IL Indianapolis Indians

Game Information: Memphis Redbirds (38-28) vs. Indianapolis Indians (32-32)

June 21, 2022 - International League (IL)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


LOCATION: Victory Field

FIRST PITCH: 7:05 PM ET

GAME #65 / Home #30: Memphis Redbirds (38-28) vs. Indianapolis Indians (32-32)

PROBABLES: RHP Jordan Hicks (ML Rehab) vs. RHP Bryse Wilson (2-0, 3.32)

RADIO: FoxSportsIndy.com / Fox Sports 1260 / iHeart app

TV: MiLB TV / The Dot

ABOUT SUNDAY: The Indians took home the final game of the six-game series at Gwinnett on Sunday afternoon, 5-3, with all three of their runs coming via the longball. They jumped out to an early lead when Rodolfo Castro sent the payoff pitch over the left-field wall to give Indy a 3-0 advantage in the first inning. Stripers starter Kyle Muller went on to retire the next 19 batters and give his team the chance for a comeback. They scratched across two runs in the third and one in the seventh to tie the game and erase the deficit. The Indians were quick to respond, with Jason Delay leading off the eighth inning with a ground-rule double. Travis Swaggerty then blasted a two-run homer into the Indianapolis bullpen for the victory.

CALLED GAME, THE SWAGS WAY: Travis Swaggerty launched a go-ahead two-run homer to give the Indians their second win of the six-game road trip at Gwinnett last week. After hitting one home run in April and one in May, it was the outfielders third home run in just nine Triple-A games in June. After a slow start to the season, Swaggerty has heated up and hit safely in 19 of his last 22 games with a .356 average (31-for-87) with 11 extra-base hits and 20 RBI dating back to May 17. In June, he has hit safely in eight of nine games, four of which have been multi-hit contests, with a .333 average (12-for-36). In the middle of his hot streak, Swaggerty made his MLB debut with the Pirates and recorded his first big-league hit.

BOUNCE BACK, PART VII: Indianapolis emerged victorious in Sunday night's series finale at Gwinnett, improving back to 32-32. It was the seventh time this season that the Indians have fallen one game below .500 (also: 0-1, 1-2, 7-8, 15-16, 16-17, 30-31) and immediately won their next game, making them a perfect 7-0 in contests with a sub-.500 record.

THE YOUNG BUC WAVE: With the first-time callups of Canaan Smith-Njigba (6/13), Jason Delay (6/14), Cam Vieaux (6/17) and Bligh Madris (6/20) in the span of the last week, nine Indians have now been added to Pittsburgh's active roster ahead of their anticipated major league debuts this season, surpassing last season's total of six. Less than halfway through the 2022 campaign, it is is the most MLB first-time callups the Indians have had in a single season since having nine members of their 2019 squad promoted to debut in the big leagues. The most callups the Indians have had in a single season since their most recent affiliation with Pittsburgh began in 2005 came in 2016 when 12 players came through Indianapolis en route to an MLB debut with the Bucs.

BLIGH IN THE BIGS: Bligh Madris made his major league debut last night and became the third Pirates batter since 1920 to record at least one hit, RBI and stolen base in his MLB debut and the first since Andrew McCutchen in 2009. He served as Pittsburgh's starting right fielder and went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI, stolen base and run scored to also become the first Pirate since 1996 to have three hits in his MLB debut. Madris had his contract selected by Pittsburgh yesterday after leading International League leaders (min. 60 ABs) with a .400 average (24-for-60) in June. This season, he registered a .304 average (48-for-158) - the ninth-best average in the IL - with 15 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 20 RBI and a .904 OPS (6th in IL).

CHECK YOUR WATCHES (AND STATCAST): Oneil Cruz also got his long awaited and anticipated callup to Pittsburgh yesterday and broke numerous Statcast records in his 2022 debut. On a ground ball to shortstop, Cruz lasered a throw 96.7 mph across the diamond as the hardest throw by an infielder in Major League Baseball this season and second hardest by a position player in the Statcast era, following only Fernando Tatis Jr. in 2020 (97.2 mph). His bases-clearing double in the third inning registered at a 112.9 mph exit velocity, the hardest hit ball by a Pirates batter this season. To top it all off, he registered the three fastest sprint speeds of the year by a Pirates baserunner (31.4 feet per second, 30.7, 30.3).

TONIGHT: The Indians will begin a six-game series vs. the Memphis Redbirds tonight at 7:05 PM ET at Victory Field for their second regular-season series against the franchise in history. Last season, they went 5-1 against the St. Louis Cardinals affiliate in the Circle City. Tonight, Bryse Wilson will take the mound for the Indians against MLB rehabber Jordan Hicks.

QUALITY CHECK: Bryse Wilson returns to Indy's starting rotation today after making a spot start with Pittsburgh in Game 2 of a doubleheader at St. Louis on 6/14. All three of his starts with Indianapolis this season have been 6.0-plus innings, with the last two marked as two of just three quality starts by Indians pitchers this season (also: Chase De Jong, 4/13 at St. Paul). He also became the first to record back-to-back quality starts since Max Kranick and James Marvel each did so in September 2021. In those three starts with Indy this season, Wilson is 2-0 with a 3.32 ERA (7er/19.0ip), 16 strikeouts and 0.95 WHIP. He has also dominated right-handed batters in that time frame, allowing a .162 average against (6-for-37) with nine strikeouts.

WELCOME HOME: The Pirates announced today that utilityman Josh VanMeter - a native of Ossian, Ind. - has been assigned to Indianapolis on a rehab assignment this week. VanMeter was a fifth-round draft pick out of Norwell High School, where he starred his senior year for the eventual 3A baseball state champions in a season that culminated at Victory Field. VanMeter, 27, was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 3 (retroactive to June 2) with a left ring finger fracture. He appeared in 35 games with Pittsburgh prior to his injury and hit .214 (21-for-98) with six extra-base hits and 10 runs scored. He played in 17 games at Victory Field during his time with Triple-A Louisville in 2018-19 and owned a .318 average (28-for-88) in 28 total games vs. the Indians.

MORE REHABBERS: First baseman/outfielder Yoshi Tsutsugo and infielder Kevin Newman will join VanMeter in Indianapolis for their respective rehabs this week. Tsutusgo was placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to May 25) with a lumbar muscle strain, and Newman was placed on the 10-day IL with a left groin strain and was later transferred to the 60-day IL. It will be Newman's second rehab stint with Indy this season.

THIS DATE IN 2014: Chris McGuiness went 4-for-5, Jaff Decker went 3-for-5 with three RBI and Nevin Ashley went 3-for-4 with four RBI and as the Indians put up four multi-run innings to beat Norfolk, 10-4. Decker sent a game-tying two-run home run out of the park in the third inning.

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