The Dash played an extra game this week, a doubleheader compensating for last Wednesday’s rainout, and this allowed them to go 1-6 overall. There are four games left in the season; they are 41-74.
Kaleb Roper got the ball for doubleheader game one on September 9, and his relatively strong finish to the season continued. He provided the Dash another five strong innings, allowing three runs, walking just one and striking out seven, which matched a season high up to that point. Roper has the absolute worst W-L luck of probably any pitcher on the roster, though, and was hung with the L when the Dash could only muster three runs. In relief, Wilber Perez was nearly perfect over two innings, a single walk the only blemish (interestingly, no strikeouts).
The two Dash runs were both scored in the sixth (a doubleheader eighth); Luis Mieses hit his 16th double to advance José Rodriguez (single) to third for the first two at-bats of the frame, then Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch. Mieses made it to third on the same play and scored on a Luis Curbelo ground out.
GAME 2
Jesus Valles was up for doubleheader game two, still on September 9, making his second start for the Dash after his early-September promotion from the Cannon Ballers. It wasn’t as good as his five-inning, one-earned-run start on September 3, but it still kept the Dash in it as he allowed two runs over three innings. His relief was 2021 sixth-round pick Taylor Broadway, who gave up two runs in an inning for the first time in his career. Broadway was relieved by Edgar Navarro (scoreless inning) and Trey Jeans (two scoreless innings, three strikeouts).
Offensively, this game was close until the sixth, when the Dash scored six to put them ahead 9-4 — the eventual final score. Early scoring came off the bat of Gunnar Troutwine (second-inning sacrifice fly driving in Curbelo from a walk), Luis Mieses (ninth home run of the year to lead off the fourth), and Harvin Mendoza (single to drive in Alex Destino from a triple, also in the fourth).
Then in the sixth, it took until the fifth batter of the inning to get the first out. Destino walked to lead things off, Curbelo considerately singled him to second, and Mendoza dumped another RBI single into the outfield to score Destino. Troutwine then hit a double, his eighth, to score Curbelo, and after Lázaro Leal struck out, Jeremiah Burks hit a two-run bomb, his first home run of the season. Not to be outdone, Rodriguez punished a ball as well, his fourth with the Dash and 13th on the season, capping off the one team win of the week.
On September 10, Karan Patel had an almost identical start to one he had two outings before; in both, he went three innings and allowed two runs, although in the first one he only gave up three hits and struck out two, while in this one he gave up five hits and also struck out five. This was Patel’s fourth outing for the Dash, and over that span, his line is 11.1 IP, 16 H, 9 R, 4 BB, 17 K. Behind him, the bullpen was actually not all that bad — Sammy Peralta throwing three strong, walking none as he allowed one run; Cooper Bradford giving up another run in a difficult eighth inning; and McKinley Moore finishing it out with a scoreless ninth — but the two runs they allowed were enough for the Bowling Green Hot Rods to edge the Dash by one.
At the plate, Destino got this one off to a loud start, his 20th dinger of the year coming with two outs in the first. In the third inning, Rodriguez successfully stole second but was caught trying for third, so Curbelo’s two-out double only scored one run (Destino, walk) instead of two. They scored only once more, when Rodriguez reached on error, again stole second, was victorious in a steal of third, and made it safely home on a passed ball. Did someone say one-man run machine or was that a sneeze?
Kevin Folman & Co. — Ryan Williamson, Jordan Mikel, and outfielder Leal — got absolutely clobbered in September 11’s game, the team losing 15-4. Folman had been loaned back down to Kannapolis for a spot start when they needed him the week before, and not that it’s a long distance between the two teams, but maybe the bounce was a factor to Folman allowing six runs over three innings (four runs scored on three home runs). Williamson didn’t fare significantly better, four runs over three innings, although he did strike out six. The three runs Mikel gave up were all unearned after Burks made an error that should have been out number three, and Leal walked none, but did give up four hits and two runs in the ninth. Leal — again, an outfielder — has appeared three times in relief, going 2.2 innings and allowing six runs total.
JOSE RODRIGUEZ
The scoring in this one obviously involved a lot of José Rodriguez, who homered for the second time in three games, a solo shot in the third. He was also tangentially involved in a seventh-inning run, reaching on an error that scored Samir Dueñez (walk). Mieses hit a sac fly in the next at-bat to score Travis Moniot, who had earlier doubled. In the eighth inning, Curbelo and Mendoza walked to lead things off, but Burks grounded into a double play that did at least advance Curbelo to third, where he was then able to score on Dueñez’s single.
September 12 was a solemn day for the Dash — it was Rodriguez’s last game before his surprise promotion to the Barons. Tragically, he only had one hit instead of two. Pitching-wise, this one was kind of death by a million cuts. Dan Metzdorf threw four strong innings, two hits, two walks, one run, and five strikeouts, but the bullpen underwent a soft collapse and gave up eight runs over the last five innings. Navarro was responsible for one of these, not helped by a balk. Ty Madrigal’s struggles continue as he was singled to death for two runs in the sixth.
Broadway actually pitched very nicely, struck out two, and was the only Dash pitcher to not allow a run. Trey Jeans allowed a home run, a double, a walk, and a single in a four-run (three earned) eighth; and finally Wilber Perez gave up a solo dinger to start the ninth (Grant Witherspoon, his 22nd of the year), which was good because he gave up singles to the next two batters before inducing a pop out and a double play to mercifully end it.
