2024 Season
After an ugly week at league-leading Akron, the Senators bounced back with a split while hosting Portland (leading the Northeast Division) this past week. There was a lot more offense against the Sea Dogs, a notable promotion, and two 2024 Senators (in this case Dylan Crews and Zach Brzykcy, following Orlando Ribalta) made their major league debuts. Good things were happening.
Scores & Standings
Harrisburg 11, Portland 4 (Tuesday); Harrisburg 3, Portland 1 (Wednesday); Portland 8, Harrisburg 0 (Thursday); Portland 6, Harrisburg 3 (Friday); Harrisburg 7, Portland 5 (Saturday); Portland 9, Harrisburg 1 (Sunday). The Senators are now 23-34 in the season's second half, in fifth place in the Eastern League's Southwest Division.
Pitcher of the Week - Andry Lara, RHP
Lara was starting to look last month like his season could be getting shaky along the lines of most members of the parent club's staff, but he has righted the ship in the past couple of weeks, and Tuesday's win was no exception. Lara recorded 17 outs while allowing just a run on two hits, although he did walk three to go along with his five strikeouts. Bouncing back the way he has since a rough outing in Bowie three weeks ago (where he was getting squeezed, but still) is a great sign that Lara, still just 21 years old, is figuring out how to dig deep to be effective when he doesn't have his best stuff. The best case scenario here is Venezuelan Jordan Zimmermann, which would be fantastic. I would love to see him finish the year at AAA in the final week of the season.
Hitter of the Week - Cortland Lawson, SS
We will give Bobby Barrels his shine further down, but Lawson had a terrific week, batting 5-for-13 with seven walks for a .385/.600/.462 line. He is likely the next Jackson Cluff, a solid, plug-and-play professional minor leaguer from an outstanding college program (Lawson played next to Trey Lipscomb at Tennessee) who probably won't hit enough to ever get a call-up (Lawson's season line is a much more pedestrian .223/.289/.271), but the Sea Dogs could simply not keep him off base.
Other Notes
Yohandy Morales righted his ship with a 9-for-23 week at the plate and is positioning himself for a final-week cameo with Rochester before he is likely the Red Wings' first baseman in 2025...Jeremy de la Rosa appears to be Spanish for Joey Gallo - he struggles to make contact (3-for 20, 7 strikeouts) but also walks a lot (5) and hits the ball hard when he does put lumber to leather. Two of his three hits left the yard...Daylen Lile had an off-week in that he didn't walk once (although he was plunked), although he did collect seven singles...Tyler Schoff, who only returned from injury a few weeks ago, struck out four in four scoreless appearances...Kyle Luckham has struggled since returning from Rochester - I like him but I'm not sure why he got that call over Lara...if nothing else, Chase Solesky will provide solid minor league depth - it's hard to believe that the White Sox just let him go.
Roster Moves
Robert Hassell III was promoted to AAA Rochester yesterday, and from the timing it appears that this likely would have happened much earlier if he had not spent two months on the shelf (he certainly would have beaten Andrew Pinckney, who as I correctly predicted got off to a strong start at the level, going 7-for-24 with a bomb in his first week there). Hassell will have a chance to show that he can at least become a quality fourth outfielder (the roster fit is perfect for him to be the lefty bench OF) in Rochester most of next year. He only turned 23 a couple of weeks ago.
Coming Up
The Senators will go on the road for the final time this season with their second trip to Bowie to face the Bay Sox. They have yet to announce a starter for tomorrow, which could be for no particular reason or could be because Lara is headed north. Bowie is currently just two games above Harrisburg in the division.
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