Fisher Cats set for 20th season in Manchester
Apr. 8—On a team featuring 16 returners and 12 newcomers, one of those newcomers, 25-year-old right-hander Trent Palmer, takes the mound Tuesday when the New Hampshire Fisher Cats open their home Eastern League season — the Toronto Blue Jays affiliate's 20th in the Granite State.
Palmer's first pitch against the Somerset Patriots is set for 6:35 p.m. at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester. Somerset (Yankees) counters with righty Blane Abeyta.
New Hampshire began the season by taking two of three games at Binghamton over the weekend. Left-hander Adam Macko, the organization's No. 9-rated prospect and the only Fisher Cat on the Blue Jays' 40-man roster, pitched the first four innings of Sunday's 8-4 win. allowing three runs in the first before retiring 11 straight. Shortstop John Kasevich keyed the offense, collecting a double and three singles for four runs batted in.
Also contributing was leadoff man Alan Roden, the No. 7-rated prospect in the organization, who had two singles in five at-bats. Roden, an outfielder, is a prduct of Creighton University.
The Fisher Cats are under new management, Diamond Baseball Holdings, which owns 29 minor-league clubs, including the Boston Red Sox' Triple-A team in Worcester, Mass., and their Double-A team in Portland, Maine.
The Fishers have finished over .500 four times in their 19 years in Manchester, but in three of those four, they won the league crown. The latest title came in 2018, when the team was powered by future Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio.
