Indy's Marvel posts more zeros vs. Syracuse
Triple-A Indianapolis' James Marvel certainly enjoys pitching against Syracuse.Six days after putting up six scoreless innings against the Mets, the Pittsburgh right-hander was at it again, working around a hit and four walks while striking out seven over six frames as Indy shut out Syracuse, 1-0, at NBT Bank Stadium.
Triple-A Indianapolis' James Marvel certainly enjoys pitching against Syracuse.
Six days after putting up six scoreless innings against the Mets, the Pittsburgh right-hander was at it again, working around a hit and four walks while striking out seven over six frames as Indy shut out Syracuse, 1-0, at NBT Bank Stadium.
Marvel (3-0) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Rubén Tejada singled to right field with one out for the Mets' only hit of the game. That followed a walk to Danny Espinosa and put runners on the corners. The 25-year-old whiffed Travis Taijeron and induced a groundout from Arismendy Alcantara to end the threat and his outing.
Marvel knew coming into the game that Mets would adjust their strategy against him Wednesday, particularly since the lineup was full of veteran guys.
"I think the thing is to go out and kind of feel out what those adjustments were going to be early," he said. "For an example, last night they were going against our guy, [Eduardo Vera], and they were swinging early and often, very similar to what they did to me in my previous outing. Today, they were much more patient in the first couple of innings and made me throw a lot of extra pitches. From there, it's just about how I'm able to adjust back to them."
Using more high fastballs and changeups in an attempt to keep the hitters off balance, Marvel put a lot of trust in his batterymate Christian Kelley in calling the game.
Gameday box score
"My catcher was a good resource for me," the Duke product said. "I leaned on him a lot on what he was seeing today and just kind of rolled with what he was throwing down."
On July 18, Marvel retired the final 11 Mets he faced, finishing with nine strikeouts while allowing one hit, a walk and hitting two batters in a 9-1 Indians victory.
The 6-foot-4 hurler sports a 1.90 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings since being promoted to the International League on July 1. For Double-A Altoona, Marvel held opponents to a .228 average while posting a 3.16 ERA and 82 whiffs over 99 2/3 frames.
For the California native, a key to the transition to Triple-A has been trusting what has made him successful in the past and not trying to stray away from that.
"What makes me me," Marvel said.
A big part of that is his fastball, the pitch he relies on to set everything else up in his arsenal.
"Today, and what I have a lot of success with generally, is being able to execute and locate a good fastball," Marvel said. "When I'm able to do that, when I can sink it down in and out and then move up and down the strike zone with my heater, everything for me plays off of that. I'm able to throw my breaking ball for strikes and for swing-and-miss if I am throwing my fastball aggressively. I can mix in a changeup and keep guys off balance."
The 2015 36th-round pick finds the tougher competition enables him to focus on the task at hand.
"I've had success against them the last two games, but I think part of that is trying to rise up to the challenge of competing against a good lineup," Marvel said. "They've forced me to lock in and execute pitches one at a time. It's just about executing one pitch when I'm out there and then once I throw that one, trying to execute as best I can the next one. Trying to control what I can control in that sense."
Of course, the right-hander appreciates having "an incredible defense" behind him when on the mound. That allows him to be more aggressive in the strike zone and getting ahead in the count.
"This defense seems to be at a completely other level than I have been playing with," Marvel said. "I had a good squad in Altoona, but if I can get a ton of ground balls here and fly balls and let my infielders and outfielders work behind me, chances are that if the ball is in play that these guys are going to go get it somewhere."
This makes the game enjoyable for the San Francisco native, even when it gets a little surreal.
"It's fun to be here competing against guys that I've watched on TV," he said. "Obviously, this level is incredibly talented. Just in a handful of starts, I have faced a number of big leaguers, a number of guys that will be playing in the big leagues."
But the top goal is always being in the victory column when the game is over.
"The first series we played them at home, they came in and beat us around pretty good for the first couple of games. So it's been nice to get our guys back on track and win some ballgames," Marvel said.
Right-hander Montana DuRapau fanned three over two perfect innings of relief and righty Dovydas Neverauskas picked up his seventh save by retiring the side in order in the ninth.
The lone run of the game came in the seventh. With second-ranked Pirates prospectKe'Bryan Hayes on third and fifth-ranked Kevin Kramer at the plate, lefty Ryan O'Rourke was called for a balk that allowed Hayes to cross the plate.
Mets right-hander Chris Mazza was perfect through five before Hunter Owen singled to left to lead off the sixth.
Brian Stultz is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @brianjstultz.
Minor League Baseball partners with Circle K
Minor League Baseball announced a new national partnership with Circle K, which will see the convenience store giant become the “Official Convenience Store of Minor League Baseball.” During the 2025 season, the Circle K brand will be integrated into the MiLB in-stadium experience through in-game video board assets at most
These 15 moments led to season No. 15 of Minor League road trips
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast crew makes Opening Day predictions
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Everything you need to know for Triple-A Opening Day
First, there was big league Opening Day. Now it's Triple-A's turn to take the spotlight. The Minor League season opens Friday when the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League seasons get underway for the first of MiLB’s two Opening Days. And right out of the gates, several of baseball's
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between
Prospect Peña quietly drawing raves in Brewers' farm system
PHOENIX – Jesús Made was at the top of the Brewers’ lineup for Sunday’s 9-7 loss to the Reds in the finale of MLB’s four-day Spring Breakout, a fitting perch when you consider that the 17-year-old infielder is under a bright spotlight as MLB Pipeline’s No. 55 prospect. Made could
Brecht -- in 1st outing since '24 Draft -- wows at Spring Breakout
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Sunday's Spring Breakout showcase was the perfect unveiling for Rockies No. 5 prospect Brody Brecht. A right-handed pitcher from the University of Iowa whom the Rockies selected 38th overall last summer, Brecht had a nice collegiate resume, an interesting backstory as a former wide receiver for the
Braves prospects show promise in Spring Breakout
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- As Terry Pendleton prepared to serve as the manager of the Braves prospect team that played the Tigers prospect team in a Spring Breakout game on Sunday afternoon, he said fans should be patient with John Gil and Luis Guanipa, a pair of teenagers who have
Yanks' Lagrange flashes triple-digit heat in Spring Breakout
SARASOTA, Fla. -- There was an audible “Ooh” from the crowd at Ed Smith Stadium, and Carlos Lagrange quickly glanced beyond the right-field wall, checking the velocity of the pitch he’d just thrown in Saturday’s 5-4 Spring Breakout loss to the Orioles. It had registered in the triple digits, and
Bradfield dedicates Spring Breakout performance to late friend
SARASOTA, Fla. -- It was about more than playing in the national spotlight. More than the dinner bet placed with an old college teammate earlier in the month. More than a game. As Enrique Bradfield Jr. slid home to score a run during the first inning of Saturday night’s Spring