RedHawks-Isotopes postponed
The second game of Oklahoma City’s four-game series with Albuquerque Tuesday night was postponed because of rainy weather that moved through the area. The game will be made up as part of a double header May 30.
For the RedHawks, it’s a missed opportunity to build on some of their momentum from their come-from-behind 5-1 win over the Isotopes Monday.
“It would have been nice to play but the weather has been so miserable out there it’s not fun,” OKC manager Bobby Jones said. “The conditions are miserable cold and wet it’s better off not playing.”
Ballard pushed back
Lefty Michael Ballard was set to pitch Tuesday before the rain out. For a starting pitcher, rain outs and delays can be especially annoying. Fortunately for Ballard he didn’t warm up before the game, though he did play catch for a few minutes with a trainer after the game was officially postponed.
“Mentally it’s a little tougher because you’re ready to pitch but I’ve been through it before,” Ballard said. “It’s something you have to deal with.”
Boggs continues hitting streak
Outfielder Brandon Boggs is on a six game hit streak. Greg Golson, Royce Huffman have also had multi-game hitting streaks. Boggs is batting .263 with 11 RBIs. He also leads the team in walks with 18.
“My batting average is not where I wanted it right now,” Boggs said. “They’re pitching me pretty tough in this league because they know I spent a good part of last season in the big leagues. I’m still learning these pitchers.”
Roster moves increase
With the optioning of Max Ramirez back from Texas Monday and the call up of outfielder Greg Golson, the RedHawks now have 29 roster moves in just under a month of play. In the first four days of this month alone, there have been 10 moves.
Wednesday at The Brick
Albuquerque (RHP Charlie Haeger, 2-2, 5.76 ERA) at Oklahoma City (Michael Ballard, 1-1, 3.78 ERA), 11:05 a.m.
Brett Anderson looking for his baby skin
Former Stillwater pitcher Brett Anderson (0-3) struggled against the Angels Monday night giving up nine hits in less than five innings. It was also the first game he didn’t have any strikeouts.
Anderson has been fighting through a blister on his hand that caused him to exit his previous start early, but he wasn’t using it as an excuse for Monday night’s loss.
“It sounds weird, but it looks way better,” he told the AP. “Hopefully I broke through all the bad skin that was on top, and it’s kind of back to the baby skin. If I can harden that up I should be 100 percent.”
Anderson will get another start later this week against Toronto. He’s still looking for his fist win in five starts, but at this point there may not be as much pressure as there seems to be. Fellow 21-year-0ld Trevor Cahill is also struggling and the A’s don’t have much in the way of call ups to take his spot in the rotation. Plus, he’s had some good moments in his other four starts that show why he’s as highly rated as he is. .
Golson up, Ramirez back to OKC
The tarp has been removed from the field at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. Today’s game was supposed to start at 4:05 p.m. but the affair has been pushed back to 5:45.
Here’s a couple of recent developments:
- Outfielder Greg Golson has been called up by Texas. No word on whether or not he’s been activated. The Rangers are down an outfielder after Josh Hamilton on the DL.
- Catcher Max Ramirez has returned to the RedHawks after being in the waiting room at Texas for a couple of days. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia had an eye problem that has apparently cleared up to the point where Max can come back to OKC. He was spotted in the clubhouse Monday afternoon.
- Relief pitcher Thomas Diamond has been placed on the DL with a shoulder strain that manager Bobby Jones said is not related to his elbow injury from a couple years back.
Turnbow at the crossroads
One of the most interesting things about covering a professional baseball team is seeing the stages of life at the ballpark play out before your eyes.
There are young prospects with the baseball world theirs for the taking. There are minor league lifers who have adapted to the lifestyle and joyfully collect a paycheck to be “organizational depth”.
And there are players who were once great, but have lost that special something they once had.
Derrick Turnbow fits that bill. The 31-year-0ld was granted his release Friday by Texas. It was a mutual separation.
Turnbow looked like an emerging star when he saved 53 games in 2004 and 2005. Since then, it’s been all downhill. In his brief stint with the RedHawks he blew a couple of saves and had a nearly double digit ERA.