The Dash were only able to scrounge up four hits, one of those Rodriguez’s, which didn’t contribute to any scoring. Troutwine had another big day at the plate, singling in Curbelo from a walk in the fourth, and he also slammed an RBI double to score Mendoza from a HBP in the sixth. Burks was then able to knock in Troutwine, although that’s as far as they went.
NO MORE RODRIGUEZ
After Monday’s off-day, Jesus Valles was back on the mound on September 14, and this time he struggled enough to earn his first loss with the Dash, not making it through the fifth as the Asheville Tourists scored five total runs in that inning. Valles exited having allowed three runs on two home runs and a double; Bradford entered and allowed a single and a double to knock in two inherited runners, giving Valles five runs total on the night. Bradford gave up a run of his own and Mikel also ran into trouble, two runs allowed over two innings for him. Moore also had a bumpy ninth, but despite two hits and a walk, limited the damage to zero runs.
No Rodriguez made for a quiet shutout night for the Dash, who only picked up five hits. Two were from Brandon Bossard, who had a brief, perhaps only-on-paper stint with the Barons recently during which he did not play.
Finally, on September 15, the Dash bullpen allowed seven runs in four innings after Roper’s departure, the team losing 10-1. Roper wasvery solid, especially considering the struggles he and the rest of the rotation have had all season: over five innings, he allowed three runs on four hits and a walk (including one solo and one two-run homer), striking out a career high of 10. Even though most of the night’s damage was bullpen-related, Roper was still hung with the loss, and will likely end the season with a 1-9 record. It was Peralta with two runs over two innings, Navarro with an ugly four-run eighth, and Williamson allowing one run in the ninth, a solo dong and the fourth of the night for the Tourists.
Moniot carried the team as far as he could, gathering a full third of their nine hits on the day and singling in Bossard after Bossard reached on a two-base error for the sole run of the game, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
INDIVIDUAL BATTING PERFORMANCES
In his last five games with the Dash this week before his promotion, José Rodriguez went 7-for-23, part of a 13-game hitting streak over which he batted .382/.393/.636. Overall, in 29 High-A games, he hit .361/.381/.538 with four doubles, a triple, and five home runs. He walked just five times but struck out just 13, and he stole 10 bases in 15 attempts. Rodriguez went hitless in five of those 29 games, had exactly one hit in eight, and had two or three hits in 16. He will turn 21 years old next May.
Luis Mieses sat between September 3 and September 9, not long enough for an IL stint; in six games since, he’s 8-for-28 with four doubles and a home run. He has been a doubles machine all year, even during his cool stretches; in 106 games between Kannapolis and Winston, he has 30.
Alex Destino and Luis Curbelo continue to orbit each other in this very long season, their offensive seasons still wildly similar. Destino did not hit well this week, 3-for-24 with a triple and a home run (silver linings), but he did walk five times. Curbelo went 4-for-20 with two doubles in the same number of games (seven) and walked six times. He still holds the team lead for dingers with 21, one ahead of Destino, although he hasn’t hit one since August 28 (.111/.259/.244 in 15 games since then).
Manning first base, Harvin Mendoza has been seeing the ball well, and went 6-for-23 over the week with a double, two walks, a HBP, and even a stolen base. He’s been a needed cornerstone since his promotion from the Ballers in late August, batting .304/.342/.406 in 19 games since then entering Wednesday.
Samir Dueñez has not been seeing the ball as well, and in four games this week went 2-for-13 with two walks. He split a little bit of his DH duties with Lázaro Leal, who went 1-for-10 between there and first base (and also gave up two runs in one inning).
CATCHING TANDEM
Evan Skoug and Gunnar Troutwine continue to split catching time pretty evenly, Troutwine playing in four games this week and Skoug catching three. It was a hitless week for Skoug, who’s mired in an 0-for-16 slump (the season… it’s long), but he did walk twice. Troutwine’s bat has been hot before just this week, when he went 3-for-11 with two doubles and three walks. Entering Wednesday, in 12 games played since August 21, he was 16-for-37 with six doubles and a home run for a slash line of .432/.500/.676. Behind the plate this week, Troutwine was stolen on five times, caught a runner stealing once, made one error, and committed a passed ball; Skoug allowed a single stolen base, also made an error, and also had a passed ball.
Speedy outfielder Duke Ellis has had a rough time at the plate since returning from the IL; this week, he was 1-for-6 and was hit by a pitch, presumably to add injury to insult. He hasn’t stolen a base since July 22 but is still eighth in the league with 23.
Like Ellis, Travis Moniot is trying to find his bat after an IL stint. It might have finally worked with his 3-for-4 performance on September 15, but prior to that, he was just 1-for-16 with two walks over five games, that one hit a double, at least.
Jeremiah Burks had that home run this week, but overall, the second baseman was just 5-for-23 with two walks. Brandon Bossard only got into two games over his weird logistical week, going 2-for-7 with a walk.
It’s been a rough one, especially with the ascension of Rodriguez, but the end is in sight. The Dash wrap up their season with four more games against the Tourists and then 2021 is behind them, lessons learned and adjustments to be made.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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