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Patriots Notebook 7/19/24: Back At Home

July 19, 2024

Bridgewater, New Jersey – Somerset players and staff enjoyed a few rare days off earlier this week during the Eastern League All-Star break. The time off for the midsummer classic is an opportune time for the team to go their separate ways and soak in some well-deserved time with family

Bridgewater, New Jersey – Somerset players and staff enjoyed a few rare days off earlier this week during the Eastern League All-Star break. The time off for the midsummer classic is an opportune time for the team to go their separate ways and soak in some well-deserved time with family and loved ones to reset and refresh before finishing out a hopeful postseason run over the final two months of the season. The Patriots return home to TD Bank Ballpark on Friday night for the first time since July 3 when they welcome the Altoona Curve to town for a quick three-game slate.

Prior to the All-Star break, Somerset (43-44) dropped four-of-six on the road in their series against the Erie SeaWolves last week, dropping them into third place in the Northeast Division with an 11-7 second-half mark. Both the Patriots and Portland sit just 0.5 games behind first place Binghamton entering action this weekend with an important six-game series with the Sea Dogs looming next week.

Altoona is scorching hot having won nine of their last ten ballgames to improve to 10-8 overall in the second half after finishing with a league worst 29-40 mark in the first half. The two clubs squared off once this season back in early May when the Patriots took four-of-six from the Curve at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Somerset is 19-11 all-time against Altoona including a 3-0-2 series record.

Cheesing Hard: For the second consecutive week, Patriots outfielder Elijah Dunham was honored as the Eastern League Player of the Week for the games played between July 8-14. The surging Dunham went 8-for-19 with 2 HR, 4 RBI, 4 R, 4 XBH, and 2 SB in five games played against Erie. Since returning to Somerset after a brief promotion to Triple-A SWB, Dunham has slashed .365/.425/.719 with 7 homers, 22 RBI, 19 XBH in 24 games over that span. Dunham saw his 17-game hitting streak end last Friday, which marks the longest such stretch since the Patriots joined the affiliated ranks of minor league baseball in 2021.

Back to the Future: Outfielder Spencer Jones and southpaw Brock Selvidge departed from the club early during their series last week in Erie to head to Arlington where they represented the Yankees and the American League in the MLB All-Star Future’s Game. Jones started in right field and batted fifth, going 0-for-1 with a walk and stolen base.

Protected by the Shields: Right-hander Ben Shields was promoted to Somerset back on July 2 after spending most of the first half of the season at High-A Hudson Valley with the exception of one spot start for Triple-A Scranton. Shields has made two starts for the Patriots and the 25-year-old undrafted free-agent has been dominant since entering the rotation. Shields has allowed just 1 earned run on 7 hits while fanning 13 batters over 12.1 innings of work – the Eastern League has hit just .163 against the George Mason University product.

Scouting the Curve: Altoona comes to town this weekend as the hottest team in the Eastern League and that recent surge is due large in part to strong pitching. In 12 games in July, the Curve pitching staff has held the opposition to three runs or less in 11 of those contests – they held Bowie to just eight runs over six games last week.

Right-hander Bubba Chandler is the Pirates top-prospect and is quickly entering the conversation as one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball. The 21-year-old Chandler was the 72nd overall pick in the 2021 draft and has quickly ascended through the system and is in the midst of a big-time breakout in his first taste of the upper levels. Chandler is 5-5 with a 3.53 ERA in 16 appearances with 77 punchouts in 63.2 frames while the Eastern League is hitting a mere .185 against him. In three second half starts; Chandler is pitching to a 1.10 ERA while the opposition is hitting .096.

A year after the Pirates selected Chandler with a premium pick, they used the 36th overall pick in the 2022 draft on right-hander Thomas Harrington out of Campbell. In his first taste of Double-A, Pittsburgh’s fourth ranked prospect has posted an impressive 2.41 ERA and 1.02 WHIP with 62 punchouts over 59.2 innings spanning 12 outings. Harrington has allowed two earned runs or less in six consecutive starts and is coming off two straight seven inning efforts in which he has allowed just one earned run with 17 strikeouts in 14 innings.

Tsung-Che Cheng was a heralded international free agent signee out of Taiwan by the Pirates back in 2019 and the slick fielding shortstop had a strong pro career entering 2024. Cheng got off to a tough start for Altoona - hitting just .221 in the first half. The Bucs 7th ranked prospect is off to a better start in the second half with a .259 average while his strikeout rate seems to have dipped a bit. Cheng is the team leader in homers with 9 and has also swiped 13 bases in 18 attempts.

Series Probable Pitching Matchup:

Fri: RHP Po-Yu Chen (4-7, 3.90 ERA) vs. RHP Trystan Vrieling (7-7, 5.56 ERA)
Sat: RHP Thomas Harrington (2-2, 2.54 ERA) vs. RHP Bailey Dees (4-5, 4.45 ERA)
Sun: RHP Bubba Chandler (5-5, 3.53 ERA) vs. RHP Zach Messinger (2-7, 3.94 ERA)

Matt Kardos | SomersetPatriots.com Senior Writer

Matt Kardos has covered the Yankees minor league system for over a decade and will spend his 12th season on the beat covering the Patriots for SomersetPatriots.com. Throughout his career, Matt has contributed to MLB.com, YES Network and Pinstriped Prospects. When he’s not at the ballpark, Matt enjoys traveling with his wife Kimberly, watching Jets football and collecting sports cards.

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