- Juan Mercedes makes his fifth start of the season...last pitched on Friday in Springfield earning his first win of the year...held the Cardinals to a run on four hits over 5.2 IP and tied a season hi with 5 Ks...made first two starts of the year against Tulsa surrendering just one earned run in each with a total of 10 strikeouts
- Mercedes has not faced San Antonio in any of his 17 games in the Texas League
- Juan finished last season with Arkansas making 12 appearances (10 starts) going 2-1 with a 6.60 ERA in 46.1 IP...had multiple stints on the IL...best start was 5/20 at Wichita surrendering just a run over six innings with seven hits, a walk and seven Ks...1st 4 games with Arkansas: 21 IP, 17 K, 5 BB, 3.43 ERA
- Opened the 2023 season at High-A Everett...went 1-0 with a 3.43 ERA in 21 innings with 30 Ks, five BB and a .253 OBA in four starts
- Spent the majority of 2022 as a starter at Everett where he was 7-8 with a 4.51 ERA in 107.2 innings over 22 games (21 starts) with 124 strikeouts and 30 walks...also pitched three times (one start) with Tacoma posting a 6.30 ERA in 10 inning and once for Modesto (4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, ER, 2 BB, 7 K)...set career highs with seven innings pitched and 10 strikeouts on 5/31/22 vs. Eugene...matched the seven IP on 6/17 and 8/12 and also struck out 10 on 6/28
- Pitched out of the Modesto bullpen in 2021 throwing 63.1 innings 34 outings with 88 strikeouts, 17 walks and a 5.54 ERA
- Did not pitch during the summer of 2020 due to the cancelled minor league season...split the 2019 season between Modesto and Everett tossing 45.2 innings over 11 games (four starts)...went 3-4 with a 5.12 ERA while striking out 30, walking only five...made stateside debut in 2018 pitching twice in the AZL
- 24-year old signed with Seattle shortly after turning 17 and made his pro debut in the summer of 2017...hails from Villa Tapia, Dominican Republic
LEADING OFF--The Travs and Missions play game five of their series.
LAST TIME OUT--Arkansas and San Antonio split a doubleheader on Friday night at Dickey-Stephens Park with the visitors taking the first game, 4-3 and the home squad winning the nightcap, 14-2...the Travs nearly came back from four runs down in game one leaving at least the tying run on base in each of the final three innings...an eight run first inning put Arkansas in command of the second game early and then a pair of three-run frames later piled more on.
DRIVEN BY FORD--21-year old Harry Ford has finding his stride... reached base six times in last night’s doubleheader including all four trips to the plate in the second game...has hit in 11 consecutive contests putting up a .425/.566/.850slash line in that time...has drawn 2+ walks in six games...blasted his first home runs at Dickey-Stephens Park last night.
LOCKED IN--First baseman Tyler Locklear is clicking on all cylinders...over the last 10 games he is 14-35 with eight walks for a .400/.543/.543 slash line...he has five doubles and five runs batted in in that time.
TALE OF TWO HALVES--Arkansas has fared well early in games this season but struggled in the late innings...from the 1st to the 5th, the Travs have outscored their opponents by 31 runs...from the 6th inning on though, they are minus-6 in run differential.
GONE STREAKING--The Travs produced a seven game win streak from April 11-18 and finished April on a five game winning streak...the franchise had not had a month with two winning streak of at least five games since June of 2011 (also five and seven).
LEVEL UP--11 Travs made their Double-A debuts in the season opening series...headlining that group are the Mariners top two prospects INF Cole Young and C Harry Ford who are ranked 34th and 35th overall in baseball by mlb.com as well as RHP Logan Evans, drafted just last season who made the Opening Night start for the club.
LIKING IT CLOSE--11 of the club’s 25 games have been decided by three runs or less including two games in this series...Arkansas is 4-4 in one-run games and 7-4 in all games with margins of three or fewer.
PROSPECTING--The Travelers active roster is populated with six of the Mariners top 30 prospects based on the MLB.com rankings... topping the list are INF Cole Young, top ranked in the system and #34 overall in baseball and C Harry Ford, second ranked in the system and #35 overall...also among Seattle’s top 30 are 1B Tyler Locklear (8), RHP Logan Evans (19), OF Alberto Rodriguez (22) and LHP Reid VanScoter (30).
ON A MISSION--The San Antonio Missions (San Diego Padres) are currently in third place in the TL South...split a six game set at home with Wichita last week...their pitching staff ranks third in the league in ERA and second in strikeouts...led by manager Luke Montz in his second year with the club...Padres are ranked by MLB.com as having the 4th best farm system in baseball...on San Antonio’s active roster, six players are ranked among San Diego’s top 30 prospects...LHP Robby Snelling tops that group at #3 in the Padres system and #33 overall in baseball...other Missions ranked on San Diego’s list include RHP Adam Mazur (#6), RHP Ryan Bergert (#8), LHP Austin Krob (#11), RHP Victor Lizarraga (#12) and C Brandon Valenzuela (#13)...also on San Antonio’s roster is OF Robert Perez, Jr. who played for the Travs last season.
- Bryan Woo makes his 9th start of the season and at the Double-A level...started on Tuesday and took the loss despite allowing just two runs over five innings... did have a season high in walks (3) and a season low in strikeouts (4)...picked up his second straight win on 5/17 in Wichita dealing a strong six innings (7 H, R, BB, 10 K, HR)...threw a career-best seven innings (on only 74 pitches) in a shutout effort on 5/11 vs. NW Arkansas giving up just two hits while striking out seven and earning his first win of the season...retired the first 18 hitters of that game before an surrendering an infield hit to start the 7th inning...pitched on 5/5 at Springfield and was saddled with the loss (4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K, HR)...dominated Tulsa on 4/29 authoring five shutout innings with eight strikeouts while giving up just one hit...made Double-A debut in home opener on 4/11 throwing four shutout innings (H, BB, 7 K)
- Woo also faced Frisco on 4/22 and took no decision after a solid four innings of work...gave up just one run on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts
- Bryan was named Texas League Pitcher of the Week for May 8-14...threw career best 7 IP in win vs. NWA (2 H, 7 K)...retired first 18 hitters of the game
- Split last season between High-A Everett, Class-A Modesto and the Arizona Complex League...was held out of game action until June...pitched three times for the ACL Mariners (5.2 innings)...made six starts for Modesto going 0-1 with a 3.98 ERA over 20.1 innings with 29 strikeouts and six walks...made seven starts with Everett to close out regular season posting a 1-3 record with a 4.78 ERA...struck out 46 and walked 16 in 32 innings...earned first pro win on 8/2/22 with Everett vs. Hillsboro giving up just an unearned run on four hits over five innings with a walk and five strikeouts...struck out a career best 11 on 8/19/22 in a six inning start vs. Vancouver and earned Northwest League Pitcher of the Week honors for that performance
- Closed his 2022 campaign by pitching in the Arizona Fall League making five starts for the Peoria Javelinas making up for lost innings during the season... allowed just one run over his 10.2 innings of work in the Fall League...took home an AFL Pitcher of the Week Award as well
- Did not pitch in 2021 after being drafted...sat out while recovering from UCL replacement (Tommy John) surgery on his right elbow at the end of April
- Started just six of 31 games in college over three years at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo with an cumulative ERA of 6.36
- 23-year old is a native of Alameda, California...went to Alameda High School and was named the West Alameda County Conference MVP