Brooklyn Cyclones: Arms Race Heating Up in Coney Island

From the desk of:  THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

Dutchess Stadium

Brooks lead series 2-0

I - BKN 3; HVR 0

II - BKN 6; HVR 1

III - FRIDAY

GAME THREE

Brooklyn Cyclones

vs.

Hudson Valley Renegades

FROM

Fishkill

NEW YORK

Brooklyn Cyclones: Behind strong pitching Baby Bums are 7-3 in last 10 games; closing in on first place Staten Island Yankees.

The season long offensively challenged Brooklyn Cyclones have outscored 

the Hudson Valley Renegades by a 9-1 margin through two games.  

The Cyclones will attempt a sweep Friday evening.

The Brooklyn Cyclones have come a long way since their sub-par start to the regular season, and have effectively tightened up the McNamara Division race.

And now, the only thing better than the cool ocean breeze at Coney Island, is the heat being generated on the pitching mound at MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Mets first round draft pick (#19 overall) Justin Dunn is scheduled to make the third start of his professional career in Troy, N.Y. this weekend against the Tri-City Valley Cats.

He presently owns a 1-1 record with a 0.75 ERA after five appearances and two starts.  He has limited the opposition to a lone earned run on 12 hits and five walks, with 13 strikeouts through 13 innings pitched.

However, the Brooklyn Cyclones pitcher suddenly turning heads is left-hander Thomas Szapucki.  He was promoted to Brooklyn after just five appearances for the Kingsport Mets of the (R) Appalachian League, in which he posted a 2-1 record with an attention grabbing 0.62 ERA and 0.86 WHiP.  He allowed just 17 hits, walked nine, and fanned 47 batters in just 29 innings of work.

He has since made two starts for the Cyclones.  His last start on July 31 against Aberdeen was nothing short of a gem.  He earned an unfortunate loss after allowing one unearned run, but otherwise tossed seven innings of two-hit baseball, walking one, and fanning 10 batters.

Thomas made his Cyclones debut on July 14 against the Staten Island Yankees, and it was a beauty.   He pitched 5.1 innings of scoreless baseball, while limiting the Yanks to just four hits and three walks, while fanning eight batters.

The performance of starter Harol Gonzalez is also demanding attention, who after nine starts leads the NYPL with 67 strikeouts and a 0.88 WHiP, along with the league's fourth best 1.77 ERA.  He owns a 4-1 record so far, and has allowed 12 walks and just 37 hits through 56 innings pitched.

On Tuesday, Aug. 2, the Cyclones added getting one-hit by the Aberdeen Ironbirds to their list of ponderous 2016 achievements.

They've since went on to take two straight from the Renegades up in Hudson Valley.  This past Wednesday against Hudson Valley, Harol Gonzalez tossed seven innings of scoreless, four-hit baseball, while issuing just one walk and fanning four batters.  The series finale scheduled for Friday.

• Mets second round draft pick first baseman Peter Alonso hit his fourth professional home run against the Renegades.  He is presently slashing .295/.373/.534, with seven doubles and 18 RBI through 25 games and 88 at-bats.

Brooklyn Cyclones: No Week for the Weary

From the desk of:  THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

Extra-Long Opening Week for the Brooks

BROOKLYN CYCLONES: Something eerily similar about these guys...

A year after posting their first ever losing season, the Brooklyn Cyclones have gotten off to a 2-5 start through the first week of this season, and presently own last place of the McNamara Division to themselves.

The Cyclones pitching staff was levied with an onerous tax through the first games of the season, having to put in double-time for 56 innings over four games in four days.

Game One Final

Brooklyn        2

Connecticut    3

The Cyclones lost their series opener 3-2 in Connecticut Thursday night to open their first official road trip of the season, despite limiting the Tigers to just a pair of hits for the game.

Harol Gonzalez pitched well in his second start of the season, and perhaps better than his line looks:

• 6.2 inn, three ER, three W, five K, 86 pitches with 55 going for strikes, and two HBP.

