Posts Tagged ‘Ted Kubiak’

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers will return home to play two games on Tuesday and Wednesday.  The bus couldn’t pull out of Tri-City’s parking lot fast enough as the Scrappers were swept following Monday’s 5-1 loss.

In what is turning out to be the normal scenario for these Scrappers, a starting pitcher does real well and turns the ball over to the bullpen.  Things go downhill from there.  Jacob Lee was the latest Scrapper starter to pitch his heart out only to get a ‘no decision’.

Lee worked himself out of a bases-loaded first inning jam and went on to surrender just one hit over his four innings.  Lee walked two and struck out five to increase his team lead in strikeouts to 38 on the season.  Geoff Davenport came in and allowed five hits and two runs in taking the loss for the Scrappers.  Cody Penny and Luis Encarnacion followed in relief and also gave up at least one run in their stints.

Evan Frazar had three hits for Mahoning Valley.  His RBI-double knocked in Joe Sever with the Scrappers only run in the contest.

Williamsport will be in town for a pair of games, the last two home games before the All-Star game at Eastwood Field.  Two-dollar Tuesday is a good deal!  Get there early and take in a game!

In a race, the way you finish overshadows the way you start in most cases.  Nobody remembers, or for that matter, cares who was winning at the halfway point.  For the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, 2012 has been that kind of race.  The offense bailed out the bullpen in a big way as the Scrappers got by the State College Spikes, 7-3.

The above analogy does not fully orchestrate how good the Scrappers starting pitching has been and how (politely) ineffective the bullpen has been.  Granted, the Scrappers starting pitching rotation has been helped and hurt as a result of run support, but the bullpen has been consistently struggling.  Losing Enosil Tejeda and Luis Head to Lake County should make it tougher yet to maintain leads.

“Merritt had a good start tonight and we couldn’t hold it for him”, said Scrapper Manager Ted Kubiak.  “We are shuffling guys into different roles in the bullpen and trying different combinations of things.  As you can see, this team fights back.”

The Scrappers scored the first run of the game in the second inning when Tyler Naquin singled home Jairo Kelly.  Naquin’s status coming into the game was unknown as he was hit on the elbow on the recent roadtrip.  No ill effects on that hit or the diving sixth inning catch he made in center.

Ryan Merritt (above) had perhaps his best start as a Scrapper.  In the seven innings Merritt pitched, he only walked one Spikes hitter and struck out five.  He left the game with a 3-1 lead, and would be assured a win if the bullpen could nail it down.

Charlie Valerio (below) did his part to help Merritt earn a win in launching a towering bomb to center field that found its way out to give Mahoning Valley  a 2-0 lead.

“I was sitting on a fastball when it was two balls and no strikes”, said Valerio.  “I guessed good and it got out of the park.”

In the sixth, Merritt made a mistake and Barrett Barnes made him pay with a homer to left field.

The Scrappers scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 3-1.  Naquin walked and then scored on a Joey Wendle double.

The Scrapper bullpen hit the mound to start the eighth inning.  James Stokes walked the first two Spikes he faced and then threw a sac bunt attempt that he fielded and threw wide of the third baseman, Wendle, to load the bases with nobody out.

The Scrappers then caught a break when Barnes hit what looked to be a double play ball.  The Scrappers got the out at second but the throw was wide at first.  The umpires ruled it was an out-of-the-baseline intentional slide and gave the Scrappers two outs with no runs because everyone was sent back.

Stokes got off the hook with the break.  Enter Jacob Lee.  First batter, 2-2 pitch, single up the middle, tie game, implosion – yet again.  Yet Lee gets the gift win as the Scrapper offense roared in the eighth.

The Scrapper offense, in the eighth, fought back as Robel Garcia singled.  Kelly tried to bunt Garcia over and Spikes relief pitcher Jordan Cooper fielded the ball and flung it about three feet over Jordaneli Carvajal‘s head and into right field.  Garcia scored on the play and Kelly hustled all the way to third.  Naquin was then plucked, and Wendle got his second hit to drive Kelly in and give the Scrappers a 5-3 lead.

