Posts Tagged ‘Moises Montero’

There is one predictable group of people you can never expect to see return to Eastwood Field from year-to-year, the players.  Some Mahoning Valley Scrappers get promoted during the season, some are reassigned for better or for worse, and some are no longer in the Major League Baseball system anymore.  Because the Scrappers are a short-season, Low-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, they usually get the majority of the Tribes draft picks from less than two weeks ago.  You can have a favorite player, but usually only for a year, then you have to wait to find out who your new favorite Scrapper will be next season.

There are three returning Scrappers from last season on the 2011 roster.  Kevin Fontanez (waiving in yellow shirt, top photo) was only 19 last season and got some valuable experience at second base.  Moises Montero battled injuries and played through probably more pain than he should have last season.  Kirk Wetmore, a 2009, 11th round draft pick, was in the starting rotation for awhile last season but struggled down the stretch.  All three of these players are promotable but have been kept as Scrappers to continue to develop.

“I worked out hard in the offseason and feel like I can really have a good year”, commented Montero.  “Last season, I was pretty banged up and toughed it out, but I was not one-hundred percent for most of the season.”

Then the unexpected new faces started popping up everywhere.  Travis Fryman accepted a promotion to be a roving instructor for the Indians.  This opened the door for new head coach, David Wallace (above), a former Scrapper himself.  I admired the way Fryman played in his day, but I really took a liking to his personality and managing style over the past two seasons.  Wallace has very big shoes to fill.

Wallace brings Greg Hibbard on as a pitching coach and Tony Mansolino to be his new hitting coach.  Hibbard pitched in the majors for six seasons, mostly with the Chicago White Sox.  Gone is pitching coach Ken Rowe, a legend in the press box for his 45 second walks to the mound, the 8 seconds of dialogue he would give the pitcher, and the fifty-five second return flight back to the dugout.

Jordan Taylor also has big shoes to fill as the new general manager.  Taylor, who learned plenty under the guidance of former GM Dave Smith, is capable of doing great work with his staff.  He has already been very accessible, as Smith was, to any requests or questions anyone has posed.

If you catch the games on the radio, you will not hear last years voice of the Scrappers, Dave Lubich, anymore.  His internship is over making way for newcomer Grant Tunkel.  Tunkel had some good experience with the Jamestown Jammers last season and should be an entertaining play-by-play announcer for the Scrappers.

One constant thing that has not changed in 13 years is the Scrappers Backers Club.  With colorful personalities like Larry Snyder and Gail Drushel (below, with microphone) leading the way, the Scrappers Backers do so many good things behind the scenes.  It might be the hardest working fund-raising bunch in sports.

Wednesday evening the Scrappers Backers gave scholarships to Hayley Goist of Columbiana, Richard Selep of Southington Chalker, Taylor Ward and Aaron Oblisk from Sebring.  They also held a picnic for all season ticket holders, Scrappers Backers members, and the 2011 roster of coaches and players.  There was a silent auction, an autograph session, and an introduction of all team members and coaches.  The neat part was watching the players interact, most of them only seeing each other for a few minutes to that point.

The Scrappers kick off the 2011 season at home Friday night against Jamestown, which happens to be fireworks night as well.  Should be a packed house for the opener!  Call the box office for ticket availability at 330-505-0000.

It was a familiar scenario for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. The formula this season has been for a starting pitcher to throw well and then hope the bullpen can hold on.  The Scrappers starters all have respectable ERA’s.  The formula held true as Michael Goodnight (above) pitched five solid innings of scoreless baseball and struck out six Auburn Doubledays before exiting the game with a 1-0 lead.  True to the script, the offense struggled and the bullpen could not hold the lead in a 3-1 loss.

The Scrappers got the first run of the game in the second inning when DH Kevin Rucker reached base and scored on a Moises Montero ball that should have been caught.  Doubledays LF Yeico Aponte ran too far in on a routine fly ball and Rucker trotted home uncontested to give the Scrappers a 1-0 lead.

