Somerset And New Hampshire Series Preview
Bridgewater, New Jersey - The Somerset Patriots take on an American League East affiliate for the second consecutive week as they welcome the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays) to TD Bank Ballpark between May 3 and May 8.
Bridgewater, New Jersey - The Somerset Patriots take on an American League East affiliate for the second consecutive week as they welcome the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays) to TD Bank Ballpark between May 3 and May 8.
The Fisher Cats come into the series having lost four of six games against the Reading Fightin Phils at home this past week.
New Hampshire’s squad is bolstered by seven of the Blue Jays’ top 30 prospects, including the No. 2 player in the farm system, Orelvis Martinez. The 20-year-old was an MiLB.com Organization All-Star in 2021 after batting .261 with 28 home runs and 87 RBI on the season. Martinez has started this season hitting .188 through 17 games with six homers and 10 RBI, ranking third in the Eastern League for home runs.
The No. 29 prospect in the Blue Jays organization, Tanner Morris, has also been shining with the Fisher Cats, batting .281 to go along with three home runs and five RBI. Morris was originally a fifth-round draft choice in 2019 and hit .285 with five homers and 57 RBI in High-A Vancouver last season. The shortstop has hit 8-for-19 in his last six games, drawing five walks and scoring six times.
Somerset has had a successful start to the 12-game homestand, taking five of six games over the Portland Sea Dogs. The Patriots now hold a three game lead in first place of the Eastern league and boast the league’s best team ERA (2.55) and scoring offense (111 runs).
Underlined by Jhony Brito’s one-hit performance on Sunday, Somerset pitchers allowed just nine runs in the entire Portland series and struck out 69 batters. For his efforts, Brito was named the Eastern league Pitcher of the Week. He currently ranks second in the league in ERA (0.89) and has thrown a team-high 20.1 innings.
The bats made noise during the week as well, scoring 33 runs and blasting 10 home runs in six games. Andres Chaparro was responsible for three homers and five RBI in that span, batting 5-for-18 overall. The No. 1 prospect in the Yankees organization, Anthony Volpe, also impressed at the plate, hitting 6-for-20, walking five times, and batting in six runs, including a solo home run, over the course of the series. Volpe increased his batting average by 40 points during the week and now leads the team in RBI (13), stolen bases (7) and walks (14).