New York Penn League News & Notes

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New York Penn League News & Notes

Two weeks into the season, and there is already activity to tell you about. Here are some of the happenings around the league.

The first big call-up has taken place. First-round pick Seth Beer of the Houston Astros has been promoted from the Tri-City Valley Cats to Class A Quad City in the Astros system. Beer played 11 games in the NYPL during his brief stay. He put up some good power numbers for the Valley Cats. He led the league in home runs with four, he was second in extra-base hits with seven and slugged at .659 good for third in the league. Beer also had the best HR/AB ratio at 1/10.25.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers have a player that fills up the stat sheet in the early going. His name is Tyler Freeman and he is second in batting with a .457 average, second in hits with 21, and tied for the lead in doubles with six. His 46 at-bats are tied for third and is second in RBI with 12. Freeman is third in total bases with 27, and fourth in on-base percentage at a .469 clip. I told you he was filling up the sheet.

Speaking of Try-City, they have a pitcher that is getting it done as well. Chad Donato has a perfect 3- 0 record early on. He is tied for the league lead in wins. Donato is third in strikeouts with 21, while only walking three hitters so far. In 16.0 innings pitched, he has given up only eight hits.

Another pitcher off to a good start is Aberdeen right-hander Luis Perez. Heading into his start on Friday night in Lowell, Perez was 1-0. In 11.0 innings of work, Perez had allowed three hits and zero runs. On Friday night, he did give up his first run of the season, and his first home run as well to Spinners lead off hitter Jarren Duran.

Attendance in the league continues to be strong through the first two weeks of the season. The New York Penn League has drawn a combine 244,827 fans to the ballpark. Only one team, the Batavia Muckdogs, is averaging less than one thousand fans at the gate.

Your division leader through two weeks are, in the McNamara, Hudson Valley has a 10-3 record and a one-game lead over Brooklyn at 9-4. In the Pinckney, Mahoning Valley has opened up a three-game cushion on Williamsport. The Scrappers check in at 10-2, while the Crosscutters are at 7-5. In the Stealer, Tri-City at 7-6 is tied with the Vermont Lake Monsters with the Lowell Spinners a game and a half back at 6-8. The wildcard leader is Brooklyn with a game and a half spread on Williamsport.

A couple of Spinners are starting to make a little noise in Lowell. Jarren Duran had a seven-game hitting streak snapped in game two of a doubleheader on Friday night. He has scored nine runs so far which has him second on the team. During the batting streak, Duran had a OPS of .839.

Catcher Kole Cottam is starting to pick things up at the plate. He is tied for the team-lead with eight RBI and has three multi-RBI games to date. Cottam, a fourth round of the Boston Red Sox, is being thought of highly within the organization.