Pete Crow-Armstrong – Picture by Todd Johnson
I’ve been looking forward to this week for a while as it’s nice to just drive a half an hour to the ballpark and come home quickly. Tonight, I got to see Kohl Franklin go four innings for South Bend. He was much better than the last time I saw him in the Quad Cities. He gave up 1 earned run on the night and his ERA over his last three starts is 2.70. Unfortunately, Kohl is not going to be the Starting Pitcher of the Day. He had a good night, but there was one guy who just tore it up on the mound.
Starting Pitcher of the Day
Tyler Schlaffer picked a good night to throw his best start of the season. Against the vaunted Charleston lineup, Schlaffer went six innings, did not allow a run, and struck out seven. He was extremely efficient throwing 76 pitches and only gave up three hits and a walk. And of those 76 pitches, 50 were for strikes. I’ve always liked Schlaffer because he has a live, loose arm. He reminds me a little bit of Cam Sanders in that they both don’t seem to exert a lot of effort throwing a baseball. It all just looks very natural and loose.
Reliever of the Day
Lefty Angel Hernandez came in for Myrtle Beach in the ninth inning and had three batters come up and he struck out every single one of them. That, my friends, is also efficient.
Wild Play of the Night
This one by Charleston was costly as Ezequiel Pagan can scoot.
Hitter of the Day
When I was checking the score of the games in between innings, I saw that Josue Huma hit a three-run Jack from Myrtle Beach to put give them a lead. I thought “Well, there’s going to be today’s Hitter of the Day.” But that was the only hit that Huma had, although he did drive in another run as he went 1-for-4 on the day. That still wasn’t good enough to snag today’s plaudit.
Tonight, I am going with Pete Crow-Armstrong who was on base four times tonight for South Bend. He went 3-for-4 and scored twice and he also got his very first High-A walk. I love watching this kid play. Great speed, great arm, sees the ball well, and makes loud contact. Not as loud as Owen Caissie, but still pretty loud. On the day, he raised his High-A average 40 points!
Picture of the Day
I love this shot I took tonight in Beloit as PCA steals second.
