Brooklyn Cyclones Game Notes - 8/20/2026

 

Here are the Brooklyn Cyclone Game Notes for today's game.

The Brooklyn Cyclones (25-24, 50-64) continue a two-week road trip with a six-game series against the Asheville Tourists (23-26, 40-74) — the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros  —  on Thursday evening at 6:35 p.m. ET from HomeTrust Park in Asheville, N.C.

RHP Joel Díaz (0-6, 6.69) is projected to take the ball for Brooklyn. Asheville is scheduled to counter with LHP Adam Shoemaker (0-1, 14.54 ERA).

LAST TIME OUT: The Cyclones dropped a back-and-forth showdown in Asheville, falling to the Tourists, 7-6...DH Elian Peña and LF John Smith III picked up the first High-A hits of their careers, going 1-for-5 and 3-for-4, respectively...RF Trey Snyder reached base three times with a hit and two walks, scored three runs, and stole two bases...2B Yonatan Henríquez slugged a two-run home run over the wall in right field for his sixth of the season...Brooklyn led 4-1 and 6-4 before three unearned runs in the 7th for Asheville doomed the Cyclones.


25th ANNIVERSARY: The Cyclones celebrate their 25th anniversary season in 2026...Since the inaugural 2001 campaign, Brooklyn has captured three league titles...The Cyclones shared the New York-Penn League crown with the Williamsport Crosscutters in their first season before taking home the final NYPL title in 2019...Brooklyn captured its first full-season championship in 2025, going 4-0 in the postseason against Greensboro and Hub City.


ARMS RACE: Brooklyn pitching has kicked into high gear as of late...The Cyclones held Jersey Shore to eight runs (two earned) on 25 hits during their six-game series last week...Brooklyn starters combined on 32.2 innings of one-run ball against the BlueClaws last week, good for a 0.28 ERA, while four of the six starters tossed at least 5.0 frames of scoreless ball...Since the start of their series in Wilmington on August 4, Cyclone arms possess the best ERA in all of MiLB at a tidy 1.92 over the last 14 games...Brooklyn has allowed 78 hits during that span, second only to Chicago-NL's Double-A Knoxville (68), who have played two fewer games...Furthermore, the Brooklyn bullpen has a 5-5 record with a 1.83 ERA over the last 14 contests.


FIRST AID-AN: OF Aidan Smith has made an immediate impact in his first two weeks as a Cyclone...The Tulsa, Okla., native went 2-for-3 with three walks and matched a Cyclones' single-game franchise record with four stolen bases on Tuesday in Asheville...Smith homered four times in a five-game span in the series in Wilmington...The 22-year-old saw his nine-game hitting streak come to an end in last Tuesday's series opener with Jersey Shore...In 12 games with Brooklyn, Smith is 15-for-45 (.333/.426/.644/1.070) with 10 runs scored, four home runs, eight RBI, eight walks and eight stolen bases...Smith began the year on the Injured List for Bowling Green and did not rejoin the Hot Rods until May 19...After a slow start to the season, the new Mets farmhand has found his stride over the last month...Since July 5, Smith has slashed .313/.388/.667/1.055 with 24 runs scored, five doubles, 10 home runs, 25 RBI and 11 stolen bases in 25 games.


TAKING CARREÑO BUSINESS: LHP Nicolas Carreño has found his stride on the mound...The Venezuela native earned his third-straight win on Tuesday night at Asheville, striking out seven over 5.2 innings while allowing just one unearned run on five hits and a walk...Carreño has been one of the best pitchers in the South Atlantic League in August, ranking near the top of the league in most stats...The 20-year-old is first in ERA (0.00), batting average against (.136), WHIP (0.98) and opposing OPS (.386), tied for first in wins (3), tied for second in double plays (3), fourth in innings pitched (17.2), and tied for fifth in strikeouts (20).


HE IS JIM-ENEZ: INF Antonio Jimenez is heating up at the plate since returning from Single-A St. Lucie...The Hialeah, Fla. native went 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base on Tuesday at Asheville...Jimenez has gone 8-for-18 (.444/.565/.778/1.343) over his last six games, reaching base at least once in every game...After struggling in his first taste of High-A to begin the season, Jimenez has bounced back since returning to the Cyclones on July 28...In 15 games, Jimenez is hitting .238/.429/.405/.834 with three doubles, two triples, 13 walks and five stolen bases.


WHERE BROOKLYN AT: Before Tuesday's opener in Asheville, the Mets promoted SS Elian Peña and OF John Smith III to Brooklyn...Peña played in 96 games for Single-A St. Lucie this season, slashing .271/.388/.397/.785 with 18 doubles, eight home runs and 28 stolen bases...The Mets' No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline has been playing his best baseball of the year lately...Since July 25, Peña is slashing .338/.423/.588/1.011 with five doubles and four home runs in 17 games...Peña will be the third 18-year-old in High-A, joining Nationals' SS Eli Willits (Wilmington) and Athletics' OF Breyson Guedez (Lansing)...Smith was the Mets' 19th-round pick in the MLB draft this past July...The University of Central Florida product played in 10 games for St. Lucie, going 10-for-41 (.244) with three doubles, two home runs and three stolen bases. 


