A Wild Pitch Win

It is rare enough that the Asheville Tourists are involved in a 1-0 game, but how they won it makes it that much more rare. Michael Benjamin singled to Short to lead off the ninth inning, one of only six Asheville hits. He was wild pitched to Second and Third by Augusta reliever Daniel Slania. With two outs and Benjamin on Third, Augusta replaced Slania with Donald Snelten. Snelten threw Augusta's third wild pitch of the inning and Benjamin came home with what proved to be the winning, and only, run of the game. Asheville starter Zach Jemiola pitched probably his best game of the season, going 6 2/3 innings, scattering six singles, walked three, and struck out two. Reliever Troy Neiman pitched 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief and only walked one and got credit for the win (4-1).

First Game Of The Season

I finally got to go to my first Asheville Tourist game of the season tonight. The woman I am dating is not a big baseball fan (why am I dating her?) so my opportunities to attend have been rare. The Tourists and the Rome Braves made sure I did not overstay my welcome as they completed a 9 inning game in 2 hours and 10 minutes. Rome won 4-2 as Asheville could only muster 5 hits and their 2 runs came on two solo homeruns by Second Baseman Michael Benjamin. Rome starter Daniel Watts kept Tourists batters off balance by mixing in a high 80's fastball and a slow curve. He struck out 8 in 7 innings, only allowing 3 of the hits and one run. Third Baseman Ryan McMahon had two hits, a single and a double, and Ramiel Tapia had the only other hit, a single in the 9th inning. Tourist starter Konner Wade pitched a strong game, giving up 4 runs in 7 innings. He only made two mistakes on solo homeruns by Blake Brown and Victor Caratini. Rome manufactured a run in the top of the First on an infield single, a wild pitch, a ground out and another single. The other run scored on a fly ball that was lost in the sun by Left Fielder Max White. I did get to see the strangest double play I think I have ever seen at a game. Rome Catcher Victor Caratini was on First Base when batter Jacob Schrader swung at a pitch in the dirt for strike three. Tourist Catcher Jose Briceno kept the ball in front of him but Schrader kicked the ball away from him and Caratini advanced to second as a result of that. Caratini was called out because of batter interference and the Tourists had a double play although it was not called that in the box score. Two outs on one pitch equals double play. Jose Briceno had a great game behind the plate as he threw out a runner at second on a steal attempt and picked off Carlos Franco twice at first base.

It All Begins With The Asheville Tourists

I was browsing thru the Colorado Rockies Top Prospects List this morning (according to ColoradoRockies.com) and and I noticed that 9 out of the top 10 Rockies prospects had spent time with the Asheville Tourists. In fact, all but about 4 or 5 of the Top 20 had passed thru Asheville. There are several that have made it to AAA Colorado Springs including former 2009 First Round Draft Pick and #11 overall, Left-handed pitcher Tyler Matzek. He is listed as the Rockies #12 overall prospect. He had two different stints in Asheville in 2010-11 and compiled a 10-5 record in 30 starts for the Tourists. He has made it to AAA Colorado Springs and is 1-0 in 4 starts with a solid ERA. He has spent his entire minor league career as a starter but it seems that his future with the Rockies might be coming out of the bullpen from the reports that I have read. The Rockies had him coming out of the bullpen with moderate success in the Arizona Fall League. Control has always been Matzek's problem with a career walk of average of over 5 per 9 innings. Left-Handed pitchers, relievers or starters, are a hot commodity in major league baseball and if you have the ability to get left-handed batters out, you can usually work your way onto a major league roster somewhere. Even though it seems like he has been around in the Rockies system forever, Matzek is only 23 years old and he is only one step and figuring out the strike zone away from realizing every kid's dream of playing in the major leagues. It all started with the Asheville Tourists.

Dan's Asheville Tourists Blog: How Long Will They Stay?

Dan's Asheville Tourists Blog: How Long Will They Stay?: The problem with being a "Low A" baseball team is that if a team has any top prospects at thisd level, then they will probably not...

How Long Will They Stay?

The problem with being a "Low A" baseball team is that if a team has any top prospects at thisd level, then they will probably not be there for a season if they even last that long. Such is the case with one of the Colorado Rockies top prospects, Ryan McMahon. He has 8 homeruns and 15 RBI's in 60 at bats and 18 games with the Tourists although their schedule has been very home heavy to start the season. Starter Johendi Jiminian is off to a great start with a 3-1 record and a 1.27 ERA. The Asheville Tourists are not off to as great a start with only a 9-10 record but they are only 2 1/2 games out of first in the Southern Division in the South Atlantic League. The Colorado Rockies bypass Asheville when it comes to sending them their top prospects. A lot of bad habits can be developed in McCormick Field because of the short dimensions. Pitchers become afraid to pitch inside because those inside fastballs can quickly be turned around and the power hitters start trying to pull everything to take advantage of those short dimensions. When I saw the Asheville Tourists Opening Day Roster for 2014 I was not that impressed with the credentials of their pitching staff. A lot of Free Agent signees at this level of baseball are ordinarily roster fillers and what most organizations like to refer to as "organizational depth." The Asheville Tourists have a team ERA of 4.03 which is about a half run ahead of last years pace. Maybe there is something to be said for orgnizational depth after all.

The 2014 Asheville Tourists

The Asheville Tourists announced their 2014 Opening Day Roster today and the Tourists have four of the Colorado Rockies Top 20 Prospects, as listed on Coloradorockies.com, on their roster to start the season. Three of the four are Outfielders as #2 David Dahl, #18 Max White, and #19 Raimel Tapia all made the roster. Dahl and White spent some time with the Tourists last season. The #15 prospect and newcomer to the Tourists, Third Baseman Ryan McMahon, was also placed on the roster. It is interesting to note that none of the Rockies top pitching prospects made the Opening Day roster. Pitchers Trent Blank and Matt Carasiti also spent time with the Tourists last season as did Infielder Zach Osborne and Catcher Jose Briceno. The Coaching staff, led by Manager Fred Ocasio, returned intact with the exception of new Pitching Coach Mark Brewer, who has 20 years experience as a Pitching Coach in various Major League organizations. He replaces the Pitching Coach from the past couple of years, Joey Eischen. The Tourists open up the 2014 season at home on a Thirsty Thursday against the Delmarva Shorebirds, the Baltimore Orioles low Class A team.

Another Former Tourist On The National Stage

Former Asheville Tourist Juan Uribe came up big on the national stage when he hit the game winning two run homer for the Los Angeles Dodgers series clinching 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. Uribe spent the 1999 season with the Asheville Tourists batting .267 with 9 homeruns and 46 RBI's. He was a Shortstop when he played for Asheville and committed 38 errors in his lone season there. He first appeared for Colorado in 2001 and was in the majors for good in 2002. He has fashioned a 13 year career in the majors and the homerun stroke really didn't appear until he became a member of the Chicago White Sox. He has had four 20+ homerun seasons (those with the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants). He has won World Series titles with the 2005 Chicago White Sox and the 2010 San Francisco Giants so he is no stranger to the big stage. He has primarily played third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers for the past three seasons. He had a comeback season this year with the Dodgers batting .278 with 12 homeruns and 50 Rbi's after only batting .204 with 4 homeruns and 28 RBI's in 2011 and .191 with 2 homeruns and 17 RBI's in 2012 in two mostly injury filled seasons.