by In the minor leagues, rosters are always fluid. Players move up and down through the different levels of the organization throughout the season, with teams looking vastly different at the end of the year compared to what they looked like at the beginning.
About two months into the season, those roster moves are starting to become more and more common.
In the two weeks since the last Brooklyn Cyclones Report, the roster has seen the pitching staff lose a lot of reliable arms and gain a lot of new faces as replacements.
The biggest losses are Jesús Vargas and Hunter Parsons. Vargas made one start with the Cyclones but was mainly used as what manager Luis Rivera described as a piggyback, pitching bulk innings in relief of the starter. In 26.2 innings through seven appearances, he gave up just six earned runs while striking out 31 and posting a very good 1.01 WHIP.
Parsons has been one of the team’s most reliable bullpen arms, pitching 19.2 innings through 12 appearances and giving up just four earned runs with 25 strikeouts and a 0.92 WHIP. Rivera has mentioned multiple times how much trust he had in both pitchers, considering them both to be very important pieces to his pitching staff.
Both were assigned to Double-A Binghamton. Vargas, who was promoted earlier than Parsons, has already made two starts in Double-A and struggling a bit out of the gates, giving up 12 earned runs through 9.1 innings.
Jordan Yamamoto is the third pitcher who is now onto Double-A, though in his case it’s more about a path back to the big leagues. Yamamoto pitched in two games for the Mets last season before getting hurt and is just now working his way back. In three games and six innings for Brooklyn, Yamamoto gave up five earned runs including at least one home run in all three appearances.
Nick MacDonald, who hadn’t pitched for the Cyclones since May of 2021 due to injury, was assigned to Port St. Lucie. Evy Ruibal and Colby Morris were released.
Joining the team is a quintet of arms, all being promoted from St. Lucie: Grant Hartwig, Carson Seymour, Mike Vasil, Luis Moreno, and Nathan Lavender.
The first three — Hartwig, Seymour, and Vasil — have all already pitched a bit for Brooklyn after being called up about two weeks ago. Seymour and Vasil each have made a start, giving up two earned runs in five innings and four earned runs in four innings, respectively. Hartwig has been used out of the bullpen and is yet to give up a run over two appearances and 4.1 innings.
Moreno in St. Lucie had thrown 40.1 innings and given up 12 earned runs over nine games (three starts), good for a 2.68 ERA. Lavender, the only southpaw of the bunch, had been used only as a reliever, giving up just one earned run in 18.2 innings in 10 games.
The Cyclones as a team are 20-24 this season through Wednesday, including 5-5 in their last 10.
The Cyclones will be away through June 22 finishing up a series vs. the Wilmington Blue Rocks. They will then be home for a six-game series vs. the Jersey Shore BlueClaws. For ticket and promotion information, visit brooklyncyclones.com.
