Guerrero’s return marks a good week for Fisher Cats

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400 Miles to Toronto: New Hampsire Fisher Cats ColumnEarly July wasn’t the best stretch for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, but since their recent return from Maine, things seem to be looking up once again.

Each day, members of the Fisher Cats continue upon a path they hope will lead to the big leagues. It’s July 23, here’s what’s been going on recently on that path 400 miles to Toronto.

Game Recaps

Home vs. Trenton

Monday, July 16 New Hampshire 4, Trenton 2

Tuesday, July 17 – Postponed (suspended April 29 game moved to Wednesday, July 17 game postponed to tbd date in Trenton)

Wednesday, July 18 (suspended April 29 game) Trenton 3, New Hampshire 2. (regularly scheduled game) New Hampshire 3, Trenton 2

Away vs. Harrisburg

Thursday, July 19 – New Hampshire 6, Harrisburg 3

Friday, July 20 – Harrisburg 12, New Hampshire 1

Saturday, July 21 – New Hampshire 2, Harrisburg 0

Sunday, July 22 – Cancelled

Return of Vlad/Impact

Without a doubt, the biggest story this week has been the return of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the current #1 minor league prospect according to Baseball America, MLB.com, and pretty much every other baseball expert in the universe.

Rumors lingered whether Guerrero would even come back to the Fisher Cats at all after a leg injury in early June, but after a few rehab assignments in Florida, Guerrero made his return on Thursday against Harrisburg.

Guerrero was grateful for the rehabilitation assistance he obtained from the Blue Jays organization in this, the first serious injury of his career. Now that he’s back, there’s no focus on an eventual promotion to Toronto or an Eastern League batting title or anything other than making the most of the current moment where he finds himself.

“My goal is to work hard, to play hard, and to help the team win, and to do my best to contribute to the team’s success,” he said through an interpreter. “When I come to the field, I just try to do my best. Anything that happens is just a byproduct of hard work.”

Regaining a player who brought so much offense on the field and so many smiles in the clubhouse is certainly a boon to the Fisher Cats over the next few weeks, something Fisher Cats manager John Schneider readily admits. However, he also notes that the absence of Guerrero engendered a sense of obligation instead of panic from his squad.

“With the talent we have here, it wasn’t like everybody said, ‘now we have to play extra hard,” they were just business as usual,” said Schneider. “Everyone did step up a little bit though, which was nice to see.”

Perhaps overshadowed by the return of Guerrero, New Hampshire took two out of three from Trenton earlier in the week, solidifying their lead over Trenton in the EL East divisional standings.

That series win, and the subsequent series win against Harrisburg, followed a rough stretch that saw New Hampshire go 3-7 in the two series before the All-Star Break.

Last season in the Florida State League, Schneider’s pennant winning Dunedin squad lost nine straight at one point, so he’s seen slumps in the past. However, he believes that the bullpen, which showed significant signs of concern in early July, are coming back into form.

“I’d much rather have (the bullpen) going through that stretch now as opposed to three weeks from now, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen recently,” said Schneider. “Any time you’re going to have times when guys are good, and guys are bad or times when a lot of guys are bad. You just have to deal with it.”

Fisher Cats of the Week

Batting – Santiago Espinal: Make no mistake, if Harold Ramirez made any impact during the Harrisburg series, he would be getting this week’s award. Ramirez was otherworldly against Trenton, with three triples, two RBI, a run and a 4-for-7 in the two non-suspended games against the Thunder.

However, he went hitless with a bunch of strikeouts against the Senators.

Espinal made his Fisher Cat debut at the beginning of the Harrisburg series and recorded a hit in that game as well as the series’ other two contests, two of the worst offensive performances of the Fisher Cats’ season to date.

Starting Pitching – Jordan Romano: Romano appeared unbeatable earlier in the season, and this week he returned to that form with two strong starts.

He didn’t get enough offensive support on July 16 to get the win, allowing two runs off five hits and a walk in 6 2/3 innings of work. However, he wouldn’t be denied on Saturday, coming up just short of a complete game, going eight scoreless innings to record his ninth win of the year.

Relief Pitching – Travis Bergen: The Fisher Cats haven’t had a true closer this year, with Andrew Case coming closer than anyone to getting the job. After this week, that may be changing with Bergen grabbing three saves this week alone.

In those three saves, three ninth-inning appearances, he allowed just one hit and one walk.

Around the Horn

Bergin may now have the closer role and it appears that Bo Bichette may be the defacto leadoff man.

Until recently, Jonathan Davis had that role locked up, but Davis earned a spot in Buffalo on July 12, hastening the return of Andrew Guillotte.

Schneider says that Guillotte, who stole home at one point earlier this month, or Jon Berti may occasionally bat first.

However, Schneider says that most days will likely go to Bichette, who led off most days for Schneider last year in Dunedin and currently leads the Eastern League in stolen bases and is just behind the league lead in hits.

The roster spot for Guerrero’s return was created with a International League promotion for Fisher Cats utility man Gunnar Heidt.

Nash Knight also left Manchester, returning to Dunedin to make way for Espinal.

On Deck

The Fisher Cats now begin a seven-day road trip, beginning with a three-game set against Reading and a four-game set against Hartford.

The July 22 rainout against Harrisburg will not be made up this season, with the July 17 rainout against Trenton expected to be made up later this season in Trenton.

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.