With two outs in the eighth,  Aaron Siliga singled home Naquin and Wendle to make it 7-3 to close out the scoring.

Going into Monday’s game with Connecticut, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers were a little under the weather.  Manager Ted Kubiak and players Joey Wendle, Jeremy Lucas, and Joe Sever were all flu-stricken.  Tyler Naquin (above) and Jake Sisco proved to be a good pair of aspirins to keep his team on the winning track, but the Scrappers bullpen was queasy in the 5-4 loss.

Sisco started the game off in grand fashion.  The Scrapper starter (below) struck out the first three Tiger batters he faced.  Sisco would end up throwing six complete innings.  51 of his 80 pitches thrown were strikes.  More impressively, he was in command and able to get ahead of Tigers hitters all night.

Offensively, the Scrappers got going in the second inning.  Richard Stock singled to start the inning and two outs later, Evan Frazer walked.  Robel Garcia and Jairo Kelly produced back-to-back RBI singles.  Naquin then drilled a triple over the right fielders head to score Garcia and Kelly post the Scrappers to a 4-0 lead.

Robbie Aviles came out of the Scrapper bullpen to start the seventh inning with a 4-0 lead.  Unfortunaly, Aviles could not get an out in the eighth inning and was replaced by Luis Head.

Connecticut would score in the top of the seventh inning off of Avila.  Jordan Dean singled home a run.  Moments later, Dean appeared to be out by a mile stealing second base, but the umpire ruled him safe.  Kubiak went out to argue, but it was pitching coach Greg Hibbard who was ejected by the home plate umpire.  Hibbard got his money’s worth before exiting.

The crowd of 2,532 at Eastwood Field saw the Scrappers bullpen implode in  what seemed to be a comfortable lead.

Naquin finished the game with the two-RBI triple and a single.  Kelly also collected a pair of hits for the Scrappers.

Head inherited runners on second and third with nobody out.  The right-handed pitching prospect’s first pitch was laced to center for a single.    Tyler Hanover tried to score from second, but Naquin fired a bullet to Charlie Valerio and cut down Hanover by a couple of steps to minimize the damage.

Devin Travis had a single with two out in the eighth that drove home a run to make it a 4-3 game.  Patrick Smith then collected his only hit in four AB’s, an RBI-double that tied the game.  For the second consecutive night, the Scrappers bullpen blew a four run lead. In the ninth, with Head still pitching, Hanover got a bit of revenge, singling in the go-ahead run.

In the bottom of the ninth, Frazer started off with a single.  Garcia bunted pinch runner Erik Gonzalez over to second.  Kelly then struck out looking bringing Naquin to the plate in another crucial situation.  Naquin proved to be human striking out to end the game.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers managed to stay on a roll.  For the second night in a row, the Scrappers disposed of the Connecticut Tigers,5-4, using pretty much the same game plan – balance.  Everybody chipped in.

Tyler Naquin drilled a two-out single up the middle to lift the Scrappers to a win.  The Scrappers held a 4-1 lead, but the bullpen was unable to hold it.

Trailing 1-0 in the third, the Scrappers seized a 2-1 lead.  Robel Garcia doubled with one out.  Aaron Siliga whizzed one up the middle to knock Garcia home and tie the game.  Siliga later scored when Tigers starter Endrys Briceno unleashed a wild pitch.

In the third, the Scrappers tacked on two more to increase their lead.  Jeremy Lucas singled with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch.  Erik Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and Garcia walked to load the bases.  Lucas scored on a Siliga groundout to make it 3-1.  Charlie Valerio then drew a bases loaded walk to force in another run and give the Scrappers a 4-1 advantage.

Mahoning Valley got a fantastic defensive play by Gonzalez in the sixth.  Connecticut had men on first and second with nobody out when Tyler Hanover hit a bullet down the third baseline.  Gonzalez made an amazing fully-extended stop on a ball that would have scored at least one run.  He also made a great throw to second and record an out.

