Louisville Bats Notes: April 25

BATS GO FOR SERIES WIN IN MORNING AGAINST KNIGHTS: The Bats and Knights square off in the final game of a three-game series Wednes­day at 11:00 a.m. Louisville looks to win its second series this season, with its first series victory this season coming against Columbus at Louisville Slugger Field from April 9-11, taking two of three from the Clippers. The Bats' offense will face a tough opposing starting pitcher in right-hander Michael Kopech, who's listed as the Chicago White Sox #2 overall prospect.

REHABBERS' DELIGHT: Reds infielder Eugenio Suárez began a Major League rehab assignment with Class AAA Louisville on Tuesday night, batting third in the lineup and playing third base. He reached base safely in 3 of his 4 plate appearances, going 1-for-2 with a double and two walks. Suarez is the fifth Reds player to make a rehab appearance with the Bats in 2018, joining LHP Brandon Finnegan , OF Scott Schebler and RHPs David Hernandez and Kevin Shackelford . Before last night, Suarez had last ap­peared with the Bats in 2015, appearing in 57 games and hitting .256 with 30 runs, 9 doubles, 2 triples, 8 home runs, 25 RBI and 3 stolen bases in his Louisville career.
EVERY ROSELL HAS ITS THORN?: Bats outfielder/infielder Rosell Her­rera has proven to be an excellent minor league free agent signing for the Reds, appearing in several categories on the IL leaderboard coming into play Wednesday. Last night, Herrera went 3-for-5 with his team-leading third home run of the season. He currently leads the International League with a .649 slugging percentage, 10 extra-base hits and 37 total bases. Herrera's also appeared at 6 different positions for the Bats this season: CF, RF, LF, 3B, SS and 2B. Last night, he hit a home run and stole a base in the same game, the first time a Bat has done that since Brandon Dixon on September 3, 2017 at Columbus.
ELIZALDE HEATING UP: Sebastian Elizalde went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer in the seventh inning of last night's 5-1 win over the Charlotte Knights. He's now registered multi-hit games in back-to-back games, raising his batting average from .237 to .289 on the season in the process. The 2017 Mary E. Barney Louisville Bats MVP winner is tied with Rosell Herrera for most RBI on the team with 10.
BATS IN THE MORNING: Last season, the Bats went 2-2 in games that started before noon, 1-1 at home and 1-1 at Toledo. In 2016, the Bats went 4-2 in morning games, 3-0 at Louisville Slugger Field.
SCHOFIELD NAMED INTERIM MANAGER: The Cincinnati Reds an­nounced Friday that Dick Schofield has been named interim manager for the Louisville Bats. Schofield, who was serving as Louisville's bench coach, replaces Pat Kelly , who managed the first 10 games of the 2018 season for Louisville, compiling a 4-6 record. Kelly was recently promoted to Major League bench coach for the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds also announced Darren Bragg will take over Schofield's previous role as Louisville's bench coach. Bragg is in his 12th season in the organization and was in his 10th as outfield coordinator at the time of his transfer to Louisville.
BATS SET ATTENDANCE RECORD ON SATURDAY: The Bats wel­comed 14,658 fans to Louisville Slugger Field in Saturday's 8-5 victory over the Syracuse Chiefs for "Thunder at Slugger Day". Newly acquired right-hander Zach Neal got the win in his first game in a Louisville uniform, joining Zack Weiss (4/7) and Justin Nicolino (4/10) as pitchers to win in their LOU debuts this season. The record crowd broke the previous record of 14,331 fans set on April 23, 2016, also "Thunder at Slugger Day".