SAL Hudson Valley Renegades

HVR Game Notes - April 15, 2022

Published on April 15, 2022 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release


Hudson Valley Renegades (4-2) at Rome Braves (3-3)

RHP Beck Way (0-0, 6.23) vs. RHP Andrew Hoffman (0-0, 4.50)

| Game 7 | Road Game 7 | AdventHealth Stadium | Rome, GA | April 15, 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...: The Renegades scored three in the top of the second inning to jump out to an early lead, and cruised to an 8-2 victory on Thursday night over the Rome Braves. Aaron Palensky had a great night at the plate, finishing 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs. He also picked up an outfield assist, nailing Rusber Estrada at home for the final out in the sixth inning. Hudson Valley's bullpen turned in a great collaborative effort, with Michael Giacone, Carson Coleman, and Rodney Hutchison combining for 5.2 shutout innings and only three hits allowed.

OFF TO THE RACES: Through four games of the season, the Hudson Valley Renegades are in second place among High-A teams in stolen bases with 16. Jersey Shore (PHI) has 24 to pace all clubs at the level, while Spokane (COL) ranks just behind the 'Gades, with 13. Impressively, the Renegades have only been caught stealing four times, giving them an 80% success rate. The Renegades have stolen the most bases of any team in the Yankees organization, with Tampa (A) ranking second with 10 swipes, and no other team posting double digits. With 16 steals through six games, the Renegades are stealing an average of 2.67 bases per game, which puts them on pace for 352 on the season, which would obliterate the previous franchise record of 149 in 2021.

NEW YORK STRIKEOUT EXCHANGE: Through four games, Hudson Valley pitchers have recorded 70 strikeouts in 53.0 IP, good for a 11.9 K/9 rate. The 70 strikeouts rank third among all High-A teams, with Aberdeen (BAL) fanning the most batters through six games, with 82 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: With four home runs hit in the first three games of the series with Rome, the Hudson Valley Renegades have clubbed seven 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 Greensboro and Wilmington, behind only Greenville (10). The Renegades are third in the SAL in runs scored (43), trailing Greenville (54) and Bowling Green (45).

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.

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.

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 1st rounder is rated as the Yankees' No. 4 prospect, and No. 95 overall in MiLB.

Check out the Hudson Valley Renegades Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



South Atlantic League Stories from April 15, 2022


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.

OurSports Central