Thursday, April 5, 2012

A.J.'s Double-A Debut

New Hampshire catcher A.J. Jimenez had three hits and shut down Trenton's running game, throwing out two wannabe-base stealers, in a 5-3 win for the Fisher Cats at Waterfront Park tonight. Behind the dish, Jimenez locked into a rhythm with starter Drew Hutchison, who gave up two runs in the first inning before retiring 13 straight. The Fisher Cats had 10 hits, with Brian Van Kirk collecting the team's only extra-base hit, a double. Hutchison went five innings, yielding three hits, while striking out six with one walk. Ron Uviedo picked up the save for the undefeated Eastern League defending champs.

The A.J. Jimenez Era has begun.
Kevin Littlefield/Staff

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Fisher Cats Workout Day and Bonus DVD

Brett Cecil will join the Fisher Cats in Reading, Pa., and start Monday's game in a rematch of the 2011 Northern Division playoffs. "Let's face it. He's probably not going to be real happy about having to come back to the minors. This is a good place to get your stuff together. I'm confident he'll get his game together and everything will be fine," said Fisher Cats pitching coach Tom Signore, who coached Cecil for part of last season at Las Vegas.

Koby Clemens is built like a house and generates a lot of pop with a short-to-the-ball swing ... Dude hits bullets during BP ... "Lot of Dunkin Donuts up here, which is a plus," said Drew Hutchison ... I watched LHP Aaron Loup throw a side session today and his slider was absolutely ridiculous ... Brad Glenn has big-league power and may win a complimentary night at the Hilton Garden Inn by homering off the hotel beyond left-center field this season ... Cool event tonight for Fisher Cats season ticket holders, who met the 2012 players and fan favorite/Twitter hero Justin Jackson ... In this clip, Brian Jeroloman works the video camera and takes a, um, "artsy" closeup of Drew Hutchison during a photo shoot for the New Hampshire Union Leader ... Here is the second half of the wicked awesome interview with Hutchison and Mike McDade on Media Day:

Monday, April 2, 2012

Fisher Cats Media Day Fun

Drew Hutchison will start Thursday's opener at Trenton, followed by Chad Jenkins and Deck McGuire in the rotation. In two sentences, Hutch succinctly talked about his thoughts on being a top Toronto prospect. "My responsibility is to go there and give everything I can to help the team win that day," he said. "If you work had and that's your approach, none of the other stuff matters."

Other compelling notes: Mike McDade had to unfollow teammate Justin Jackson on Twitter. "I couldn't even look at other people's stuff. It was just him," McDade said. Hutchison added, "The feed was getting clogged." Koby Clemens crushed his first interview session, even dropping "oppo-taco" and talking about being a leader in the clubhouse. I already like this kid, who, yes, was almost immediately asked about his dad. "People talk about the pressures of my last name, but I always say I'm going to be Koby Clemens. I'm going to be Koby. My dad's always said that. I'm just like anybody else that's trying to make it in this game."

The Rocket's oldest son had all the right answers, even when asked about the negative side of the Clemens name. "I really don't look at negatives if anybody brings them up. I've got a lot more positives coming back from having my dad being who he is," Clemens told Marc Thaler of the New Hampshire Union Leader ... Here's our low-key interview with Hutchison and McDade, who discuss @JaxChillinOne and other random issues as we chat inside the visiting clubhouse: