Harol Gonzalez Shines In Win Over State College

Brooklyn Cyclones @ State College Spikes

June 28, 2016

Harol Gonzalez @ Carson Cross

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Brooklyn	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	0		6	12	0
State College	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1		2	5	2

W: Gonzalez (1-1, 2.55 ERA); L: Cross (1-1, 4.86 ERA)

Boxscore

Brooklyn starter Harol Gonzalez on the mound with Darryl Knight in the background

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Harol Gonzalez (W, 1-1, 2.55 ERA) – 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 TB, 1 BB, 10 K (8 K/Sw), 1 GIDP, 8 GB: 1 FB: 1 LD, 84 Pitches (56 Strikes), 17 Swinging, 12 Called, 20.2% SwStr, 38.6% Whiff/Swing, 14 Pitches/IP, 21 BF

Taylor Henry (H, 1, 0.00 ERA) – 2 IP, 1 H, 1 TB, 2 GB: 2 FB: 2 LD: 1 PU, 16 Pitches (12 Strikes), 2 Swinging, 2 Called, 12.5% SwStr, 20% Whiff/Swing, 8 Pitches/IP, 7 BF

Alejandro Castro (4.05 ERA) – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 TB, 1 BB, 2 GB: 1 FB: 1 LD, 19 Pitches (7 Strikes), 19 Pitches/IP, 6 BF

Batters

LF - Gene Cone - 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 4 Pitches/PA

2B - Nick Sergakis - 1-5, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB, 6.2% SwStr, 16.7% Whiff/Swing, 3.2 Pitches/PA

CF - Jacob Zanon - 1-5, 1 K, 4.6 Pitches/PA

3B - Blake Tiberi - 1-5, 1 RBI, 11.1% SwStr, 14.3% Whiff/Swing, 1.8 Pitches/PA

1B - Darryl Knight - 1-5, 1 R, 2 K, 13.3% SwStr, 25% Whiff/Swing, 3 Pitches/PA

RF - Arnaldo Berrios - 2-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 K, 16.7% SwStr, 33.3% Whiff/Swing, 3.6 Pitches/PA

C - Brandon Brosher - 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 CS, 14.3% SwStr, 33.3% Whiff/Swing, 3.5 Pitches/PA

SS - Dale Burdick - 3-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 2.75 Pitches/PA

Recapish

            The Brooklyn Cyclones started their road trip on a high note Tuesday against State College, taking a 6-2 win behind starter Harol Gonzalez. The Cyclones third straight win pulled them back to .500 for the first time since opening day, as they now sit at 6-6, good for 2^nd place in their division.

Harol Gonzalez was absolutely filthy on the mound, allowing few balls out of the infield while finishing with 10 strikeouts over his 6 innings. Nothing was hit hard off him all game and he faced just four batters from the stretch. I don’t have a full velocity report, but the State College announcers were calling him from 90-95 with the heat, and he mixed in his changeup and curveball. They also had the following conversation about him after he finished the 3^rd inning:

1: “This guy is pretty good.”
2: “Yeah. Again, you gotta somehow deal some baserunners against this guy. I mean his control was completely different just to [Tommy] Edman.” (He issued a two out walk in the frame and was pitching from the stretch for the first time when he faced Edman)

1: “Yeah.”

2: “I’ll tell you what’s really good, his changeup is really good. Really good.”

1: “Yeah.”

2: “His Fastball topped out at 95. His changeup topped out at 87.”

1: “That’s pretty good, a distinctive gear down.”

2: “Yeah, but he threw also an 84, 85, 86 [changeup]…”

            Brooklyn was able to string together a few hits over the first two innings to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Only one of those three runs came home on an RBI hit though, when Brandon Brosher lined an RBI single into CF during the 2^nd. The Cyclones took advantage of an error in the 2^nd for their third run, and would rally for a three-run 8^th inning after the Spikes second error of the game.

            While his teammates were working on the 3-0 lead, Harol was working on a streak of 6 straight strikeouts. He took a no-hitter into the 5^th, but Bladimil Franco reached on an infield single to start the frame. Franco’s grounder was weakly hit between first and second base, but Nick Sergakis was playing nearing the 2B bag, and he just couldn’t get the throw to 1B in time.

