Fayetteville Field Report: June 15th, 2021
Following the conclusion of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers second home stand of the season on Sunday, the 2021 campaign continues to speed along. Already at 30 percent of the way through the schedule as we enter the middle of June, the Woodpeckers find themselves at 14-21 overall and positioned in third
Following the conclusion of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers second home stand of the season on Sunday, the 2021 campaign continues to speed along. Already at 30 percent of the way through the schedule as we enter the middle of June, the Woodpeckers find themselves at 14-21 overall and positioned in third place in the central division of Low-A East.
It has been a year of trials, tribulations, and also accomplishments for a number of Woodpeckers players who have impressed on the field in Fayetteville and continue their climb through the Houston Astros minor league system.
To catch you up to speed on all of the recent Woodpeckers news, we present our first Fayetteville Field Report, a collection of headlines, notes, quotes and trends from Fayetteville’s recent meetings with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers and Down East Wood Ducks.
YEURIS RAMIREZ TAKES THE CROWN
On June 4th, Woodpeckers infielder Yeuris Ramirez connected for a two-run walk off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Woodpeckers a 2-1 win over the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers in the second game of a double header. The walk off homer was just the second in the history of Segra Stadium and the first since Scott Schreiber's walk off blast over Wilmington in the ninth inning on June 1st, 2019. Across the entire series against Kannapolis, Ramirez went 9-for-16 with 2 HR, 3 2B, 8 R, 4 RBI and 2 SB.
that celly tho 👀@MiLB @Cut4 @astros pic.twitter.com/3CahQx0LuP
— Fayetteville Woodpeckers (@WoodpeckersNC) June 5, 2021
Although he was hitless in three of his four games played against Down East, Ramirez enjoyed a 3-for-5 day at the plate on Thursday, June 10, connecting for a double, triple, scoring twice and driving in a pair of runs. In the month of June, Ramirez is slashing .387/.472/1.246. His 1.246 OPS is third highest across Low-A East in June among players with at least eight games played.
MELENDEZ MASTERS LOW-A, EARNS PROMOTION TO ASHEVILLE
One of the breakout stars on the mound for the Woodpeckers in the early going has been 19-year-old right hander Jaime Melendez. A native of Puebla, Mexico, Melendez signed an Internationl Free Agent Contract with Houston in April of 2019 and spent the summer impressing in the Dominican Summer League with 39 strikeouts over 29.1 innings as a 17-year-old.
In his domestic debut in Fayetteville, Melendez expanded on his early career success, striking out 38 hitters across 18.1 innings, good for a ridiculous 18.8 K:9 average. On June 8th, Melendez worked 3.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen against Down East, allowing just one hit, and tying his season-high with seven strikeouts for a third time. His performance earned him a promotion to the High-A Asheville the following day.
Melendez debuted with the Tourists on Sunday, June 13th against the Rome Braves and continued along with his breakout season, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings in relief, striking out three and earning the win.
ASTROS ASSISTANT GENERALS MANAGER PETE PUTILA JOINS THE BROADCAST BOOTH
On Saturday night, Astros Assistant Generals Manager and head of player development, Pete Putila, joined Woodpeckers broadcaster Andrew Chapman to discuss Astros minor league system and the state of baseball in Houston.
Putila is in his tenth season with the Astros organization after joining the franchise as a baseball operations intern in 2011, and has worked his way up to one of the top oversight roles in the organization.
His conversation is available on the Woodpeckers new online podcast network and can be found here: https://buzzsprout.com/1800505/episodes/8700762
BOMBS AWAY BRYAN ARIAS
Since his arrival to the Woodpeckers during the road trip in Charleston, South Carolina, Bryan Arias has proven to be a run producer in the heart of the Woodpeckers line up. The San Antonio native became the first player this season to homer three times in a series, connecting for three opposite-field shots against the Down East Ducks.
An oppo 🌮 to tie the game at 6-6 and win everyone in the ballpark free tacos?
— Fayetteville Woodpeckers (@WoodpeckersNC) June 11, 2021
Bryan Arias, you poetic son of a gun.... pic.twitter.com/AR89WPRkUB
Arias played 36 games for Tri-City of the New York Penn League in 2019, and only connected for a pair of home runs the entire summer. He and his new-found power finished the Down East series 4-for-19 with 3 HR, 4 RBI and 4 runs scored.
LUKE BERRYHILL: BALL PLAYER AND COUNTRY MUSIC STAR
During his college days at The University of South Carolina, Woodpeckers catcher Luke Berryhill discovered an outside talent to complement his baseball skill. On Sunday June 6th, his country inspired vocals were on display for all to hear as he sang the National Anthem ahead of first pitch at Segra Stadium.
Good at baseball... and at singing 😏: @verychill_bhill pic.twitter.com/125ZrZe996
— Fayetteville Woodpeckers (@WoodpeckersNC) June 6, 2021
Along with an ability to play the guitar, Luke’s passionate side-hobby was featured on a recent episode of Astros Bases Loaded on AT&T Sports Net. A special thanks to Evan Gelber and Julia Morales for their coverage of Luke’s story.
The full feature report can be seen here (courtesy AT&T Sports Net): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDPlB56bl5w
UP NEXT
The Woodpeckers head on the road to Zebulon to take on the Carolina Mudcats in a six-game series for the second time this year. In the season-opening series, the Mudcats took five of six over Fayetteville. Following their trip to Five County Stadium, the Woodpeckers will remain on the road for a six-game series with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers.