
HVR Game Notes - April 14, 2022
April 14, 2022 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release
Hudson Valley Renegades (3-2) at Rome Braves (3-2)
RHP Matt Sauer (0-0, 3.00) vs. LHP Dylan Dodd (0-0, 4.15)
| Game 6 | Road Game 6 | AdventHealth Stadium | Rome, GA | April 14, 2022 | First Pitch 7:00 p.m. |
WHEN IN ROME: The Hudson Valley Renegades continue their second series of the season tonight when they take on the Rome Braves at AdventHealth Stadium. The six-game series marks the first time that the Renegades and R-Braves will play in their respective franchise histories. It is also the furthest south that Hudson Valley has ever played a game, with Rome falling approximately 50 miles south of Greenville, South Carolina, where the Renegades opened the 2022 season.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT...: A two-run double in the second inning for Rome's Beau Philip was all the Braves needed on Wednesday in an 8-1 win over the Renegades. Blane Abeyta allowed just those two runs in 4.0 innings in his High-A debut, walking one and striking out four. Hudson Valley managed only three hits in the game, with two coming from T.J. Rumfield, and the other off the bat of Cooper Bowman.
OFF TO THE RACES: Through four games of the season, the Hudson Valley Renegades are in third place among High-A teams in stolen bases with 12. Jersey Shore (PHI) has 24 to pace all clubs at the level, while Spokane (COL) ranks ahead of the 'Gades, with 13. Impressively, the Renegades have only been caught stealing two times, giving them an 85.7% success rate.
WELLS MOVING UP: With the graduation of San Francisco Giants catcher Joey Bart from MLB Pipeline's top prospects list, Renegades catcher Austin Wells is now the No. 10 catching prospect in all of baseball. The 2020 first round pick is rated as the Yankees' No. 4 prospect, and the No. 95 overall prospect in the minors.
NEW YORK STRIKEOUT EXCHANGE: Through four games, Hudson Valley pitchers have recorded 60 strikeouts in 44.0 IP, good for a 12.3 K/9 rate. The 60 strikeouts rank fifth among all High-A teams, with Rome (ATL) fanning more through five games, with 70 punchouts. The Renegades staff also has the second-best K/9 of any team in the Yankees organization, trailing only Double-A Somerset.
'GADES DIG THE LONG BALL: After a three homer performance by the offense on Tuesday, the Hudson Valley Renegades have clubbed six home runs in their first five games of the season. That puts them tied for second in the South Atlantic League in home runs with Winston-Salem and Greensboro, behind only Greenville (9). The Renegades are third in the SAL in runs scored (35), behind Greenville (45) and Bowling Green (37), and are third the league in slugging percentage (.425) and OPS (.810).
UNPRECEDENTED TIMES: The 2022 season is set to be the longest in the history of the Hudson Valley Renegades. While operating as a Short Season-A team in the New York-Penn League from 1994-2020, the Renegades had never played more than 76 games in a season. In 2021, the club played 120 games in a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The "new normal" for Hudson Valley is the 132-game schedule that is now uniform across Class-A leagues, beginning in 2022. The record-setting schedule length includes the earliest Opening Day in franchise history (April 8), earliest Home Opener (April 19), longest season-opening road trip (9 games), and first games played in South Carolina and Georgia.
PRECEDENTED TIMES: The 30-man Break Camp roster for the Renegades includes 12 players who saw time with the 2021 team. The returners break down as six pitchers (Nelson Alvarez, Edgar Barclay, Nelvin Correa, Tanner Myatt, Matt Sauer, and Beck Way), three catchers (Carlos Narvaez, Saul Torres, and Austin Wells), one infielder (Eduardo Torrealba), and two outfielders (Pat DeMarco and Everson Pereira).
PROSPECTS GALORE: The Renegades Break Camp roster features six of the Yankees' top 30 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline. Catcher Austin Wells (#4) and infielder Trey Sweeney (#5) are joined by outfielder Everson Pereira (#11), pitchers T.J. Sikkema (#20) and Beck Way (#22) and infielder Cooper Bowman (#25). Each of the Yankees last three first round draftees (Sikkema, 2019; Wells, 2020; and Sweeney, 2021) begin the season with Hudson Valley.
MEET THE NEW LEAGUE, SAME AS THE OLD LEAGUE: Last month, Major League Baseball announced the return of traditional names for its minor leagues, re-christening "High-A East" as the South Atlantic League. The 2022 South Atlantic League is actually the third major iteration of a league with that name. The original South Atlantic League lasted on and off from 1904-1963, when it was moved up to Double-A and re-branded as the Southern League, which still exists today. The next SAL also began in 1903 under the name of the Western Carolinas League. It changed its name in 1980 and operated at the Single-A classification. High-A East (2021) and the current South Atlantic League are considered by MiLB to be one continuous league with the WCL/old SAL.
RECORD-SETTING SEASON: To nobody's surprise, the Hudson Valley Renegades set 19 new franchise hitting records during the 2021 season, the first in team history as a full-season affiliate. The team and individual players set 19 new single-season hitting records, and 20 new single-season pitching records. Among the most ludicrous was the single-season mark for most team home runs hit (156 -- previous record, 53 in 1999 and 2002), and most strikeouts recorded by the pitching staff (1,308 -- previous record, 693 in 1998).
GET THIS OUT OF THE WAY: The current nine-game road trip to Greenville and Rome is the longest season-opening road trip in franchise history. It also represents the second-longest road trip of the season, eclipsed by only a 12-game trip from June 14-27 to Greensboro and Winston-Salem.
South Atlantic League Stories from April 14, 2022
- Renegades' Bats Top Rome - Hudson Valley Renegades
- Dash Battle Back Late to Take Game Three against Greensboro - Winston-Salem Dash
- Stephens's Long Ball Not Enough for R-Braves - Rome Emperors
- Ninth Inning Homer Not Enough in 8-4 Loss - Hickory Crawdads
- McDonough Stands out at the Plate - Greenville Drive
- Daniels, Rodriguez, and Wagner All Homer in Defeat - Asheville Tourists
- Ovalles' Three-Hits, Pitching Staff 12K's Lead BG to 8-4 Win - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Cyclones & Blue Claws Rained out on Thursday - Brooklyn Cyclones
- Hot Rods Game Notes - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- HVR Game Notes - April 14, 2022 - Hudson Valley Renegades
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.
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