Manager expects Fuego to contend in abbreviated season – Santa Fe New Mexican
The boys of summer are back and, judging by the early returns, feeling pretty good about the next two months.
That’s all the time the Santa Fe Fuego get as the Pecos League season will be squeezed into 49 games between Wednesday’s opener and the July 31 finale. It’s the fewest number of games for the regular season since the Fuego came into existence a decade ago.
Manager Bill Rogan isn’t necessarily a fan of the abbreviated schedule, but he said last week the team he’s assembled will be able to stay in the race. He’s got eight players back from last year’s team, including all-stars Jared Gay and Phil Buckingham.
Gay is threatening the team’s all-time home record after launching 24 bombs a year ago. He’s 23 short of tying the club standard.
“That’s one of the reasons I’m back,” Gay said with a smile.
Built like a defensive end — which his younger brother, Adam, was before switching to offensive line for the University of New Mexico this season — Gay had a cup of coffee with the independent American Association last year. He said he’s happy to be back, having taken up residence in Albuquerque while holding down a steady job.
That job, like most everything else in these players’ lives, will take a back seat to baseball for the teeth of the summer. For Fuego newcomer Drake Ayala, that’s just fine.
A free-agent rookie who debuted in the league a year ago with the Salina traveling club, he found a more stable gig with Santa Fe after playing in the preseason spring league in Texas. Unlike most players in the Pecos League, he never played an inning of college baseball.
“Never did any of that,” he said. “Never did any interviews either, so this is new.”
Drake is projected to be the starting shortstop while he, Gay and outfielder Parker DePasquale will anchor the top half of a batting order that has plenty of power that will be magnified by Santa Fe’s 7,200-foot-elevation dry air — and Fort Marcy’s 285-foot fence in right.
“I’m just glad Jared’s on my team because that guy can hit anything out to any part he wants,” said pitcher Matt Sanchez, an Albuquerque native who’s slated to be Wednesday’s starter. “Pitching here means keeping the ball down and knowing you’re going to have fly balls get out of here every now and then.”
A product of Rio Grande High School, Sanchez is one of four in-state players on the 22-man opening day roster, joining Espanola Valley graduate Jesus Chavez and Las Cruces Centennial product Manny Cachora. The fourth is Santa Fe’s Matt Barela, a righthanded reliever who could work his way into the starting rotation before it’s over.
Rogan said he’d go with a four-man rotation out of the gate. The team has built-in days off in every week, giving the Fuego enough time to navigate the notoriously challenging road trips that can take up to 10 hours in a caravan of carpooling players.
HELP WANTED
The team is seeking the public’s help with finding host families for the players. The Fuego will host a meet-and-greet with the public Tuesday night.
Host families are asked to allow one or more players to stay with them for the duration of the season, giving them a place to sleep, prepare food and simply relax during June and July. As of late last week, only a handful of players had found host families.
FRIENDLY CONFINES
The Fuego will play 31 of their 49 games at home, including every Friday and Saturday night for the duration of the season. The longest road trip of the season is a four-game stretch in Kansas against Garden City.
That trip starts after a home game against Trinidad, then an overnight drive to Garden City for an afternoon game on the Fourth of July, continues with a weekend home swing against Garden City, then a return to Kansas for the Pecos League All-Star Game on July 10 in Garden City.
The Fuego are then tasked with driving to Alpine, Texas, the next night for the start of a three-game series.
“Well, I was looking forward to the All-Star break,” said Fuego outfielder Justin Torres.