Geoff Davenport (top photo) had a good start for the Scrappers.  The crafty lefty only allowed three hits and walked nobody, while surrendering just one earned run.  Davenport struck out three.

Connecticut, however, managed to tag Scrapper relief pitcher  James Stokes for a couple of runs in the seventh.  Stokes was his own worst enemy during the inning as he hit a batter, walked a batter, and unloaded a wild pitch.  Rafael Homblert pitched the eighth and gave up a game-tying run.

Siliga (above) had a very productive game for the Scrappers.  The second baseman went 3-5 with a stolen base, a run, an intentional walk, and a pair of RBI’s, and continues to show marked improvement in areas he struggled with last season.

Enosil Tejeda pitched a scoreless ninth inning to give the Scrappers a chance to win in their final at-bat.  With the top of the order up (Siliga, Tyler Naquin, and Valerio), Ted Kubiak had to like his chances, but no one in the batting trio found their way on.

Jack Wagoner came in to start the 11th inning for the Scrappers to notch the win.

Gonzalez walked and would score on Naquin’s clutch two-out single to boost the Scrappers.

 

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers have waited two weeks for this kind of an offensive display.  The Scrappers amassed 12 hits and scored 11 runs.  Every Scrapper starter scored a run and hits were almost effortless.  Combine that with a good start from Luis DeJesus and the result is a 11-4 thrashing of Aberdeen.

DeJesus, who has been referred to by Scrappers manager Ted Kubiak as a ‘slow starter’, lived up to his billing.  Aberdeen loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning.  It can’t be much more of a slow start than that.  A strikeout and a heads-up double play by Joey Wendle at third base got DeJesus off the hook with no damage.

In the bottom of the second, the floodgates of offense finally opened. Aberdeen starter Cameron Coffey entered the game with a 10.51 ERA that probably increased to about 12.00 before he exited.  Charlie Valerio got the party started with a single.  Joe Sever followed that with a single.  Valerio and Sever both trotted home when Aaron Siliga doubled.  Erik Gonzalez and Robel Garcia then had back-to-back RBI singles to post the Scrappers to a 5-0 lead.

After the Ironbirds scraped out a run against DeJesus, the Scrappers went back to work in the fourth already leading 5-1.  The big blow in the six-run fourth was a triple by Juan Romero that saw the Scrappers forge ahead to an 11-1 lead by the time the smoke cleared.

One of the best stories of the year has been Joey Wendle.  The sixth-round choice of the Indians in the 2012 Draft has quietly made a very smooth transition to third base.  Ever since Kubiak tried that experiment, Wendle has made a great defensive play to kill the opposing team’s momentum almost each night.  So far it has been a terrific move by Kubiak.  Wendle is also hitting about .400 against left-handed pitching.  He may not be in a Scrappers uniform very long.

Luis Encarnacion relieved DeJesus to start the sixth inning.  DeJesus scattered five hits and walked four.  The Ironbirds seemed to hit the ball hard off of him, but usually right at a Scrapper.  DeJesus has had better outings, but it is a win for the 6′ 3″ rightie.

Aberdeen picked away at the Scrappers bullpen and managed to score a few runs in the sixth to make it 11-4.  Staying focused has to be hard with that big of a lead.

Frustration set in for the Ironbirds when this game was already pretty much decided.  First baseman, Cameron Edmon, was ejected for arguing a called strike three.  Aberdeen Manager, Gary Allenson, followed Edmon to the showers after a lengthy display of dissatisfaction with the umpires.  Later in the same inning, Field Coach, Brad Komminsk, was tossed out for debating a timeout granted to a Scrappers hitter.  I think the bus driver for Aberdeen was calling pitches by the eighth inning.

Things escalated when Valerio hit a long fly to the warning track in center field in the bottom of the eighth.  As the ball was caught and Valerio decelerated between first and second, either the pitcher or second baseman said something to annoy Valerio.  Both bullpens and benches emptied but no punches were thrown

Luis Head pitched a scoreless two innings of relief in a good appearance for the Scrappers.  James Stokes pitched the ninth.