Ricardo Bautista was up next and he singled through the right side with the hit-n-run on, which put runners on the corners with nobody out for the Spikes. It appeared that Sergakis was covering the 2B bag on the play, which is a confusing choice since that opened up a huge hole for the lefty-hitting Bautista. Normal second base positioning on the first two plays of the 5^th and Harol has two quick outs. Instead, the grounder to shortstop that followed led to the first two outs of the frame in exchange for the Spikes first run of the game.

The third hit against Harol G came with two outs in the 6^th inning, on a blooper that barely reached the outfield grass in CF. Those last two hits were the only balls to reach the outfield against Gonzalez in this start. That’s dominance.

With Harol’s pitch count still in the mid-80’s, Taylor Henry was called to work the 7^th. He faced one over the minimum during his two innings before handing the ball off to Alejandro Castro for the 9^th.

I break down the scoring details with highlights below, and have included some defensive and pitching highlights below that, so enjoy! This series continues Wednesday night at 7:05 PM, with Merandy Gonzalez (1-0, 0.79 ERA) scheduled to make his third start of the year for the Cyclones. Brooklyn can get over .500 for the first time of 2015 with a win!

UPDATE: The State College gun is a little fast and I was told that Harol was more 89-91, topping at 92 (maybe 93).

MiLB.tv Scoring Highlights

            Nick Sergakis singled and came around to score the game’s first run in the 1^st. He stole 2B, went to 3B on Jacob Zanon’s hit, and then came home on an RBI groundout from Blake Tiberi.

            Arnaldo Berrios led off the 2^nd inning with a leadoff double that bounced off the 1B bag. Brandon Brosher followed with an RBI single to double Brooklyn’s lead. Brosher was thrown out on the bases in the frame right before Dale Burdick picked up his first of three hits. Burdick then stole 2B and came home on an E6.

            Burdick and Gene Cone connected for back-to-back singles with two outs in the 4^th inning.

            Blake Tiberi picked up his hit with two outs in the 5^th inning.

            Arnaldo Berrios led off the 6^th with his second hit of the game, though he wouldn’t advance beyond 1B in the frame.

            Darryl Knight’s one out single in the 8^th sparked the Cyclones three-run rally. After Berrios reached on an E6 (announcer’s thought it would be an infield hit), Brosher came through with his second hit of the game to load the bases. Burdick made it four straight to reach with an RBI single to LF, but the runners had to hold up on the hit, so only one run came in. Brooklyn’s final two runs came home on bases loaded walks, which put this game out of reach at 6-1.

MiLB.tv Defensive Highlights

            Nick Sergakis showed off his range at 2B going both directions during this game.

            Dale Burdick was tested a few times at shortstop.

            Here are some examples of Blake Tiberi, who is currently the highest drafted player to play for the Cyclones this year.

Pitcher Coverage

Harol Gonzalez

Table 1 – Gonzalez pitch stats by inning

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Total
Total	12	12	18	14	11	17	84
Strikes	8	9	9	11	8	11	56
Swinging*	2	2	6	3	0	4	17

*20.2% Swinging strike rate; 38.6% Whiff/Swing rate

            After retiring the first two batters in the 1^st, Harol struck out the next 6 in a row! The streak started with a strikeout of Vincent Jackson in the 1^st.

            He then set down Ryan McCarvel, Bladimil Franco, and Ricardo Buatista in a row during the 2^nd inning.

            Elier Rodriguez and Danny Hudzina were Harol’s victim’s in the 3^rd inning, but then Gonzalez walked Chris Rivera to end the streak.

            It was back to strikeouts for Harol to start the 4^th, with Jose Martinez and Jackson going down swinging for the first two outs.

            Gonzalez didn’t strikeout any batters during the 5^th inning, but he finished his night with two more K’s during a scoreless 6^th inning. His first victim was Tommy Edman, and then he got Jackson for a third time to end his night. That final strikeout was his first out of the stretch, although it was only the fourth time he faced a batter from the stretch – State College finished 1-4 with 3 grounders and a strikeout against Harol when he was in the stretch position.

Taylor Henry

            Henry faced one over the minimum during his two innings.

Alejandro Castro

            Castro allowed a run in the 9^th but held on for the win. He was his own enemy, hitting a batter and then walking another to load the bases.

  

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