Columbia Fireflies Roster Move and Game Notes 5.14 vs Charleston
May 14, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Kansas City Royals have made the following roster moves affecting the Columbia Fireflies roster:
* RHP Mauricio Veliz has began a rehab stint with the ACL Royals
There are no corresponding moves.
Columbia's active roster still sits at 29 with one on the injured list.
------------------------------
The Fireflies kick-off a new series tonight at 7:05 pm at Segra Park with the Charleston RiverDogs. LHP Hunter Patteson (2-2, 3.65 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and Charleston counters with RHP Gary Gill Hill (0-0, 3.00 ERA).
Tonight is The Arts Night at Segra Park! We'll have a station for fans to decorate their own hats, we'll have sculptors and painters at the ballpark and an art wall for fans to check out. We're also rocking our Miller Lite $2 Tuesday specials, where hot dogs, popcorn, fountain sodas and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite are just $2 from concession stands. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
-------------------------------
LATE RALLY HALTED IN SERIES SPLIT: The Fireflies loaded the bases in the ninth inning, but were unable to complete the comeback, falling to the Red Sox 3-1 after scoring just a single run in the final frame Sunday night at Segra Park. The Red Sox got on the board first in the top of the fourth inning. Salem started the inning with three-consecutive singles, two of which were infield singles. Derlin Figueroa started a 5-2-3 double play off the bat of Andy Lugo to stymie a major Salem run, but a Felix Arronde (L, 2-3) wild pitch allowed Freili Encarnacion to motor home, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Thursday, left-handed hitter Derlin Figueroa mashed his third homer of the season. It was a two-run blast that produced the only runs of the day for Columbia. All three of the infielders homers have come at Segra Park this year and all three of them have gone out to the right field lawn area.
BULLISH ON THE PEN: Fireflies relievers have been on a tear this season and it's showing up in the win column for Columbia. The Fireflies bullpen has a 2.69 ERA this season, which is the fourth-best mark in all of Minor League Baseball. Columbia's relief core has a 10-6 record with 168 punchouts in 137.1 innings of work. They trail the Fredericksburg Nationals (2.22 ERA in 174.0 innings), Birmingham Barons (2.29 ERA in 102.1 innings) and Rocket City Trash Pandas (2.29 ERA in 118.0 innings).
A NEW HOPE: Ethan Bosacker, has the second-best ERA in the Carolina League, a 1.17 mark that is just .15 behind League leader Matt Wilkinson. Lynchburg's starter last pitched May 12 where he allowed one run over five innings of work. Bosacker is also second in opposing average (.159) and first in WHIP (0.75) in the Carolina League.
IT'S ALL ROSES HERE: Jarold Rosado has been great out of the bullpen this season. He has a 1.72 ERA after allowing a 10.38 ERA in 2023. His success continued in his four appearances (5 IP, 9 K) since the start of May. On the season, the young pitcher has worked 15.2 innings in 10 games. He has allowed three earned runs and punched out 22. The real secret to his success this year is that his walk rate is down from 16.7% in 2023 to only 4.8% in 2024.
SPOILING SOLID STARTS: Last Thursday, Ethan Bosacker spun the Fireflies third quality start of the season as he exited in the seventh with Columbia leading 2-1. It was the righty's second quality start of the year. The other belongs to Felix Arronde. Surprisingly, the Fireflies record is 0-3 in games where their starter spins a quality start.
POWERING PENA: Saturday night, Fireflies outfielder Erick Pena mashed his Carolina League-leading fourth round tripper of the season. He's currently eighth in the Carolina League with a .485 on-base percentage. Pena has had a storied career with Columbia. He made the Opening Day Roster in 2022 and started his career with a bang, launching a walk-off homer against the Augusta GreenJackets on Opening Night. All-in-all he has mashed 23 homers in the neon and navy, nine in 2022, 10 in 2023 and four this year. It places him second on the Fireflies all-time homer leadboard, behind Dash Winningham (25 in 2016 and 2017) and tied with Juan Carlos Negret (23 in 2021).
THE CLIMB: The Fayetteville Woodpeckers start a six-game series with Kannapolis today. They lead the division by 0.5 games.
• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...
Carolina League Stories from May 14, 2024
- Pelicans' Offense Stalls, Birds Fall in Series Opener 5-3 - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Nats' Bullpen Fires Six Scoreless In 5-3 Win - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Ballers Earn Well-Rounded Win in Series Opener Over Woodpeckers - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Barete Pushes RiverDogs Past Fireflies with Clutch Eighth Inning Swing - Charleston RiverDogs
- Fayetteville Blanked in Series Opener at Kannapolis - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Patteson Brilliant in 3-1 Loss - Columbia Fireflies
- Shorebirds & Hillcats Postponed Due to Weather - Delmarva Shorebirds
- May 14th Game vs. Delmarva Postponed - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Cancer Is Life Changing. New and Free Resources Are Now Available to Help Cabarrus County Residents Cope - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Mudcats and Wood Ducks Postponed Tuesday - Carolina Mudcats
- GreenJackets Shut out by Red Sox in Series Opener - Augusta GreenJackets
- Wood Ducks Game Postponed - Down East Wood Ducks
- Columbia Fireflies Roster Move and Game Notes 5.14 vs Charleston - Columbia Fireflies
- Hunt to Wisconsin; Mogollon to ACL Brewers; Rodriguez and Carrasco Added from ACL Brewers - Carolina Mudcats
- Morgan Promoted to High-A Bowling Green, Robertson Returns to Holy City - Charleston RiverDogs
- Last Week around the Leagues - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
