It’s May 16, 2021. Here’s what’s been going on lately on the path about 400 miles west toward the big leagues.
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 – New Hampshire 6, Somerset 5
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 – New Hampshire 7, Somerset 2
Thursday, May 13, 2021 – Somerset 6, New Hampshire 1
Friday, May 14, 2021 – New Hampshire 7, Somerset 3
Saturday, May 15, 2021 – Somerset 5, New Hampshire 3
Sunday, May 16, 2021 – New Hampshire 6, Somerset 0
So long, Somerset
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats welcomed the Somerset Patriots, the new Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, to Delta Dental Stadium for the first time this week. The Yankees’ former Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder, have temporarily become the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate until renovations are completed at Sahlen Field, the regular home of the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons and temporary home of the Blue Jays until they can return to Canada.
So, whether they’re Bisons or Thunder, Trenton will be the next stop for any Fisher Cats on the way to the Majors and until the Sahlen Field renovations are complete, the Blue Jays will continue to play in Dunedin, Florida at TD Ballpark, home of their Low-A affiliate, the Dunedin Blue Jays, with an expected return to Buffalo in June. Until they leave, the Dunedin Blue Jays will be playing at Baycare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida.
After their difficulties in Portland last week, the Fisher Cats took four out six games from the Patriots and provided some hope to Fisher Cat fans hoping to root for a successful season even if a league championship would now come without any playoffs.
Perhaps the Fisher Cats’ biggest strength this season has come from the arms of their top two starters, Zach Logue and Simeon Woods Richardson.
Richardson submitted two strong performances on Tuesday and Sunday to see his ERA dip below 2.00 on the season and Logue put in a strong start on Saturday that ultimately came to naught due to one of the Fisher Cats’ weaknesses: their bullpen.
New Hampshire’s two losses this week were both assigned to Fisher Cat relievers, with Jon Harris’ first-pitch home run allowed on Thursday putting him at 0-2 on the year and Mike Ellenbest blowing a save situation on Saturday. Coming into Sunday, the Fisher Cats were one of four Double-A Northeast teams without a save so far this season.
“The bullpen has been up and down, we have a lot of pitchers that haven’t pitched in a long time, they need time to adjust and the more they pitch, the better they’re going to get,” said Fisher Cats Manager Cesar Martin. “Also, many of the guys were in Low-A in 2019 and didn’t pitch last year. I think if we give it time, they’re going to be okay.”
Fielding has also been an issue, with the ‘Cats putting up ten errors during the series. That puts them in last place in the league coming into Sunday, following their ten-error series in Portland.
Martin says that is in large part to the team’s need to play infielders in the outfield as well as the rust plaguing the bullpen. That theory would explain the two errors from Lopez over the week, who normally plays infield positions but has seen time in center recently as well as the five combined errors from the various players platooning at shortstop.
At the plate, Gabriel Moreno and Otto Lopez have led the way for New Hampshire. This week, Moreno went 9-for-19 (.473) with a home run and a game-winning walk on Tuesday in what was a five-RBI performance. Lopez went 4-for-4 on Thursday with a double, going 12-for-23 (.521) on the week, extending his hitting streak to nine games.
Outside of Moreno’s home run, the Fisher Cats have only seen three others so far this year, two from outfielder Brock Lundquist and another from Samad Taylor on Sunday. Coming into Sunday’s contest, they were tied with the struggling Binghamton Rumble Ponies for the worst mark so far in the Double-A Northeast when it comes to home runs.
2020 Blue Jays First Round Draft Pick Austin Martin has also begun to slip out of a tough start to the year, recording hits on Thursday, Friday and Saturday after going 2-for-21 over his previous six appearances.
Roster Changes
On Friday, righthanded pitcher Curtis Taylor was transferred to New Hampshire from Triple-A while righthanded pitcher Sam Ryan and infielder L.J Talley were promoted from High-A Vancouver.
Fisher Cats of the Week
Catcher/Infield: Gabriel Moreno – (see above).
Outfield: Otto Lopez – Lopez did split time between the infield and outfield during the week, but his outfield appearances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday qualify him in our book given his week (see above).
Starting Pitcher: Simeon Richardson Woods – (see above).
Relief Pitcher: Brody Rodning – Rodning earns this honor for the second week in a row, going without an earned run over five innings and two appearances against Somerset.
He’s now given up just three hits and four walks in nine innings of relief so far this year against 11 strikeouts to date.
On Deck
The Fisher Cats will welcome the Portland Sea Dogs for a six-game series on Tuesday, followed by a trip to New Jersey to face the Patriots again to close out May. After their successful first series against New Hampshire, the Sea Dogs dropped four of six to the Hartford Yard Goats.
Previous 2021 400 Miles to Toronto Columns
May 10, 2021 – Opening week sees Maine struggles for Fisher Cats
April 30, 2021 – Incoming Fisher Cats ready to begin their individual quests toward…Buffalo