JD Goryl started the sixth inning for the Scrappers.  Jon Fernandez started the inning with a double.  Giovanny Urshela (below) had an uncharacteristic error to put men on first and second with nobody out.  Goryl was hit hard but in his defense, could have gotten out of the inning unscathed.  As the law of averages would have it, Auburn pushed a run across to tie the game.

The other JD, JD Reichenbach, came out to start the eighth for the Scrappers.  The big lefty was pumped up and threw hard, in the eighth.  The ninth inning however, was a different story as Lance Durham connected for a monstrous two-run homer to right field to put Auburn up 3-1.

The Scrappers put together a ninth inning rally showing some heart.  Rucker and Montero had back-to-back singles for Mahoning Valley.  Aaron Fields bunted to move the runners to second and third.  Trent Baker struck out to set the stage for Nick Bartolone who walked.  Enter Carlos Moncrief with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.  Moncrief was 0-4 in the game with three strikeouts coming into this key at bat.  Moncrief fouled a ball inches off of the left field line that would have, at the very least, tied the game.  On the next pitch, Moncrief whiffed and the Scrappers lost, 3-1.

Travis Fryman said the game indeed followed a pattern of predictability.  “Our lack of run production all year has forced our pitching staff to be perfect. By putting a young pitcher in those types of pressure situations, they are more likely to make mistakes.  We are just concentrating on development of the guys and we saw that with the effort from Goodnight tonight.”

Sunday’s Mahoning Valley Scrappers game was aptly titled affiliation day.  Mascots from all branches of the Cleveland Indians organization were present and active.  There were also members of the big team’s production staff.  Hudson Valley also rolled into town for a three game series.  The Scrappers, again, received good starting pitching, this time from Mike Rayl, but stranded way too many base runners in key situations losing the series opener 6-4 in 12 innings.

The Scrappers got on the board first in the bottom of the fourth inning as Moises Montero singled driving Chase Burnette home. The run was all that Hudson Valley starter Wilmer Almonte surrendered before being yanked after five innings.

Scrapper starter Mike Rayl (pictured) had his second consecutive impressive start at home.  Rayl threw 78 pitches over six innings and departed with a 1-0 lead.  As has been the case so many times this season, the bullpen quickly gave up a lead.  Takafumi Nakamura was the bullpen goat of the day as he let a couple of Renegades get on base and then gave up an RBI-groundout to Steve Tinoco in the seventh.

Phil Wunderlich hit a blooper into left field that just barely stayed fair to give the Renegades a 2-1 lead.  Scrapper reliever Nick Kirk then gave up his second run of the inning to put the Scrappers into a 3-1 hole.

The Scrappers pieced together a rally in the ninth.  Tyler Cannon tripled home a run to make it 3-2.  Two batters later with the bases loaded and one out, Burnette delivered again, with a clean single up the middle to tie the game.  Brian Heere came up with two down, but struck out looking at three consecutive pitches.

The Scrappers then proceeded to give up a run in the top of the tenth.  In the bottom of the inning, they again tied the game at 4. Hudson Valley let two on with one out when Jordan Casas hit a grounder between third and short.  The Renegades 3B stopped the ball but backhand flipped it into right field allowing the tying run to score.  Carlos Moncrief grounded out to the pitcher to send the game to an 11th inning.

In the bottom of the 11th, Giovanny Urshela, who recorded three hits and made another highlight reel play at third,  reached base via E-6.  After the shortstop regained control of the hard hit ground ball, he threw it past the first basemen to put Burnette on third with nobody out.  Diego Seastrunk was inserted as a pinch hitter with one out and he chopped one about two feet in front of home but beat the play unchallenged.  Andrew Kinney had his chance with the bases loaded and one out, and he struck out.  Tyler Cannon was next on the hot seat with the bags juiced and two down and he lined a 3-2 pitch to the second basemen to end the threat.

