Gillstrom Twins Blitz FL Pitching
A couple years ago, no one would have projected that Andy McKinney and Jose Machado, at 25 and 24 years old, respectively, would have been riding the option rails between Yellow Springs and Indianapolis this year. At one point, the two had won back-to-back Gillstrom awards, and looked like they were going to be fixtures in left and right field for the next decade. As such, they struck up a good friendship.
That was before Ricardo Mendoza arrived, of course, and before odd slumps dropped the two’s value to some degree. McKinney was the first to see time in Indianapolis this year, Machado the second. Only over the past week of September call-up time have the two been on the roster at the same time, and suddenly they seem to be making the most of it.
September 1, Machado arrived and drilled Nashville for a pair of homers and a walk in four at bats. On the 5th, both hitters chipped in doubles, and Machado went 2-3 as the team beat Seattle. And a day later, McKinney collected a pair of doubles and a walk in three plate appearances to beat the Storm again. Add in the fact that Mendoza was 6-for-17 with three homers on the week, and you’ve got a pretty stellar set of corner outfielders blazing away on all cylinders.
“It’s great to have a wheel like that to fall back on,” said manager Bill Inkster. “We’ll keep playing them in a cycle where they each get two days on and then a day off throughout the rest of the year, I’d guess.” He was noncommittal when asked about playoff rosters. “That’s a long way in the future,” he said.
YS9 Outfield Clogged?
It’s an interesting problem to have when it comes down to it. The Nine outfield is so densely populated that they had the capacity to trade two prospects to bring Luis Costello in from Hawaii—which really didn’t solve the traffic jam. Costello, a right handed bat joined Machado, McKinney, Mendoza, and fellow RH bats Jim Des Jardien and John Ginn to cram the team with quality players. Given that he’s on his last year prior to free agency, and that Ginn is prepping for his last year of arbitration, one has to wonder if one or the other might well be gone from the team come November. Still, that’s a problem for another time, one supposes. The Nine are charging their way through the field right now, and hold a magic number of 10 games to ensure they take their third-straight Heartland Division title (which would be their 7th in the last decade).
More important to Machado and McKinney, they are charging through the field together.
“He’s a good guy,” McKinney says of Machado—whose reputation around the clubhouse is spotty in a good way. “Ever since he’s been here, all guys have been finding their socks are missing, or their grease-sticks are empty. A couple days ago, he put yellow food coloring in mayonnaise and swapped it out in the mustard bottle. Tai (rookie call up Tai hoi Zhu) used a big squirt of it on his sausage sandwich. You should have seen the look on his face.” McKinney smiled. “That’s Macho for you. It was kind of nice to get laughing again.”
