August 2026

I love a good weekend trip with baseball. The trip to Baltimore was up and down but we got the good weather day for Camden Yards before having to drive back to RVA in the next day’s deluge. This game was at the start of August and its hard to believe from how things felt at OPACY that day that the Orioles are knocking on the door of the playoffs. They had no answer fro Cristopher Sanchez this day. Shane Baz was almost as good, but the Orioles bullpen couldn’t keep it close.

We also did a quicker trip to Fredericksburg and three Squirrels games this month. Highlights included C getting Wen Hui Pan to give him a ball and sign one by asking in Mandarin before Pan pitched well for Reading, the FredNats pulling a comeback out late, and a great pitchers duel followed by a massive rout by the Sea Dogs. I miss when position player pitchers would try to pitch, but it was still funny watching Dayson Croes’ lobs get lit up.

Following a minor league team in the time of these roster limits is interesting. Position players pitch a lot more than they used to because they’re just aren’t enough arms and they are managed so tightly. No one can really handle extra innings it seems. Also, once draftees get signed you get a lot of teams having a flurry of promotions and releases. Rosters, especially at the lower levels turn over almost as much after the draft as they do in the offseason these days. The Squirrels team that won the first half is mostly now in Sacramento, or even San Francisco. We’ll see how the replacements do in the playoffs.

8/1/26 Baltimore Orioles 0 Philadelphia Phillies 5 Star of the Game: Cristopher Sanchez

8/5/26 Richmond Flying Squirrels 3 Reading Fightin’ Phils 2 (left after top 8 final 6-5) Star of the Game: Charlie Szykowny

8/21/26 Fredericksburg Nationals 6 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3 Star of the Game: Sir Jamison Jones

8/26/26 Richmond Flying Squirrels 0 Portland Sea Dogs 0 (left after 8 final 4-5 in 13) Star of the Game: Esmerlin Vinicio

8/29/26 Richmond Flying Squirrels 3 Portland Sea Dogs 14 Star of the Game: Johanfran Garcia