“He used to throw 98 mph,” RedHawks manager Bobby Jones said. “He’s upset with himself because he’s not there yet.”
That velocity is long gone. Turnbow’s fastball was in the high 80s- low 90s when he was with OKC. He had surgery on his throwing arm 10 months ago.
“During spring training his mechanics were screwed up and he was all over the place,” Jones said. “He’s been working hard, he’s one of the hardest workers we have. He just couldn’t find his release point.”
Turnbow is also about to become a father again. His wife is expected to give birth to their second child sometime this month. For now, baseball takes the back (car) seat.
” He’s going to go home with her and after that he’s going to try to hook on with somebody else,” Jones said.
Hopefully for Turnbow that day comes. But it’s hard to ignore the obvious. The burly Tennessean lost that special something he once had and there may be no getting it back.
Ramirez called up
The Rangers have placed outfielder Josh Hamilton on the disabled list and called up Max Ramirez to fill his spot though Hamilton’s injury isn’y why Texas called up Ramirez. Starting catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been suffering from severe eye irritation as result of his contact lenses. Salty has been told by an eye specialist to stay away from bright lights.
“The doctor said he needed to stay out of the light,” Rangers manager Ron Washington told the AP. “They said it could repair itself in a day or two days. Yesterday he couldn’t see out of his right eye and today he had trouble with his left eye and the right eye is better.”
Ramirez was off to a rough start in OKC and will amost certainly return when Saltalamacchia gets better. RedHawks manager Bobby Jones confirmed Ramirez’ call up is unrelated to Hamilton’s injury.
2008 RedHawks: Where are they now
We’re a few weeks into the season and I’ve been asked a couple of times what some of the guys from last year’s PCL South Division championship club are this year.
Casey Benjamin, Kevin Richardson, Max Ramirez, Ben Harrison, Joaquin Arias and Warner Madrigal are obviously still with the team. Here’s a few that aren’t….
Ryan Roberts, INF: Roberts was made the Diamondbacks opening day roster and has been filling in as a utility infielder for Arizona this season. He talked about his first opening day in the bigs in this video a mlb.com. Roberts is hitting .250 in 12 at bats.
Drew Meyer, INF: The former No. 10 overall pick of the Rangers parted ways with Texas in the off-season after five years. He was signed by Houston and is hitting .268 in 82 at bats with the Astros Double-A team in Corpus Christi.
Kameron Loe, RP: After a long stint in the Rangers organization Loe signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of the Japanese league.
Nate Gold, 1B: Gold wrapped up his stint with Texas in Sept. and was signed by the La New Bears in Taiwan.
Jason Botts, DH: From what I understand, Botts decided to return to Japan for another season.
Kiko Calero, RP: Calero wasn’t particularly effective for the RedHawks last year but he made the most of the off season and is now pitching in the Marlins bullpen.
‘Hawks Wrap: OKC 8, New Orleans 7
Another weird series opener for OKC, this time with New Orleans that clocked in at a little under four hours. It was the third (nearly) four hour game for the RedHawks at home this season.
Couple of things….
- Manager Bobby Jones said catcher Max Ramirez should be fine after taking a foul ball on the inside of his right knee Thursday night. Ramirez was down for a few minutes but finished the game. Catchers were loads of protection but looking at it from the press box, it Ramirez in one of the few spots on his leg that doesn’t have plastic covering it. Ouch.
- Jones praised lefty starter Michael Ballard who cruised through half the game before giving up a 3-run homer to Jeff Lindsey. That pitch was Ballard’s only real mistake of the night but it was costly.
- Still some instability with OKC’s bullpen. Warner Madrigal looked s0-so and Derrick Turnbow blew another save, giving up 2 runs that tied the game.
- OKC looked great on the base paths with five stolen bases spread across an equal number of guys in the lineup. Nobody got caught either.
It’s way early, but this series with New Orleans has some significance since the Zephyrs, Isotopes and RedHawks are all bunched up in the standings with Albuquerque holding the top spot at 10-10 for now. The ‘Topes visit the Brick later this home stand.
