Railriders Report: First Night in Syracuse, which rhymes with "No Excuse"

Last night, the Syracuse Chiefs, Skychiefs, Your Name Heres, Mets entertained the Railriders of Scranton - aka "the Yankees of the future" - (Note: That's a joke.) As is customary, our IT IS HIGH Forensic Prospects Evaluation Team received nothing less than the finest seats in the house. 

That's Cool Healed Luke Voit preparing to launch the 2021 season. And launch he did, on the first pitch, a 400 -foot moon beam to center, for a jogging double. (Luke went 2-3 on the night.) He looks ready at the plate, but played DH, which means no current path to Gotham. 

Last night, the Scrantonian lineup featured no legitimate, up-and-coming, hot prospect. Not one. You might argue that 1B Chris Gittens (age 27) and SS Kyle Holder (26) are still "rising" - neither has yet played in the majors. That's as close as we'll get to ascending youth. (Deivi Garcia is in the rotation, so there's that.) From top to bottom, the Railriders feature spare parts, aging hopefuls and rehabs. 

A few observations...

1. Holder, the well-touted defensive whiz, booted his first grounder of the year. He also went 0-4. But but but... before you say Zolio Almonte!, I can see why people who are not publicists talk up his glove. He plays a graceful SS, charging nubbers and ranging left and right. He made several nice plays, not highlight reels, but enough to show something. If Gleyber fails at SS, Holder can provide defense. For whatever it's worth, he bats LH. 

2. The night's hardest blast came from Socrates Brito - a liner that never rose higher than 30 feet before clearing the right-center all. The CF barely turned around. Brito went 2-4 and provided the only Railrider offense. He too bats left. Something tells me that we'll see him in the Bronx before this year is over.

3. Great to see Miguel Andujar in LF. Not much happened out there; he wasn't challenged - and Miggy went 0-4. But in his first at bat, he lashed a liner at the SS - so hard they nearly doubled Luke off second base. Let's hope...

4. The Yankee starter was 31-year-old Mike Montgomery, a lefty lug nut, who will probably spot-start for us at some point this summer. (Two Montgomerys in the rotation.) He lasted into the fifth, gave up three and basically survived on guile. He peaked in 2017 but has pitched in the majors for six years. He's a moose, 6'5".

5. Nick Goody has returned home. He finished in the ninth. Two strike outs and a pop-up. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust...

And then there was the Yankee game, which Alphonso monitored from his orbiting pod-bar in outer space. All night, I received updates, ranging from troubling to outright fury.  

To receive Alphonsian updates is to believe the Yankees are losing by 12. This is my world. 

Final note: Did the juju gods screw us? Just as Yankee fans were starting to accept Roogie Odor, he gets hurt? That stinks. Hope Ody is okay. 

Final note: Can't help but get excited over this picture of Stanton and Judge confronting Lil Jose Altuve.