This Week in Bradenton: Marauders Return from the Dead

FCL Pirates open their season

Eddy Rodriguez Photo Credit: WTM

It was a better week in Bradenton. The Marauders showed some signs of life for the first time all year, winning five of six and producing back-to-back shutouts. That improved their record to 9-18. The FCL Pirates opened their season with an 8-6 win on Saturday.

At the rookie level, pretty much all of the players should be regarded as lottery tickets until they show otherwise. It was just one game, but it was still nice that a number of the FCL team’s lottery tickets contributed to the win.

First and foremost, that meant Zander Mueth, last year’s 67th overall pick making his pro debut. He breezed through three innings with five Ks. The fourth didn’t go well, but he should have had a 1-2-3 inning. Consecutive one-out errors kept him on the mound, and he seemingly lost it after that, hitting two and walking one. He ultimately was charged with six unearned runs, but it was good to see the Pirates felt comfortable with Mueth pitching into the fourth. (Paul Skenes didn’t pitch into the fourth until his eighth pro game.)

On the hitting side, newcomers Keiner Delgado and Eduardo Oviedo had big days. Delgado had a single, a grand slam, and two steals. It’s hard to imagine he’ll be at this level for long, as he had a very good season in the FCL last year. Oviedo, who’s definitely a player to watch, had a single, double, walk, and three RBIs.

All of the other more significant position players contributed. Yordany De Los Santos reached base three times and stole two bases. Estuar Suero had a single and a double. And Richard Ramirez and Axiel Plaz each reached twice. Finally, David Matoma made his stateside debut with a 1-2-3 inning (they only played seven) to earn a save.

Meanwhile, Bradenton suddenly discovered the purpose of bats. After averaging barely over three runs per game going into the week, the Marauders scored 34 in six games. The only blip was getting one hit on Wednesday. Oddly, they followed that by throwing a one-hitter. Maybe they were scared by Altoona’s 15-game losing streak.

The offensive catalyst has been Eddy Rodriguez. Since emerging from the IL, he’s gone 10-for-27. He’s always shown good judgment with the strike zone, and so far, he has four walks to go with six Ks. He’s not reaching on bloops, either. He’s hitting the ball hard, but the big question may be whether he can elevate the ball enough.

It’s not a team-wide renaissance. A handful of players are providing most of the offense, while some others, especially the middle infielders, continue to struggle (Delgado could provide a big boost to this team). At the risk of being morbid, it helped that a couple of guys who were struggling mightily got released. Much of the offense has come from Garret Forrester and Esmerlyn Valdez. They combined to go 11-for-27 with six walks. Shalin Polanco hit a pair of home runs during the week but overall went 5-for-22.

The mystery for the Marauders is Omar Alfonzo. For most of April, he was close to the team’s entire offense. He had a miserable week, going 1-for-21 with 16 strikeouts. He’s shown a good eye in the past, but lately, he looks befuddled on nearly every pitch, routinely taking strikes and chasing pitches out of the zone.

Joshua Palacios joined the Marauders at the beginning of the week on rehab. He’s played only parts of two games, none since Thursday, which makes me wonder whether the rehab is going well.

The Marauders continue to have strong starting pitching. The most notable performances this week came from Michael Kennedy and Antwone Kelly. Connor Oliver, who seems to be paired with Kelly, also had a stellar long relief outing.

Kennedy has dominated in his last three starts. In this one he went a season-high six innings, giving up a run on five hits. In his last 16 innings, he’s walked none and fanned 22.

The Thursday game was a one-hit shutout, with five innings from Kelly and four from Oliver, who allowed the one hit in the ninth. Kelly got a 31% whiff rate on his fastball, which averaged a bit over 94 mph and also got good results from his cutter. He did walk three. Since his disastrous first outing with the Pirates, Oliver has allowed just three hits over 9.2 shutout IP. He fanned six in this one despite averaging just 91.2 mph. He threw a lot of strikes with his cutter, curve, and change. For Oliver and Kennedy, staying ahead in the count seems to be critical.

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