I was able to attend the Brooklyn Cyclones 6-4 loss against the Hudson Valley Renegades on Saturday in Wappingers Falls, New York. Ronny Mauricio didn’t play, but Francisco Alvarez, Jaylen Palmer, and Jose Peroza were all in the lineup.

Francisco Alvarez DH: 1-4, 2 K

Alvarez started his night off with an extremely hard hit ground ball single up the middle.

Jeremy Vasquez followed Alvarez with a low line drive into the gap in right-center field. Alvarez got a great jump off the bat and managed to score from first base, even though the hit was cut off in the gap by Hudson Valley’s center fielder.

This was my first time seeing Alvarez in person. I knew he had good speed for a catcher, but I didn’t realize how fast he was until I saw him flying around the bases on this play.

It was a wild first inning at Dutchess Stadium. Brooklyn jumped in front 2-0 thanks to this two-RBI double from Jeremy Vasquez – the TD Bank Double of the Game. But that was just the beginning…#TDBankhttps://t.co/1YIzXHqcEg pic.twitter.com/dkbfdNg4Tf

— Brooklyn Cyclones (@BKCyclones) August 21, 2021

This video doesn’t show it, but Alvarez had barely reached third base when Hudson Valley’s centerfielder’s throw hit the cutoff man in shallow right-center. The relay throw wasn’t a strong one and it was up the third base line. Alvarez had already sprinted past the catcher by the time the ball finally reached him.

Only a handful of catchers in the Major Leagues have the speed necessary to score from first base on this play.

In his other at-bats, he had a sharply hit groundout and a couple of strikeouts.

After working a 3-2 count in his third at-bat, he hit a loud line drive down the left field line off a breaking ball that landed less than a yard left of the foul line. On the next pitch, he swung and missed at a 90 mile per hour fastball that was low and outside. He was visibly furious at himself for expanding his zone.

His last at-bat was another strikeout, this one against a right-handed reliever with a low arm slot who threw low-80s breaking ball after low-80s breaking ball to every right-handed batters he faced. He got Alvarez to chase one of those breaking balls for strike three.

Jaylen Palmer 3B: 1-5, K

Palmer played his first game in the infield since being promoted to Brooklyn and looked much more comfortable at third base than he did in center field when I saw him play there on Thursday.

He only got three defensive chances, and didn’t have his first opportunity until the seventh inning. Brooklyn was in a shift and Palmer was the only defender on the left side of the infield, shaded towards where shortstops traditionally play.

He made a fantastic diving stop to his right on a sharp grounder hit by Hudson Valley’s Elijah Dunham. After fielding it cleanly, Palmer got up quickly and skipped a one-hop throw to first. It was a long hop, easy for the first baseman to handle.

Hudson Valley’s playing surface is turf. Palmer seemed to be intentionally trying to give the first baseman an easy bounce since he didn’t have enough time to set his feet in order to make a stronger throw to first.

It was a close play, but the umpire called Dunham safe at first. Dunham has good speed and 24 stolen bases this year across two levels. Most players would have been out.

His other two defensive chances were a routine ground ball that he handled smoothly and a rundown that he also handled smoothly after a Hudson Valley baserunner got too far off the bag on a ball in the dirt.

At the plate, I thought Palmer’s at-bats were better than what his line in the box score indicated.

In his second at-bat, he swung and missed at a first-pitch 84 mph changeup. The pitcher threw another changeup on the next pitch and Palmer hit a sharp grounder just inside third base that Hudson Valley’s third baseman, who was shaded toward the line, made a nice backhanded play on.

His single came in his fourth at-bat. It was against the same low arm slot righty that struck out Alvarez. Palmer pounced on a first pitch 82 mph breaking ball and hit a soft liner that fell in the right-center field gap.

In his last at-bat, he came up with Brooklyn down to their last out and needing to get on base to bring up Alvarez as the potential tying run.

After hitting a weak grounder foul up the third base line off a 97 mph fastball, he took a breaking ball for a strike that, based on his body language, he thought was low.

Despite the questionable call putting him in an 0-2 hole, he worked the count to 3-2 and took six more pitches to retire, taking a couple of close pitches for balls and fouling off a 97 and a 98 mph fastball. Hudson Valley’s closer eventually got him to ground out to short on a 98 mph fastball that almost certainly would have been called a strike had Palmer not swung.

Jose Peroza 2B: 1-3, HR, HBP, K

Then Jose Peroza added a two-run blast – his third home run in 5 games against the Renegades this week – to extend Brooklyn's lead to 4-0. #amazinstartshere pic.twitter.com/qylCLkYo38

— Brooklyn Cyclones (@BKCyclones) August 21, 2021

Peroza probably had the best game out of anyone in Brooklyn’s lineup on Saturday. Down in the count 1-2 in his first plate appearance, he hit a towering home run to center field off a 92 mph fastball. It was his third homer of the series.

He didn’t look very good in his other three plate appearances, which included a hit by pitch, a strikeout, and a groundout.

The grounder was hit slowly to second base, slow enough that I thought he would have a good chance to beat it out for an infield hit. He was hustling out of the box, but he was still thrown out in plenty of time. Speed isn’t one of Peroza’s strengths.

He shined on defense. After making a couple of nice defensive plays at third base on Thursday, he handled all four of his defensive chances on Saturday.

Oddly, three out of the four chances were basically the same play: A high chopper with a runner on first so he would have to field, pivot, and throw to second to get a force-out.

The first of those plays was a particularly high chopper, so he had to rush a low throw to second base. But the throw was good enough to be caught easily by Brooklyn’s shortstop.

The other two of these plays turned into 4-6-3 double plays. On the first double play, Peroza looked a bit awkward because he thought about trying to tag the runner going to second but changed his mind mid-tag attempt. It didn’t look pretty, but the throw was accurate and quick enough for the double play to still be turned.

The other double play was much smoother.

Peroza’s best defensive play of the game was on a ball that he had to cover a lot of ground to his left to get to. The Hudson Valley batter who hit it was jammed on the pitch, but Peroza got to it just in time to field it on one bounce and make a quick throw on the run to get the batter by a step.