SAL Hudson Valley Renegades

Renegades Game Notes

Published on April 19, 2024 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release


Hudson Valley Renegades (8-3) at Aberdeen IronBirds (4-8)

RHP Sebastian Keane (0-1, 6.00 ERA) vs. RHP Jackson Baumeister (0-0, 1.50 ERA)

| Game 12 | Home Game 4 | Friday, April 19, 2024 | Heritage Financial Park | Wappingers Falls, N.Y. | First Pitch 6:35 p.m. |

WEB GEM: The Renegades made national news on Thursday night. In the seventh inning of the ballgame, Roc Riggio made a remarkable diving catch in shallow center field, colliding with center fielder Nelson Medina. He then proceeded to turn around and fire the ball back into second base, where first base Josh Moylan was covering, to double off the runner and complete a double play. The defense brilliance from Riggio was featured on SportsCenter as the #1 play on the "Overachieving for the Prekend" segment.

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.

I'M WALKIN' OFF OVER HERE!: In their first three home games of the 2024 season the Renegades have recorded walk-off wins over the Aberdeen IronBirds. On Tuesday night, Omar Martínez drew a walk-off walk off Luis Sánchez in the ninth, while Nelson Medina followed that up with a walk-off single off Yaqui Rivera in the 11th on Wednesday. Thursday presented a third different scenario for a walkoff, with Cole Gabrielson scoring on a wild pitch by Ironbirds reliever Deivy Cruz. Hudson Valley had seven walk-off wins in 2023 and just two in 2022.

COMEBACK KIDS: With wins in their last two games, the Renegades have won two games this season when trailing after the eighth inning. The 'Gades were just 1-39 when trailing after the eighth 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, 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. Through nine games, Martin is slashing .281/.361/.469 with an .830 OPS. The outfielder already has four doubles this campaign, most on the team. His fourth double on Thursday night came with the bases loaded, driving in three runs. The Arlington, TX native now has 9 RBIs in 2024, the most on Hudson Valley.

LIMITING HITS AND RUNS: Hudson Valley pitchers have been on a roll early on, and have allowed only 51 hits through 10 games. The Renegades have allowed the fewest hits in MiLB, allowing 10 fewer hits than the next-best team (Eugene, SF, A+). Incredibly, the AquaSox (SEA, A+) have allowed a staggering 114 hits, most among non-AAA teams. 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 1.95 ERA is the lowest mark in High-A, and third-best among all MiLB teams..

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 .316/.350/.421 on the young season, already with five multi-hit games, the most on the team.

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.

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 289 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. Then, on Thursday, RHP Yorlin Calderon was received from Double-A Somerset to begin his second stint of the season with the Renegades.

MAKING MOVES: Thursday's roster move with Yorlin Calderon returning to the pitching staff was the 19th roster move of the month of April for the Renegades. That is already more moves than the team had in any single month of the 2023 season except for August, when they had 29. In 2023, Hudson Valley only had 21 total transactions between of April and May.

SOUTHWEST POWER: On Thursday night, Kiko Romero launched his first home run of the season down the right-field line, his third long ball of his professional career and the eighth homer of the 2024 campaign for the Renegades. A seventh-round pick of the Yankees in 2023, Romero began his first full pro season with Hudson Valley in 2024. The Tucson, AZ native had an outstanding 2023 campaign with the Arizona Wildcats, where he set the program record and ranked sixth in the nation for RBIs with 89. He was named a Second-Team All-America by Collegiate Baseball for his efforts.

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.

WINNING WAYS: With an 8-3 record to start the season, the Renegades are one of 11 teams in Minor League Baseball with a .700-or-better winning percentage this season. This is the best 11-game start for the Renegades since 2018, when they also started 8-3 en route to racing out to an 11-3 start in the New York-Penn League.

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South Atlantic League Stories from April 19, 2024


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