The Dominican Republic has been a longtime hotbed for Major League Baseball talent. The Cleveland Indians are aware of the trend and their short-season affiliate, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers currently have eight players on their roster who call the Dominican Republic home.  One of these young men, Charlie Valerio, is really enjoying the chance and getting by just fine with everything, except, well, interviews.

While trying to interview Valerio, we came across that frequently crossed path of language difficulty.  Hunter Jones did his best to serve as interpreter (below) and I thought the interview went well, all things considered.  The ending impression you should take away about Valerio is that he is a very happy-go-lucky and free-spirited person who wants to get better and is willing to work hard to get there.

Paneech:  Which Dominican players do you admire that are currently playing in the majors?

Valerio: Carlos Santana.  I like the way he plays the game when he is hitting and catching.  He is very aggressive and I like the way he plays the game.  I think that Manny Ramirez was the best hitter to come from the Dominican Republic.

Paneech:  You have many choices of places to eat here.  What is your favorite place and do you have those choices in the Dominican Republic?

Valerio:  No, there are no restaurants there, I ate a lot of my mother’s home-cooked meals.  She made a lot of good dishes with rice, chicken, and beans.  I like Chipotle and have eaten there a couple of times.  I get the bowl with the chicken, rice, guacamole, cheese, and beans.

Paneech:  Are the fields you played on at home as nice as this field?

Valerio:  It is really the same, the field is nice, the big difference is that we didn’t have all the seating and bleachers that we have here.

Paneech:  You are married.  How difficult is it for you to be married and away from your wife?

Valerio:  It is very difficult.  I have a daughter too that I love with all of my heart.  I try to communicate with them every day.  I miss them both all of the time, she will be coming here in a month.

Paneech:  How far can you see yourself going with this whole baseball life?

Valerio:  I am working very hard to play in the Major Leagues someday.  I am enjoying the fans and I sign autographs all of the time.  I am getting used to these new people I am meeting on this team.  I am friends with people now like Hunter [Jones].

Paneech:   When the game is over at night, what do you like to go home and do?

Valerio:  I don’t play video games (laughs).  I watch Sportscenter every night.  I will also text and talk with my wife and talk with my mother.

Paneech:  What do you like to drink?

Valerio:  I like Red Gatorade!

Paneech:  What could you hope for for yourself and your new teammates this season?

Valerio:  I would be happy if my friends make it.  When my teammates are having a bad day, it hurts my heart.  Even if I have three hits, it hurts me if one of them have a bad day and do not get a hit.  We all want to do well and want to win, but most of us want each other to do well too.

Paneech:  Which current Scrapper that you did not know have you gotten close with?

Valerio:  Hunter Jones has become a good friend.  I have gotten closer with him faster than all of the American players.  All of the Spanish-speaking players sort of hang together because we can communicate better.  It isn’t because we don’t get along, but we are kind of grouping to understand each other, where maybe we can’t always understand a player who does not speak the same language.

Paneech:  Talk about your coaches.

Valerio:  Coach Ted Kubiak is very good, a good manager.  Coach Mansolino is a very good hitting coach and I am enjoying working with them.  Coach Hibbard is a joker, very funny man,  and keeps things fun when we need that sometimes.

Valerio says the speed of the game is much faster here, but he is doing all he can to adapt.  He is always smiling, win or lose, but more when the Scrappers are winning.  The free agent signed in 2011 and is really enjoying the experience of a new culture, a big opportunity to fulfill his childhood dreams, and a lifestyle he had never known.  It is hard not to root for Charlie Valerio.

The early-season position scramble was in full-effect Friday night at Eastwood Field.  Manager Ted Kubiak shuffled a few of his young Mahoning Valley Scrappers around to see if he could get a spark out of some guys from new angles.  Following a rain delay that lasted a little more than an hour, the Scrappers found a way to get it done and won, 3-2.

One of the experiments involved Joey Wendle (above).  Wendle saw action at third base for the first time as a Scrapper rather than the view he is used to from second.  Wendle had a productive night with the bat (3-4) and made all of the routine plays.  Experiment one clicked.

