Down to the last my minor league set for the weekend. This is the Richmond Flying Squirrels set for this year's team. A lot to like about this set. The design is pretty simple and let's the picture do most of the talking. The pictures are crisp and we don't have any pixelated pictures or blurriness. Any haziness in the cards is from the fact that my scanner game is bad this week. I also like that the pictures were taken over the first half of the season and showcase a variety of different uniforms the team has worn during the year. Believe it, or not, the Flying Squirrels seem to be one of those minor league teams that relies a little bit on gimmicky promotions.
I like the cards showing the players wearing the orange and black RVA jerseys. Pretty sweet look.
Here are my three players:
1. Kyle Crick- Listed as the Giants top prospect and in the Top 50 in many overall prospect lists. The 22 year old right handed pitcher throws in the mid nineties and has a nice array of pitches. His record is not that impressive, but he is striking out a batter per inning and has a decent ERA. I did not get to see him pitch while I was in Richmond, but he tends to have some long innings and loses focus. There are several different places, Baseball America and MLB.com, that suggest he will be a high value relief pitcher in the long run.
2. Tyler Beede- I have seen Beede pitch before at USA Baseball while he was at Vanderbilt. Really good college pitcher with a high degree of finish before entering the minors. I think he could be in the Wacha/Stroman category of being up in the Majors quickly and contributing. He is not high end as someone like Carlos Rodon, or Strasburg, coming out of college, but he's going to play a long time and win a lot of games.
Under the radar-
3. Mac Williamson- If you look at the Giants prospects lists on Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America, or MLB.com you will notice it is jam packed with pitchers. So, I am going to go with the consensus best hitter in the Giants system Mac Williamson. He was not in Richmond when I attended a game there, he has been promoted to Triple A, but I saw him play in college when he was at Wake Forest. In fact, Mac is from Wake Forest, North Carolina which is about 15 minutes north of Raleigh (not home to Wake Forest U-long story go look it up). He was one of the better power hitters in the ACC while he was in college and has shown some pop in the minors. This year he has only 6 home runs in almost 300 at bats, but has been getting on base at nearly a .370 clip.
Other favorites in this set include Matt Lujan, the pig, who lives in the players parking lot, and Steve Kline.
My baseball summer tour came to a close Thursday night when I attended the Richmond Flying Squirrels game versus the Harrisburg Senators. I picked the final stop in Richmond since it was the first place that I attended a professional baseball game sometime back in the early 1980s. My wife made the trip up to Richmond with me, so we get some non-baseball items too.
We took a tour around the area where I used to live in Richmond and decided to do a quick random restaurant. We do not eat at chains on the road choosing to look for something local and unique instead. We went to The Mill on MacArthur. Excellent.
It's pub food, but it has a lot of good touches. They have a great wine and beer selection too. If you happen to ever be in Richmond this is a great place. Small, yet friendly. On to baseball.....
The outside of The Diamond is a giant concrete bowl with a shoddy wooden fence out in the outfield. In discussing the stadium with different people someone suggested that the outfield fence actually was originally attached to Parker Field. There is a gap in between the billboards on the fence which is reportedly one of the "character" points of the stadium. Really, the outside of this park reminds me of the 70s cookie cutter concrete bowls. The inside is old and antiquated too.
Narrow and crowded concourses run throughout the stadium. The Squirrels had a good crowd for the game (6,200) and the areas around the concession stands tended to bottleneck. While the stadium is just 30 years old it was one of the major reasons that the Braves pulled their Triple A affiliate out of Richmond and moved them to Gwinnett. Even now, the stadium debate in Richmond is still a hot issue and many feel like the Squirrels will leave too without a better facility.
The seating area is better than the inside areas of the stadium. The lower deck has nice seats with good views of the field. There is little foul territory on the field, so fans are really close to the players. The back of the lower bowl has party boxes with seating areas inside and outside. The upper deck has a pretty sharp downward angle (sort of like Kaufmann in KC) with the awesomeness of tarps around the top. What is the stadium in Oakland called now? Yeah.
Oh, and while you are getting off my lawn there is also this.....
Why am I being served ice cream in an Angels helmet at a game involving a Giants affiliate? All I could think of was Scott Spiezo and Troy Glaus going off against the Giants bullpen in the 2002 World Series.
The game. The Squirrels put up a four spot in the second inning which was more offense than the Senators could muster. One of the big hits in the inning came from starting pitcher Matt Lujan. Watching an American League minor league team (Durham Bulls- Rays) means I do not see the pitcher bat ever unless I am watching the Cardinals game on television.
Lujan was also pretty sharp on the mound. The left handed starter had taken a no hitter into the seventh the last time he pitched against the Senators and was dominating again this time. Lujan is not the hardest thrower (high 80s/low 90s), but has good control and stays on the edges of the plate. Here's a great battle against Matt Skole. I am not sure where this last pitch was on this at-bat, but I was ready to punch out Skole.....
I also spent a little bit of time watching Squirrels outfielder Devin Harris. I do not write up many college baseball games, but I saw him play several times while he was playing at East Carolina. He's had two really good years for the Pirates before being drafted by the Giants. Here is one of his at bats......
Outside of the four runs scored by the Squirrels in the second, they tacked on a late run, and cruised to a 5-1 victory. I was impressed with Lujan's control and command during the game, and while he is not the best pitching prospect on the team, I would imagine he'd have a role on the Giants at some point in the future.
Overall, The Diamond leaves a lot to be desired, but the on the field product is pretty good here. The Double A players are a little more advanced than the players I saw in Greensboro and Burlington, but also not far from the level of players I saw all the time watching the International League (AAA). The team seems well supported, so hopefully the city can build a new stadium, maybe get rid of those Angels ice cream batting helmets, and maybe let's lose some of the on field promotions. Flamingos, pigs. Aye Caramba.
This is the finale of my Summer Baseball Tour posts for my blog. I still have a few more weeks of vacation and I am attending more baseball games, but I am not going to write posts for them and they will likely all involve the Durham Bulls. I am taking a short road trip to Richmond for my last stop because it is the first place that I ever watched a professional baseball game back in the early 1980s. My father was in grad school there and we did not live too far from the stadium.
The ballpark has changed over from Parker Field to The Diamond, but they are in the same exact location. Here's a look at the old stadium via Digital Ballparks.....
The tenant has also changed. For years Richmond was home to the Braves Triple A team, but they moved to Gwinnett a few years back after the city failed to build the team a new stadium. In 2009 the Giants relocated their Double A team from Norwich, Connecticut to Richmond. The Flying Squirrels were born.
The Senators are starting Matthew Spann (formerly of the Rays organization) who has been everywhere this year:
He's also really big (6'6) and left-handed.
The Senators also feature: Matthew Skole (6th rated prospect), Brian Goodwin (7), Pedro Severino (11), and Wilmer Difo (18). Difo's rating was pre-2015, but there are a lot of prospect watchers who think his stock is headed way up. He rates as a 70 runner by multiple sources, but has also started to drive the ball to the tune of 14 home runs and 7 triples, and 31 doubles last year. A little less power this year in Double A, but still an intriguing prospect.
The Squirrels are starting Matt Lujan. Meh.
The Squirrels also feature: Kyle Crick (1), Tyler Beede (2), Adelberto Meija (4). They have also had Mac Williamson (Wake Forest) on their roster, but he's been promoted up to Triple A. Devin Harris (East Carolina) is also on their roster. Not a lot of offense, tons of pitching.
