Louisville Bats Notes: April 27
SHORT ROAD TRIP: The Louisville Bats and Toledo Mud Hens will meet for a three-game series April 27-29 after the Bats concluded a six-game homestand against the Syracuse Chiefs and Charlotte Knights, finishing 3-3. The Bats return home Monday, April 30 to begin a three-game homestand against the Columbus Clippers.
SHORT ROAD TRIP: The Louisville Bats and Toledo Mud Hens will meet for a three-game series April 27-29 after the Bats concluded a six-game homestand against the Syracuse Chiefs and Charlotte Knights, finishing 3-3. The Bats return home Monday, April 30 to begin a three-game homestand against the Columbus Clippers. Louisville began the season with six consecutive games against its IL West rivals Toledo and Columbus, finishing 3-3 over its first homestand of the season.
ERVIN, PENNINGTON JOIN LOUISVILLE: The Cincinnati Reds optioned to Class AAA Louisville outfielder Phillip Ervin and infielder Cliff Pennington to make room on the Major League roster for infielder Eugenio Suárez , who returned from a rehab assignment, and infielder/outfielder Rosell Herrera , who had his contract selected by Cincinnati, making his Major League debut (0-for-1) at Great American Ball Park on April 26 against the Atlanta Braves.
- Ervin appeared in 99 games with Louisville last season, making his Triple-A debut on April 6, 2017 vs. Columbus. He batted .256 with 7 home runs and 40 RBI for the Bats, including a 2 HR game on April 14 at COL. The outfielder made his MLB debut April 22, 2017 against the Cubs, and homered in back-to-back games at Wrigley Field, August 16-17 last season.
- Pennington is in his 14th season in professional baseball and his first in the Reds organization. The veteran made his MLB debut for Oakland on August 12, 2008 against Tampa Bay. He has appeared in big league games with 5 teams: Oakland, Arizona, Toronto, Los Angeles (AL) and Cincinnati. He is currently the oldest active player on the roster at 33 years old.
HOORAY FOR HERRERA: Bats infielder/outfielder Rosell Herrera was called up to the big leagues on Louisville's off day, making his Major League debut for the Reds on April 26, going 0-for-1 in a pinch-hit appearance. The former top-100 prospect was tearing the cover off the ball for Louisville, leading the International League in total bases (37), extra-base hits (10), while ranking second in slugging percentage (.607) behind Norfolk's Andrew Susac (.615). Herrera is the fourth 2018 Louisville Bat to make his MLB debut this season, joining infielder Alex Blandino (4/10) and right-handers Tanner Rainey (4/10) and Zack Weiss (4/12).
EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT: Louisville was victorious in its third extra innings game this season on Wednesday against Charlotte, beating the Knights 2-1 in 10 innings. Zack Weiss threw a scoreless top of the 10th, striking out three batters. Steve Selsky came around to score in the bottom of the 10th after Blake Trahan 's sacrifice bunt also turned into an E5 when Charlotte third baseman Ryan Brett made a wild throw that ended the game. The Bats improved to 2-1 (1-1 at LSF) in extras this season.
COMING OFF AN OFF DAY: The Bats are 0-1 the day after a scheduled off day this season, losing their series opener to Syracuse 7-1 on April 20 at Louisville Slugger Field. Last season, the Bats went 4-3 in games following a scheduled off day, excluding the All-Star Break.
SCHOFIELD NAMED MANAGER: The Cincinnati Reds announced last Friday that Dick Schofield has been named interim manager for the Louisville Bats. Schofield, who was serving as Louisville's bench coach, replaces Pat Kelly , who managed the first 10 games of the 2018 season for Louisville, compiling a 4-6 record. Kelly was recently promoted to Major League bench coach for the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds also announced Darren Bragg will take over Schofield's previous role as Louisville's bench coach. Bragg is in his 12th season in the organization and was in his 10th as outfield coordinator at the time of his transfer to Louisville.
CLIFF PENNINGTON, FIVE TEAMS: Cliff Pennington (OAK-ARI-TOR-LAA-CIN) is the first Bat to suit up for 5+ MLB teams since RHP Vin Mazzaro , who pitched for Louisville in 2017 after appearing in games with the Athletics, Royals, Pirates, Marlins and Giants.