Tag: Jack Suwinski

Missions 2021 statistical notes on players like Jack Suwinski, Eguy Rosario, Reiss Knehr, Allen Cordoba, Esteury Ruiz

Esteury Ruiz slides into home with the San Antonio Missions' second run of the game in Tuesday's season-opening victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks. - photo by Joe Alexander
Esteury Ruiz slides into home with the Missions’ second run of the game on May 4 in the 2021 season-opening victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks.
Watching the local team’s star players move on is a part of minor league baseball that is fun, gratifying and frustrating.

One example of what the San Antonio Missions lost this season:

– Jack Suwinski led the team in home runs with 15. The 23-year-old outfielder was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization on July 26, so he was the Missions’ leader despite not being with the team for almost the last two months of the season.

More statistical notes:

– Eguy Rosario played more games in a Missions uniform than anyone else this summer at 114. Kyle Overstreet was second at 103.

– Rosario was second on the team in home runs with 12 and second in stolen bases with 30. Rosario was the Missions’ opening day second baseman and was with the team all summer, playing shortstop late in the season.

– Outfielder Esteury Ruiz led the Missions in stolen bases with 36.

– Infielder Allen Cordoba led the Missions in batting average at .299 (not including players who appeared in less than 10 games). Cordoba played in 74 games. He didn’t start playing until June 8.

– CJ Abrams entered the season as the Missions’ most highly regarded prospect. The 20-year-old shortstop was limited to only 42 games due to injuries. He finished second on the team in batting at .296, but went on the injured list for the second time on July 8 and didn’t play again.

– Adrian Martinez (7-3) led Missions pitchers in wins, led their starters in ERA (2.34) and was second in starts (13).

– Reiss Knehr was 6-1 in 11 starts before moving up to pitch for both the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas and San Diego Padres.

– Reliever Carlos Belen led the Missions staff in appearances with 39. Henry Henry (38), Nick Kuzia (37), Jose Quezada (35) and James Reeves (31) all had 30-plus appearances.

Some players were notable for what they did after they moved up.

– Jose Azocar played in 79 games for the Missions, mostly in center field. He batted .276 with nine home runs and six triples. He is batting .324 for El Paso, second on the team, and is currently leading the Triple-A West in triples with seven despite only playing in 37 games at that level so far.

– Robbie Podorsky opened the season with the Missions but never played at Wolff Stadium. After batting .370 in seven road games, the speedy outfielder was promoted to El Paso. He is batting .275 with five home runs in Triple A, but has been limited to 27 games due to injuries.

– Taylor Kohlwey leads El Paso in batting at .339. He was with the Missions on opening day and played in 18 games for San Antonio before moving up.

– Matt Batten is fourth in hitting for El Paso at .301. He was with the Missions on opening day and played in six games before moving up.

– Pitcher Caleb Boushley has made 15 starts with a 3-8 record in El Paso since being called up on June 21. He was 2-3 in eight games with the Missions.

– Knehr has appeared in seven games in El Paso, four as a starter. His role changed after leaving San Antonio, where he was a starter. He was called up to San Diego four times, appearing in eight games and starting twice. He has a 1-0 record and 3.93 ERA with the Padres.

Missions fall to Springfield after reports of trade involving Jack Suwinski; Esteury Ruiz homers in return

Jack Suwinski watches from the San Antonio Missions dugout during the fifth inning of Sunday's loss to the Springfield Cardinals. There were reports that Suwinski will be part of a trade between the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates. - photo by Joe Alexander
Jack Suwinski watches from the Missions dugout during the fifth inning of Sunday’s loss. There were reports that Suwinski will be part of a trade between the Padres and Pirates.
Jack Suwinski spent Sunday night watching from the dugout in what might have been his final game in a San Antonio Missions uniform.

Suwinski was replaced in the Missions’ starting lineup prior to the game, a 10-6 Springfield Cardinals victory.

