The Flyers played 7 games this week, including 3 against Brooklyn and 4 against Cham City. Coming into this week, Charlotte had a record of 3-4 against the Robins and a record of 4-2 against the Jimmies on the season.
After the Flyers lost Sunday’s game to Brooklyn they needed to find a way to turn things around. Josh Clark put on a solid performance on Monday, leaving the game with a 5-3 lead after 5 innings. The bullpen was unable to hold the lead, giving up 2 runs over the next 4 innings as the Robins tied the game and sent it to extra innings. Jim Thompson held Brooklyn scoreless in the top of the 10th to set the stage for Tadataka Yoshikawa to send the fans home happy with a 1 out walk-off home run. Charlotte won it 6-5.
The next game featured a tough start by Andres Gonzales who is being shifted back to the bullpen after his recent struggles and the team’s acquisition of Juan Marroquin. It was 5-0 when Gonzales left the game and the offense couldn’t find a rhythm as the Robins won 6-2.
The final game against Brooklyn featured Marroquin’s first start for Charlotte. The first pitch he threw was hit for a triple, and it went downhill from there. Better days surely are ahead for the veteran but he allowed 7 runs in 2.2 innings. The offense picked him up, though, as they came back from a 9-4 deficit to win the game 11-9.
The Flyers then headed to Charm City for their 4 game set with the Jimmies. Little Johnny Rasmussen got hit hard in the opener, allowing 6 runs on 2 home runs as Charlotte came up short in a 7-3 loss.
Game 2 of the series was closer, but Charm City pulled off a 4-3 win with a strong pitching performance by Allen Davidson
The 3rd game was a high scoring, back and forth affair in which the Jimmies tied the game up with 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th. In the top of the 10th, Yoshikawa hit his 2nd extra innings game winning home run of the week and the Flyers won the game 8-7.
The final game of the series and the week featured home runs by Yoshikawa and Victor Frazier as the Flyers powered past the Jimmies 9-3 to earn a series split.
We wrote recently about injuries to Robert Menzies and Andy Bishop. Having the two men who have played the majority of the innings this year at shortstop out at the same time led the team to make a trade to acquire veteran defensive standout Elvan Masuki. The new shortstop debuted for Charlotte this week, playing in 6 games, hitting .360, and driving in 4 runs. Oddly enough, he made two errors in the field. I would expect him to settle in defensively as he gets used to his new team.
Another major injury occurred on Sunday. First baseman Manny Toledo suffered a high ankle sprain and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season. Toledo has been a strong force in the middle of the lineup all year and will be missed. He ends the season with a slash line of .286/.360/.472 with 21 home runs, 79 RBI, and 2.7 WAR. His presence will be missed. How will the Flyers deal with that lost production?
One possibility is that they just deal with it for a week or so while Menzies is on a rehab stint in Richmond starting Monday, possibly putting Yoshikawa at 1B and utilizing their extra depth in the outfield to whether the storm, then maybe using Menzies at SS, Masuki at 2B, and Dallas Dixon at 1B as a possible defensive alignment. Or maybe Menzies plays some games at DH to protect his health.
Another option could be that the team promotes someone from the minor leagues to play a role down the stretch. Some possible players who could be considered would be Jacquot Natta or Jorge Bodzan who can play 1B or possible Jorge Trujillo who would likely fit in as more of a DH with the possibility that he could play a few innings in left field if needed. Trujillo has the best offensive numbers in AAA and Bodzan has performed well in his short time there. Natta seems like a bit of a long shot to be brought up now. He has had some nice stretches offensively but has not put it together consistently yet.
The other possibility is that they make a last minute deal to bring in another bat before the deadline at the end of this week.