Diogenus Luis hit a scorcher to deep right that a full-speed retreating Moncrief could not handle that plated two in the top of the twelfth inning to give Hudson Valley a 6-4 lead and the visitors held off the never-say-die Scrappers for the win.

After the game, Travis Fryman addressed his team’s poor situational hitting.  “We had a runner on third base eight different times with less than two outs and we could not get the runner home, I’m not sure I have ever seen that before, but I know I never want to see it again.”

Asdrubal Cabrera will be wearing a Scrappers uniform on Monday and Tuesday in starting his rehab process.  Fryman commented on how he will be used over the two game stop.  “He’s got five innings tomorrow and he will DH the second day and get four plate appearances.  That’s all the handling I have to do with it.  My job is to make sure he is ready when he gets out there and then he will move on to his next stop [Akron].”

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers did not have the most memorable opening home series.  Scoring just three runs in three games against Auburn, the offense seemed starved.  A new series against Batavia offered at least a chance for redemption.  The offense sparked a bit, but the pitching bent at the worst time and a few untimely bounces proved costly as Batavia jumped past the Scrappers, 6-3.

Batavia got on the board first in the fourth inning.  Victor Sanchez opened the inning for the Muckdogs with a double off of Scrappers starter Kirk Wetmore (pictured).  The next batter, Jon Edwards, hit a rope to dead center which fooled Scrapper CF Jordan Casas. Edwards ended up with an RBI triple.  Two batters later, Audry Perez hit a sacrifice to right field plating Edwards and giving the Muckdogs a 2-0 lead.

Mahoning Valley got a spark in the bottom of the fifth when DH Aaron Fields doubled home Carlos Moncrief and Tyler Cannon to tie the score at two runs each.  Batavia starter Kevin Siegrest seemed to have control of the game until the Scrappers finally got some guys on base.  Siegrest only threw eleven pitches to all six batters he faced in the inning.

Batavia had a big seventh inning off of Scrapper reliever James Reichenbach.  Rainel Rosario singled to lead off the inning.  Perez followed that with another single.  Yunier Castillo bunted and Reichenbach fielded the ball cleanly and opted to try for the out at second.  His throw pulled 2B Kevin Fontanez off of the bag and everyone was safe with nobody out.  Nicholas Longmire then bashed a Reichenbach offering over the right field fence for a grand slam and a 6-2 Batavia lead.

The Scrappers threatened in the ninth inning when they loaded the bases with just one out.  Tyler Cannon hit the ball at the second basemen to plate a run on a fielder’s choice.  Next up was Moises Montero who looked at three consecutive strikes without a swing and the Scrappers were dealt another loss, falling to 0-4 on the current home stand and 2-5 overall.

After the game, Aaron Fields, who had a clutch game tying double, talked about the general attitude of the team.  “Everybody is fine.  The good thing about this sport is you can come back tomorrow and do better.”

Manager Travis Fryman was also not yet in panic mode.  Joking about the fresh season Fryman said, “I would bet there are guys in the locker room that don’t know everyone’s name yet.  I don’t even know everyone’s name yet.”

Fryman also went on to talk about the his first week meeting.  ” We talked about the difference between college and pro ball and what differences they realize.  There is much more positive interaction at this level than a player in college where things seem to be more dictated.”

The Scrappers finish up the mini-series with Batavia on Friday, first pitch at Eastwood Field is 7:05 p.m.

I wanted to do a profile piece on Ben Carlson about a month and a half ago.  When I asked him about it after a Scrapper game in July, he simply told me “we’ll see”.  Today Carlson admitted to me that he was reluctant to do a profile piece back then because he was not playing well and thought others on the team may have deserved the attention more than he did.  It is because of that attitude that today, I am happy to be doing a feature piece on Ben.  Carlson gives the words ‘team player’ and ‘wise beyond his years’, believability.

 Carlson and I have been linked closer since last Wednesday.  A line-drive foul ball off of his bat struck Luke Holko.  Having an idea of what kind of a person Ben was, I knew that he would be devastated.  After every game, I would talk to Travis Fryman.  Our conversations have been pretty structured lately.  My first question has always been, “Any news on Luke?”, followed by, “How is Ben doing?”, followed by, “Tell me about the start that Clayton Cook provided and how long are Kyle Bellows and Greg Folgia hurt?” 

I met Chad and Nicole Holko on Wednesday, a week after the incident.  The Scrappers played Brooklyn that night and I waited until after the game to talk to Ben and Travis about my visit.  Ben told me, “I gotta get up there and see him.”  The next morning, Ben and I were on our way to Akron Children’s Hospital.  Ben brought a bat to give to Luke.  We had about two hours to talk, so this profile piece is done with more than the usual amount of information.

We met at 9:00 AM at Eastwood Field.  I learned that this early time of nine was a sacrifice in itself for Carlson who said he usually sleeps until 11.  It sounds bad, but when you weigh the normal day ahead of a Scrappers player, it seems that isn’t enough rest.  These guys got home at 6:00 AM from one of their unpopular eight-hour bus rides.  On a gameday, which is pretty much every day, the players are required to be at the field by 2:00 PM for meetings and stretching followed by batting practice.  Then they hit the field for the game.  After showering and sometimes short post-game meetings, a player can expect to get home between 11:00 – midnight.  That’s a long day.

One of the first things I talked with Carlson about was “home”, both growing up and here.  The growing up part was in Kansas.  Carlson has loyalty to the Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Chiefs, two franchises which have not been lighting it up as of late.  We talked about George Brett and Christian Okoye and if the Chiefs were capable of winning even three games this season.  Carlson has three brothers, all playing baseball at some level.  His oldest brother is in the Detroit Tigers system, and recently needed surgery on his wrist.  Ben attended Missouri State for a bit, but once you get drafted, college ends up on the back burner.  After this season with the Scrappers, he will go to an instructional league in Arizona on September 30.  His father runs a car auction back in Kansas.  His parents recently made a trip to Ohio to see Ben play and because it was Labor Day Weekend, the car auction was delayed until Tuesday.  “My father hasn’t missed an auction in 24 years.” 

Nick Kirk and Brett Brach live with the same host family as Carlson.  He claims that it is nice to have some teammates around but was quick to point out that pitchers are pretty much on a different schedule, so they go to the park at different times.  “We pretty much have an area of the house to ourselves.  There is a nice setup with a big screen when we have time to watch it.”  Carlson said his host father leaves for work at 5:30 in the morning and he went a stretch of about two weeks without even getting to see him.

Once we got to the hospital and parked, the reality of our trip started to settle in.  We agreed that it is tough to see Luke on the machines as we had both already been there once.  Walking to the room, a million things race through my mind, the most important being some sign of improvement or some good news.  Our unannounced visit was well-received.  Nicole and Chad and Nicole’s parents were all there.  Nicole told us about Eric Wedge’s wife coming yesterday and showed us all of the nice stuff she brought with her including a two-foot card signed by the entire team, some autographed bats, and even a Jamey Carroll glove.  Nicole then talked with us about improvements.  There is something caled an ICP count which is monitored on a screen.  Luke’s ICP count rises when he gets annoyed.  I was fixated on this single monitor for most of the visit.  We had to leave before 11:30 because Carlson had to be back in Niles by 12:30 for practice.

One of the things Carlson and I talked about was his music that he picked when he comes up to bat.  Most of the Scrappers pick R & B stuff, or newer music.  Casey Frawley has a country song.  Ben Carlson has Ted Nugent.  Yep, the Motor City Madman.  I asked Carlson if the music gets assigned or if they get to pick it. He told me that they get to pick what they want.  I then asked how he ended up with ‘Stranglehold’.  He told me he loved the song as a teammate of his in college used it when he came to bat.  Once he got to Niles, he picked the song to use for himself.

