HVR Game Notes - April 20, 2021
April 20, 2022 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release
Brooklyn Cyclones (6-4) vs. Hudson Valley Renegades (5-5)
RHP David Griffin (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Sauer (0-0, 4.26 ERA)
| Game 11 | Home Game 2 | Dutchess Stadium | Wappingers Falls, NY | April 20, 2022 | First Pitch 7:05 p.m. |
HOME, SWEET HOME: After a nine-game road trip to start the season, the Hudson Valley Renegades continue their first home series of the year tonight against the Brooklyn Cyclones. Tonight marks game two of a 12-game, 13-day homestand as Brooklyn and Wilmington visit The Dutch. Tuesday's home opener was the earliest regular-season Renegades game ever played at Dutchess Stadium, coming 22 days earlier than the May 11 opener in 2021. Before last season, the franchise had never played a game before June as a member of the Class Short Season-A New York-Penn League.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT...: The Renegades won their home opener over the Brooklyn Cyclones on Tuesday behind stellar pitching and timely hitting. Edgar Barclay got the win by carving up Cyclones batters to the tune of a season-high seven strikeouts in 3.0 scoreless innings. Carlos Narvaez walloped a solo home run, his first of the season, to left in the bottom of the sixth to break a 3-3 tie. The Gades added some insurance in the eighth on an Eduardo Torrealba RBI single, and Carson Coleman shut the door in the ninth to earn his first save of the year.
A BREEZE GROWS IN BROOKLYN: Hudson Valley pitchers combined to strike out 17 Brooklyn batters on Tuesday, setting a new season-high for the staff. In 2021, the Renegades struck out 17-or-more batters in a game five times, including a season-high of 18 three times. Dubiously, two of those three games came against Brooklyn (5/22 @ BRK, 9/9 @ HV). In 2021, the Renegades struck out 408 Cyclones, a rate of 11.81 K/9.
A NEW ERA: Friday night marked an historic day for the South Atlantic League and across Minor League Baseball as it was the first game in which the new pitch clock rules were enforced. In the first night under the rules, game times across Minor League Baseball plummeted, with nearly 30 minutes shaved off the average game, according to numbers run by J.J. Cooper of Baseball America. Through Tuesday's action, average game times have been cut by approximately 20 minutes, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.
OFF TO THE RACES: Through 10 games, the Hudson Valley Renegades are tied for second among High-A teams in stolen bases with 23.
- Jersey Shore (PHI) has 35 to pace all High-A clubs, while Spokane (COL) of the Northwest League also has 23 steals. The Gades has been caught stealing six times, leading to a success rate of 79.3%.
- Across all levels of the minors, the Renegades are tied for fourth-most steals, with Fayetteville (HOU) of the Carolina League and Lake Elsinore (SD) of the California League each having stolen 29 bases.
- The Renegades have stolen the most bases of any team in the Yankees organization, with Tampa (A) ranking second with 17 swipes.
- With 23 steals through 10 games, the Renegades are stealing an average of 2.3 bases per game, which puts them on pace for 304 on the season, which would obliterate the previous franchise record of 149 in 2021.
RUMFIELD'S PINSTRIPED DEBUT: In his first year in the New York Yankees organization, T.J. Rumfield has impressed with his performance on the field. During the season-opening road trip, Rumfield hit .412/.487/.735 with five doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs. He ranks among the top 10 in the South Atlantic League in AVG (4th), OBP (8th), SLG (5th), OPS (6th), RBIs (2nd), XBH (3rd), H (3rd), 2B (t-2nd), and HR (t-7th). Rumfield was drafted by the Phillies in the 12th round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of Virginia Tech, and was traded to the Yankees in a November deal which sent RHP Nick Nelson and C Donny Sands to Philadelphia.
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.
MEET THE NEW LEAGUE, SAME AS THE OLD LEAGUE: Last month, MLB 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).
South Atlantic League Stories from April 20, 2022
- Renegades Dropped by a Run Despite Striking out 18 Cyclones - Hudson Valley Renegades
- Cyclones Hold on for a 4-3 Win over Hudson Valley on Wednesday - Brooklyn Cyclones
- Dash Tack on Late to Secure Game Two Win over Drive - Winston-Salem Dash
- Asheville Downs Jersey Shore on a Combined One-Hitter - Asheville Tourists
- McGarry Fans Six in Two Innings; Late Balks Sink Claws on Wednesday - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Bowling Green Falls to Rome 8-5 on Wednesday - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- HVR Game Notes - April 20, 2021 - Hudson Valley Renegades
- Urban Wren & the Greenville Drive Announce Newest Addition to City's West End - Greenville Drive
- Hot Rods Game Notes - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Greenville Walks It off to Snag Game One against Dash - Winston-Salem Dash
- Matera's Eighth Inning Homer Lifts Claws to 7-6 Win - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Blue Rocks Drop Game One 7-5 to Crawdads - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Cyclones Fall in Hudson Valley, 5-3 - Brooklyn Cyclones
- Late Rally Sinks Greensboro in Series Opener vs. Aberdeen - Greensboro Grasshoppers
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