Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes vs Charleston 9.3
September 3, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Kansas City Royals have made the following roster moves affecting the Columbia Fireflies active roster:
C Blake Mitchell has been promoted to the Quad Cities River Bandits active roster
RHP Nicholas Regalado has been promoted to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals active roster
RHP Mauricio Veliz has been placed on the Columbia Fireflies development list
RHP Yunior Marte has been added to the Fireflies active roster
C Canyon Brown has been added to the Fireflies active roster
Marte will wear jersey #18. Brown will wear jersey #11.
The Fireflies active roster now sits at 29.
------------------------
The Fireflies kick-off their final series of the season with a doubleheader against the Charleston RiverDogs beginning at 5 pm tonight at Segra Park. RHP Felix Arronde (4-8, 3.08 ERA) will get the ball in game one for Columbia and RHP Yunior Marte makes his Fireflies debut in game two. Charleston counters with RHP Hayden Snelsire (1-2, 2.43 ERA) in game one and LHP Drew Dowd (6-6, 2.98 ERA) in game two.
Tonight is Nurses Night presented by South University at Segra Park. The Fireflies are honoring local nurses in the Midlands for all they do in our community. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
---------------------------
WALK-OFF LOSS SETS UP SWEEP TO CLINCH PLAYOFF: The Fireflies were locked in a pitcher's duel again vs the Augusta GreenJackets, but fell in walk-off fashion 2-1 Sunday night. The Fireflies sit 6.5 games behind the Charleston RiverDogs and now need to win their final seven games of the season to clinch the franchise's first playoff berth. Zachary Cawyer (L, 4-1) issued a lead-off walk to Jake Steels in the ninth. Steels advanced on a groundout to set the stage for Willmer De La Cruz. The outfielder smoked a liner to the left field corner to score Steels and provide GreenJackets fans with a walk-off win in their season finale at SRP Park. Augusta tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning after Titus Dumitru grounded out to score John Gill from third to set up the exciting final inning of play.
BULLPEN MANIA: The Fireflies bullpen has been the highlight of the team all season. After allowing two runs in 3.1 innings Sunday, Columbia's bullpen slipped to the second-best mark in all of Minor League Baseball with a 3.04 ERA over 527.1 innings in 2024. The club's bullpen record is 44-21 with 34 saves on the season. The pen has also punched out 560 opponents this season while holding opposing teams to a .223 average. The first-place team is the Midland Rockhounds who are 35-26 with a 2.94 ERA over 499.0 innings of work this season. The club has struck out 501 batters while holding opponents to a .212 average.
THIS IS 60: Tuesday, Austin Charles drove in two RBI thanks to a late homer to give him 60 RBI on the campaign. In 2023 only one Fireflies hitter finished the season with 55 or more RBI: Brett Squires, who had 69 RBI. The Fireflies single-season RBI record belongs to Juan Carlos Negret, who drove in 76 runs in a shortened 2021 season thanks in part to a franchise record 23 homers in a single season.
THE RACE INTENSIFIES: Sunday, Columbia lost to Augsuta 2-1 and Charleston defeated Fayetteville 6-2 for the two teams to remain even in the standings. Columbia currently sits 6.5 games behind Charleston and are tied wit the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in second in the division. As Kannapolis continues their second-half slide after their first-half division crown, the Fireflies have the best record in the South Division for the entire season. Columbia is tied with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers for the best record in the South Division with eight games remaining in the season.
AWESOME ARRONDE: Wednesday, Felix Arronde struck out one over a handful of innings as he got a no-decision at Augusta. The righty leads the Fireflies with 98 punchouts on the season. His 98 strikeouts are tied for the most in a single-season for the Fireflies since 2020. Both Adrian Alcantara (2021) and Shane Panzini (2023) also have 98 strikeouts for the most in a single year since the schedule was shortened to 132 games.
MITCHELL'S MISSILES: Tuesday, Blake Mitchell blasted his Carolina League leading 18th homer of the season. Mitchell is the first Fireflies player to lead the league in homers since Juan Carlos Negret slapped 23 homers in a pandemic-shortened 2021 season. Mitchell is just one round-tripper shy of Ariel Almonte, who plays for the Daytona Tortugas, for the most round trippers in Single-A in 2024.
MAGIC NUMBER: The Fireflies need to win all of their remaining seven games to clinch the first playoff berth in team history.
• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...
Carolina League Stories from September 3, 2024
- FXBG Drops Lynchburg 4-2 - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Doubleheader Sweep Eliminates Fireflies from Playoffs - Columbia Fireflies
- RiverDogs Sweep Doubleheader; Secure Fourth-Consecutive Trip to Postseason - Charleston RiverDogs
- Fast Start Leads Mudcats to Victory - Carolina Mudcats
- Carolina Tops Delmarva in Series Opener - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Three-Hitter Lifts Wood Ducks - Down East Wood Ducks
- Woodward to 7-Day IL - Carolina Mudcats
- Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes vs Charleston 9.3 - Columbia Fireflies
- Rodriguez Reinstated from 7-Day IL - Carolina Mudcats
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.
