Jersey says it: 51s step up to plate to honor Latino fans
Wthe Las Vegas 51s aren’t doing so hot this season — 37-65, .363 winning percentage, 17 games out of first place in their division — the Las Vegas Reyes de Plata remain undefeated.
The 51s will be known as Reyes de Plata — Silver Kings — during Tuesday night home games in August. It’s like when Phoenix’s NBA team becomes Los
Suns for selected games or the Fresno Grizzlies don their taco jerseys, part of a new initiative catering to Hispanic/ Latino baseball fans announced Monday at Cashman Field by Minor League Baseball.
The marketing blitz, called Es Divertido Ser Un Fan — It’s Fun to Be a Fan — was rolled out along with Triple-a sized croissants, High-a sized muffins, scalding coffee and new caps and jerseys at the stadium’s Club Level Restaurant. The 51s will debut the uniforms next month and raffle them off at season’s end, with proceeds going to the Las Vegas
KANTOWSKI
innings with the 51s this season, but had been stalled out at Triple A.
Though his trip to the majors was brief and Bradford was optioned back to Las Vegas on July 17, he vowed to return to New York.
He made his first major league appearance June 25 and pitched a scoreless inning, though he said he was freaking out, his mind was racing and his heart was pumping.
“Everybody I talked to after, they were like ‘You looked super calm,’ and I was like ‘Well I wasn’t,’ ” Bradford said. “I think you saw it in the first two outings, I don’t really walk that many people and I walked two guys in two innings, so it was like ‘Yeah, there’s still a little bit of nerves there.’ I think I did relatively well for the first time. Obviously there’s stuff to build on and I would like to do better.”
Bradford gave up five runs in five outings, though three of the appearances were scoreless.
Three of those runs came in 1 1/3 innings against the Phillies and he gave up two runs in two innings against Colorado on July 16, his last outing before being sent back to Las Vegas.
“I thought three of the five games were real good,” Las Vegas pitching coach Frank Viola said. “One game he gave up three runs but in listening to it, it sounded like it wasn’t ‘rocket here, rocket there.’ It was ‘bloop here, seeing-eye hit there.’ I thought all things considered, he did very well.”
Working on changeup
Now back in Triple-a, Bradford has identified a couple of things to work on.
One is his sinker command — he said he thought he was rushing a little bit and getting a little up in the strike zone.
He’s also working on his changeup, which he said he needs to throw more to righties.
“I was kind of a two-pitch pitcher when I was there and they really want me to be a three-pitch pitcher and have that changeup because it is a good changeup,” Bradford said. “It has been.”
Right now, the focus is on knocking a couple mph off his changeup.
“We’ve got to get a little more contrast off his fastball,” Viola said. “His sinker is 89 to 91 (mph) consistently. His changeup is 84 to 86. I’d like to get it down to high 70s, low 80s.”
If he can get those things figured out, Bradford could potentially find himself with a return ticket to New York, likely in September, if not before.
“I’m thrilled for him to get the opportunity and hopefully he’s showed enough that they’re not afraid to hesitate in the future to give him another opportunity,” Viola said. “He’s earned that.”
Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com.
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