See you next season
Rodríguez sensational for Travs as they just miss postseason, Grant Black finishes year with 62 strikeouts, plus stats, scores and so much
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It was just another Manic Sunday in minor-league baseball as the Travs and Wichita battled in Kansas for a spot in the postseason that starts on Tuesday.
Wichita was leading the league as they entered the six-game series but the Travs controlled their own destiny as they needed to pass Frisco for second place in the standings.
The Travs did just that on Saturday, at least briefly, but it didn’t last to set up a frantic finish with Wichita in and Frisco and the Travs battling it out for second.
The Travs entered Sunday having played 119 games and Frisco one less at 118, setting up a scenario where if Arkansas won, they still needed Frisco to lose.
Frisco did just that. As the Amarillo Sodpoodles won with a three-run, walkoff homerun in the bottom of the 10th inning to win the game.
But the Travs couldn’t complete the comeback and lost to Wichita.
So that means Wichita and Frisco this week in the postseason, right?
Nope.
Northwest Arkansas, needed both teams to lose and for the Naturals to win on Sunday against Springfield and that’s exactly what happened.
All three teams won 64 games this past season.
But, the Travs, with one extra game, lost 56 while Frisco and Springdale each went 64-55 but Northwest Arkansas won the head-to-head matchup this season, 6 to 5, to win the tiebreaker to advance.
Fare thee well
Julio Rodríguez’s career with the Travs ended on Sunday as the sensational prospect went 3 for 5 with his last at-bat a single in the ninth inning.
Rodríguez is the best baseball player to come through with the Travs since Mike Trout but his minor-league career isn’t over as Triple-A Tacoma still has a couple of weeks to go and, at the least, he should start there next season before the eventual and inevitable call to the Bigs and the Mariners.
Travs set 2022 schedule
The Travs start next season on April 8 with a three-game series at Frisco, then the home-season starts on Monday, April 11 with a six-game series against the Springfield Cardinals.
The team gets two days off before starting back to the six games in six days schedule of the current season with Mondays off the following week.
There's a total of 138 games with 69 at home. This past season was 120 games, with 60 at home.
Another difference for next season is that the Travs will host Springfield on July 4, in the only game in the league that day, and then get Tuesday, July 5 off, then back to the five games in five days schedule.
That's followed by a league-wide break from July 18 to July 21 of four days, then a three-game series against Frisco from July 22-24.
Weeks at home are:
April 11-16
April 26-May 1
May 17-29
June 7-12
June 21-26
July 4-10
July 22-24
Aug. 2-14
Aug. 23-28
Sept. 13-18
The complete schedule can be viewed by clicking here.
Individual leaders
Jake Scheiner drops to No. 16 in hitting, while Julio Rodríguez, the league’s most sensational player finished his Double-A season with a .362 batting average, doesn’t have enough at-bats in 40 games to qualify.
No Trav is listed among the league’s top pitchers, based on .8 innings pitched per game
Transactions
Sept. 19: RHP Joseph Hernandez assigned to ACL Mariners from Arkansas Travelers.
Sept. 19: RHP Adam Hill assigned to Arkansas Travelers from Everett AquaSox.
Players of the Week
Seuly Matias - Northwest Arkansas and Brandon Lawson - Corpus Christi
The scores
Tuesday: Rain delayed
Wednesday (DH): Travs 10, Wichita 5; Wichita 6, Travs 4
Thursday: Wichita 3, Travs 2
Friday: Wichita 2, Travs 1
Saturday: Travs 5, Wichita 3
Sunday: Wichita 11, Travs 6
The standings
Team … Record … Percentage… Next Up
Wichita ... 69-51 ... .575 … Postseason
Northwest Arkansas ... 64-55 ... .538 ... Postseason
Frisco ... 64-55 ... .538
Travs ... 64-56 ... .533
Tulsa ... 63-57 ... .525
Midland ... 59-60 ... .496
Amarillo ... 59-61 ... .492
San Antonio ... 57-63 ... .475
Corpus Christi ... 54-65 ... .454
Springfield ... 45-75 ... .375
The format for the 2021 Postseason will consist of Wichita and Northwest Arkansas in a single best-of-5 series beginning Tuesday. Springdale will host the first two games and the next three games at Wichita as needed.
Grant Black’s Corner
About Grant Black’s Corner: This is a weekly look at current Minor-League players with Arkansas roots. Have an addition to this list? Email us at arkansas@substack.com or leave a comment on the post.Newport's Grant Black went on the seven-day injured list on Saturday, Sept. 11, and his season is over at Springfield.
Black’s last game appearance was on Sept. 7, a win against the Travs, as he pitched 2.1 innings in relief of Dakota Hudson, down from St. Louis, who got the rehab start.
Black finished 62 strikeouts this season on 59.1 innings pitched in a total of 60 game appearances. Black also went 1-3 when he was pressed into the starting rotation at both Triple-A Memphis and Double-A Springfield.
Black could be called up to Memphis to finish the season as the Redbirds play until Oct. 3.
Many thanks to Arkansas high school baseball expert Kevin Bohannon for his help in compiling this list. You can catch him on the radio at 103.7 The Buzz as he's the station’s high school insider. He is also the co-host of The Hawg Talk podcast, which can be listened to here. He’s also on Twitter, @CoachKBo_HTP, so give him a follow.
Others on the Corner
Note: Click the player’s name to get current stats.
Luke Bandy, Springdale: Was released. He previously played in the Boston Red Sox farm system and @Luke_Bandy
Gray Fenter, West Memphis: Bowie Baysox, Double-A Affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and @Bear_Fenter
Logan Gragg, Prairie Grove: Peoria Chiefs, High-A Affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals and @GraggLogan23
William Hancock, Little Rock Catholic: Quad Cities River Bandits, the High-A Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals
Tink Hence, Watson Chapel: GCL Cardinals, the Rookie Affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals and @HenceTink3
Blaine Knight, Bryant: Norfolk Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.
Grant Koch, Fayetteville: Altoona Curve, the Double-A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Evan Lee, Bryant: Wilmington Blue Rocks, the High-A Affiliate of the Washington Nationals and @Evan_Leeeee
Casey Martin, Lonoke: Clearwater Threshers, the Low-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies and @cmartin15_
Jake Reindl, Fayetteville: Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Low-A Affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and @jreindl24
Cody Scroggins, Bentonville: Greenville Drive, the High-A Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and @cody_scroggins
Gavin Stone, Riverside High School (Lake City): Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Low-A Affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers and @gavinstone02
Nick Starr, Conway: Hickory Crawdads, the High-A Affiliate of the Texas Rangers and @nickstarr6
Schedule, tickets and promotions
Next season
The complete 2022 schedule can be viewed by clicking here.