The Spikes picked up a run in each, the third and fourth innings.  The run in the third was scored by Chris Diaz on a groundout.  The fourth inning run was pretty much all Yhonathan Barrios.  The State College 3B singled and stole second.  He then advanced to third on a fly out and would eventually score on a Jared Lakind groundout.

Experiment number two was to get as many catchers on the field as possible.  Three of the four Scrappers catchers started.  Charlie Valerio started the game behind the plate.  Last nights hitting star, Jeremy Lucas, coming off of a 4-4 performance, got the start at DH.  Mitch Nilsson, the Aussie prospect, took a stab at first base.  The three catchers combined to go 0-8 at the plate.  Experiment two may need rethought.

Scrappers starter Jake Cisco went 6-1/3 innings.  He threw 76 pitches (50 strikes) and gave up two earned runs.  Cisco walked one and struck out three Spikes batters.  Jacob Lee was summoned from the bullpen to relieve Cisco.

The Scrapper bats came to life in the bottom of the seventh.  Wendle nabbed his third single in as many at bats.  Hunter Jones followed with a double that drove home a hustling Wendle to make it 2-1.  Aaron Siliga (above) followed that with a single that pushed Jones across to tie the game.

Tyler Naquin started the eighth with a way to get on as he hustled up the line and the first basemen dropped the throw.  Naquin ended up on second base.  Lucas then executed a nice bunt to move Naquin over to third.  Valerio then hit a sac fly deep enough to plate the speedy top draft pick, Naquin, from third to vault the Scrappers into a 3-2 lead.

Lee picked up the win for the Scrappers throwing 2-2/3 scoreless innings.

When you think of the word consistency, you visualize steady progress at regular intervals.  The hand that Manager Ted Kubiak has been dealt this year needs to develop more consistency with the bat, the gloves, and the mound.  Thursday, Mahoning Valley took a big step in the right direction and posted a 7-6 win after blowing an early four-run lead over the State College Spikes.

“I was thinking about that earlier”, stated Kubiak after the game.  “The whole game is consistency and despite the fact that we had a bad inning, we were able to overcome a deficit and pull out a nice win tonight.  But you are correct about consistency and in order for us to develop that, we have to keep having good pregame workouts.”

Mahoning Valley scored a run in the first inning to nab the early 1-0 lead.  Jairo Kelly started the frame with a single. Charlie Valerio then laced a double to the left-center gab allowing Kelly to show off the wheels and score from first base.

In the second inning, Kelly struck again when he connected for his first home run.  The bomb was of the three run variety and gave the Scrappers a nice 4-0 cushion.  Aaron Siliga and Jeremy Lucas were on base when Kelly hit the homer.

Consistency then made another disruptive appearance at Eastwood Field.  Staked to a 4-0 lead, the Scrappers gave it all back in the top of the third.  State College was able to tie the game on a passed ball and RBI hits from DJ Crumlich, Chris Diaz, and Ryan Hornbuck.

Scrappers starter, Geoff Davenport, pitched five complete innings and did not factor into the decision.  Davenport gave up four runs, all earned, on seven hits, while striking out three and walking one.  Michael Peoples took over for the Scrappers to start the sixth.

The Spikes took the lead in the sixth when Peoples walked Walter Gourley with one out. Gourley advanced to second when Peoples made an errant throw to first on a pickoff attempt.  David Valesente then singled to drive home Gourley with the go-ahead run.

In the bottom of the eighth, back-to-back bloop singles by Joe Sever and Siliga put runners on first and third.  Lucas collected his fourth hit and second RBI with a liner over the shortstop to plate Sever with the game-tying run.  Joey Wendle then pinch hit and drove in his housemate, Siliga, with a deep sac fly to make it a 6-5 Scrappers lead.

Lucas had his best night as a pro, going 4-4 with two RBI.  Valerio and Kelly also had three hits each to lead the Scrapper highest hit total of 2012 with 13.

“We have been struggling with the bats”, said Lucas, who competes with three other catchers for playing time.

“I like that we are carrying so many [catchers], it makes it more competitive and forces me to work harder to get better.”

