Wednesday, April 17, 2019



LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS (8-3) @ SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (8-4)  
Game 1: LHP Cole Irvin (0-0, 1.64) vs. RHP Jonathan Loaisiga (NR)
Game 2: TBA vs. RHP Chance Adams (0-0, 9.82)
|  Game No. 13 & 14  |  PNC Field |  Moosic, PA  |  April 17, 2019  |  First Pitch 5:05 p.m.  |

NOW YOU CAN CC HIM IN TRIPLE-A: As a corresponding move to LHP CC Sabathia returning from the Injured List in the big leagues, RHP Jonathan Loaisiga was transferred to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. When the 24-year old Nicaraguan makes his Triple-A debut with SWB in Game 1, he will have had made almost as many appearances in the MLB (11G/6GS) as he had in full-season Minor League Baseball (14G/14GS with Charleston/Tampa/Trenton). In a pair of starts this season for the Yankees, Loaisiga has a 3.86 ERA (3R/3ER in 7.0 IP) including his first start of the season 4/3 @ Detroit where he allowed just 1H over 4.0 IP.
EXPLODING FOR RUNS: 
The RailRiders put up 9 more runs Sunday against the Buffalo Bisons and have now recorded four games this season (and 4-of-the-last-6G) in which they have plated 9+ runs. It wasn’t until Game No. 61 last season vs. Rochester that SWB had its fourth 9R-game of 2018.
SOME PHUTURE PHILLIES: 
MLB.com has a number of players on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs listed as top prospects in the system. According to their initial MLB Pipeline rankings, five players- all pitchers- rank as Top-30 prospects: RHP Enyel De Los Santos (No. 6), LHP JoJo Romero (No. 7), LHP Ranger Suarez (No. 10), LHP Cole Irvin (No. 16) and RHP Edgar Garcia (No. 28). In addition to De Los Santos, Romero, Suarez and Irvin, the IronPigs have Jared Eickhoff and Drew Anderson, who were both top-30 prospects at times in the past few years, round out an early-season six-man rotation.
TRUCKING AT THE TOP: 
INF Mike Ford had gotten out to an incredibly hot start to the 2019 season, and certainly earned his promotion to the MLB Tuesday. He picked up a hit in all 9G in which he has played before Monday vs. Lehigh Valley (0-for-5). Entering Monday, he ranked Top-10 in the International League in: AVG (.471, 3rd), HR (5, T-2nd), RBI (14, 1st), OBP (.525, 3rd), SLG (1.029, 1st), OPS (1.554, 1st), H (16, T-2nd), XBH (9, T-1st) and Total Bases (35, 2nd). All of this, despite not having played in two of the RailRiders first 11G. OF Omar Carrizales took Ford’s spot on the roster, and his first appearance in a game for SWB will be his Triple-A debut.
RUNNING LIKE CRAZY:
 Last season’s version of the RailRiders recorded 49 SB on 79 tries (62.0%) which was 11 fewer SB than any other team in the league (Lehigh Valley & Gwinnett: 60 SB), and by percentage was the second worst in the league (Louisville, 60.0%). That said, last April was a strong month for SWB on the base paths, going 14-for-15 in SB but only 35-for-64 (54.6%) over the final 115G of the season (1 SB every 3.3G from May 1st onward). The 2019 RailRiders are off to a torrid start, having gone 13-for-16 SB over the first 11G of the year, including another SB Sunday (Trey Amburgey, 2). Leading the way is OF Billy Burns who is 5-for-5 SB which puts him in the IL lead.

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