News & Transactions: Opening Day, Home Run Derby, Nolan, Rios, Capra, Pugh and Allen

Frontier League Journal
6 min readMay 27, 2021

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Do I need to state the obvious for you, Frontier League fans?

It… Is… Opening Day!!!

We’ve all been waiting a long time for this and the show begins tonight with a slate of seven games. For those of you interested in watching every game this season, Frontier League TV has got you covered.

The camps have ended. The stakes are high for most of those players. Executives, employees and interns around the league are putting up the finishing touches to their ballparks. Players will be on the field early.

And the Frontier League Journal is ready to rock.

Around noon, later today, expect a post on this site about the upcoming games, including projected starters for tonight and a few takes about the day / series / season. Just good old fun writing about the game of baseball.

NEWS

Home Run Derby in the Frontier League

  • Équipe Québec published a news item on their site (French), yesterday night, that officially talked for the first time about the new Home Run Derby being put in place at the end of tied games, although the info has been circulating for a few weeks. So far, no official communication had been released on the official site of the Frontier League and no other teams had put out a document stating the changes.

I translated the whole thing and you can follow this link to get the exact rules dictating the 10th and 11th inning.

For games tied after nine innings (or even seven innings in the case of a doubleheader), the 10th / 8th round will be played according to the international tie-breaking rules (runner on second base). If the game remains tied after the conclusion of an inning under international tie-breaker rules, the game will be decided by a Home Run Derby which will consist of an inning including three batters who will each receive eight pitches. If there is still no winner, overtime will continue with a fourth batter until there is a winner.

PRESS REVIEW

Note: With pay walls on almost every news site that covers the teams around the Frontier League, this section of my coverage will dry up a bit. It definitely makes my job easier and quicker, but I enjoyed doing that, if only to give some more info to fans and make sure knew what was said around the league. What I’ll do instead is produce short video interviews with media from around the league to get a feel of what’s going on in their respective market.

Schaumburg prepares for baseball after a year off

Eric Peterson of the Daily Herald spoke to Schaumburg Boomers GM Michael Larson about live streaming and what fans can expect at the ballpark during the COVID restrictions:

Though the season will begin with a mask-wearing requirement for fans not seated, there may be changes to protocols at the ballpark over the course of the summer, if appropriate. More concession stand windows and variations of menu items — such as nacho toppings — may also become available as the need for streamlining of operations lessens.

Probably the greatest logistical challenge of reopening after the pandemic is the inability to use old indicators to anticipate walk-up ticket sales or the amount of food and beverages to stock, Larson said. But he expects to have more up-to-date indicators for the rest of the season by the time this weekend’s homestand is over.

Another new aspect to this season is the Frontier League’s online streaming package for every game. The Boomers have installed five cameras with 4K resolution, though Larson asked fans to allow them a few games before passing judgment on the live webcasts.

Thunderbolts manager talks baseball

Windy City Thunderbolts’ Media Relations Director, Terry Bonadonna, took 30 minutes to talk to the team’s manager, Brian Smith, about the 2021 roster. Great stuff.

Équipe Québec

May 26: Right-handed starter Alex Nolan is going back to the Blue Jays organization.

May 26: Signed RHP Austin Hutchison after being acquired in the trade with the New York Boulders. Here’s what I wrote about him when it was announced:

That’s a huge acquisition for manager Patrick Scalabrini, because his rotation needed that kind of anchor and he now gets an inning-eater that commands his pitches and controls the strike zone. I’m even more surprised that it comes as a move between division rivals. The Atlantic Division of the Can-Am Conference will be really competitive, so that sort of edge could really have an impact in the long run.

Hutchison reached AAA in the Seattle Mariners organization (3.68 ERA in three seasons of affiliated ball), so the adjustment to the Frontier League level of competition should actually make him a bit more efficient. He joins in the rotation Alex Nolan, Nick Economos, Frankie Moscatiello and Mitch Neunborn (when he gets back from his country’s national team camp — Australia).

May 26: Signed INF Andres Rios, a right-handed batter who seems to have impressed enough during the camp to crack the Opening Day roster. He mainly plays up the middle and with Gift Ngoepe firmly entrenched as the shortstop, expect him to play a lot of 2B while David Glaude will see action at 1B while some players are away to their national teams for the olympics or rehabbing after injuries. I’m interested in seeing what Rios has to offer at the bat, being not overly massive at 5'10", 175 lbs (according to Baseball-Reference), but with the ability to do everything (contact, get on base and power) as his .784 OPS in 274 AB in pro ball shows.

May 26: Released catcher Miguel Molina and catcher Cole Warken.

Florence Y’alls

May 26: Released RHP Pete Perez and LHP Scott Sebald.

Gateway Grizzlies

May 26: Placed RHP Paul Young on the 7-day injured list. Placed RHP Erik Kaiser on the 14-day injured list.

May 26: Released OF Breland Almadova, C/1B Nick Gatewood, and C/OF Justin Lamazares.

Joliet Slammers

May 26: Released OF Eric Jenkins, RHP Alex Jorgensen, and catcher Patrick Sheehan.

Lake Erie Crushers

May 26: Placed catcher John Cable on the 7-day injured list.

May 26: Released INF Brian Dansereau and INF Jordan Hovey.

New Jersey Jackals

May 26: Released INF Andrew Dundon, INF Tyler Reis, and catcher Zak Whalin.

New York Boulders

May 26: Signed catcher Phil Capra to a contract extension. Seems legit, since he is a switch-hitter who can play multiple positions and can really hit the heck out of the ball. Can’t wait to see him in action! Expect him to share duties behind the plate with Marcus Mastrobuoni.

May 26: Traded RHP Jordan Scott to the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League for a player to be named later.

Schaumburg Boomers

May 26: Placed RHP Anthony Guardado on the 14-day injured list.

Southern Illinois Miners

May 26: Signed LHP Jake Allen after he was released from the New Jersey Jackals a few days ago.

May 26: Signed OF Brandon Pugh who had just been released from the Florence Y’alls. Florence already had their speedster, Rodney Tennie, so it seems Pugh became expandable. Pugh is electric from the left side of the plate, I really like this signing for the Miners; they’ll have a great pinch runner / defensive replacement if he is not already at the top of the starting lineup. Look for him to steal a lot of bases in 2021.

May 26: Placed LHP Gunnar Kines on the 7-day list. We’re fortunate to see him gone for only 7 days, because this starter is really, really good. The Miners have arguably the best rotation in the league.

May 26: Placed RHP Saul De La Cruz and RHP Blake Stelzner on the 14-day injured list.

May 26: Placed RHP Garrett Westburg on the inactive list.

May 26: Released RHP Wes Noble and catcher Fernando Villegas.

Sussex County Miners

May 26: Signed RHP Maddux Conger after trading for him a few days ago. Here’s what I wrote about him, then:

2018 draft pick of the Detroit Tigers and a former Vanderbilt Commodore. He throws a four-seam and two-seam fastball, a slider (almost a slurve, by his own admission) and a change up. He likes to get ahead in the count with his fastball and mix in the slider.

May 26: Released OF Nick Adgar and OF Tyler Benson.

May 26: Placed OF Antoine Mistico on the inactive list.

Tri-City ValleyCats

May 26: Placed RHP Turner Larkins on the 14-day injured list. Placed LHP Onas Farfan on the 7-day injured list.

May 26: Released RHP Dylan Davis.

Washington Wild Things

May 26: Placed INF Nick Ward on the 7-day injured list.

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Frontier League Journal
Frontier League Journal

Written by Frontier League Journal

Written and video journal of my full immersion into the Frontier League universe / Journal écrit et vidéo de mon immersion dans l’univers de la Frontier League

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