He lost control of a quality start in the sixth; a one-out walk, a HBP, and a wild pitch resulted in a 1-0 Cyclones deficit from which they never recovered.  Another HBP, a single, and another wild pitch in the seventh earned Gonzalez the hook from Coach Gamboa after 86 pitches.

Harol Gonzalez otherwise no-hit the Tigers through the first six innings.  Reliever Taylor Henry allowed Connecticut their only other hit of the game.

The heart of the Cyclones line-up; #3 hitter Colby Woodmansee, clean-up hitter Ali Sanchez, and #5 hitter Brandon Brosher all registered multiple hits, combining on 6 for 12, with 2 RBI and a run scored.  Jay Jabs drove in his 4th run of the season.

Offensive Behavior

Collectively, the Brooklyn Cyclones are last in the league with a paltry .166 team average - exactly why they ponderously needed 20 extra innings of baseball for determining three of their first seven games.

Memories of last year indeed ... in fact, the Cyclones have been all pitch/no hit for three seasons now.

This season, Cyclones rank:

• 14th in Batting
• 13th in OBP
• 14th Slugging
• 7th Runs
• 13th Hits
• 11th Total Bases
• 5th Walks 
• 3rd Most Strikeouts

Thing is, they haven't been as good on the mound when compared to previous seasons.  A week into the season, Brooklyn's team ERA ranks 10th best, and only ninth best in team WHIP.  A league leading 80 strikeouts, however, is more in line with what we've grown accustomed to around here.

Distribution of Company Assets

After spending a few days in Brooklyn, pitcher Adrian Almeida, and infielders Franklin Correra, Yeffry De Aza, and Santo Marte, have all reported to (R) Kingsport - Appalachian League season opened on June 23.

Top Ten June Draft Picks: #6 Chris Viall, # 9 Colin Holderman, and #8 Placido Torres, have all reported to Kingsport.

REMAINING TOP 10 UNSIGNED DRAFT PICKS:

• LHP Anthony Kay 1st round
• 1B Peter Alonso 2nd round
• SS Michael Paez 4th round

Staten Island Yankees complete sweep over Brooklyn Cyclones

From the desks of:

THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS  and THE RICHMOND COUNTY BOMBERS

The Staten Island Yankees completed a home-and-home opening series sweep 

Saturday over the Brooklyn Cyclones at the Ballpark at St. George.

Staten Island's Drew Finely and Josh Roeder combine on 10-inning no-hitter over Brooks; Mini Bombers complete 30-inning, two game opening series sweep of Cyclones.

Game One Final

Yankees    3

Cyclones   2

20 innings

Game Two Final

Cyclones   1

Yankees    2

10 innings

Historic?

Considering the Cyclones jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Enmanuel Zabala led-off the game with a HBP, advanced two bases on a walk and a fielder's choice, then scored on a Drew Finely wild pitch?

I guess...

What would Henry Chadwick say?

Yankees starter Drew Finely and reliever Josh Roeder combined to face 33 batters over ten innings.   Finely went six innings, allowed the one earned run on no hits and one walk, with five strikeouts for his first victory.  Reliever Josh Roeder followed, and was flat out dominating over his four innings of work, allowing no hits, no walks, and fanning 10 of the 12 batters he faced.

For his part, Cyclones starter Harol Gonzalez did not pitch badly.  The 21 year old right-hander allowed just one earned run on five hits and two walks, with six strikeouts.

With the score tied at one, Brooklyn's Adrian Almeida took the loss in relief.  In a case of what comes around goes around, Almeida put the eventual winning run on base with a 1-out HBP in the home 10th inning.  A walk and a wild pitch later, DH Dalton Blaser stood at third.  Sound familiar? 

Clean-up batter and first baseman, Kane Sweeney then singled Blaser home for the win, and the sweep.

Of the 34 Cyclones batters who stepped up to the plate Saturday, 15 of them struck out.  The Cyclones were outscored by a mere 5-3 margin, but were out-hit by a 19-7 margin over two games against Yankees pitching.

Back to back extra inning losses to the Staten Island Yankees?

Definitely not what I had in mind to start the season.