Dilson Blazing Hot, but Bowman Smoked By Fresno

Fresno Grizzlies @ Las Vegas 51s

April 20, 2015

Tommy Shirley @ Matthew Bowman

Not much to smile about so far for Mr. Bowman

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Fresno	3	0	0	3	0	0	0	2	0		8	16	3
Las Vegas	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Matt Bowman – 4 IP, 12 H, 6 R, 3 SO, 2 HR, 89 Pitches (59 Strikes), 6 GO: 2 FO

John Church (5.40 ERA) – 1.2 IP, 5 GO

Scott Rice (2.08 ERA) – 1.1 IP, SO, 2 GO: 1 FO

Cody Satterwhite (10.80 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, BB, 1 GO: 2 FO

Chase Bradford (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, 2 SO

Batters

Dilson Herrera – 3-5, R, 2B (4), HR (1), 2 RBI (6), SB (2), CS

Alex Castellanos – 1-5, 2B (6), SO

Wilfredo Tovar – 1-4, R

Recap:

            The Las Vegas 51s got another sub-par performance from starter Matthew Bowman, and could not get their offense going as they lost the finale against Fresno. Bowman was beat by the same Fresno hitters who did the damage against him in his first start of 2015, aka the Fresno lefties and Matt Duffy. Dilson Herrera had another great day at the plate, picking up multiple hits for the 6^th straight game, but the rest of the 51s lineup combined for only one hit over the first 8 innings, failing to take advantage of 3 Fresno errors. The bullpen kept things close until the 8^th, but Cody Satterwhite’s early season struggles continued with a little wildness that led to two Fresno runs, putting this game out for reach for even this hot 51s lineup – they came in having scored 37 runs on 50 hits through the first 3 games. The 51s removed Darrell Ceciliani from the game after the top of the 3rd inning for no clear reason, so it'll be interesting to see if there is any transactions involving Ceciliani coming. He either hurt himself, so he might headed for the DL, which would open up a AAA OF spot, or the Mets have a trade for him in place - Ceciliani alone would likely be enough to bring back IFA money, which it sounds like the Mets will need for this upcoming IFA signing season.

            Bowman has not lived up to the large amount of hype surrounding him this past offseason, and he’s struggled mightily in two appearances against this tough Fresno lineup. Lefties have been the biggest problem for Bowman so far, with Jon Singleton (4-6, 2B, HR) and Preston Tucker (4-6, 2 HR) accounting for the majority of that damage. Considering he’s been pretty good against everyone else, I’m not too worried about Bowman just yet, but you have to imagine his confidence has taken a beating so far. Bowman has generally not shown L/R splits throughout his minor league career, but he struck out less than 10% of lefty batters with Las Vegas last year, so he has been far from confidence inspiring against them. His fastball sat mostly 89-91 MPH tonight, although he threw an 87 MPH sinker behind a batter. It seems like he's been mixing in more curveballs this season, and he threw a few big, slow ones around 70-71 MPH tonight.

            Dilson Herrera finished a triple shy of the cycle, and is hitting .467/.484/.600 over 31 PA during his 6-game hitting streak, so it looks like he is officially adjusted to the league – he’s had plenty of hits against righties during the streak, so don’t be concerned about his early SSS numbers against righties. He tried to create a run in the 1^st with his legs, leading off with a bunt single before stealing 2B, but he’d be stranded there. His 5^th inning homerun made it 6-2, and his 9^th inning double made it 8-3. Kyle Johnson brought home another run with a sac fly in the 9^th, but the rally ended when Alex Presley robbed Alex Castellanos of extra bases with a catch against the wall.
            Darin Gorski takes the hill for Las Vegas at 9:35 PM Tuesday night in Reno, as the 51s go on the road for four games this week. The rotation for this series projects to be Gorski, Tyler Pill, Noah Syndergaard, and then Rafael Montero. The Reno MiLB.tv coverage is good, so the recaps will include gifs this week – let’s hope Dilson stays hot for some good coverage.

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— Science News (@ScienceNews) April 21, 2015