According to reports from multiple members of the media who cover Major League Baseball, Suwinski will be part of a trade between the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates. The big name in the trade is Pirates second baseman/outfielder Adam Frazier going to the Padres.
Trade story on MLB.com

The Missions got a second-inning home run from Esteury Ruiz in his first at-bat since suffering a finger/hand injury on June 13. Dwayna Williams-Sutton homered in the sixth inning.

The Cardinals pounded out 12 hits including home runs by Ivan Herrera and Luken Baker.

The Missions begin a six-game road series on Tuesday in Amarillo. They return Aug. 3 for a six-game series at Wolff Stadium against the Corpus Christi Hooks.

San Antonio Missions outfielder Esteury Ruiz celebrates his home run. He was activated from the injured list on Sunday and played in his first game since June 13. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions outfielder Esteury Ruiz celebrates his home run. He was activated from the injured list on Sunday and played in his first game since June 13.

Missions pitchers Adrian Martinez, Osvaldo Hernandez dominate in sweep of Cardinals

San Antonio Missions right fielder Jack Suwinski had three hits Saturday including his 15th home run of the season. - photo by Joe Alexander
San Antonio Missions right fielder Jack Suwinski had three hits Saturday including his 15th home run of the season.
San Antonio Missions pitchers Adrian Martinez and Osvaldo Hernandez started combined shutouts in both halves of a doubleheader Saturday at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions won both seven-inning games 2-0.

Jack Suwinski scored three of the Missions’ four runs on the day. He went 3-for-4 in the doubleheader with his team-leading 15th home run, a walk and a hit-by-pitch.

The six-game series concludes on Sunday with a 6:05 p.m. first pitch.

FIRST GAME

Martinez (6-3) went six innings in the first game, allowing two hits with three strikeouts. Jose Quezada pitched the seventh for his 10th save of the season

Eguy Rosario led off the bottom of the first inning with his ninth home run. The Missions’ other run also came in the first when Kyle Overstreet drove in Suwinski.

SECOND GAME

Hernandez (3-6) went 5 2/3 innings in the second game, leaving with a 2-0 lead and a runner on second base. Pedro Avila got the final out of the sixth inning and retired the Cardinals in order in the seventh for his second save.

Suwinski hit a solo shot in the second inning. Allen Cordoba doubled in Suwinski in the bottom of the fourth for the second run.

Missions outfielder and home run leader Jack Suwinski photo gallery

San Antonio Missions outfielder Jack Suwinski playing against the Amarillo Sod Poodles on July 11, 2021, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions outfielder Jack Suwinski playing against Amarillo on July 11 at Wolff Stadium.
Jack Suwinski had an attention grabbing stretch back in the middle of June when he hit four home runs in three games.

The 22-year-old outfielder leads the San Antonio Missions with 13 home runs. He is batting .250 on the season with 34 RBIs in 56 games.

Suwinski’s home run number have gone up season by season in the minors. He hit nine in 2017 in 125 games, 10 in 2018 in 111 games and 12 in 2019 in 116 games – all in Class A.

Suwinski was a 15th-round draft pick by the San Diego Padres in 2016 as a high school player from Chicago.

Juan Fernandez, Ben Ruta, Eguy Rosario key Missions’ ninth-inning rally

The San Antonio Missions shower Juan Fernandez with ice water after he had the game-winning hit Wednesday night at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions shower Juan Fernandez with ice water after he had the game-winning hit Wednesday night at Wolff Stadium.
The San Antonio Missions walked off the Amarillo Sod Poodles for the second straight night.

The Missions got three key hits to score twice in the bottom of the ninth and beat the Sod Poodles 7-6 Wednesday at Wolff Stadium.

Juan Fernandez ended it with a single through the right side with the bases loaded, two outs and the game tied in the ninth. That brought Eguy Rosario home and started a celebration that concluded with Fernandez getting doused with ice water by his teammates.

The Missions trailed 4-1 early in the game and rallied to take a 5-4 lead. The Sod Poodles scored two runs in the top of the ninth to lead 6-5.

