Well, it didn’t happen in the first game in his new organization, but hitting two home runs in your second game isn’t so bad. And that’s just what Noelvi Marte did on Thursday night in Dayton. The home runs almost went to the same exact spot, too, landing in the area beyond the wall in left-center where the Dragons keep their portable batting cage for batting practice. The second one went a little bit further and was a little closer to the pavilion, but was pretty close to the same spot the first one went.
The two home runs last night gave Noelvi Marte 17 home runs on the year after he hit 15 of them for Everett, the Seattle Mariners High-A affiliate before he was traded to Cincinnati.
Wednesday night wasn’t just Noelvi Marte cracking two home runs, though. TJ Friedl also hit two home runs on Wednesday, though he hit one in each game of the Louisville Bats doubleheader.
TJ Friedl has been on fire since the start of July. In 83 plate appearance since the start of the month he has hit .351/.383/.571 with nine extra-base hits and six stolen bases. He started out slow in Triple-A this year, hitting under .200 in April and May (22 combined games), but has really turned things around and is now sporting a .277/.363/.492 line on the season with 8 home runs in 56 games. That’s the second best home run season he’s had in his career (12 last season in 113 games with Louisville).
Other Tidbits from around the minors
Allan Cerda has been to the plate eight times in the last two nights and he’s gone 6-6 with 2 walks. From July 16th through August 1st he went 1-36 with 3 walks. That’s one way to bust out of a slump.
Luis Mey is one of the hardest throwers in the farm system, if not the hardest thrower. In his appearance last night in St. Lucie against the Mets he threw four pitches between 101 and 102 MPH. The 21-year-old is still developing, and on the season his numbers aren’t looking great. He’s got a 6.48 ERA in 33.1 innings with 21 walks and 45 strikeouts. But there’s more to the story here. In his first 15 appearances this year he posted a 9.37 ERA with 14 walks and 24 strikeouts in 16.1 innings for Daytona. In his next 13 appearances (June 8th through today) he’s posted a 3.71 ERA with 7 walks and 21 strikeouts in 17.0 innings.
Javi Rivera started that game last night for Daytona in St. Lucie. He allowed a run in 5.0 innings as he lowered his ERA to 2.81 on the season. Last year’s 20th rounder has been good all season, but he’s been downright filthy in his 10 games since June began. He’s thrown 38.2 innings (Daytona has spent much of the year with a piggy-back starting system which is keeping innings lower for everyone on the pitching staff) in that stretch while posting a 1.86 ERA and holding hitters to a .164/.238/.246 line. He’s also walked just 11 batters and racked up 51 strikeouts in that time.


