Our third and last Opening Day saw me and Chris traveling to check out the Erie SeaWolves, the Tigers Double-A affiliate. Erie opened the season against the Altoona Curve, the Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate. The Curve features 2021 MLB Draft number one pick Henry Davis, former Tigers prospect Domingo Leyba, who saw time in Arizona and Baltimore, and infielder Liover Peguero, who is ranked number 6 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Pirates prospects. They currently have the oldest roster in the Eastern League at an average age 25.1.
The SeaWolves pitching staff took a beating on Tuesday and Wednesday. Jake Higginbotham was the only Erie pitcher who held Altoona scoreless. He pitched a pair of innings, allowing a hit, a walk, and struck out three with five swings and misses. As far as the rest of the pitchers looked.
- Sawyer Gipson-Long struggled with fastball command but was averaging around 92-94. His slider was his most effective pitch, as he was able to generate 11 swings and misses, mainly on that slider that was sweeping away from lefties.
- Wilmer Flores, Wednesday’s starter, struggled with throwing his third pitch changeup, effectively. He had to get outs mainly his fastball. Altoona made hard contact all game, and it started with Flores, who only went 1.2 innings. (45 pitches) In fact, over the two games, Erie gave up nine home runs. The bullpen was so taxed that Bryant Packard pitched the 9th on Wednesday.
On the offense side of things, Erie just looked out of sync. In game one, the SeaWolves struck out 14 times, mainly on breaking balls. Colt Keith got a pair of hits and a Jake Holton home run, with the wind providing some help. On Wednesday, Gage Workman provided the offense as he went 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs. It is still early in the season for Erie, but the lineup lacks a consistent hitter. That could change this weekend.
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Emily Waldon