Ben Ruta, in his second game with the Missions, led off the bottom of the ninth with a double. Ruta scored on Rosario’s single to tie it 6-6. Rosario ended up at second base when the Sod Poodles threw home to try to get Ruta. Rosario went to third on Kyle Overstreet’s ground out.

Jack Suwinski and Yorman Rodriguez drew intentional walks to load the bases and Allen Cordoba popped out to set up a two-out situation. That brought Fernandez to the plate with his chance to win it.

The Missions got strong relief pitching as they worked their way back from an early deficit. Brandon Komar took over in the fourth inning and threw four scoreless innings. Carlos Belen retired the Sod Poodles in order in the eighth inning and struck out two batters.

The Missions’ early runs came on an RBI single by Cordoba in the bottom of the second inning, a Suwinski sacrifice fly in the third, Ruta scored on a wild pitch in the third, and an RBI double by Jose Azocar and a sacrifice fly by Ruta in the fourth.

Missions rally but fall short against Hooks

Henry Henry pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless innings of relief for the San Antonio Missions on Sunday night at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Henry Henry pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Missions on Sunday at Wolff Stadium.
What started out as a real mess turned out to be competitive and entertaining – but still a loss for the San Antonio Missions.

After trailing 9-0 Sunday night, the Missions closed to within a run late. The Corpus Christi Hooks hung on for a 10-8 victory at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions’ last surge came in the bottom of the eighth. Chandler Seagle and Jack Suwinski both hit two-RBI singles to trim the lead to 9-8.

The Hooks took control of the game with five runs in the top of the first and four more in the top of the third to go up 9-0.

The Missions whittled away at the lead starting in the bottom of the third, when Jose Azocar hit a two-run homer and Allen Cordoba had a sacrifice fly. Yorman Rodriguez singled in Eguy Rosario in the bottom of the fifth to cut it to 9-4.

The Missions got some solid relief pitching as they closed the gap. Henry Henry entered the game in the third inning and pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings with one hit and two strikeouts. Carlos Belen held the Hooks scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings and recorded one strikeout.

Adrian Martinez unhittable in return to starter’s role as Missions win 2nd straight

Adrian Martinez started on the mound for the Missions and held the Hooks hitless for six innings Friday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Adrian Martinez started on the mound for the Missions and held the Hooks hitless for six innings Friday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
Adrian Martinez was a starter for the San Antonio Missions early in the season.

More recently, he was coming in a few innings later when the Missions used Reggie Lawson like an opener.

Martinez was back to being a starter on Friday night. The 6-foot-2 right-hander from Mexico pitched six hitless innings and struck out nine batters.

The Missions beat the Corpus Christi Hooks 3-1 at Wolff Stadium. The Missions have a modest two-game winning streak after going through a rough stretch that included a winless road series against Frisco.

Martinez (3-3) got the win. Mason Fox and Henry Henry followed with one inning each on the mound. Joe Beimel threw a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth for his first save of the season in only his second appearance, both coming this week.

Combined, the four Missions pitchers held the Hooks to two hits and two walks while striking out 10.

Missions batters had only four hits, but came through at the right time and took advantage of two Hooks errors.

Michael Curry hit his first home run of the season in the third inning for the Missions’ first run of the game.

Jack Suwinski smoked a ground ball down the first base line to drive in Jose Azocar in the fifth. Eguy Rosario scored in the eighth on a Juan Fernandez bunt combined with a Hooks error.

Jack Suwinski, Missions rally past Naturals

San Antonio Missions left fielder Jack Suwinski drove in two runs including the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh in a 6-5 win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Saturday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions left fielder Jack Suwinski drove in two runs including the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh in a 6-5 win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Saturday at Wolff Stadium.
Jack Suwinski had three hits and drove in San Antonio’s first and last runs of the game as the Missions beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 6-5 on Saturday night at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions wore uniforms commemorating the San Antonio Black Aces of the Negro Leagues.

Northwest Arkansas led 3-0 in the middle of the sixth inning and 5-3 in the middle of the seventh. The Missions did all their scoring in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings with three runs in each frame.

