NY Penn Baseball: Lowell Spinners Notes 7/20/17

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The Spinners have hit a rough patch of late, losers of six of their last seven games. The grind of the season, as Manager Iggy Saurez likes to put it, may be catching up with this team. Staying mentality tough to get through this stretch of games will be vital to whatever kind of year the Lowell Spinners have.

Spinners fans as well as Red Sox nation finally got their first look at this past June first round draft choice. Tanner Houck made his first pro start this past Monday night, in game two of a doubleheader against Aberdeen. The outing may not have lasted as long as fans would have liked, one inning with 25 pitches. He did strike out two hitters while also giving up three runs. Suarez thought that Houck may have been “a little too amped up”. It should be pointed out that Houck had not been on the mound since May 23 while still in college pitching for the Missouri Tigers in the first round of the SEC tournament. Since turning pro, the coaching staff has been working with him to get his arm back in shape.

Being a 31st round draft pick may leave you with little margin for error when trying to impress an organization. Lowell infielder Michael Osinski is trying to make the best of his chances. He had a six-game hitting streak snapped in Tuesday night’s loss to Aberdeen. During the streak, Osinski posted a slash line of .417/.481/.542. Overall, he has played in eight games for Lowell since being drafted and signed by Boston.

Another infielder trying to get untracked is Frankie Rios. His problem has been an injury setback that kept him out of the lineup for nearly two weeks. Since returning to the everyday lineup, Rios has been producing. He too had a six-game hit streak going in Tuesday night’s game. He has also drawn a walk and scored a run in each of his last three games.

The Spinners continue to make roster changes based on rehab appearances for players at higher levels of the organization. This past Monday night, Roenis Ellis made a start as he try to make it back to the big club. While Kutter Crawford was sent back to the Gulf Coast Red Sox after making one start for the Spinners.