Last time I looked, they were playing Kieboom at 1B...maybe decided, finally, that Kieboom cannot field 3B but might be able to scoop throws at 1B. Alu is not playing much, and his hitting has fallen away to .224 with a single homer. Blankenhorn -- is he a 3B or an OF --is hitting .250 with some power. Maybe the organization holds him when Crews and Hassell arrive around July.

kieboom got about 11 innings in over last weekend at 1st. They may try him there once Gallo moves up. Blankenhorn is a DH/1b/corner OF. But for Gallo, I think he would have been given a shot at 1st / DH already. I suspect we don't see him until there's a Gallo decision.

Slate is right  - those guys are not going to block any of the real prospects in AA.

Hater!

I think what you are saying would be best for his development. Unfortunately, Senzel has not taken over 3rd. Maybe the right move now is to play Vargas Every Day Every Play at 3rd?

Is Senzel physically capable of playing third?

Trey is actually hitting RHP pretty well. .292 / .381 / .333 over 85 PA. A bit BABIP driven (.345) but a respectable walk rate (11.8%) and a low K rate (16.5%). Oddly, he's been beat up so far by lefties (.171 / .216 /.200) over 37 PAs, also BABIP driven (.207). Can't draw a walk vs a lefty, but K% shows no split, which is nice.

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/lavictor-lipscomb/31567/splits?position=3B&season=2024

I can't find a handy source for his minor league splits to see if this pattern showed up the past couple of years.

Most likely, the average against RHP will come down a bit, but the average against lefties will bounce up big time. He's fine holding the spot until House or Morales is ready, but what will likely happen is he will be gone when Gallo shows up.

Even if he's ready for AAA soon, they're going to have to make decisions about Alu, Blankenhorn, Kieboom etc.  Serious backlog of mediocre hitters at both MLB and Rochester.  Some will have to start falling off to make room for House, Hassell, and Crews.

Lol, what? This is absolutely not a concern. Crews, House, and Hassell are not going to not get playing time because of Alu and Kieboom

Went to the new ballpark in Hagerstown last night to see their new baseball team, the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars. They were facing the Staten Island Ferry Hawks.

After the old Hagerstown Suns were eliminated as part of that MLB minor league reorganization a few years ago, the City decided to raze old Municipal Stadium, which was located away from downtown. After some controversy, the City decided to build a new ballpark in downtown Hagerstown. They worked out a deal with the Atlantic League to establish a new ball team. The Flying Boxcars name is a nod to the WWII cargo planes that were built in Hagerstown.

The new ballpark, called Meritus Park, is beautiful, and right in downtown. It’s on the small side, holding about 4,000, but like all Atlantic League ballparks, the field lighting, locker rooms, etc. must meet or exceed all MiLB Triple A standards.

The concourse is open all around. There are two large beer garden type areas with bars, tables, couches, and corn hole and other games. There’s also a kids area with bouncy castle-type stuff. There’s a metal representation of a real Flying Boxcar in right, which was a nice visual touch. Plenty of good cheap seats - we were in the first row behind the Boxcar dugout for $12. All seats had cup holders. The seats did seem to be a bit on the narrow side, but were still quite comfortable.

They have a large selection of merch, which everyone seemed to be buying, so local support seems good.  They had one of the larger selections of women’s t-shirts I’ve seen in any ballpark. T-shirt prices ranged from about $25-40.

We were there on “Thirsty Thursday” where 16oz Bud Lite and Michelob Lite costs $3, and other local and craft beers go for $5 for the same 16oz. Nice deal.

I had a hot dog which was meh, but Mr wj73 had a decent sausage with peppers and onions.

Since this was Opening Week, there were a few glitches. It took them till the 4th inning to get the scoreboard working properly, and one of the beer stands didn’t have their contactless pay set up, necessitated everyone having to get their actual credit cards processed. (Like most ballparks these days, Meritus Park is cashless.)

I’d never attended an Atlantic League game before. Based on last night, I’d say the level of play is a bit under Double A, but more than High A. The players are a mix of players mostly from MiLb, and even a few former major leaguers. The biggest surprise was the Staten Island Ferry Hawks third baseman - Pablo Sandoval. Yes, THE Pablo Sandoval. He laced a couple of hard singles.  I guess he just can’t give it up.

The Boxcars were crushed last night, 10-0. Not especially surprising for what is essentially an expansion team. But it was an enjoyable experience despite the score.

All in all, if you find yourself up that way, it’s worthwhile checking out Meritus Ballpark and the Flying Boxcars.

https://flyingboxcars.com/