In this week’s edition of Farm Fortnight, I summed up the state of Reynaldo López with “the less said about him, the better.” And that probably should be the case, but he started Tuesday night’s game for Charlotte, and Knights manager Wes Helms preceded it with quotes that sound awfully familiar:
Enough people have cited mentality — including López himself — to think there’s probably something to it, but he’s also a guy whose only full, successful season relied pretty much solely on a 98-mph fastball with below-average spin, which is why run estimators like FIP (4.63) and DRA (5.65) weren’t as impressed with a performance that resulted in a perfectly acceptable 3.91 ERA. He didn’t have the secondary pitches to change it up, so when the fastball couldn’t get the job done by itself, he had nowhere to go.
The part about focus and mental toughness always came off as grasping for something solvable, because it seems like it’s easier for a player to take ownership of that than trying to answer the question, “What’s your second-best pitch?” after three seasons as being part of a rotation. Ethan Katz was trying to restore López’s curveball this spring because neither his slider nor his changeup got the job done.
Anyway, López worked between 94-96 mph on Tuesday night in Charlotte, and that got very López-like results: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K.
Jacksonville 6, Charlotte 4
- Luis González went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a great throw home.
- Blake Rutherford was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Jake Burger went 1-for-4.
- So did Gavin Sheets, with a strikeout.
- Reynaldo López: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 WP
- Jace Fry: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
- Tyler Johnson is back in Charlotte, and still struggling there: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Highlights:
*Not sure what got into Zack Burdi here:
Birmingham 7, Mississippi 0
- Romy Gonzalez went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.
- Micker Adolfo, 1-for-5 with a double and a strikeout.
- Carlos Pérez was 0-for-3 with a walk, sac fly and a strikeout.
- Ti’Quan Forbes was 3-for-4 with a stolen base.
- Kade McClure’s best start of the season: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K
Greensboro 3, Winston-Salem 2
- Duke Ellis wore the silver sombrero during an 0-for-5 night.
- Yolbert Sanchez went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Luis Curbelo, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Lenyn Sosa went 1-for-4.
Kannapolis 9, Down East 7
- Jose Rodriguez went 1-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Chase Krogman walked thrice and struck out twice.
- Bryan Ramos went off: 3-for-4 with two homers and a double, and was plunked as well.
- Luis Mieses was 1-for-5 with a double and a strikeout.
- Harvin Mendoza, 1-for-4 with a walk.
- Caberea Weaver went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout, and was caught stealing.
- Lency Delgado singled, walked, struck out twice and committed three errors.
(Photo by Laura Wolff / Charlotte Knights)
That’s a really great shot of the Charlotte Ballpark! Too bad the netting is getting in the way.
You are right, that really is an amazing picture. Better view than most MLB ballparks.
Forgot to mention Tim Beckham’s 2 homers. His performance pretty weak so far but maybe the Madrigal injury will motivate him to find his groove. He had decent power numbers his last MLB stint in 2019 with 15 homers in 88 games in 2019 (11 vs righties actually). Probably wishful thinking, but that’s pretty much the case for hoping they get any help from Charlotte this year.