Carlson is still getting used to hitting with a wooden bat.  Having used aluminum bats his whole career, it is a big change.  He is also learning to play first base.  He had played there before, but very sparingly.  “You go where they put you and make the most of it,” remarked Carlson whose primary world was the outfield.

Moises Montero, Jesus Brito, and Argenis Martinez do not speak much English yet.  From what Carlson told me, Rafael Vera should draw an additional check from the Indians organization for being a full-time interpreter.  The language and communication problems don’t end there.  Carlson’s roommate on the road is Chun Chen.  I asked him what they could possibly do or how they communicate.  “Chen knows a little English and is learning, we get through it.”

Carlson is very complimentary of the coaches and trainers.  He has much respect for Travis Fryman and Phil Clark and said nothing but good stuff about both guys.  Nothing but praise for the Scrappers organization and not a bad word about a teammate.  Carlson said in some ways it has been a very long Summer.  He is looking forward to going to his brother’s wedding in Las Vegas in November.  “He is 6’4″, she is 6’3″ and used to play basketball at New Mexico, they are going to have some tall kids.”

Carlson and the Scrappers will be competing for the NYPL championship this weekend.  He was quick to point out that the Scrappers lead the NYPL in team batting, yet no Scrapper player is even in the Top-10.  “We are a true team, everyone has been contributing all season.  When someone gets hurt, someone else has been able to step in and get the job done.”

I enjoyed my time with Ben Carlson.  He is a refreshing person who contradicts the young pro athlete stereotypes.  If he doesn’t make it in baseball, he will succeed in some other avenue his path may drive him to. 

On Browns-Steelers promo night, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers played the role of Pittsburgh, and Jamestown got to be Cleveland (at least thats how its been for a few years now).  The Scrappers were not at their sharpest, but were able to come away with a 7-5 victory and tie a franchise record for victories in a season (48).

Greg Pruitt was at Eastwood Field representing the Browns, and Robin Cole was also on hand to represent the Steelers in front of 2,969 fans.  Browns and Steelers highlights were shown on the scoreboard and plenty of fans wore team jerseys of their choosing.  I would guess the crowd was 60-40 Pittsburgh.

The Scrappers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first. Argenis Martinez walked, stole third, and scored on a Chun Chen single to put the Scrappers ahead 1-0.

Jamestown answered in the top of the second scoring a run on a long sac fly from Mark Wyatt to tie the score. The Jammers had the bases loaded with nobody out, but starter Vidal Nuno did well to limit the visiting team to a single run.

In the bottom of the fourth, Chun Chen reached on an error, stole second and would score on a Ben Carlson RBI single to put Mahoning Valley up 2-1. Carlson would later score in the inning on a Moises Montero groundout making it 3-1 in favor of the Scrappers.

With one out in the third, Martinez, Jason Kipnis, and Chen all walked. Martinez scored on a passed ball to push the lead to 4-1.

Jamestown would take a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning on a three-run homer off of the bat of Jamestown DH Carlos Paulino.

The Scrappers tied the game at 5 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Martinez singled home Tim Palincsar who walked earlier.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Chen led off and was hit by a pitch. He would score as the next batter, Jesus Brito, tripled to deep right center putting Mahoning Valley back on top 6-5. It didn’t take long for Brito to score as the next batter, Carlson, hit a sac fly to deep right center to extend the Scrapper lead to 7-5, where the scoring would end.

Austin Adams picked up the win for the Scrappers, hoisting his record to 3-1.  Adams relieved Scrapper starter Vidal Nuno who lasted 5 1/3 innings.  Guido Fonseca picked up the save, his 5th,  pitching a perfect 9th inning.

For the Scrappers, it was their fifth game in three days.  Jordan Henry (pictured) talked about the rough three days.  “It’s tough.  I’m not used to doing that. It’s a grind and we have played alot of games all season and we are prepared for that.  We know we just have to go out there and play.”

The Scrappers finish up their regular season with a two-game series against State College with games on Saturday and Sunday.