Tag: Reiss Knehr

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’ late inning magic ends in loss to Sod Poodles

Allen Cordoba celebrates his two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning for the San Antonio Missions' first runs of the game against the Amarillo Sod Poodles on Thursday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Allen Cordoba hit his third home run of the season in the first inning on Thursday at Wolff Stadium.
Coming off back-to-back walk-off wins, the San Antonio Missions found themselves in another close game in the late innings on Thursday.

This time it was the Amarillo Sod Poodles who got the key hits, scoring twice in the top of the 11th to beat the Missions 6-5 at Wolff Stadium.

The Sod Poodles erased a 3-1 Missions lead with two runs in the eighth. Both teams scored a run in the 10th. The Sod Poodles took a 6-4 lead in the top of the 11th and the Missions scored once in the bottom of the 11th on a bases-loaded walk.

Allen Cordoba’s third home run of the season accounted for the Missions’ first two runs in the bottom of the first.

Juan Fernandez doubled in the fourth, went to third base on a wild pitch and then scored on another wild pitch to give the Missions a 3-1 lead.

Missions pitcher Fred Schlichtholz made his first start of season after 19 relief appearances. The 6-foot-3 left-hander went 3.0 innings and allowed one run on three hits, two walks and one strikeout.

Reiss Knehr had been listed as the projected starting pitcher.

Reiss Knehr, Jose Azocar help Missions end slide

San Antonio Missions starting pitcher Reiss Knehr got the win in Thursday's second game at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions starting pitcher Reiss Knehr got the win in Thursday’s second game at Wolff Stadium.
Reiss Knehr pitched five scoreless innings and led off a combined seven-inning shutout as the San Antonio Missions beat the Corpus Christi Hooks 3-0 in the second game of a doubleheader Thursday at Wolff Stadium.

The victory ended a nine-game Missions losing streak. The Hooks won Thursday’s first game 5-2.

Knehr (6-1) leads Missions pitchers in wins. He allowed two hits and struck out seven in five innings. James Reeves pitched the sixth. Nick Kuzia pitched the seventh for his first save of the season.

Jose Azocar’s broken bat single to left drove in Olivier Basabe and Chandler Seagle with the first runs of the game in the bottom of the third. Azocar also made a couple of catches against the fence later in the game.

Basabe, getting a start at second base with CJ Abrams out, drove in Allen Cordoba with the Missions’ final run in the bottom of the fourth. Abrams, who left Wednesday’s game after a collision with a teammate, did not see action in either game Thursday.

San Antonio Missions center fielder Jose Azocar tracks down a fly ball on the warning track in Thursday's second game at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions center fielder Jose Azocar tracks down a fly ball on the warning track in Thursday’s second game at Wolff Stadium.

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.

Missions pitcher, Padres prospect Reiss Knehr: first look

Reiss Knehr pitching for the San Antonio Missions against Frisco on May 21, 2021 at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Reiss Knehr pitching for the Missions against Frisco on May 21 at Wolff Stadium.
Reiss Knehr was the San Antonio Missions’ starting pitcher on opening day.

The 24-year-old from New York is the Missions’ scheduled starter in tonight’s road game against Northwest Arkansas. He has made four starts this season and has a 2-1 record and 4.74 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 19.0 innings.

Knehr is in his first season in Double-A. The San Diego Padres picked him in the 20th round of the 2018 draft.

The 6-foot-2 right-hander had a 3-5 record in Class A in 2019 on 12 starts and 17 total appearances. He had a 3-0 record in rookie ball in and 0-1 in Class A 2018 in 20 games, 19 of those in relief.

Missions bullpen clicks in season opener

Pedro Avila pitched the final inning for the San Antonio Missions in their 8-3 victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks in Tuesday's season opener. - photo by Joe Alexander
Pedro Avila pitched the final inning for the San Antonio Missions in their 8-3 victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks in Tuesday’s season opener. – photo by Joe Alexander
San Antonio Missions relievers were one pitch away from four scoreless, hitless innings in the season opener.

Four Missions pitchers worked one inning each in relief in the Missions’ 8-3 victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks on Tuesday.

Missions starter Reiss Knehr went five innings before turning things over to the bullpen with San Antonio leading 5-2.

Things didn’t look so promising right after Knehr left the game. The Hooks’ first batter of the sixth inning, David Hensley, hit a home run off of Sam Williams. That cut the Missions’ lead to 5-3. But the Hooks didn’t record a hit the rest of the night.

Williams, a 6-foot-3 left-hander, got through the sixth inning with no more damage, allowing one walk with one strikeout.

Carlos Belen pitched the seventh. The 6-1 right-hander from the Dominican Republic struck out two batters with no walks.

Tom Cosgrove pitched the eighth. The 6-2 left-hander also struck out two batters with no walks.

Pedro Avila closed out the game. The 5-11 right-hander from Venezuela pitched the bottom of the ninth with no hits, no strikeouts and no walks.

For the game the Missions’ relievers allowed one run on one hit with five strikeouts and one walk in four innings.

Missions make San Antonio’s return to pro baseball a winner

It was this kind of night for the San Antonio Missions and for Juan Fernandez. The Missions catcher celebrates one of his three hits in Tuesday's opening night victory. - photo by Joe Alexander
It was this kind of night for the San Antonio Missions and for Juan Fernandez. The Missions catcher celebrates one of his three hits in Tuesday’s opening night victory. – photos by Joe Alexander
The 20-month layoff from minor-league baseball finally came to an end Tuesday.

The San Antonio Missions won their first game game since September 2019, beating the Corpus Christi Hooks 8-3 on opening night in Corpus Christi.

The return to action meant fun to a sold out but socially distant crowd. For minor league players, it means a return to the journey they hope leads to the major leagues.

Missions starting pitcher Reiss Knehr went five innings and allowed two runs to get the win. He gave up three hits and struck out five batters with three walks.

Robbie Podorsky, the No. 9 batter in the Missions’ batting order, led the team with four hits and scored twice. Cather Juan Fernandez had three hits, CJ Abrams, the team’s top prospect, had two. In all, seven different Missions batters had hits as the Missions out-hit the Hooks 13-4.

Reiss Khern started on the mound for the Missions and got the win in Tuesday's season opener in Corpus Christi. - photo by Joe Alexander
Reiss Khern started on the mound for the Missions and got the win in Tuesday’s season opener in Corpus Christi.
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 San Antonio Missions’ second run of the game in Tuesday’s season-opening victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks.