SeaWolves' Faedo tosses gem in '19 debut

Alex Faedo grabbed the baton on Saturday and ran with it.
The Tigers' No. 10 prospect gave up up a pair of hits and struck out seven without issuing a walk over six scoreless innings before Double-A Erie dropped a 3-2, 11-inning decision to Trenton at UPMC Park. The performance followed stellar outings by two of Detroit's top pitching prospects Casey Mizeput up five zeros  for Class A Advanced Lakeland on Opening Night and teammate Matt Manning gave up one run on one hit over five frames on Friday.

"I always pay attention to what those guys are doing," Faedo said. "I like rooting those guys on, I'm friends with both of them. Matt is one of my roommates here and Casey was a great addition to this organization. I'm really proud of him. It's never easy to pitch on Opening Night."
"Guys always compete off each other and want to do well, and you see that in all of baseball," SeaWolves pitching coach Mark Johnson said. "Players feed off each other and learn from each other. It's always great to see how teammates are doing, and what they're doing and that may help you in your next start -- you make each other's game better."
Faedo, selected 18th overall in the 2017 Draft, retired the first eight batters he faced -- fanning four -- before yielding an infield hit to Wendell Rijo.
"I threw a breaking ball down and away [to Rijo], and he was out in front of it and capped it off the end of the bat," Faedo said. "It almost was like a bunt to third base. I thought I had a chance to make a play on it, but my cleat kind of gave out a little and I didn't get the footing I needed, so I didn't even make the throw. I'm just happy we left him out there and got the next guy out."
The right-hander faced the minimum the rest of the way, allowing a leadoff base hit to Ben Ruta in the fourth before getting Jhalan Jackson to ground into a double play two batters later.
Gameday box score
"I felt great out there today. It was nice to be back and playing real baseball again," Faedo said. "I think [Johnson] gave us a good plan going over the hitters before the game and then [Jake Rogers] caught a helluva game. We were on the same page every pitch. We got in that rhythm and it was just doing a good job of staying ahead in the count and executing pitches.
"Alex did a great job of inviting early contact and expanding the zone today," Johnson said. "Overall, he just did an outstanding job of working ahead and executing piches and put together a performance that he can build off going forward." 
The 23-year-old finished his outing the way he started it: setting down eight consecutive hitters. He threw 52 of 73 pitches for strikes.

"I felt good all the way through. I think the organization did a good job at building us up this Spring Training," said Faedo, who never needed more than 15 pitches to get through an inning. "I was happy I got out there for the sixth and got through it, and I felt like my arm was conditioned to keep going if I was asked to. Not having any taxing innings always helps the body not feel as tired, too."
Rogers -- the Tigers' 13th-ranked prospect -- extended the game with an RBI single in the 10th that tied the game at 1-1. No. 4 prospect Isaac Paredes drove in Erie's other run with a sacrifice fly in the 11th.
No. 23 Yankees prospectDomingo Acevedo did not allow a hit or walk and fanned three over two innings of scoreless relief for Trenton. Jorge Saez clubbed a go-ahead two-run homer in the 11th.