Tyler Schlaffer – Pic by Larry Kave/Myrtle Beach Pelicans
What a weird day!
I spent the whole day being excited about the draft and that I wound up mowing the back yard early this afternoon just to burn off some energy.
Unfortunately that didn’t work.
So, when the afternoon games were over and only Myrtle Beach was left playing. My attention turned to the draft as the Cubs took Oklahoma pitcher Cade Horton in a massive surprise at number seven. The longer the night has gone on, the data that is coming in on Horton is phenomenal. Something to keep an eye on as the next couple days unfolds and we learn more about Mr. Horton.
Once I had the writeup done on Horton, I thought why not do the “Players of the Day” because I’ve got some time to kill before pick number 47. So, you get a bonus post!
The whole time draft was going on and we were debating the pick, Myrtle Beach was trying to steal all the thunder from the draft.
The Pelicans are going to sweep almost all the awards for today because they threw a no hitter!
On a day that had the draft along with Jordan Wicks making his debut at Tennessee, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans continued to amaze everyone as they used a collection of five pitchers to shut down the Fayetteville Woodpeckers. It was not a perfect game as the Pelicans did allowed five walks as well as hitting one batter. But Tyler Schlaffer, Luis Rodriguez, Gregori Montano, Angel Hernandez, and Alfredo Zarraga did not allow a hit.
Schlaffer continues to have a good run here in July. He has thrown 15 innings and struck out 18 while opponents have only hit. 180 against him and he has a0.93 WHIP. As well, he’s only walked five batters which is an improvement for him. His ERA is a pretty studly 2.40 for the month. He only pitched three innings as it was his second start this week, but he did strike out six guys. He is today’s Starting Pitcher of the Day.
Honorable mention goes to Luis Devers who went five innings, struck out one, and allowed just one run in his “starting” debut for the South Bend Cubs. Considering South Bend lost Wicks and Herz to Tennessee and possibly Palencia to injury (we don’t know the full extent of how he is doing yet), the young High-A Cubs needed a little pick me up heading into the break.
As for the Relievers of the Day, Rodriguez, Montano, Hernandez, and Zarraga will share the award. But Rodriguez went three innings in struck out 8 guys. That is some serious dominance!
When it came to the Hitter of the Day, we’re gonna go with Ezequiel Pagán in Myrtle Beach who went 2-for-4 and he hit his ninth home run of the year and drove in three runs. On the year he is hitting .296 with an .836 OPS. I expect to see him in South Bend in August.
As for the Dinger of the Day, that belonged to Darius Hill of Iowa who had a two-run walk off home run to give Iowa the win over Buffalo.
Here is how tomorrow will work.
At 5:30 AM central, “The Breakdown” will be released just like usual. It will sum up the happenings for each affiliate for the week and the “Players of the Week” awards.
I will also be back at 1 PM tomorrow live blogging day two of the draft throughout the afternoon. You just need to update or refresh your browser each time you view the page. I will have a little preview ready at 1 o’clock and then I’ll be covering the picks throughout the afternoon. Some picks take longer to find information on the others. I am looking forward to day two as it is fun for me. Day three, not so much.
