MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Wednesday (7:05 PM Start)

Published on September 6, 2023 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023lGame # 62 (128)

Day Air Ballpark l Dayton, Ohio l7:05 p.m.

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

Fort Wayne TinCaps (34-27, 66-61) at Dayton Dragons (32-29, 65-62)

RH Henry Baez (0-0, 5.25) vs. RH Jose Acuña (7-3, 3.50)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Fort Wayne TinCaps (affiliate of the San Diego Padres) in the second game of a six-game series. Season Series: Fort Wayne 11, Dayton 8 (at Day Air Ballpark: Fort Wayne 4, Dayton 3).

Last Game: Tuesday: Dayton 10, Fort Wayne 4. The Dragons open the series with a big night at the plate, led by Ruben Ibarra (grand slam home run, three hits) and Sal Stewart (home run, double, single, three RBI). Hayden Jones also had a home run. Dragons starting pitcher Chris McElvain was brilliant, going six strong innings and allowing just two hits and one run with six strikeouts.

Current Series (Sept. 5-10 vs. Fort Wayne): Dayton is 1-0 in the series.

Dayton team statistics in the series: .343 batting average; 10.0 runs/game; 3 home runs; 1 stolen bases; 4.00 ERA; 0 errors.

Team Notes

The Dragons are in third place, two games behind Fort Wayne and one and one-half game behind West Michigan in the East Division with five games to play. To reach the playoffs, the Dragons must win the division title in the second half.

If the Dragons go 2-3 or better over their final five games, they will finish the year with a winning record for the third straight year. The Dragons have had a winning record in three consecutive years once in team history (2000-02, their first three years).

The Dragons have hit 14 home runs in their last seven games, tied for second most in all Minor League Baseball over that time period (Amarillo of the Texas League has 15).

In 2022, the Dragons had six players reach double-figures in home runs for the first time in franchise history (Elly De La Cruz, Austin Hendrick, Allan Cerda, Jose Torres, Alex McGarry, Rece Hinds). In 2023, five Dragons players have reached double-figures (Mat Nelson, Ruben Ibarra, Jack Rogers, Edwin Arroyo, Austin Hendrick; Justice Thompson has nine).

Player Notes

Austin Hendrick now ranks tied for second on the Dragons career home run list with 28. The club record is 30 by Chris Williamson, who played for the Dragons in 2000-02. Williamson's top season was 2002 when he hit 22. Hendrick has 14 home runs for the Dragons in 2023 after hitting 14 in 2022. Hendrick is tied with Randy Ruiz and Samone Peters with 28. No player who had played for the Dragons after 2002 had hit more than 26 in his Dragons career prior to Hendrick.

Edwin Arroyo over his last 44 games (since July 14) is batting .291 with 22 extra base hits.

Justice Thompson over his last eight games is batting .345 (10 for 29) with one home run.

Ruben Ibarra over his last 18 games is batting .313 with five home runs and 16 RBI.

Zach Maxwell over his last five games: 9.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 16 SO.

Brooks Crawford over his last 14 G (since July 21): 3-0, 2.20 ERA, 3 saves, 27.2 IP, .182 opponent's average.

Prospecting: The Dragons roster includes three players currently ranked among the Reds top-10 prospects by MLB.com, headlined by Edwin Arroyo, a shortstop ranked as the Reds #3 prospect. Arroyo, age 20, is among the 10 youngest position players to have played in the MWL this season, and the youngest among players with at least 200 at-bats. Dragons third baseman Sal Stewart is ranked as the Reds #7 prospect by MLB.com. Dragons second baseman Carlos Jorge is ranked as the Reds #9 prospect by MLB.com. Additionally, outfielder Hector Rodriguez is ranked as the Reds #16 prospect by MLB.com while Austin Hendrick is ranked #27 and Zach Maxwell is #30.

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM and www.daytondragons.com)

Thursday, Sept. 7 (7:05 pm): Fort Wayne LH Miguel Cienfuegos (2-5, 3.69) at Dayton RH Ryan Cardona (0-0, 9.00)

Friday, Sept. 8 (7:10 pm): Fort Wayne RH Dylan Lesko (1-1, 5.63) at Dayton RH Hunter Parks (3-6, 3.93) TV: Dayton's CW (26)

Saturday, Sept. 9 (7:05 pm): Fort Wayne LH Austin Krob (4-3, 3.21) at Dayton RH Carson Rudd (5-7, 4.72)

Sunday, Sept. 10 (1:10 pm): Fort Wayne RH Victor Lizarraga (4-7, 4.36) at Dayton RH Johnathan Harmon (no record) TV: Dayton's CW (26)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from September 6, 2023


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