Down on the Farm - 4/19/23

Trey Cabbage (LAA) turns a ball into slaw, Frank Mozzicato (KCR) deals, and Jasson Dominguez (NYY) breaks his slump, along with so much more.

The Rundown ⭐️

Sure, we’ll open things up with Frank Mozzicato (19) - KC, who absolutely owned the night in Columbia’s 5-4 victory over Fayetteville. The former No. 7 overall pick threw 85 pitches, struck out 13 (the most in Fireflies history), and walked three over six scoreless innings, but couldn’t get the win as the Fireflies had to pull out their win in extras after Omar Hernandez bunted in the winning run. Even with his control issues, look for the talented lefty to move up the ladder sooner rather than later.

Sticking with the Royals’ organization, center fielder John Rave (25) - KC of the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals may have had the best hitting performance in MiLB last night, as he came into the game without a homer on the season and left with three of them, helping propel the Naturals to a glossy 16-6 victory over Amarillo. The left-hander also added two walks in what was easily the best game of his career.

Other notable Double-A performances from young talents included Victor Mesa Jr. (21) - MIA hitting for the cycle in Pensacola’s 10-4 loss to Birmingham, and Jasson Dominguez (20) - NYY starting to shake off his slumping start of the season with his first homer. Both of these events had plus aesthetics: Mesa’s cycle built on the night, working his way up from single, to double, to triple, to homer as the capper. (Well, his strikeout to end the game was technically the capper, but he certainly bears little blame for the Blue Wahoos’ defeat.) And while Dominguez’s homer doesn’t exactly blot out his rough start to the year, it traveled into the stratosphere and gives Yankee fans another taste of what they saw during his eye-opening Spring Training run.

Finally, out in Salt Lake City, Trey Cabbage (25) - LAA hit an absolute bomb last night, with his 487-foot homer taking the lead as the farthest-hit dinger across the minors and majors so far this season. It was his fourth homer of the season, but wasn’t enough to propel the Bees past Reno, as the Aces–led by Emmanuel Rivera and Dominic Fletcher–routed SLC.

Notable Performances

Hitters