MiLB Pitcher of the Day: Yhoiker Fajardo
The Cardinal Chronicle
Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Yhoiker Fajardo
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Yhoiker Fajardo gave Peoria the kind of start that keeps a team alive long enough to find a way.
Fajardo is The Cardinal Chronicle’s Minor League Pitcher of the Day after striking out a career-high nine batters over five innings in the Chiefs’ 8-5, 12-inning win over the Beloit Sky Carp.
The final score came much later.
The tone was set much earlier.
Fajardo worked five innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits. He walked one and struck out nine, giving Peoria one of the strongest swing-and-miss starts in the Cardinals’ full-season system this week.
That is the line that jumps off the page.
Nine strikeouts.
Only two hits.
One walk.
For a 19-year-old right-hander in High-A, that matters.
Fajardo had to pitch without much early offensive help. Peoria did not record a hit through six innings, and Beloit carried the lead into the late innings. That can put pressure on a starter to be almost perfect, especially on the road, after delays, and in a game that never really found a normal rhythm.
Fajardo kept the Chiefs close anyway.
Beloit scratched across single runs in the third and fifth innings, but Fajardo never let the game break open. He missed bats, limited traffic and gave Peoria enough length to keep the bullpen from being pushed too early in what eventually became a 12-inning game.
That became important.
Peoria’s offense finally broke through in the seventh, then kept fighting through extra innings before putting the game away in the 12th. Michael Dattalo drove in three runs, José Suárez delivered a key two-run double, and the Chiefs turned a long, rain-delayed night into an 8-5 win.
But the comeback does not happen without Fajardo holding the line early.
That is what good starting pitching does.
It keeps the game close when the offense is quiet.
It gives the lineup time.
It gives the club a chance.
Cade Crossland deserves strong mention after throwing 4.1 hitless innings in Palm Beach’s 16-6 win over Bradenton. That outing changed the direction of the game after Palm Beach fell behind 5-0 in the first inning.
Jurrangelo Cijntje also deserves mention after allowing one earned run on three hits with six strikeouts over six innings for Springfield. Bruce Zimmermann gave Memphis five innings of one-run ball, and Hancel Rincón added two scoreless innings in the Redbirds’ extra-inning win.
But Fajardo had the biggest strikeout performance of the day.
A career-high nine strikeouts.
Only two hits allowed.
One walk.
Five innings that gave Peoria time to come back.
That earns the honor.
Old School Take
A starter does not always get rewarded in the moment.
Sometimes he has to leave the mound and wait for the offense to catch up.
That is what happened with Yhoiker Fajardo.
He gave Peoria five strong innings, struck out a career-high nine, and kept the Chiefs close on a night when their bats were quiet early.
Then Peoria found a way late.
That is why the start mattered.
That is why Yhoiker Fajardo is The Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Pitcher of the Day.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Yhoiker Fajardo, Peoria Chiefs | MLB