Round Rock
The Express lost to Memphis last night 8-2. The Statesman focused more on J. R. Towles working out his swing than on the game report. That gives us some pretty decent quotes to share with you.
Towles on what was happening in Houston:
“My mind overloaded,” he said. “It was just one of those things that they were telling me to do a lot and it’s not like it was necessarily wrong but I was trying to put everything together at once.”….
“It’s maybe good to come down here to have no pressure,” said Towles. “It felt at times like I was letting the (Astros) down at the plate. I felt comfortable behind the plate and I was separating the two.”
Corpus Christi
Polin Trinidad put in 5 solid innings (95 pitches) allowing only one run but the Hooks lost 2-1 when a pop up dropped between Eli Iorg & Drew Sutton and allowed an extra out in the 8th.
“To me, that ball has to be caught by somebody,” Pujols said. “That ball was high enough and spent a lot of time in the air and needs to be caught.”
Lexington & Salem are off for the All Star Break
Lexington’s Matt Cusick gets some praise from Greg Langbhen in today’s Lexington World Wide Web Fish Wrapper.
“You could throw him in Double-A right now and he’s gonna hit,” Legends Manager Gregg Langbhen said. “As the saying goes, when guys go higher up some of them become better hitters because the pitchers are around the strike zone more. And I don’t think that’s any exception with him. He could go up to Double-A right now, and Triple-A, and hit.”
About his offense and the move over to 3rd from 2nd:
“He’s been working on his timing all year,” Langbehn said of Cusick. “It’s just a very minor adjustment with his footwork. As the ball approaches the hitting zone, his timing was off a little bit and I think that’s why he wasn’t getting to a lot of balls to his left. He’s going to have to work on his lateral quickness a little bit, especially playing third base. It’s a quicker response time.”
The article also explained Cusick’s missed time a few weeks ago by reporting he has been dealing with a wrist injury.
Tri Cities ValleyCats
The ValleyCats will have a local connection to cheer for when their season begins tonight. 26th round pick Shane Wolf grew up in the Tri Cities area and went to near by Division III Ithaca College.
“I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Wolf said. “It was a three-hour trip for me to drive over here, and I have family close to here as well. So I’m really excited to be here.”
Greeneville Astros
The G-Stros begin their season on the road tonight at Kingsport. Jordan Lyle is already dealing with the pressure of the Greeneville media as he gets a feature in the sports section after the meet and greet with the season ticket holders.
His thoughts on being in Greeneville and about how he categorizes himself as a pitcher.
“It’s a nice town,” Lyles said of his first impression of Greeneville. “It resembles Hartsville. It’s a great ball park, the nicest park I’ve ever played in.”…
“Definitely not a power pitcher,” he said. “I like to work the ball inside, outside, hit the location and throw the off-speed stuff at any time in the count.”