New locales for Mike, Thomas and Bo

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It’s August 5, 2019. Here’s what’s been going on lately on the path 400 miles to Toronto.

400 Miles to Toronto: New Hampsire Fisher Cats Column

Weekly Overview

Tuesday, July 30 – New Hampshire 2, Akron 1

Wednesday, July 31 – New Hampshire 3, Akron 2

Thursday, Aug. 1 – Akron 6, New Hampshire 5

Friday, Aug. 2 – New Hampshire 7, Erie 5

Saturday, Aug. 3 – Erie 5, New Hampshire 3

Sunday, Aug. 4 – New Hampshire 3, Erie 2

As the regular season’s horizon looms closer and closer, a .500 western road trip does little to help the Fisher Cats move out of last place, or closer to any hope of repeating as Eastern League champions.

At the end of Monday’s off day, they remain 9 ½ games behind Reading for the second-half playoff spot, with a combination of either 16 losses or Reading wins eliminating them from post-season contention.

The big news came off the field, as Mike Mordecai announced that he will be leaving the Toronto Blue Jays organization after the end of the season.

According to the Dothan Eagle, Mordecai will be joining Northside Methodist Academy as their new head coach, a Christian school near his home in Dothan, AL.

Also Coming Next Year

Also off the field, the Fisher Cats’ 2020 schedule was announced this week, with 70 home games stretching from their home opener on April 16 against the Hartford Yard Goats to their final game on Aug. 30 against the Portland Sea Dogs.

The majority of Fisher Cats home games will be played at 6:35 p.m., with first pitch times shifting to 7:05 p.m. from July 4 until August 22. Sunday home games will start at 1:35 p.m. throughout the season.

Trade Deadline News

Toronto was a seller during the trade deadline, but other than the revelation that 2012/2013 Fisher Cat alumni and newly minted Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman is secretly a rapper, the only way that deadline impacted New Hampshire was the addition of pitcher Thomas Hatch.

Formerly a member of the Chicago Cubs organization, Hatch came over on July 30 in exchange for righthander David Phelps and cash.

A 24-year-old native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hatch allowed 104 hits and 51 earned runs over 100 innings this season for the Tennessee Smokies of the Southern League.

Hatch made his Fisher Cats debut on Saturday against Erie, giving up four runs off six hits in four innings, setting him in line for the loss.

 

Congrats to Bo

 

The soul of last year’s pennant-winning team circled around three sons of former leaguers: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio and Bo Bichette.

Guerrero and Biggio made it to Toronto earlier this season, but Bichette finally made his way to the big leagues on July 29.

With seven major league games now under his belt, Bichette has gone 13-for-32 (.406) with seven extra base hits, including two home runs.

 

Coming Up

The Fisher Cats now have six games at home, beginning with three against the Akron Rubber Ducks on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, followed by a three-game weekend set against Portland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.