Enosil Tejeda came in and worked two scoreless innings for the Scrappers and earned the win in relief.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are having a problem that hitting coach Tony Mansolino informally addressed during a between innings chat with me in the home dugout.

“We need to start hitting”, said Mansolino.

Two-and-a-half hours later, and two hits later, the Scrappers assistant coach had a validated concern, the Scrappers are simply not hitting.

In the second inning, Williamsport took a 1-0 lead.  Larry Greene singled up the middle and advanced to third base on a force at first.  Greene would later cross the plate when Mitch Walding also singled to center.

Mahoning Valley tied the game in their half of the second.  Joseph Wendle walked with one out and advanced to third on a Hunter Jones single.  Crosscutters starter Delvin Perez balked allowing Wendle a jog home.

Crosscutters Manager Andy Tracy was ejected in the middle of the second inning.  Tracy argued that his player got back to third before the Scrappers Joe Sever caught a line drive and dove to the third base bag.  The umpire made the out call for the inning ending double play and Tracy hit the field running.  A few minutes later, to the pleasure of the Eastwood Field crowd, Tracy walked toward the showers.

Scrapper starter Robbie Aviles did well to get himself out of a couple of jams and left the game after throwing five complete innings.  Aviles threw 57 pitches (30 strikes), gave up one earned run on five hits, walked one and did not record a strikeout.

Williamsport greeted new Scrapper hurler, Josh Martin with quick problems.  Christopher Serritella, the first Crosscutter batter of the inning, hit a home run to right  to give his team a lead of 2-1.  Martin recovered well and struck out the last six batters he faced  to keep Williamsport within reach.

Through eight innings, the Scrappers were held to just two hits.  Williamsport was doing a good job mixing locations and speeds to Scrapper hitters.  The results were a lot of fly outs and routine groundouts.

Nicholas Hanson earned the win for Williamsport.  Zach Cooper pitched the ninth to earn the save.

 

Ted Kubiak had been promising for a week or so that his team was capable of scoring runs.  Tuesday night, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers delivered on Kubiak’s statement and posted a big number in a 6-2 win over the Williamsport Crosscutters.

Williamsport scored the first run of the game.  Speedy Diego Gonzalez reached first on a bunt single.  Gonzalez then stole second and went to third on a throwing error.  He then scored when the next batter, Chace Numata, hit a ball that second baseman Robel Garcia could not field cleanly.

The Scrappers answered in the bottom of the first.  Jairo Kelly singled up the middle and moved to second base on a Tyler Naquin single.  Kelly was caught stealing third which proved costly as the next batter, Juan Romero, hit his league-leading fourth home run of the season (below) to stake Mahoning Valley to a 2-1 lead.

The Scrappers tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the second.  Erik Gonzalez started the frame with a walk and stole second.  Evan Frazer and Garcia also walked to load the bases off of Crosscutter starter Jonathan Musser.  With one out, Naquin walked forcing in a run.  Charlie Valerio greeted new Williamsport pitcher, Luis Gonzalez with a two-run single increasing the lead to 5-1.

“I am really impressed with this bunch”, boasted Kubiak.  “They bring a lot of energy and attitude and our pregame workouts have gone really well.”

The Scrappers added a run in the bottom of the fourth to make it a commanding 6-1 lead.  Naquin recorded his third hit of the night, an RBI-double, that plated Garcia and seemingly put the Scrappers in the drivers seat in this one.

Ryan Merritt (above) pitched five complete innings for the Scrappers in picking up the win.  Merritt scattered six hits and gave up an earned run while striking out three Crosscutters and walking one.  The outing started shaky, but Merritt really dialed in after the rough first inning to keep Williamsport at bay.

“I am impressed with him [Merritt]”, said Kubiak.  “It seems that the longer the game goes, the better he gets.  He has good control, but we have to address this slow start thing, maybe we can get him to throw longer before the game starts to some fake batters.”

Jacob Lee ,Rafael Homblert, and Robert Wagner closed out the game yielding just one unearned run in the four innings combined.