SO LONG, FAREWELL: INF Jamari Baylor and RHP Luke Gabrysh were promoted to Double-A Binghamton on Tuesday, while INF Carter Dierdorf was transferred to the FCL Mets...Baylor signed a minor league contract with the Mets on April 29, and joined the Cyclones on June 6...In 31 games, the 25-year-old hit .256/.427/.422/.849 with four doubles, three home runs and nine stolen bases playing 1B, 2B, 3B and one game in LF...Gabrysh made two starts for the Cyclones after being acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline...The Wilmington, Delaware native allowed just five hits and three runs over 8.0 innings while racking up 15 strikeouts...They join INF Mitch Voit, RHP Noah Hall, OF JT Benson, OF Yohairo Cuevas, RHP Cristofer Gomez and RHP Bryce Jenkins, who were all promoted to Binghamton from Brooklyn in the last two weeks.


HURT-ADO LOCKER: LHP Daviel Hurtado has been brilliant since joining the Cyclones...The Cuban-born starter tossed a career-high 7.0 innings on Sunday against Jersey Shore, holding the BlueClaws to one hit...Since making his High-A debut on May 26, the 21-year-old is among the best arms in the South Atlantic League...Hurtado leads the South Atlantic League in batting average against (.165), WHIP (0.92), and opposing OPS (.472) since that date...He is also second in ERA (2.34), tied for second in double plays (7), and tied for 10th in wins (4)...Hurtado also closed out the win on August 2 with 2.0 scoreless innings of relief to earn his first career save...Hurtado was named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Month for June, collecting a 4-1 mark with a 2.03 ERA (6 ER in 26.2 IP) over five starts...He walked only four and struck out 26, while scattering 11 hits.


COMEBACK 'CLONES: The Cyclones scored six runs in the 9th on August 5 to pull off a stunning come-from-behind 10-8 victory in Wilmington...With two outs in the inning, 2B-RF Yonatan Henríquez launched a go-ahead three-run home run...The win was the third time this season that Brooklyn came back to win after trailing in the 9th and the second time they came back when down to their last out...On July 29, the Cyclones scored four runs with two outs in the 9th to erase a two-run deficit against Winston-Salem, capped off by a walk-off three-run homer by DH Daiverson Gutiérrez...On April 11, DH Ronald Hernandez tripled to lead off the 9th at Jersey Shore and scored the tying run on a wild pitch...Brooklyn would score three runs in the 10th without recording a hit to pick up their second win of the season.


PITCHING IN: Brooklyn's pitching staff has been sharp as of late...The Cyclones' staff allowed just two earned runs over 56.0 innings in last week's series against Jersey Shore...Since May 14, Brooklyn pitchers have posted a 3.58 ERA (276 ER in 694.0 IP), the third-lowest in Minor League Baseball...Only Chicago-AL's Single-A Kannapolis (3.48) and Texas' Single-A Hickory (3.50) have lower marks...The Cyclones' bullpen has been a huge reason for that success...Since that date, Brooklyn's 3.43 ERA (134 ER in 351.0 IP) from relievers is second-best in MiLB...Only Kannapolis (2.93) has produced a better clip...In June, the Cyclones posted a 3.66 ERA (101 ER in 221.1 IP), the best mark in the South Atlantic League...Overall in 2026, the Cyclones' 3.95 ERA (432 ER in 985.0 IP) is fourth-best in MiLB.


BALL MAGNETS: The Cyclones have worn their fair share of pitches this season...Entering Thursday, Brooklyn batters have been drilled by 106 pitches, which is tied for fourth-most in Minor League Baseball and tied for the most in the South Atlantic League...San Diego's Single-A Lake Elsinore (115) leads MiLB, and Chicago's High-A Winston-Salem (106) is even with Brooklyn atop the SAL...OF John Bay set the Cyclones' single-season record for hit-by-pitches with 19, surpassing OF Matt Rudick (2022) and C Chris Suero's (2025) previous mark of 16... The Cyclones have had four hitters plunked in a game on four separate occasions in 2026...The single-game franchise record is six, set on May 19, 2023, at Hudson Valley...The franchise record for hit-by-pitches in a season is 107, set in 2022.


BROOKLYN TO THE BIGS: After 14 former Cyclones made their Major League debuts in 2025, nine alumni have accomplished the feat in 2026...LHP Nate Lavender, who pitched Brooklyn in 2022 and again on a minor league rehab assignment earlier this year, debuted for the New York Mets on Tuesday night in Cleveland...He joins RHP Kade Morris, RHP Wilkin Ramos, OF Nick Morabito, LHP Zac Thornton, OF Carson Benge, OF A.J. Ewing, RHP Cameron Foster, and RHP Anthony Nunez, who made their debuts earlier this season...Foster and Nunez each debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in April, while Ramos and Morris debuted for the San Francisco Giants and Athletics, respectively...Last year's 14 debuts set a new single-season franchise record.


AMAZIN' STARTS HERE: According to MLB Pipeline, the Cyclones hold seven of the Mets' Top 30 prospects: SS Elian Peña (3), INF Sammy Stafura (8), INF Cole Mathis (14), OF Aidan Smith (16), 1B/OF Randy Guzmán (22), LHP Daviel Hurtado (24), and RHP José Chirinos (27)...The Cyclones also have six of the Mets' Top 30 farmhands per Baseball America: Peña (6), Stafura (9), Smith (12), Mathis (16), Guzmán (20), Carreño (27)...Joe DeMayo lists Stafura (3), Peña (6), Guzmán (16), Mathis (17), Smith (22), Hurtado (26), and LHP Nicolas Carreño (28) among his Top 30.


###BRK###

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