Pitching position players used to be cheeky and fun, but now they run the risk of being cruel and tragic, and Xavier Fernández's appearance in the ninth inning for the Charlotte Knights on Thursday night was as ugly as it gets.
Fernández, typically a catcher/first baseman, took the mound in the ninth with the Knights trailing 16-4, and while Stripers tacked on four to make it a score, it happened via the most unwatchable of lines: 1 IP, 0 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP. That's especially gruesome considering Fernández opened the inning by alternating walks and flyouts. Before he could record the third out, he issued two walks, plunked a guy, then walked two more before the inning mercifully ended on a groundout by the 10th batter of the inning.
Justin Jirschele was ejected for barking at home plate umpire Takahito Matsuda from the dugout, and he stormed out to get his money's worth, with f-bombs aplenty. Charlotte play-by-play guy Matt Swierad said after Jirschele's eruption that the strike zone was called by the automated balls and strikes system -- Triple-A games alternate between that and a challenge system -- but Swierad mentioned that Fernández didn't get a chance to throw many warm-up pitches, so perhaps that was the subject of Jirschele's anger. Or maybe it was the 16 runs.
Watching the inning, you can see one of the unintended consequences of the automated system. Fernández is throwing eephuses and knuckleballs that ranged between 35.7 and 62.1 mph according to Statcast, and while a human home plate umpire might've called a pitch like this a strike ...
... or this ...
... but Statcast showed those misses as crossing the plate too high:
The final pitch of the inning didn't register, which is why there are only two outs shown on that chart, but after Erick González converted the 6-3 to end the inning, Fernández walked off the mound shaking his head and shrugging, but he also let Matsuda know that he knew what determined the zone.
We probably won't see a pure ABS system make its way to the majors anytime soon. If the challenge system were in play, I'm guessing there might be an unwritten rule to not contest any pitches when leading by a dozen.
Gwinnett 20, Charlotte 4
- Lenyn Sosa went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Korey Lee was 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Adam Hackenberg hit his first Triple-A homer during a 1-for-4 night, striking out once.
- Luis Patiño: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
- Nate Fisher had to wear it: 3.2 IP, 11 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 3 HR
- Jordan Leasure: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
- Oh no, Xavier Fernández: 1 IP, 0 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 0 K, 5 of 33 pitches for strikes.
Birmingham 3, Montgomery 2
- José Rodríguez went 1-for-5 with a double and a strikeout.
- Colson Montgomery was 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Bryan Ramos, 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. He was caught stealing.
- Wilfred Veras, 0-for-3 with an HBP.
- Terrell Tatum went 2-for-3 with a double, walk and a stolen base. He was also picked off.
- Luis Mieses was 2-for-4.
- Jonathan Cannon: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 55 of 83 pitches for strikes.
Rome 8, Winston-Salem 7
- Jacob Burke went 1-for-5.
- So did Brooks Baldwin, who struck out and stole a base.
- DJ Gladney was 2-for-5 with a triple and a strikeout.
- Wes Kath got plunked, walked and struck out twice.
- Tommy Sommer left after one-plus inning with an arm injury.
Down East 6, Kannapolis 4
- Jacob Gonzalez went 1-for-3 with a walk, sac fly and strikeout.
- Eddie Park, 1-for-5 with a K.
- Jordan Sprinkle was 2-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Shane Murphy: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
ACL Angels 9, ACL White Sox 3
- Ryan Burrowes singled twice and struck out thrice.
- George Wolkow wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Norge Vera: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
- Jake Peppers: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
DSL White Sox 5, DSL Blue Jays 4
- Abraham Nunez was 0-for-2.
- D'Angelo Tejada pinch-ran, stole a base and scored.
- Luis Reyes: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
