Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes August 9
August 9, 2022 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Kansas City Royals have made the following roster moves affecting the Columbia Fireflies active roster.
OF Darryl Collins has been promoted to Quad Cities
INF Enrique Valdez has been promoted to Quad Cities
RHP Heribert Garcia has been released
INF Omar Florentino has been sent to the Arizona Complex League
OF Jaswel De Los Santos has been sent to the Arizona Complex League
INF Yeudi Advincola has been promoted to the Columbia Fireflies active roster
OF Gavin Cross has been promoted to the Columbia Fireflies active roster
INF Lizandro Rodriguez has been promoted to the Columbia Fireflies active roster
Advincola will wear jersey #8. Cross will wear jersey #9. Rodriguez will wear jersey #4.
The Fireflies active roster now sits at 28 with one on the development list.
The Fireflies have two first rounders, Cross (2022) and Mozzicato (2021) on their active roster at the same time for the first time in franchise history.
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The Fireflies open up a fresh series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans tonight at TicketReturn.com Field at 7:05 pm. RHP Luinder Avila (5-8, 4.91 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and LHP Luke Little (1-4, 3.12 ERA) counters for Myrtle Beach.
The Fireflies return home for a two-week homestand against the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers and the Salem Red Sox August 16-28. The Fireflies will host Marvel Defenders of the Diamond Night and wear special Black Panther Jerseys, host two fireworks shows and giveaway two shirts on the homestand. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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BASERUNNING MISTAKE COSTS FIREFLIES THE FINALE: The Fireflies led until the ninth, and then lost their second game to the RiverDogs in extras this series, 4-3 Sunday evening at Segra Park. Columbia (18-17) gave up the lead in the top of the tenth inning, after the placed runner, Daiwer Castellanos advanced to third on a bunt, Shane Sasaki slapped a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Castellanos on a bang-bang play at home. Omar Florentino was placed at second to start off the bottom of the tenth and was erased after being caught between second and third between pitches. The Fireflies ended the game with a runner at third, trailing by one. The RiverDogs (22-13) tied the game in the ninth inning. Bobby Seymour led the frame off with his third triple of the season, then Kenny Piper hit a single to left off Ben Wereski (BS, 3; L 2-4) to even the game 3-3.
THE TIMES THEY ARE A'CHANGING: The Fireflies said goodbye to five players today, as Heribert Garcia was released from the Kansas City Royals organization, Omar Florentino and Jaswel De Los Santos were sent back down to the Arizona Complex League and Darryl Collins and Enrique Valdez were promoted to the Quad Cities River Bandits active roster. Collins had more walks than hits in his two seasons with the Fireflies and brought the franchise their first-ever walk-off home run June 26, 2021, when he hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning vs the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Valdez had the highest average amongst qualifying hitters for the Fireflies this season. He also hit 10 homers in his time with Columbia. Prior to making it to Class-A ball, Valdez had only hit one career homer.
NEW FACES IN THE CLUBHOUSE: Columbia also had the chance to welcome three new faces into the locker room today. Outfielder Gavin Cross and infielders Lizando Rodriguez and Yeudi Advincola were all added to the Fireflies active roster today. Cross is a fresh face in Minor League Baseball, as the Royals added him with the ninth overall pick in this year's draft out of Virginia Tech. The outfielder played three games in the Arizona Complex League, hitting safely in each game and working a 1.583 OPS in the stint in Arizona. Cross had more RBI (50) than strikeouts (41) while playing with the Virginia Tech Hokies prior to the draft. Rodriguez has been paired with Fireflies shortstop Daniel Vazquez since being selected in the same International Signing Class in 2019. The two were both considered top infielders in that year's International Pool. This year, Rodriguez has showed off his bat in 25 games in Arizona. The 19-year-old was hitting .317 with five homers and 17 runs scored in the highest level he's played at. Finally, Advincola was named the DSL Royals White Player of the Year in 2021and hasn't missed a beat in Arizona during the 2022 campaign. He's hitting .390 as the table-setter in 23 games this season.
SECOND-HALF FIREFLIES?: After trudging to the finish line of the first-half of the season with a Carolina League-worst 18-48 record, the Fireflies burst onto the scene in the second-half, sweeping Augusta after taking two of the first three games with the RiverDogs to begin the second slate 8-1. Since then, the Fireflies have a 10-16 record (.385) and are four games back of first place.
FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: The Fireflies changed their pace of the season in July, finishing above .500 in a month of games for the first time since May 2021. Columbia was 12-11 across July including the latter-half of a six-game sweep of the Augusta GreenJackets at the start of the month. The smooth sailing hasn't continuing in August as the Fireflies have kicked-off the month dropping five of their first six games.
Carolina League Stories from August 9, 2022
- Pelicans Blank Fireflies 1-0 in Series Opener - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Woodpeckers Prevail in Back-and-Forth Battle With Wood Ducks - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- GreenJackets Win Back-and-Forth Battle for Seventh Win in a Row - Augusta GreenJackets
- Lipscomb and Frizzell Mash, Frednats Drop Wild Series Opener to Augusta - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Shorebirds Fall to Mudcats in Series Opener - Delmarva Shorebirds
- RiverDogs Open Series against Lynchburg with Eighth Shutout Win of Season - Charleston RiverDogs
- Avila Dominant in 1-0 Loss to Pelicans - Columbia Fireflies
- Four GreenJackets Earn Promotion to High-A Rome - Augusta GreenJackets
- Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes August 9 - Columbia Fireflies
- Seven Players from Astros 2022 Draft Class Join Woodpeckers - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- 'Simas'lessly Together Again: Brothers Meet on Diamond Again - Salem Red Sox
- Cannon Baller Chronicle: Kannapolis Slips to Second Place, Returns Home After Two Wins on Road - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
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