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Fayetteville Field Report August 11th, 2022

By Andrew Chapman & Colin Casey
August 11, 2022

Now beyond the 100 game mark of the 2022 season, catch up with the latest from down on the diamond with some of the biggest stories surrounding the Woodpeckers over the past couple of weeks. LOPERFIDO ON THE MOVE Woodpeckers OF/IF Joey Loperfido had a huge series against the Carolina

Now beyond the 100 game mark of the 2022 season, catch up with the latest from down on the diamond with some of the biggest stories surrounding the Woodpeckers over the past couple of weeks.

LOPERFIDO ON THE MOVE

Woodpeckers OF/IF Joey Loperfido had a huge series against the Carolina Mudcats, homering three times over a two-game stretch, and learned on July 30th that he has been promoted to High-A Asheville. He joins Quincy Hamilton, Kenedy Corona, and Miguel Palma as one of four 2022 Fayetteville position players to receive a promotion this season.

Loperfido had the fourth-highest batting average in the Carolina League (.304) at the time of his promotion and hit 9 home runs while driving in 45 runs. The former Duke Blue Devil was in the midst of one of his best stretches of his minor league career, slashing .343/.477/.714 with 3 HR and 8 RBI over his final ten games with the Woodpeckers.

MIGUEL ULLOLA NAMED ASTROS MINOR LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE MONTH

The Houston Astros announced Wednesday that Woodpeckers RHP Miguel Ullola was named the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July. Across four appearances and 16.2 IP, Ullola went 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA, allowing just one ER while striking out 25 and issuing just five total walks. The 20-year-old from the Dominican Republic is the second Woodpecker this season to earn a monthly award, joining Logan Cerny who was named the Astros Minor League Player of the Month in June.

Ullola has put up some of the best numbers of any Fayetteville arm in 2022, going 2-1 with a collective 2.70 ERA. He has also struck out 77 hitters over 50.0 innings pitched and is holding Carolina League hitters to a meager .155 batting average.

EASY EDINSON

Woodpeckers RHP Edinson Batista has not only been arguably the most effective pitcher on Fayetteville’s roster, but also one of the best arms in the entire Carolina League.

Batista owns a 7-3 record on the season with a 2.82 ERA, the fourth lowest among pitchers in the league to throw at least 75 innings. Of that group, Batista also has the lowest opponent batting average at a meager .182. Since May 30, he is 6-1 with a 2.17 ERA, striking out 56 batters compared to just 22 walks. The right-hander had one of his best starts of the season on July 28 against Carolina, going five shutout innings allowing just two hits and a pair of walks while striking out eight.

CERNY CHASING HISTORY

Logan Cerny is closing in on a couple of Fayetteville Woodpeckers franchise records. The power-hitting outfielder hit his team-leading 15th home run of the season on August 2nd against the Salem Red Sox, a swing that tied the single-season Woodpeckers record set by Jake Adams in 2019. Cerny also is now four home runs shy of JJ Matijevic’s 2018 total (19) with the Buies Creek Astros.

Cerny isn’t only rewriting the home run record book, but is also legging down a historical feat on the bases. On July 6, he passed Ronaldo Urdeneta for the most stolen bases in a single Woodpeckers season with his 24th steal. He has since upped his total to 35 on the year, only one base from tying Myles Straw’s 2017 season with Buies Creek, where he swiped 36 bags.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT

Ahead of last week’s series in Salem, the Woodpeckers added their first 2022 draft

pick to the roster. C/OF Collin Price, who was taken in the sixth round by the Houston Astros in last month’s draft, was called up from the Complex League. Price wrapped up his senior season at Mercer University earlier this year, hitting .315 with 18 home runs and 52 runs batted in for the Bears. Price hails from Suwanee, GA and went to Lambert High School, which coincidentally is the alma mater of former Fayetteville Woodpecker Seth Beer, who is now with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Price secured his first pro hit in his debut on August 2nd, and enjoyed a big performance the following night, going 2-for-5 with two doubles and 3 RBI. He has a hit in all six of his games played to this point and is slashing .409/.480/.500 over the first week with the Woodpeckers. We had a chance to catch up with Price during a recent edition of the Woodpeckers Pregame Show which can be heard HERE.

NEW KIDS IN TOWN

The Fayetteville Woodpeckers have made a series of roster moves, adding seven players from the Houston Astros 2022 draft class to the active roster. Headlining the new slate of players is Astros 1st round draft pick, outfielder Drew Gilbert, from the University of Tennessee.

Gilbert was selected with the 28th overall pick of the 2022 MLB Draft after a stellar junior season for the Vols, where he slashed .362/.455/.673 with 21 doubles, four triples, 11 home runs, 70 RBI and 60 runs scored. He made his professional debut with the Florida Complex League Astros last week, going 5-for-14 with a home run in his first game. He also scored five runs, walked three times and stole three bases over a four-game stretch.

The Woodpeckers are also adding outfielder Zach Cole, Houston’s 10th round draft pick out of Ball State University.

Plenty of infield depth joins Fayetteville as well with Zach Dezenzo (12th round, Ohio State), Jackson Loftin (13th round, Oral Roberts), Garrett McGowan (17th round, Pittsburg State), and Tommy Sacco (14th round, TCU) all receiving the call up from the Florida Complex League Astros.

Rounding out the group of new Woodpeckers is catcher Ryan Wrobleski, selected in the 20th round, out of Dallas Baptist University.