A Sea Of Red

https://risewithus5.blogspot.com/2023/0 ... l?spref=tw

Update on MILB. Cusa and check in on signees up next.

I love that ballpark.Wish I was in a position to make a run down there to catch a game.

A few end-of-year MiLB statistics for recent Flames:

Will Wagner (ROK, AA, AAA) - .337 AVG, .420 OBP, .917 OPS with some "Pacific Coast League Player of the Week" honors. Currently sitting at #15 in the Astros' prospect rankings and likely the closest Flame prospect to the MLB.

Mason Fluharty (A+, AA) - 3.28 ERA in 48 games and 57.2 IP. 75 Ks and 23 BBs with a WHIP of 1.37.

Fraser Ellard (ROK, AA) - Injury plagued season, finished with a 7.17 ERA and a WHIP of 1.73. 30 Ks, 12 BBs in 21.1 IP.

Dylan Cumming (A) - 2.93 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. 86 Ks and 36 BBs across 92 IP and 34 games.

Noah Skirrow (AAA) - 5.84 ERA across 101.2 IP and 24 games. 79 K to 53 BBs and a WHIP of 1.76.

For obvious reasons involving his dad, Will gets outsized attention in Houston for performance this summer. He'll get an opportunity in Spring to impress the MLB staff.

For those keeping track, Will Wagner was just traded to the Toronto Blue Jays' franchise as part of a deal that brought Yusei Kikuchi to Houston.

So far this season, Wagner is carrying a .307 AVG / .424 OBP / .853 OPS. Fangraphs just said this about him, "it's highly likely that Wagner becomes a part-time contributor in the majors, if only at the bottom of the roster. He's Rule 5 eligible after this year, and I think that the Jays' roster situation makes it likely he'll end up on the 40-man as a result."

Wagner will head to AAA Buffalo, where he will pair up with former Flames teammate Mason Fluharty. Mason is a reliever for the Bisons, sporting a 3.51 ERA in 48.2 IP this season.

.424 OBP is wildly impressive.
That alone should prompt the Jays to at least give him a chance.

I looked up his stats throughout his time in the minors and they are pretty impressive. Its not very often you see guys hitting above .300 with more walks than strikeouts in the upper minors but hes doing it and it should translate well to the majors. Sadly he's everything that MLB teams aren't looking for. He's too slow to be a big league middle infielder, doesn't have enough power to be a 1st baseman or DH nor the arm strength to be a third baseman. There's value in having a guy like him on the bench with some defensive flexibility and a great approach at the plate but he's going to have a tough time getting a starting job somewhere.

Will Wagner is in the starting lineup for the Jays tonight at second base.

First pitch he sees in the majors is a 104.5 MPH double in the right center gap.

Congrats to Will Wagner, who by my count ups the Flames in MLB history total to eight:

- Sid Bream
- Randy Tomlin
- Lee Guetterman
- Doug Brady
- Ian Parmley
- Ryan Cordell
- Will Wagner
- Tony Beasley (as a manager)

Also, there is a former MLBer named Josh Rupe who played briefly for the Flames before transferring to another school. Not sure if we count him as one of our own or not.

Liberty4Life wrote: ↑August 12th, 2024, 10:47 pm Congrats to Will Wagner, who by my count ups the Flames in MLB history total to eight:

- Sid Bream
- Randy Tomlin
- Lee Guetterman
- Doug Brady
- Ian Parmley
- Ryan Cordell
- Will Wagner
- Tony Beasley (as a manager)

Also, there is a former MLBer named Josh Rupe who played briefly for the Flames before transferring to another school. Not sure if we count him as one of our own or not.

Fraser Ellard has pitched a few games for the White Sox this year.

aredd33 wrote: ↑August 12th, 2024, 9:56 pm First pitch he sees in the majors is a 104.5 MPH double in the right center gap.

Will finished the game 3-4.

aredd33 wrote: ↑August 13th, 2024, 4:36 am

Liberty4Life wrote: ↑August 12th, 2024, 10:47 pm Congrats to Will Wagner, who by my count ups the Flames in MLB history total to eight:

- Sid Bream
- Randy Tomlin
- Lee Guetterman
- Doug Brady
- Ian Parmley
- Ryan Cordell
- Will Wagner
- Tony Beasley (as a manager)

Also, there is a former MLBer named Josh Rupe who played briefly for the Flames before transferring to another school. Not sure if we count him as one of our own or not.

Fraser Ellard has pitched a few games for the White Sox this year.

Yeah but do the 2024 White Sox still count as a "Major League" team?

Fantastic night for Will! Couldn't have asked for anything more. The Jays beat writer gave him a great deal of focus in their game summary: https://www.mlb.com/news/will-wagner-so ... _pk=746192

Happy for him. He was one of my favorites to watch in Lynchburg.

Side note: I didn't realize until the Jays game last night that Zach Neto is now in the league as an Angel. I do not miss watching him torch us every year.

CWS smacked the Yanks last night. Maybe Grady Sizemore is all they needed.

Jays have a reliever from LU at AAA. Could be teammates again in bigs.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/408 ... -vs-angels

Wagners performance made it into ESPNs "top headlines" for the day. You don't see that often with former flames.