Kevin Brown, the radio voice of the Syracuse Chiefs, was kind enough to give us an update on some of the Syracuse Chiefs’ players who we haven’t seen in a while. We all know what Trea Turner (.377 BA) is doing in Triple-A, but what about this ‘hot’ start from Brian Goodwin? We also wanted to know how AJ Cole and reliever Trevor Gott are doing.
TN: Brian Goodwin so far is getting hits (.362 BA) with a much higher success rate, what has he changed?
Kevin: “Brian Goodwin seems to be a little shorter [with his swing]. He’s doing a better job of putting good pitches in play rather than fouling them off. He’s flashed some great speed and good outfield defense as well. There’s definitely more visible confidence than there was in 2014.”
TN: What are you seeing with AJ Cole (7.71 ERA)?
Kevin: “A.J. got hit hard today. Left fastballs in the zone and batters seemed to recognize them well the second and third times through the order. He was terrific in his first start – from a mechanical sense, looks basically the same as before.”
TN: How has Trevor Gott (1.75 WHIP-worst of his career) been doing with his command and mechanics?
Kevin: “I can’t speak too much to Trevor’s mechanics having not seen them in the past. He’s mentioned he’s working on the breaking ball. The fastball command has come and gone so far. He can definitely get away with it – the stuff has been good – but the command of both the fastball and breaking ball have been up and down through the first few games.”
At the Harrisburg Senators game last week, Donna Klinger and her family went for Vladimir Guerrero night and send us this report:
Montreal Expos caps and jerseys could be spotted everywhere at FNB Field, home of the Harrisburg Senators, tonight as the club honored Vladimir Guerrero.
To mark its 30th anniversary, the Senators have started The One & Only World Famous, Life Size Bobblehead Hall of Fame. Three great former Senators will be inducted this season, and Vlad became the first tonight as his 6’3″ bobblehead was unveiled, and the first 1,500 fans received a standard-size replica of the life-size bobblehead.
Guerrero participated in the on-field ceremony and then signed autographs on cards provided by the Senators before signing personal items for $50 (with a portion going to charity).
Vlad spent most of his career with the Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Angels and was a 9-time All Star and 2004 AL MVP. Both Guerrero and the second inductee, Cliff Floyd, were Eastern League MVPs. Floyd is expected to participate in the festivities on July 9. The third inductee, Bryce Harper, will not attend the ceremony on August 13 (he will be helping the Nats make the playoff push), but is expected to prepare a video message. The first 1,500 fans on July 9 and August 13 will receive replica bobbleheads. Fans could be seen posing with the life-size Vlad bobblehead throughout the game.
Following the life-size bobblehead hoopla, the Senators faced off against the Reading Fightin’ Phils. Starter Reynaldo Lopez had 5 strikeouts and gave up two one-run homeruns–to Dylan Cozens and Jorge Alfaro–over six innings. He allowed just four hits and one walk and looked solid. The Senators offense was fairly quiet with the only run plated by Spencer Kieboom‘s first homerun of the season in the 8th inning against starter Anthony Vasquez; the homerun knocked Vasquez out of the game. The Senators had a somewhat sloppy day defensively as third baseman Adrian Sanchez had a throwing error and relief pitcher Wander Suero committed an error on a pickoff attempt. The Senators lost 1-3 and are now 4-4 on the season.
