The New Hampshire Fisher Cats kicked off the 2009 minor league season tonight. Brad Emaus continued his hot spring with three doubles and four RBI's. Marc Rzepczynski got the win and recorded nine strikeouts in five innings.Plus we have some comments from Dick Scott on the opening day rosters.
Marc Rzepczynski got the first start of the year for the Fisher Cats and he needed help to get out of the first inning. Zep issued a walk after recording the first two outs and that was followed by a double but Todd Donovan and Chris Gutierrez combined to get the out at home plate. In the bottom of the first Donovan walked then doubles by Brad Emaus, David Cooper and Nick Gorneault made it 3-0. Sean Shoffit singled to make it 4-0 but Shoffit was thown out to the end the inning.
In the second inning Zep again recorded two outs but then an error by Gutierrez kept the inning alive. A single and a walk loaded the bases but Zep was able to get the third out to dodge trouble. In the bottom of the second Brian Jeroloman singled and Donovan again walked. Emaus doubled them both in but Cooper and Dopirak struck out to end the threat.
Zep gave up a two out double in the third but his luck ran out in the fourth. A single and two walks loaded the bases for New Britain with one out. An error and a ground ball allowed two runs to score. Zep struck out the side in the third and fifth innings. Meanwhile the Fisher Cats had nine in a row retired from the third to the fifth and after five it was 6-2.
Rzepczynski pitched five innings and gave up two runs, one earned on four hits and four walks. Zep recorded nine K's.
David Shinskie came on in relief and walked the first batter. After one out Shinskie allowed a single and an error let the lead runner advance to third base. The runner then scored on a ground out to make it 6-3. Zach Dials pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings
In the bottom of the seventh back to back doubles by Donovan and Emaus added another run to make it a 7-3 game.
Adrian Martin gave up an unearned run in the ninth but the Fisher Cats won 7-3.
Emaus was the hitting star, he was 3-4 with three doubles and four RBI's. Todd Dovovan was 1-2 with 2 walks and three runs scored. Sean Shoffit was the only other Fisher Cat to have a multi-hit game, he was 2-4.
Three Stars
3rd star - Marc Rzepczynski
2nd star - Todd Donovan
1st star - Brad Emaus
The Jays Farm Director Dick Scott answered some questions for Batters Box regarding opening day rosters.
Of the players starting on the DL are their injuries serious enough that you would expect any of them to miss two months or more? (Boone, Ray, Romero, Ebarb, Fahey, Sobolewski, Haerther)
None of the injuries are serious. Mostly keeping them in warm weather until it is their turn to pitch. All should be with their teams by the 25th of this month. Sobolewski and Haerther should be a couple of weeks as well. Ebarb had a meniscus repair on his knee and will miss 6 weeks. Fahey will likely be out the longest with both wrist and shoulder problems.
When do you expect the three starting pitchers with visa problems to be in camp (Rodriguez, Perez, Carreno)?
All of the visa issues have been taken care of. I expect both Rodriguez and Carreno in Dunedin this week. Castillo Perez may have more issues with his visa, so he may be a while.
Will Magee and Magnuson both start for Dunedin?
Magee will be a starter. He didn't have a great spring so we are sending him back to Dunedin to get on track. Needs to work on his command of all his pitches and tighten up his secondary pitches. Magnuson will now pitch out of the bullpen. We all feel he is more comfortable there. We have dropped his arm slot slightly to give his ball more sink and it seems to be working well for him.
Is Eric Eiland back in extended due to that's where he needs to be developmentaly or due to other factors such as an injury in the spring.
Eiland is in Extended to get everyday at bats. He struggled this spring and seemed to have changed his swing which caused him to struggle. He shouldn't be there too long and will return to Lansing as soon as he gets back on track.
Same question for Cody Crowell?
Cody Crowell needs extra time to get his command back and a few mph. We are putting him on a long toss program to build arm strength. I envision him landing at either Lansing or Dunedin within the first 6 weeks.
How will Cooper and Dopirak split playing time? Will either switch positions?
Cooper and Dopirak will play 1st base and DH. They will play everyday at either spot. They both will get plenty of time at first base and both should get 450 at bats.
When we spoke at the end of last season you said that the 2008 high school kids drafted were more raw that the 2007 group. Even so you have sent them to Lansing. Is it better to muddle through and learn in lansing than to be more successful in extended?
We are pushing some players this year to Lansing i.e. Pastornicky, Wilson, Brisker, Jimenez. We would much rather challenge these guys to see how they respond. They make take their lumps, but we feel they will gain much more experience playing there than extended spring. We always get surprised by these guys and we will never find out if they can play unless we push them. There biggest adjustment might just be the weather as they are all from warm weather climates.
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