SAL Hudson Valley Renegades

HVR Game Notes - May 8, 2022

Published on May 8, 2022 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release


Hudson Valley Renegades (13-11) at Jersey Shore BlueClaws (8-15)

Game 1: LHP T.J. Sikkema (First Start) vs. RHP Ben Brown (1-0, 5.68 ERA)

Game 2: RHP Blas Castaño (0-2, 4.50 ERA) vs. RHP Mick Abel (1-2, 3.86 ERA)

| Game 25 & 26 | Road Games 13 & 14 | ShoreTown Ballpark | Lakewood, NJ | May 8, 2022 | First Pitch 1:05 p.m. |

GREETINGS! FROM LAKEWOOD, NEW JERSEY: The Hudson Valley Renegades complete their six-game series with the Jersey Shore BlueClaws with a Mother's Day doubleheader at ShoreTown Ballpark. Today marks the first time since Thursday that the Renegades and BlueClaws have been able to play owing to a storm that postponed scheduled games on both Friday and Saturday.

SOMEWHERE IN THE SWAMPS OF JERSEY: Hudson Valley ended its three-game losing streak with a 7-4 win over Jersey Shore on Thursday night. Spencer Henson went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run, his first dinger of the season. Trey Sweeney also had a big day at the plate, finishing 3-for-5 with two doubles, including a go-ahead two-base hit in the top of the eighth inning.

DOUBLE OR NOTHING: Today's doubleheader is the second twin bill for the Renegades this season, having previously played a doubleheader with Wilmington on Wednesday, April 27. Hudson Valley won both games of that double dip at Dutchess Stadium. Today's douleheader is the first of two with Jersey Shore necessitated by back-to-back rainouts, with the other slated for June 8 at The Dutch. In 2021, the Renegades played in nine doubleheaders, going 8-10 in those games.

I'M ON FIRE: After a slow start to the season, Austin Wells has put together a torrid stretch in the last three weeks. In his last 12 games (since 4/17), the catcher is 18-for-42 (.429/.529/.786), with three doubles, four home runs, nine walks and seven stolen bases. With the outburst, he raised his season batting line from .148/.273/.222 to .319/.429/.565, a 499-point jump in OPS. Wells is the Yankees No. 4 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, who also ranks him as the No. 95 prospect in MiLB, and the No. 10 overall catching prospect.

BORN TO RUN: Through 24 games, the Hudson Valley Renegades lead all teams in Minor League Baseball in stolen bases with 63.

- The Renegades have already stolen more bases this season in 24 games than they did in the entire 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2017 seasons (all between 74 and 76 games).

- Jersey Shore (PHI) has 56 to place second in the South Atlantic League, and third among all teams. The Gades have been caught stealing 14 times, leading to a 81.8% success rate.

- Lake Elsinore (Low-A, SD) has the second-most steals in the minores, with 61, but has been caught 16 times.

- The Renegades have stolen the most bases of any team in the Yankees organization, with Somerset (AA) ranking second with 43.

- With 63 steals through 24 games, the Renegades are stealing an average of 2.63 bases per game, which puts them on pace for 347 on the season, which would smash the franchise record of 149 in 2021.

- Cooper Bowman leads the team with 14 steals, which is second in the SAL. Bowman has stolen multiple bases in a game five times this season. Aldenis Sánchez is tied for third in the circuit with 11 swipes. Austin Wells, Everson Pereira and James Nelson are tied for ninth with eight each.

- Austin Wells is 8-for-8 in steals this year, and is 24-for-24 in stolen base attempts in his career.

- The Renegades have stolen at least six bases in a game as a team three times this season, including a season-high nine on 4/30.

- James Nelson has 24 steals with the Renegades, and is two shy of moving into a tie for 10th place on the franchise stolen base list.

WE'RE ON THE CLOCK: The new Minor League Baseball pitch clock rules have been accomplishing their intention of speeding up the pace of play and shortening game times across the sport in 2022. Owing to MLB's temporary suspension of the pitch clock at Dutchess Stadium, the Renegades have played in only six games this year with a functioning pitch clock. In those contests, the average time of game is 2:27. In 2021, Hudson Valley played only three nine-inning games in under 2:30. This year, they have already played eight in 22 nine-inning contests.

BACK IN THE GARDEN STATE: The Hudson Valley Renegades return to the great state of New Jersey, where they played the first game in franchise history against the New Jersey Cardinals in 1994. The beginning of a series with Jersey Shore last year marked the first time that HV had played in NJ since 2005, after which the Cards moved to State College, Pennsylvania.

AN INCREDIBLE RUN ENDS: When Tanner Myatt allowed a home run to Casey Martin with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, that brought an end to a run of 139.2 consecutive innings by the Renegades pitching staff without allowing a home run, a streak spanning parts of 17 games. Previously, the last home run allowed by the Renegades was leading off the top of the second on April 15 at Rome (Landon Stephens off Beck Way). Not only was that the longest streak for any pitching staff in Minor League Baseball this year, but it is the longest since the Hickory Crawdads (Low-A, TEX) in 2018, who went 143.1 innings without a gopher ball from May 24 - June 11. By contrast, Hudson Valley hit 11 home runs during that span.

Check out the Hudson Valley Renegades Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 8, 2022


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