STATE COLLEGE — The harsh realities of managing a minor league club hit State College Spikes’ manager Johnny Rodriguez this past week.
In the span of one week, the Spikes lost key cogs in their offense. Dylan Tice and Jose Martinez were both promoted to the Peoria Chiefs over the past week, leaving Rodriguez with new faces and a new game plan.
“We lost Tice, and he was a big key,” Rodriguez told reporters after the team’s grueling 10-8 win on Friday July 22. “We lost Martinez..another big key. But look what I’ve got coming in. If I can clean up the offense, we’re going to be fine.”
Coming in to Rodriguez’s band of hitters are infielders Matt Davis and Andy Young.
Davis came to the club as an undrafted free agent. Rodriguez likes what he sees as far as raw tools from the Mechanicsburg native.
“He’s a good, athletic guy. He can play second or third; strong arm, has some pop..he has to get used to a little more heat on the fastball. He’ll chase a little bit.” Rodriguez said of Davis.
Young has a slightly better pedigree than Davis, having been drafted in the 37th round by the Cardinals in the 2016 MLB entry draft.
“You would never believe he was a 30-something rounder.” Rodriguez exclaimed after seeing Young hit his first professional home run on Friday. And what a home run it was – the shot was near dead on with the 410 foot nook in Medlar Field.
“I liked that one from him,” Rodriguez said. “It shows that he has it in him. It shows he has the confidence. That’s good, because we’re going to need it now.”
“The flexibility I had was unreal. I’ve lost half of it.” Rodriguez continued. “I need to mix and match. We are going to have to get [Davis} to pick up Tice, and then Young to pick up Martinez. We lost a lot defensively with Martinez too.”
Indeed, the loss of Tice and Martinez will be huge blows for the Spikes’ potent offensive attack. Their three home runs and 29 combined RBI may not leap off the page, but both were equally adept at many different facets of Rodriguez’s approach to run creation. Tice in particular could be counted on for smallball play as well as the occasional power. Martinez was starting to bloom after a sluggish start and carries his .357 on base percentage to Peoria.
While Rodriguez is happy to see them move on with their professional careers, he also has a decidedly forward-thinking outlook, as evidenced by his closing comments after Friday’s win.
“I don’t care; you give me 25 guys and we’ll go out and play.”
