SAL Hudson Valley Renegades

Renegades Game Notes

April 17, 2024 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release


Hudson Valley Renegades (6-3) at Aberdeen IronBirds (4-6)

RHP Jackson Fristoe (0-0, 3.68 ERA) vs. RHP Cameron Weston (1-0, 1.13 ERA)

| Game 10 | Home Game 2 | Wednesday, April 17, 2024 | Heritage Financial Park | Wappingers Falls, N.Y. | First Pitch 6:35 p.m. |

HOME, SWEET HOME: After an eight-game road trip to begin the 2024 season, the Renegades are finally home for a 12-game homestand at Heritage Financial Park. The Renegades were the last team among 120 MiLB clubs to host their home opener, with all 119 other clubs having played at least one game at home thus far in 2024.

EASY AS 1-2-3: With Brian Hendry and Matt Keating combining on a three-hitter in Game 2 of Friday's doubleheader in Rome, the Renegades became the first team in MiLB this season to have thrown a 1-hitter, a 2-hitter, and a 3-hitter (since joined by Montgomery). They followed that up by tossing a second two-hitter on Sunday in Game 2 of the twin bill with Rome and a three-hitter on Tuesday against Aberdeen. The 'Gades have allowed three-or-fewer hits in five of their first nine games playd.

ON THE RIGHT FOOT: In the last seven Renegades games, starting pitchers Cam Schlittler, Jackson Fristoe, Brian Hendry, Kyle Carr, Sebastian Keane, and Baron Stuart have pitched lights out. The group posted a combined 3-0, 0.56 ERA, 32 IP, 17 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 14 BB, and 36 K. Collectively in that span they have combined for 10.13 K/9. Renegades starters have a 1.78 ERA this season, the seventh-lowest in MiLB.

NEW IN TOWN: The Renegades welcome four 2023 Yankees draft picks to the Opening Day squad: Kyle Carr, Roc Riggio, Kiko Romero and Brian Hendry. All four selections were taken in the 10th round or earlier. Riggio and Romero each played briefly after the draft, while Carr and Hendry did not make professional appearances in 2023.

THIRTY, FLIRTY & THRIVING: The Hudson Valley Renegades are celebrating their 30th anniversary season throughout 2024. Now in their fourth season as a full-season club and affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Renegades will pay tribute to the greatest players and moments in franchise history throughout the season. Since the team's inaugural 1994 season, 131 Renegades have gone on to play in Major League Baseball, with catcher Kevin Brown being the club's first alumni to reach MLB on Sept. 12, 1996. Hudson Valley has been affiliated with three MLB clubs, the Texas Rangers (1994-96), Tampa Bay Rays (96-19) and Yankees (20-Present). They won the New York-Penn League Nader Cup Championship three times: 1999, 2012, and 2017. Other notable former Renegades include 2008 AL Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria, 2009 AL Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson, 2010 AL MVP Josh Hamilton, and Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt.

OVER A DECADE OF SUCCESS: With a 70-62 (.530) record in 2023, the Hudson Valley Renegades recorded their 11th consecutive season with an above .500 record (since 2012). During that span, the team has won two league championships (2012 and 2017), seven playoff appearances (12, 14, 16-19, 23), and five league championship series appearances (12, 16-18, 23). Including their 4-2 start to 2024, among teams in affiliated baseball with at least 800 games played, the Renegades have the best winning percentage (.575) in MiLB.

NEW FACE: Garrett Martin has quickly made his mark at the plate for Hudson Valley in 2024. The outfielder already has three doubles this campaign, tied for the team lead and a triple to go along with five RBIs, second on the team. On Tuesday, the Arlington, TX native broke a scoreless deadlock with the IronBirds, ripping an RBI triple into left-center to score Josh Moylan.

LIMITING HITS: Hudson Valley pitchers have been on a roll early on, and have allowed only 36 hits through eight games. The Renegades have allowed the fewest hits in MiLB, allowing 12 fewer hits than the next-best team (Eugene, SF, A+). At one point on opening weekend, the Renegades held the Hot Rods without a hit across 10.2 innings, and shut Bowling Green out over the final 16.1 innings of the series. The team's 1.62 ERA is tied for the lowest mark among all MiLB teams.

DÉJÀ VU: After impressing in his first professional season last year with the Renegades, Rafael Flores is off to a hot start at the plate in 2024, batting .320 (8-for 25) with 3 doubles, a home run, and four RBIs in 6 games. He has had at least one hit in 5 of 7 games played. Flores currently leads the team in batting average, and ranks seventh in the SAL in that category. His early season performance has followed a similar script to that of 2023. Flores began his pro career with a 16-game on-base streak where he hit .409 with 7 extra-base hits.

THAT'S ALL THEY GOT? ONE HIT?: Four Renegades pitchers, Kyle Carr, Trent Sellers, Leonardo Pestana and Joel Valdez combined to one-hit the Bowling Green Hot Rods on Saturday night in a 14-2 victory. The lone Hot Rods hit was a second inning double by Brock Jones.

It was the 15th one-hitter thrown by the Renegades since 2005.

It was the 11th one-hitter thrown by the Renegades since becoming a Yankees affiliate in 2021.

HV threw three one-hitters in 2023, including one on June 20 at Brooklyn to clinch the SAL North Division First Half.

It was the first one-hitter thrown by the Renegades against a South Atlantic League South Division opponent.

HUDSON VALLEY TO THE SHOW: Already in 2024, the Renegades have seen four former players make their MLB debuts. Mitch Spence (2021) made his MLB debut with the Oakland Athletics, Matt Sauer (2021-23) debuted with the Kansas City Royals, and Oliver Dunn (2021) broke in with the Milwaukee Brewers all over MLB Opening Weekend. On Monday night, Josh Maciejewski (2021, 23) made his big league debut for the Yankees against the Marlins. The Renegades have now had 131 former players reach the major leagues, including 18 from the Yankees era and 16 from the star-studded 2021 team.

FINISHING STRONG: Over his last 14 games of the 2023 regular season, Jesús Rodríguez went 19-for-53 (.358) with two doubles, a triple, two home runs, 9 RBIs, and seven runs scored. Rodríguez has carried that success into the 2024 season by reaching base safely in seven of his first eight games. He is currently batting .303 on the young season, already with 4 multi-hit games. In Tuesday's home opener against the IronBirds, Rodríguez went 2-for-4, continuing his strong start.

INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH: The Hudson Valley Renegades and the Bhutan Baseball & Softball Association have partnered to present Bhutan Night on August 20 at Heritage Financial Park. The team is currently fundraising to bring over several Bhutanese baseball players for baseball and cultural enrichment tour of the Hudson Valley and New York. More details on the night can be found at www.hvrenegades.com/bhutan.

MAMMA SAID SHUT YOU OUT: With back-to-back shutout wins over Rome, the Renegades have already thrown three shutouts in their first eight games of the 2024 season. They are one of three teams across Minor League Baseball who have thrown three shutouts this season. Both the Hartford Yard Goats (COL, AA) and Montgomery Biscuits (TB, AA) have also thrown two shutouts. Hudson Valley finished third in MiLB with 13 shutouts in 2023. From Saturday 4/6 through Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader in Rome, the Renegades staff combined for 19.0 consecutive shutout innings spanning parts of three games. The staff currently has a 16.0 inning scoreless streak across the last two games.

NON-SACRIFICIAL LAMBS: The Hudson Valley Renegades have not laid down a sacrifice bunt in either of the last two seasons, one of four teams in MiLB to not register a sacrifice bunt in that time (also Asheville, Fayetteville and Tampa). The last time the Renegades successfully executed a sacrifice bunt was Eduardo Torrealba on 8/31/2021 at Greensboro, a span of 287 regular season games.

ON THE MOVE: The Yankees announced roster moves for the Renegades Wednesday, including the promotion of Alexander Vargas to Double-A Somerset. Across the '23 and '24 seasons, Vargas hit .206/.251/.344 in 108 games with the 'Gades. OF Jace Avina was activated from the 7-day IL.

Check out the Hudson Valley Renegades Statistics



South Atlantic League Stories from April 17, 2024


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