Ben Wereski struck out eight in Louisville’s win, Ruben Ibarra hit two home runs for Chattanooga in their season finale, and Dayton was shut out in the opening game of the Midwest League championship series.
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The Louisville Bats won 6-4. Box Score
- Orlando Arcia went 3-4 with an RBI.
- Francisco Urbaez went 2-4 with a double, home run (7), 2 runs, and 2 RBI.
- P.J. Higgins went 1-3 with a run, HBP, and an RBI.
- Garrett Hampson went 1-2 with a double, HBP, and 2 runs.
- Dominic Pitelli went 2-2 with 2 RBI and a steal.
- Ben Wereski allowed a run in 5.0 innings with a walk and 8 strikeouts.
- Hunter Parks threw a shutout inning with a strikeout.
Game Notes
The Bats picked up a win in their final home game of the year. They won five of the six games in the series over Columbus after the lost 11 of their previous 13 games. Next week they will wrap up their season with a 6-game road series in Toledo.
Orlando Arcia is 8-15 in the last four games, driving in five runs and adding in a walk to go with just one strikeout during that span.
After a 4-43 stretch to end the month of August, Francisco Urbaez has turned things back around in September where he’s hit .294/.333/.559 in eight games this month. He’s had hits in seven of those games and multiple hits in the last two games.
Ben Wereski’s eight strikeouts were a season high for him in Triple-A this season. He had nine strikeouts in his third and final start in Double-A earlier in the season.
Top Pitch Velocity: Zach Maxwell – 99.8 MPH (strike)
Top Exit Velocity: Francisco Urbaez – 108.5 MPH (groundout)
Furthest Hit Baseball: Francisco Urbaez – 397 feet (home run)
The Chattanooga Lookouts lost 12-9. Box Score
- Carlos Sanchez went 3-5 with a home run (16).
- Michael Trautwein went 2-4 with 2 runs.
- Cade Hunter went 1-4 with a double, home run (8), 3 runs, and 2 RBI.
- Ruben Ibarra went 4-5 with a double, 2 home runs (25), 3 runs, and 4 RBI.
- Cam Collier went 2-4 with an RBI.
- Austin Hendrick went 1-5 with an RBI.
- Stephen Quigley threw 1.2 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts.
- Bryce Hubbart threw 1.1 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts.
Game Notes
This was the final game of the season for the Lookouts.
Ruben Ibarra hit 25 home runs with Chattanooga this season, setting a new career high in home runs as he surpassed the 21 he had hit last year with the Lookouts. He closed out the season strong, hitting .288/.381/.603 with six home runs, 17 runs scored, and 18 RBI in the final 19 games of the season.
Carlos Sanchez had 12 games with Dayton with at least three hits (69 games). His 3-hit game on Sunday was just his second with Chattanooga (58 games).
Cade Hunter hit .440/.548/.600 in the first seven games of the year. In the 70 games between then and September 2nd he hit .186/.296/.294. He then closed out the season by hitting .370/.433/.704 in the final seven games of the season.
After missing the final week of April, then all of May through August, Michael Trautwein returned from the injured list on September 3rd and got on base in all five games he played in with Chattanooga, going 5-18 (.278) with five walks (.458 OBP).
The Dayton Dragons lost 4-0. Box Score
- Ty Doucette went 2-4 with a double.
- John Michael Faile went 1-4.
- Ryan McCrystal went 1-3 with a walk and a steal.
- Damian Ruiz went 1-2 with a walk and a steal.
- Kyle Henley went 1-3.
- David Lorduy threw 1.2 hitless innings with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts.
- Edgar Colon threw 3.0 hitless innings with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.
Game Notes
Dayton dropped the first game of the Midwest League championship series in this one. The best-of-three series will take off Monday and then resume in Dayton on Tuesday and if needed, Wednesday.
Ryan McCrystal has eight hits through four playoff games, hitting .533/.563/.733 with a stolen base and three runs scored.
Ty Doucette is now 5-15 (.333) in the playoffs with a double, two walks, and no strikeouts.
Top 25 Prospect Rundown
9/14 Game Preview
| Team | Record | Time (ET) | Probable | Box Score | Listen | Watch |
| Louisville | 64-78 | OFF | DAY | Here | Here | Here |
| Chattanooga | 59-79 | OFF | DAY | Here | Here | Here |
| Dayton | 0-1 | OFF | DAY | Here | Here | Here |
| Daytona | 58-73 | Season | Complete | Here | Here | Here |
| ACL Reds | 35-24 | Season | Complete | Here | N/A | N/A |
| DSL Reds | 36-19 | Season | Complete | Here | N/A | N/A |
| DSL Rojos | 24-31 | Season | Complete | Here | N/A | N/A |
Could we possibly see Ty Doucette start 2027 in AA and Carter Graham in AAA? Would open up 1B in Dayton for Levu. Thinking about it more so in the fact that The Douce might just be ready for AA though.
I think so, at least for Graham and Doucette.
Graham should be accelerated to continue seeing how well he hits more advanced pitching. Doucette may not have much more to prove in A ball.
Levu, on the other hand, hasn’t done much. He’s not striking out much and is walking, but isn’t really hitting at all. That may or may not mean anything more than a hitch in his step getting oriented to pro ball. But they can go with Davies at 1B with Cano helping out until Levu starts hitting the 22 year olds, his peers, in the FSL. That might be out of spring training or mid-season. His draft spot will get him opportunities.
1B Davies
2B Alcantara
SS Becker
3B Lewis
Utl Cano, Torres
C Catcher Of The Month Club
LF Neville, Hairston
CF Henley
RF Lantigua, Ruiz
I think Brady Neal will probably handle most of the catching duties. I hope they’re able to find enough at-bats for Henley, Ruiz and Torres without cutting into the playing time of Jalen Hairston and Arnaldo Lantigua.
Hairston and Lantigua need to be priorities over the other three.
Did you mean Neville or another OF, re playing time in the OF, Stock?
(I was thinking of Rafhlmil Torres, the infielder).
I agree Hairston starts over Neville just as Lantigua starts over Ruiz in RF. I actually just listed them by seniority.
Pineda may/may not still be around, too. And who knows what is happening with Bernard Moon, who seems to have vanished into the desert.
Carlos Sanchez’ power this year has been a pleasant surprise, even with the juiced ball.
His history in full season ball has been to struggle in his first go-round, then improve.
2024, A, FSL .210/.356/.233
2025, A, FSL .308/.429/.449
2025, Hi A, ML .244/.320/.373
2026, Hi A, ML .313/.409/.504
2026, AA, SL .214/.335/.358
2027, AA, SL TBD
Next season will once again be a good proving ground for Carlos. He’s interesting because he does seem to meet the challenge. I look forward to his 2027. He might have his world turned upside down a little, as they will play Lebron at SS once he reaches Sanchez’ level, even with his reported defensive improvements at short. I’d think he’s a candidate to get some 2B training as well as more practice at 3B this winter, even with Collier seemingly anchored there. Maybe back to CF.
I do think they’ll find a way to keep him in the lineup. He’s shown he can hit, and now with more power (he can actually hit the ball a long way).
Ricky Cabrera s going to be somewhere.
I sure hope he is. It’s got to be terrible for the poor kid. Two years is a long time to be off the field.
It’ll be hard for him to get much time ahead of Lewis and presumedly Cano at 3B, or Alcantara and Torres at 2B. But maybe he can DH a bunch or play some 1B if Doucette starts at AA. Just at least until promotions happen, such as Lewis or Becker moving up and clearing space.