Suwinski drove in Eguy Rosario with the Missions’ first run in the bottom of the sixth. Dwanya Williams-Sutton drove in Kyle Overstreet and Suwinski later in the inning to tie the game 3-3.

A Naturals error in the bottom of the seventh allowed Rosario to reach base and Chandler Seagle to score. Overstreet singled in Rosario from second to tie the game 5-5. Chris Givin pinch ran for Overstreet and Suwinski drove him in.

Suwinski’s game-winning double was the only extra-base hit of the game for the Missions, who finished with nine hits.

Reliever Nick Kuzia entered the game in the seventh. He pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings and got his first win of the season in 10 relief appearances. Jose Quezada pitched the ninth inning and picked up his eighth save of the season.

The Missions have won their last two games and seven of their last nine. The six-game Missions-Naturals series concludes Sunday with a 2:05 p.m. start.

Jack Suwinski, Missions stay hot in series opener against Naturals

Eguy Rosario slides into home to score the San Antonio Missions' first run of the game. The Missions beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 5-3 on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Eguy Rosario slides into home to score the Missions’ first run of the game.
Tuesday night in San Antonio followed a familiar pattern, and that’s a good thing for the Missions.

Jack Suwinski hit his 11th home run of the season and the Missions piled up 10 hits to beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 5-3 at Wolff Stadium in the opener of a six-game series.

The Missions have won five in a row and eight of their last nine. Suwinski has four home runs in the last three games.

Eguy Rosario had three hits and scored twice for the Missions and leadoff batter Jose Azocar had two hits and scored a run.

Rosario scored a rather unusual run in the bottom of the second inning. He broke from second base to steal third at the same moment as a wild pitch, allowing Rosario to come all the way around for the first run of the game.

Missions third baseman Allen Cordoba, in just his third game of the season, had a hit and a walk. He has had a hit or a walk or both in all three games. He also took a hard hit ball off his leg at or near his knee that was clearly painful, but he stayed in the game.

Missions starting pitcher Reggie Lawson, in his second game of the season, went two scoreless innings and struck out two batters. There was a rain delay after the second inning and he did not return, but wasn’t expected to make a long appearance.

Adrian Martinez, who has been a starter most of the season, pitched five innings and earned the win (2-3). He allowed three runs on four hits with five strikeouts.

Henry Henry pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Tom Cosgrove pitched the ninth to pick up his first save of the season.

Jack Suwinski hits two more homers as Missions take 5 of 6 from Midland

Jack Suwinski hits his ninth home run of the season in the second inning on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. He homered again in the eighth inning. - photo by Joe Alexander
Jack Suwinski hits his ninth home run of the season in the second inning on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. He homered again in the eighth inning.
Right field at Wolff Stadium has historically been a place where most long fly balls die at the warning track.

That hasn’t stopped Jack Suwinski. The San Antonio Missions’ left-handed outfielder hit his ninth and 10th home runs of the season on Sunday in a 12-6 victory over the Midland RockHounds.

Suwinski hit his eighth homer of the season on Saturday night. All three weekend home runs soared out over right field.

Suwinski went 3-for-5 on Sunday and scored three times. The 22-year-old, who is playing his first season above Class A, batted 9-of-22 (.409) in the six-game home series against Midland as the Missions won five of the six games.

Missions third baseman Allen Cordoba, who made his season debut on Saturday, recorded his first two hits of the season including a double on Sunday.

The Missions’ CJ Abrams had three hits, two RBIs and two runs, and Jose Azocar and Michael Curry both had two hits.

Starting pitcher Reiss Knehr went five innings, giving up two runs in the first and holding Midland scoreless the next four innings to get the win (5-1). He allowed four hits and two walks and struck out six.

Missions left fielder Esteury Ruiz left the game in the top of the third. He was shaking his hand after sliding into second base in the bottom of the second.

Kyle Overstreet, who left Friday’s game after being hit in the face by a pitch, was not in the Missions’ lineup for the second day in a row.