-5 on Friday before becoming temporarily inactive shortly after the game.

Perhaps Guillotte’s daring steal of home on Sunday could be a quality tiebreaker here, but Guillotte was strong throughout the series, getting two hits on Saturday and Sunday, reaching base on Thursday as well.

Starting Pitching: Jon Harris – Unlike with the batters, this was an easy decision, as the former first-round pick limited Portland to just three hits over seven innings of work on Sunday. He may have left with a shutout if not for a hanging pitch right across the heart of the strike zone that Deinar Lopez took out of the park.

Relief Pitching:  Dusty Issacs – Coming in on Thursday after Kirby Snead’s implosion, Issacs put out the fire, keeping the game within reach for New Hampshire, allowing just one hit over seven batters faced.

Around the Horn

Last week, the Toronto Sun’s Rob Longley indicated unspecified sources within the Blue Jays organization believe Guerrero is ready to head to the Buffalo Bisons, Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate.

In his first two rehab assignments games, Guerrero went a combined 2-for-6 with two runs and a double.

Although the Fisher Cats have not spoken publicly on the timeline for Guerrero’s almost certain eventual major league call-up, one thing to keep in mind is the contract of current Toronto third baseman Josh Donaldson expires at the end of this season.

Despite winning the American League MVP in 2015, Donaldson appeared in only 36 games so far this season, becoming part of recent trade rumors as well.

If Guerrero goes to Buffalo, he will join Jonathan Davis, who went up shortly after the conclusion of the All-Star Game.

Andrew Case returned to the New Hampshire bullpen on Saturday, with another tough outing late in their loss to Portland.

Coming up

Although nothing is certain yet, the Fisher Cats look poised to capture one of the Eastern League Eastern Division’s two playoff berths, half a game ahead of second place Trenton and six games ahead of third place Hartford as of Sunday.

The Fisher Cats play four games against Trenton this week in what will be Trenton’s final visit in Manchester this season, followed a four-game set with the Harrisburg Senators.

 

About this Author

Andrew Sylvia

Assistant EditorManchester Ink Link

Born and raised in the Granite State, Andrew Sylvia has written approximately 10,000 pieces over his career for outlets across Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. On top of that, he's a licensed notary and licensed to sell property, casualty and life insurance, he's been a USSF trained youth soccer and futsal referee for the past six years and he can name over 60 national flags in under 60 seconds according to that flag game app he has on his phone, which makes sense because he also has a bachelor's degree in geography (like Michael Jordan). He can also type over 100 words a minute on a good day.