Autumn Dreamin

For at least the second time I've seen, the manager got greedy asking Coffey for a second inning and then hung him out to dry even though it was clear he didn't have it after sitting. The first inning was perfect, the second was 5 ER. A bases loaded 2 RBI double from Burke and a Colson sac fly chipped in to the comeback. Ellard came in to a 9-9 tie. He threw a warmup to the backstop, and walked his first batter on 4 straight...but ultimately turned in a scoreless bottom 8 thanks to a couple K's and a nice running catch by Colson in shallow left. He got a W for his efforts, Dogs scored 7 unanswered to win 10-9. Colson finished 1-4 with a 3B, 4 RBI, and a sac fly. Burke went with 1-4 with a 2B, 2 RBI, a BB, and a run scored. Colson's 13 RBI are tied for 3rd in the league. Ellard recently got a mention from BA for having one of the highest increases in 4SFB velo from 2022 to 2023. His average was up from 91.3 to 95.5mph. Statcast had him throwing only sinker/slider today at 94.4/86.3 avg.

112 mph off the bat. Cousin out early after giving up 4 ER on 6 hits including a pair of homers. Coffey comes on in relief with a nice bounceback outing, spotless inning with 2K on 12 pitches.

Burke walks to load the bases, Colson clears 'em with a triple.

Game 4: GDD vs. SRR (Gameday | Live Stream) Cousin is starting, Burke batting 2nd, Montgomery batting 3rd. Still no Ramos. This one will have a live stream, and once the game starts you should also be able to get Statcast pitch data here: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?gamePk=747654

He started working on the CB after the trade, and refining it is apparently a priority for his AFL tenure. The full interview is here: https://www.milb.com/video/leasure-on-arizona-fall-league

Game 3: GDD vs. MSS (Gameday | Live Stream) If the AFL game is streaming, but no Sox are starting, does anyone really care? Well I did (for half an inning), because at least I got to watch Leasure do his thing again. 11 pitch, 2K 9th inning to secure the Dogs 6-2 win. He has not allowed a baserunner in his last 3 appearances. His AFL WHIP is 0.4. Hope he saw everything he wanted to during his time in Charlotte, because I'm not sure he'll be returning there. Side note: I know there are a lot of guys on the roster, but three days off in a row for Ramos feels notable.

Dogs win in extras. Montgomery 2-4 with a walk, 2B, RBI, and run scored. The RBI and run were for insurance top 10 that ended up being much needed. If you squint, you can almost see it: https://www.mlb.com/video/colson-montgomery-s-rbi-double Rough one for Burke though, 0-5 with 3Ks. No Sox arms today.

Game 2: GDD vs. PEJ (Gameday | No Stream) Burke leading off as usual, but he's playing LF today. Montgomery at the 3 spot. Ramos with a second consecutive day off, maybe something's nagging him?

Hey look at that, a win! Eder looked better than his line, Ellard chipped in a scoreless 2K inning, and Leasure did his 1-2-3 thing (1K). Burke's slam was the difference maker: He also had a nice catch at the wall on a deep flyout, clearly a follower of LRJ's "rob a homer, hit a homer" philosophy. Montgomery didn't get a hit, but him reaching on a HBP is how you really know he's back to himself anyway.

421ft, 105mph apparently.

Jacob Burke go ahead slam ?

4Ks through 2IP for Eder. He looks pretty solid, but gets an early hook because he's only getting credit for the swinging ones. These were walks:

Another bleh week for the Dogs overall, but some nice things from the Sox representatives there. Colson Montgomery is 5-13 in his last 3 games with 3 HR, a 3B, and 6 RBI. Is a 1.600 OPS good or something? Jacob Burke hit his first AFL HR, albeit with a comparatively "boring" ~.800 OPS. Jake Eder had one start, 3.1 IP, 2 ER. Josimar Cousin went 3 IP, 2 R in his lone start. Jordan Leasure chipped in a perfect 2K inning. He has 5K and just 1 H/BB through his 3 IP so far. Fraser Ellard gave up his first ERs this week, Adisyn Coffey had a 4BB outing he'd like to forget, and gave up a solo shot in an otherwise clean 2K inning in his second appearance, and Bryan Ramos is in a bit of a slump after a hot start. The Week Ahead The usual six game slate for the week, but this time 4 of 6 will be available via live stream. Jake Eder starts today: Game 1: GDD vs. PEJ (Gameday | Live Stream) Eder once again is tasked with taking on the best AFL offense; their 108 runs scored comfortably lead the league (2nd place has scored 93) and they average 9 runs/game. He held them to 2 ER in 3.1IP in his last outing. Burke at leadoff and Montgomery batting 3rd will look to give Eder some support on both sides of the ball. Ramos has the day off.

Unsurprisingly, Montgomery leads the list of top AFL performers yesterday. He attributed his slow start to getting his timing back after the layoff between seasons. He also talked about his two strike approach: To his point, both HRs were after fouling off a two strike pitch.

Colson finished 3-5 with 2 HR, 4 RBI, and 3 runs scored. His 3rd HR in 24 hours has him tied for the AFL lead after a slow start. Him and Ramos started a rally in the 9th with a single and a walk, and both eventually scored to help tie the game...But Burke was called out (on a pitch that looked pretty outside on the broadcast...) to strand the bases loaded. A couple more slightly questionable calls against them, and Glendale loses in 10. Cousin was fine, but does seem to get a lot of 2 strike counts that he can't put away quickly. Still, he could have finished with 0 ER if someone like Burke or Luis was in center...the ITP was pretty fieldable.

Cousin done after 3IP, 4H, 2ER,1BB, 1K. Lots of weak contact, one hit was a bouncer to second that the 2B just gave up on for some reason. Both runs scored on an inside the park HR to center. It was well hit, but the CF definitely could have played it better...Burke would have. I know we're not used to this, but the Sox players are quite comfortably the best defenders on the team. And in other news, Colson just hit ANOTHER home run.

Lol, Colson just went yard again. Some bonus BP swings:

Game 5: GDD vs. SCO (Gameday | Live Stream) Cousin on the bump, Burke leading off at DH, Montgomery/Ramos batting 3 and 4.

Troye might have a future in scouting (or motivational speaking?). The three guys he shouted out all showed out tonight: Colson gets the bat going, 2-4 with a HR and 3B. 2 RBI. Burke had a great night too. 3-5 with a HR and 2 RBI. Leasure with a perfect, 2K inning. Here's Burke's HR: https://www.mlb.com/video/jacob-burke-s-two-run-home-run

He just added a triple. Could have been a RBI, but the runner on first got caught stealing.

Jacob Burke HR now too ?

Game 4: GDD vs. SCO (Gameday | No Stream) The Dogs back home at Camelback, and our full trio is at the top of the order again. Burke lead off single, Colson HR. Keep the hype train going!