MiLB Pitcher of the Day: Ty Van Dyke
The Cardinal Chronicle
Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Ty Van Dyke
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Ty Van Dyke did not start the shutout.
He finished it.
Van Dyke is The Cardinal Chronicle’s Minor League Pitcher of the Day after throwing five hitless innings in Peoria’s 2-0 win over the Beloit Sky Carp on Thursday night at ABC Supply Stadium.
This was not a game with much room for error.
Peoria scored one run in the second inning and one more in the fifth. That was it. The Chiefs finished with five hits, but the pitching staff made two runs stand up by keeping Beloit off the board all night.
Nate Dohm started it with three scoreless innings.
Victor Santos bridged it with a scoreless fourth.
Then Van Dyke took over and carried the game the rest of the way.
The right-hander worked five innings, did not allow a hit, walked three and struck out five. He had to pitch through some traffic, but he never let Beloit turn it into damage.
That is what made the outing stand out.
This was not just clean relief work in a comfortable game. This was five innings of shutout baseball in a tight road win where every pitch still mattered. One swing could have changed the game. Van Dyke never gave Beloit that swing.
Peoria took a 1-0 lead in the second when Luis Pino scored on a sacrifice fly from Sammy Hernandez. The Chiefs added another run in the fifth when Jose Cordoba doubled and Jack Gurevitch followed with an RBI single to center.
That gave Peoria a 2-0 lead.
Van Dyke protected it.
He entered after Santos and gave the Chiefs length, control of the game and a finishing hand. He did not allow a hit across the final five innings and struck out five to earn his second High-A win.
For a pitching staff, that is how a shutout is supposed to look.
Dohm set the tone.
Santos kept it clean.
Van Dyke brought it home.
There were other strong pitching notes in the Cardinals’ system Thursday night. Dohm deserves mention for opening the game with three scoreless innings and four strikeouts. Jack Martinez struck out seven over 3.2 innings for Palm Beach in the Cardinals’ 8-5 win over Bradenton. Luis Gastelum also threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts for Memphis.
But Van Dyke had the best pitching line of the day.
Five innings.
No hits.
No runs.
Five strikeouts.
A road shutout win.
That earns the honor.
The Cardinals’ system has had several strong pitching performances this week, but Van Dyke’s outing was different because of how much responsibility he carried. He was not asked to get three outs. He was asked to finish the game, protect a narrow lead and make sure Beloit never found a way back into it.
He did all three.
That is the value of a pitcher who can give a club real length after the starter exits. It saves the bullpen. It controls the pace of the game. It takes pressure off the offense. And on a night like this, it turns a two-run lead into a win.
Peoria won this game because the pitching staff gave Beloit almost nothing.
Van Dyke gave them nothing at all in the hit column.
Old School Take
There is still something special about a shutout.
It does not matter how baseball changes, how much the game leans on matchups, pitch shapes or bullpen lanes. When a pitching staff puts up nine zeroes, that still travels.
Ty Van Dyke did the heavy lifting Thursday night.
Five hitless innings.
Five strikeouts.
A two-run lead protected all the way to the finish.
That is pitching.
That is why Ty Van Dyke is The Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Pitcher of the Day.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.
Check out The Cardinal Chronicle for more St. Louis Cardinals coverage, daily farm reports, prospect updates and old-school baseball commentary:
www.cardinalchronicle.com
Photo Credit: Tyler Van Dyke, Peoria Chiefs | MLB