Here is our weekly roundup of Schuylkill County and other coal region players currently with Major League Baseball organizations in the 2024 season.
Travis Blankenhorn (Pottsville Area) – Outfield, Rochester Red Wings
Blankenhorn snapped out of his slump last week when he returned to Pennsylvania to face the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.
The Pottsville grad went an impressive 8-for-21 (.381) at the plate in the Red Wings 7-game series against the Phillies Triple-A team. He added 2 home runs and hit safely in each game of the series.
On Tuesday of this week, he reached base on hits in both games of a doubleheader against St. Paul to run his hitting streak to 9 games.
His 2 homers last week plus another on Tuesday against the Saints gives him 14 on the season, the most in the International League and all of Triple-A baseball.
Reggie Crawford (North Schuylkill) – Pitcher, Sacramento River Cats
Crawford continues to turn heads as he motors through the San Francisco Giants organization.
Between his limited time with the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels and his current squad, the Triple-A River Cats, Crawford has only thrown 15 innings but he’s got 25 strikeouts.
His fastball is clocking over 100 mph at times.
Last week against the El Paso Chihuahuas, Crawford appeared in games on May 23 and May 26.
In his first outing last week, the North Schuylkill product went 1 inning, allowing a hit while striking out 1 and walking 1 batter.
Then, on May 26, Crawford tossed 2 innings of hitless baseball, striking out 4.
Joe Nahas (Marian Catholic) – Pitcher, Tennessee Smokies
Last week, Nahas pitched a scoreless 7th inning for the Smokies in a 5-4 win over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. It was his only appearance of the week.
He didn’t allow a hit and struck out 2 while walking 1 batter.
Thomas Schultz (Mount Carmel Area) – Pitcher, Fredericksburg Nationals
Schultz appeared in relief in two games last week for the Single-A Nationals against the Lynchburg Hillcats.
On May 22, he had a bit of a rocky outing. Pitching the 9th inning, the Mount Carmel product allowed 2 runs (both earned) on 4 hits. He did strike out a pair of Hillcats in that appearance.
He was able to limit the damage in that inning and his Nats won, 10-6.
On May 25, Schultz put that previous outing behind him. He worked the 9th, 10th, and 11th innings for Fredericksburg, not allowing a hit or run over that span. He struck out 2 and walked 1 in that outing. It helped drop his season ERA to 2.01.
Tom Reisinger (Mount Carmel Area) – Pitcher, Stockton Ports
Reisinger has not appeared in a game for the Ports since April 27. On May 1, he was placed on the 7-day injured list.
Kaleb Sophy (Blue Mountain) – Pitcher, Glacier Range Riders
In the offseason, Sophy signed with the Glacier Range Riders of the Pioneer League, an MLB Partner League. They play their home games in Kalispell, Montana.
In his debut with the team on May 23, Sophy got the start on the mound and pitched 4 innings. He allowed 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 7 and walking 3 batters against the Oakland Ballers.
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LET US KNOW: Someone missing from this roundup who plays for a Minor League team or MLB-affiliated league with ties to the coal region? Send us an email (newscanary@gmail.com) with their name, team, and their connection to the area and we’ll add them to future roundups.
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