By now we know that York has won three games in a row, having swept the Somerset Patriots over the weekend. It’s York’s first three-game winning streak of the season. Now in their fourth week of the season, it appears the Revs have finally turned a corner. Or have they? The next couple series (three games at Southern Maryland, three games at Lancaster) could very well tell us the answer.

Just last Thursday, York had come off being swept by the Long Island Ducks in a three-games series. It looked as though a closed-door meeting called by Revs manager Andy Etchebarren earlier in the week hadn’t done much for the players. So, upon returning home this past Friday – York finished Thursday’s double-header at Long Island well past midnight and got back to York around 5 a.m. – outfielder James Shanks checked with Etch’ to see if it was OK to hold a players-only meeting before Friday’s game against the Patriots.

“I think they got on each other about the way they were playing,” Etchebarren said Sunday night. “They weren’t doing any good so Shanks called the meeting. I didn’t ask what they talked about or anything like that.”

Whatever was said in that meeting may have made a difference, as the Revs went out and swept the Pats’ by a combined score of 24 to 14.

“We recognized what we were doing wrong and took a look in the mirror and found out we needed something to change,” catcher Travis Scott said following Sunday’s 4-1 win. “I think each individual in this clubhouse did that and you could see it on the field. We were playing harder, especially this series.”

After winning just three of their first 13 games, York (6-10) has now won three in a row for the first time this season. The Revs have scored 63 runs in their last 10 games (6.3 runs per game) after beginning the year with just nine runs in their first six games.

By defeating Somerset (9-8), York stayed within 3.5 games of the Lancaster Barnstormers (10-7) for first place in the Atlantic League Freedom Division.

Hitting: And there is reason to believe York can sustain their recent success. Somerset entered last week’s series against York as one of the hottest teams in the Atlantic League. At 9-4, the Pats had just come off a sweep of the Sugar Land Skeeters and had won eight of their last nine games before running into a roadblock in York. Not including the nine-spot York put up in Game 2 against the Patriots (Somerset starter Mike MacDonald left in the first inning with an injury, meaning the Pats’ bullpen had to combine to pitch pretty much an entire game) the Revs scored a combined nine runs off of starters Justin Cassel and Douglas Arguello.

Cassel (the younger brother of Kansas City Chiefs QB Matt Cassel) is a former Chicago White Sox prospect who played at Class AAA Charlotte nearly all of the 2009 season and sparingly in the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Prior to facing York, Cassel had only given up a combined five runs in three separate starts against Sugar Land, Lancaster and Long Island. His seven strikeouts against York over the weekend now gives him 21 Ks on the year, good enough for second in the league through Sunday. Arguello is a former Houston Astros and Texas Rangers prospect who played at the Class AAA level the entire 2011 season. So, York has put up some runs as of late, and have done it against a couple talented pitchers.

Pitching: And York’s pitchers have done a lot better in recent starts. While still building up arm strength, right-hander Corey Thurman has given up a combined four earned runs in his last two starts (eight innings total) after not looking sharp in his first two starts of the year. Though the numbers are misleading, left-hander Yunior Novoa had his best outing of the year on Friday against Somerset. Novoa held Somerset to just two runs through the first five innings before leaving in the sixth with runners on second and third with one out. Reliever Stephen Penney came in at that point and surrendered an RBI groundout and RBI single. Finally, lefty Ryan Feierabend (6.2 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER on Sunday) is looking every bit of a former major leaguer. It’s likely just a matter of time before a big league club comes calling for his services.

A look ahead: York hits the road on Tuesday for Southern Maryland (7-10), where the teams will play the first of a three-game series that night. Tuesday will mark the first of a six-game road trip for York, who will travel to Lancaster (10-7) after finishing up with the Blue Crabs. The Revs will face Southern Maryland right-hander Ben Moore (1-1, 2.21 ERA) on Tuesday night. Moore enters with a 2.21 ERA (top six in the league) and has allowed just five combined runs so far in three separate starts against Bridgeport, Somerset and Lancaster.

Though the Blue Crabs will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak, they will enter with the second-best ERA in the league (3.71, behind Lancaster’s 3.65 ERA). Southern Maryland enters the series struggling at the plate despite leading the league in doubles (40) and triples (8). The Blue Crabs are at or near the bottom of the league in runs scored (75), hits (143), homers (8) and RBIs (67). It’ll be interesting to see how York’s bats do this week against two of the better pitching teams in the league.

I know the York of the past week is a lot different than the team we saw in the first two weeks of the season. But just for fun, thought I’d throw out the stats at where York sits in the league. The Revs have scored 72 runs (tied last league), have 122 hits (last), 15 doubles (last), one triple (last), 70 RBIs (6th), and are batting .236 (last). However, York’s 23 homers leads the league. York pitchers have given up 88 earned runs (7th), 164 hits (7th), 64 walks (5th) and struck out just 95 batters (tied last). The team’s 5.91 ERA is last in the league.

Here’s a look at the possible pitching match-ups for the Southern Maryland series:

Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.: York LHP Chris Cody vs. RHP Ben Moore (1-1, 2.21 ERA)

Wednesday, 7:05 p.m.: York RHP Shawn Hill (0-0, 36.00 ERA) vs. TBA

Thursday, 7:05 p.m.: York LHP Yunior Novoa (0-1, 6.08 ERA) vs. TBA

Grimes update: There’s a very good possibility center fielder Scott Grimes will return to the lineup this week. He has missed York’s last five games after being hit by a pitch in his right wrist in Tuesday’s game against Long Island. He said Sunday night he’s recovering from bone chips in his right wrist. He took batting practice before Sunday’s game and will do so again on Tuesday at Southern Maryland.

Hill to start, Javier to pen: As you saw above, right-hander Shawn Hill will get his first start of the year on Wednesday. He’ll be starting in place of righty Omar Javier, who will be in the bullpen this week. Javier last started at Long Island on Thursday and went just two innings, giving up eight runs (seven earned) on five hits with three walks. So, while Hill hasn’t put up great numbers out of the ‘pen, he might still be a better option than what Javier has done thus far.

Hill has been a starter his entire career. He finished the 2010 season in the majors but missed the entire 2011 season while dealing with a blood circulation issue in his throwing arm. He’s come out of the bullpen twice for York this year, giving up a combined eight runs on 11 hits in two innings of work. Revs pitching coach Mark Mason thinks putting Hill back in a familiar situation of starting might be good for him.

“His bullpens look really good. I just think when he gets in the games right now he’s a little bit too pumped up,” Mason said of Hill on Sunday. “He never pitched out of the bullpen so that’s a different pace for him, too.”

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Before we get to the Atlantic League transactions from this past week, wanted to point out that Somerset’s Jeff Nettles made league history this past week. Facing the Sugar Land Skeeters on Wednesday, Nettles registered his 934th career Atlantic League base hit, moving past Rolando Avila for mose all-time in the league. Avila played in the league from 1998 to 2005, collecting 933 hits in the league with the Atlantic City Surf, Newark Bears and Bridgeport Bluefish. A week earlier,Nettles broke the all-time Atlantic League record for most games played and most at-bats.

In nine years with the Patriots, Nettles has been an all-star seven times and is the all-time league leader in RBIs (597), doubles (198), at-bats (3,258), games played (881) and now hits (934) Note**Stats through last Wednesday.

Bluefish featured on Deadspin: In case you haven’t checked it out yet, the Bridgeport Bluefish were featured in a lengthy article last week on deadspin.com about the ‘Fish and the Atlantic League. It’s a pretty good read and does a good job of capturing what the league is about.

Now on to the transactions…

CAMDEN RIVERSHARKS: OF Felix Pie picked up by Atlanta Braves; Riversharks released RHP Chris Rollins

Pie, 27, was signed by the Atlanta Braves and assigned to Class AAA Gwinnett. Less than a year removed from playing in 85 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 2011, Pie began is Atlantic League career with a seven-game hitting streak and was leading Camden in homers (3) and was second in doubles (12) and had a .353 batting average in 13 games. Pie becomes the first Riversharks’ player to be picked up by an MLB organization this season.

Rollins appeared in three games for the ‘Sharks in the last two weeks, surrending a combined five earned runs on three hits while walking eight and striking out one in three innings of work. The 25-year-old has spent each of the last four seasons playing in indy ball.

SOUTHERN MARYLAND BLUE CRABS: OF Casey Benjamin signed by Reynosa Broncos (Mexican League), RHP Ryan Speier has retired; Blue Crabs signed RHP Deinys LaGuardia and OF Eddy Martinez-Esteve

According to the Atlanticleague.com transactions page, the right-hander has opted for retirement after 10 pro seasons. Speier came to the Blue Crabs this year after spending last season with the Nippon Fighters of the Japan Pacific League where he went 4-8 with a 4.60 ERA. Speier is no stranger to Southern Maryland, as he was a member of the 2010 squad helping lead the Blue Crabs to the Liberty Division Championship Series and an 82-57 record, the best record in Blue Crabs history. Speier would go 3-4 that year with an ERA of 3.36. This season, he appeared in three games for Southern Maryland, allowing just one earned run over three innings of work. However, he did give up two hits in each of his appearances.

Benjamin made it through eleven games before being signed by the Reynosa Broncos of the Mexican League. Up until leaving, Benjamin was batting .304 with 3 homeruns and 10 RBI. A former Texas Rangers prospect for seven seasons, Benjamin had spent his entire 2010 and 2011 seasons playing for the Blue Crabs. The 31-year-old left-handed batter had reached Class AAA Oklahoma City in 2008 and 2009 with the Rangers.

Martinez-Esteve, 28, comes to the Atlantic League for the first time after nearly spending his entire eight-year pro career in the minor league system of the San Francisco Giants. Originally a second-round draft pick of the Giants in 2004, the Florida native and Florida State University product reached Class AAA Fresno in 2010 and played in just four games at that level. He is a career .295 hitter in the minors and has played at Class AA the majority of the last five seasons. In 15 games at Class AA Jackson (Mariners) in 2011, Martinez-Esteve batted .269 with five RBIs.

LANCASTER BARNSTORMERS: Signed RHP Jason Urquidez

Urquidez, 29, is a reliever who comes to the Atlantic League for the first time after spending the first six years of his career in the minor leagues with the Arizona Diamondacks. The right-hander played at Class AAA Reno the entire 2010 and 2011 seasons (in 2011 he pitched alongside current Barnstormers pitcher Jeff Bennett and pitcher Dan Stange, who recently played for the Bridgeport Bluefish and was picked up by the San Diego Padres). Urquidez has a career 14-10 record and 5.11 ERA in 136 games at the Class AAA level. The California native was originally drafted by the D’Backs in the 17th round of the 2005 draft after playing college ball at Arizona State University, where he was a teammate of current Boston Red Sox star Dustin Pedroia.

 

SUGAR LAND SKEETERS: Signed C Kade Johnson, C Jeff Allen and INF Dominic Ramos

Johnson and Allen are likely being brought on board as possible replacements for injured catcher Colt Morton, who was placed on the disabled list last week. Johnson, 33, is a Texas native who is returning to the game for the first time since 2006, having last played for Nashua in the Can-Am League that year. Originally a second-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1999, Johnson made played at Class AA Huntsville in 2003 and 2004. He is a career .257 hitter in five minor league seasons. The background on Allen is unclear.

Although the Atlantic League nor the Skeeters have yet to make an announcement on the acquisition of Ramos, he is listed on Sugar Land’s roster. Ramos, 29, is a former Boston Red Sox prospect who has played the last five seasons in the independent Can-Am League, where he is a career .296 hitter. The Texas State University product spent 2011 playing for the Can-Am’s Brockton Rox (managed by Bill Buckner), where he batted .284 with four homers and 34 RBIs in 86 games.

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YORK REVOLUTION: Signed RHP Shawn Hill, released RHP Santo Luis

Hill, 31, comes to the Atlantic League for the first time after last pitching in the big leagues in 2010 with the Toronto Blue Jays. He came back for spring training in 2011 but found out he needed surgery to repair a blood circulation issue. He missed the entire 2011 season as a result of the surgery. Hill worked out for a couple affiliated scouts this spring. For his career, Hill has started 44 games in the majors for three different clubs from 2004 to 2010, posting a 9-18 record and 4.74 ERA to this point. He was originally drafted in the sixth round in 2000 by the Montreal Expos.

The release of Luis isn’t much of a surprise, though his performance this season was a bit of a surprise considering what he did in 2011. Playing for the Lincoln Saltdogs (American Association) last season, Luis posted a 0.83 ERA in 21 appearances. The Revs liked him so much that he was among the first batch of players signed for the 2012 season. Luis, 28, tossed 2.1 combined innings of scoreless ball in his first two appearances. In his third and final appearance, he surrendered two hits, including a two-run homer, in 1.2 innings. In all, Luis had a 4.50 ERA, giving up two earned runs on four hits in four innings of work.

BRIDGEPORT BLUEFISH: RHP Dan Stange picked up by the San Diego Padres; Bluefish signed OF Collin DeLome

Stange appeared in three games out of the bullpen for the Bluefish in 2012, posting a solid 2.25 ERA, allowing three hits and four walks while striking out six in four innings of work. The 26-year-old was originally drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the seventh round in 2006 and later reached the big leagues in 2010 with the D’Backs, appearing in four games. His signing by the San Diego Padres is somewhat interesting considering Stange was released in mid-April by the Padres Class AAA Reno team. It’s unclear what level Stange has been assigned to play at.

DeLome, 26, was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers in the fifth round of the 2007 amateur draft. He spent his entire career with the Rangers’ organization before coming to Bridgeport. With Class AAA Oklahoma City in 2011, DeLome batted .256 with seven homers and 29 RBIs in 89 games. He began the 2012 season with Oklahoma City but was released on April 18 after he started out the year batting .176 in 10 games.

LONG ISLAND DUCKS: Signed RHP Wynn Pelzer

Pelzer, 25, comes to the Atlantic League for the first time in his career after spending his first five minor league seasons split between the San Diego Padres’ and Baltimore Orioles’ minor leagues. Originally drafted in the ninth round of the 2007 draft by the Padres, in 2011 Pelzer reached Class AAA Norfolk (Orioles), where he posted a 3.09 ERA in eight relief appearances. Looking at his numbers, it looks like he’s gone back and forth between being a starter and a reliever for most of his career. He began the 2012 season at Class AA Bowie (Orioles), going 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in three games before being released on April 19.

 

SOUTHERN MARYLAND BLUE CRABS: Signed OF Brian Barton; Traded OF Bridger Hunt to New Jersey Jackets (Can-Am League) for a player to be named later

Barton, 30, returns to Southern Maryland for the second year in a row and his third in the Atlantic League. In 2011, the former major leaguer batted .304 with 12 homers and 42 RBIs in 87 games for the Blue Crabs. Barton reached the big leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2008, batting .268 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 82 games.

Hunt, 26, is a former Los Angeles Dodgers prospect who split last season between the Blue Crabs and the Rockland Boulders, of the independent Can-Am League. With Rockland, Hunt batted .237 (14-for-59) with an RBI in 18 games. Hunt batted .281 (27-for-96) with two homers and 15 RBIs in 30 games for Southern Maryland. This year, Hunt had played in three games and went 0-for-9 at the plate before being traded to New Jersey.

SUGAR LAND SKEETERS: Signed INF Marcos Cabral and INF Victor Gutierrez

According to the transactions page on AtlanticLeague.com, the Skeeters signed and activated Gutierrez this week. He is listed on the team’s roster as well and he did play in a game this past week. Gutierrez, 34,  was originally set to serve as a base coach this year for Sugar Land, but it looks like the former York Revolution player is now a player-coach for the Skeeters. Anyway, this marks his seventh straight season in the Atlantic League. Last season with the Road Warriors, he batted .289 with a homer and 27 RBIs in 67 games.

Cabral, 28, is a former prospect of the New York Mets, Florida (now Miami) Marlins, Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros who topped out at at Class AAA 2008 and 2010. He played for the Atlantic League’s Road Warriors in 2011, batting .280 with 31 RBIs and 49 runs scored in 109 games.

The recent additions now gives Sugar Land seven infielders on the active roster and 27 overall. Being that rosters have to be paired down to 25 players by the end of the month, it’ll be interesting to see what the Skeeters do with their players in the next few weeks.

LANCASTER BARNSTORMERS: Signed OF Brandon Haveman

Haveman, 25, is just three years removed from playing college ball at Division I Purdue. He joined the Seattle Mariners’ organization as an undrafted free agent in 2009 and later in 2011 reached Class AAA Tacoma, where he batted .200 with a homer and four RBIs in 16 games. For his career, Haveman is a .292 hitter in three minor league seasons.

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Throughout the rough start to the York Revolution’s 2012 season, I’ve been trying to tell myself the Revs will be just fine. Sure, the bats weren’t swinging as well as expected. The starting pitchers haven’t been great. And while the bullpen has been pretty good to this point, there have been a couple off nights.

However, the season is still very early. The lineup is too talented not to hit and the starting pitchers just need a few go-arounds before everything starts to click. While it didn’t look like that in the first week of games or so, the past few days we’ve seen the Revs starting to come around. With York’s 5-3 win over Bridgeport (7-3) on Sunday, the Revs (3-7) moved to within two of the Somerset Patriots (5-5) and Lancaster Barnstormers (5-5) for first place in the Atlantic League Freedom Division (Sugar Land is 4-6).

Offense: The offense has seemed to broken out of a slump. York put up double-digit hits on Thursday (11) and Sunday (13). While the team is still batting an Atlantic League low .211 at the plate, the Revs are hitting .277 (39-of-141) in their last four games. Not great. But still better than the .163 the club was batting in its first six games. Maybe the closed-door meeting in the clubhouse following Saturday’s 13-7 loss to Bridgeport gave the Revs the boost they needed, too.

Pitching: Plus, the Revs saw a better performance out of lefty Ryan Feierabend in his second start of the year last Wednesday. Feierabend (1-1), who surrendered five runs on eight hits in less than five innings in his first start at Sugar Land, held the Camden Riversharks scoreless in five innings of work, allowing four hits and walking one while striking out three to pick up his first win in a Revs’ uniform. Right-hander Corey Thurman may have gone just four innings and tossed 69 pitches in four total innings of work on Thursday, but he only gave up a run on four hits. Revs’ pitching Mark Mason said Sunday night that Thurman likely would have went a little longer had this been his fifth or sixth start of the year. (For full game details, click here).

“He’s still running too many three-ball counts, which is why his outings have been shortened,” Mason said of Thurman. “I think three starts from now we would have definitely ran him out there for the fifth inning. But today we were thinking like 75 pitches was his max and he was already at (69) at the end of the fourth inning.”

Left-handers Chris Cody and Yunior Novoa and righty Omar Javier weren’t spectacular in their most recent starts. As Feierabend and Thurman have shown, though, maybe they can get better the more experience they get as the season rolls along.

Bullpen: Had it not been for the R.J. Rodriguez fiasco in the ninth inning on Sunday, the bullpen would have been perfect. The Revs led 5-1 going into the top of the ninth, where Rodriguez gave up two runs to make it 5-3 then loaded the bases with a two-out walk to Ramon Vazquez. He eventually got Brock Peterson to pop out to second base on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. Rodriguez tossed a total of 39 pitches in the frame.

“It’s tough. There’s a lot going on. Bases loaded. A lot of things are out of my control,” Rodriguez said afterwards. “A couple bloop hits, one on a broken bat. Then that soft chopper up the middle. You’ve got to stay and maintain. Stay on the grind and concentrate.”

Roster moves: The Revs made a few moves on Sunday. The team released right-hander Santo Luis, placed right-handed reliever Ricardo Gomez (bone chips) on the disabled list and put right-handed reliever Shaun Garceau (tendonitis) on the inactive list. The moves give York 25 players on the active roster – 13 pitchers and 12 position players. Atlantic League clubs can carry a maximum of 27 players on the roster through the end of May, at which point rosters have to be paired down to 25 players. When Revs’ manager Andy Etchebarren was asked after Sunday’s game if he’s satisfied with the current roster, he had this to say:

“No. I’m never set. If they force my hand…that’s up to them. It’s not up to me. They force my hand, then I’m going to pull the trigger. That’s just what it is,” he said. “They come to this league to do one thing: to play good and get out of here. That’s why they come here. If they’re playing terrible they’re not going to get picked up. So, I’m going to get somebody that might think they’re going to get picked up and they’re going to play better. That’s what I told them (Saturday) night.”

The release of Luis isn’t much of a surprise, though his performance this season was a bit of a surprise considering what he did in 2011. Playing for the Lincoln Saltdogs (American Association) last season, Luis posted a 0.83 ERA in 21 appearances. The Revs liked him so much that he was among the first batch of players signed for the 2012 season.

“He was rated the No. 1 arm in independent ball last year,” Mason had said in January. “We’re excited about having him but we haven’t seen him pitch in person yet.”

Etch’ wasn’t too excited about Luis once he did to get to see him in person. Here’s what he had to say about Luis at the end of spring training:

“Am I impressed with Santo at this point? No. I’m not impressed at this point with what I thought I was getting. Sporting News picked him best arm in independent league baseball last year. He’s throwing 89-91. We have a lot of guys throwing 89-91. I thought I was getting a guy who could throw 93-95.”

So, it looks like Luis began the season on a short leash. He tossed 2.1 combined innings of scoreless ball in his first two appearances. In his third and final appearance, he surrendered two hits, including a two-run homer, in 1.2 innings. In all, Luis had a 4.50 ERA, giving up two earned runs on four hits in four innings of work.

Gomez: Gomez thus far has a 10.80 ERA, giving up four earned runs over 3.1 innings (three appearances). It’s far off the numbers he put up in 2011 for York (2-0, 2.13 ERA, 21 games). Gomez last pitched on May 2 against Camden, relieving James Houser with a runner on first. Gomez later gave up a three-run homer to Steve Doetsch. Mason said Gomez is dealing with bone chips in his throwing elbow and will be shut down for about seven to ten days.

“He’s thinking maybe a week to ten days he’ll be throwing. I don’t think it’s going to be that long,” Mason said.

Garceau: Garceau had made a few appearances in spring training before being put on the inactive list before the season began to deal with tendonitis in his right throwing elbow. He said it was the first injury of any kind he’s dealt with in his career. Garceau was activated on Friday, May 4 and pitched that night against Bridgeport, tossing one perfect inning in his first appearance this season. Mason said Garceau felt fine after the game, but complained of soreness the next day.

“We put him in the game the other night. He was throwing 92 to 94 (miles per hour) and then he came back out the next day and he was sore again,” Mason said of Garceau. “He was swollen and has some inflammation. Right now he’ll just stay on anti-inflammatory and just rest.”

Garceau will not travel with the team to Long Island this week. Mason said he’ll re-evaluate Garceau before the end of the week.

Retired players: Click here to check out a column featured in Monday’s York Dispatch taking a look at what a couple players from last year’s 2011 Atlantic League championship doing now that they’re retired. Mainly focuses on third baseman Vince Harrison, last year’s league championship series MVP, and reliever Sean Stidfole.

Long Island preview: The Revs will next travel to Long Island on Tuesday for the first of a three-game series. Nine of the next 12 games for York are on the road. The Ducks’ best hitter right now is former big leaguer Ryan Garko, who is batting .415, which is good enough for top-five in the league. Brandon Sing (1o RBIs) and Lew Ford (nine RBIs) are top-six in the league in RBIs. Ford’s three homers is tied with nine other players for the league lead, including four from York. The Ducks are batting .294 (3rd league), have scored 57 runs (1st league), have 107 hits (tied-1st league), collected 10 homers (2nd league) and 57 RBIs (1st league). As far as pitching goes, Long Island’s 4.69 team ERA is third-to-last in the league but their 78 strikeouts is second-best in the league.

York’s offense is last in the league in runs scored (35), hits (70), doubles (10), RBIs (34), and batting average (.211). However, the Revs are first in the league in homers (15). Of York’s 35 runs, 25 of them have come through home runs at the plate. The Revs pitchers are also last in the league in team ERA (5.59) and second-to-last in strikeouts (59).

Here are the projected starters for the York-Long Island series:

Tuesday, 6:35 p.m.: York LHP Ryan Feierabend (1-1, 4.66) vs. RHP Joe Esposito (0-2, 11.32)

Wednesday, 6:35 p.m.: York LHP Chris Cody (0-2, 12.96) vs. RHP Bob Zimmerman (1-0, 2.08)

Thursday, 6:35 p.m.: York RHP Omar Javier (0-1, 6.75) vs. TBA

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On Friday the Revs activated right-handers Dumas Garcia and Shaun Garceau from the inactive list to the active roster and placed right-handers Santo Luis and Ricardo Gomez on the inactive list.

It’s unclear at this point why exactly Luis and Gomez are inactive, but their performance as of late surely hasn’t helped their cause.

Gomez has made three appearances so far this season and has given up at least a hit each time. In two appearances he surrendered two runs each. Overall, he’s given up four earned runs and four hits in 3.1 innings of work, striking out five and walking two. His 10.80 ERA is the worst among all Revs’ relievers so far. The numbers are way off what Gomez did last year, when he pitched in 21 games and collected a 2-0 record, two saves and a 2.13 ERA.

Revs’ skipper Andy Etchebarren had high hopes for Luis, who made his Atlantic League debut this season. The 28-year-old is a former prospect of the Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox who topped out at Class AAA with the Red Sox in 2010. Etch’ brought Luis in with the understanding that the righty could throw in the mid-90s. Back on April 22, basically the last day of Revs’ spring training, Etch’ had this to say about Luis:

“Am I impressed with Santo at this point? No. I’m not impressed at this point with what I thought I was getting. Sporting News picked him best arm in independent league baseball last year. He’s throwing 89-91. We have a lot of guys throwing 89-91. I thought I was getting a guy who could throw 93-95.”

In his first two appearances for York this season, Luis tossed 2.1 scoreless innings, allowed two hits, a walk and struck out three. On Thursday against Camden, he surrendered a two-run home run. And being that he was on a short leash already, that performance probably didn’t help.

Garceau/Garcia: Garceau was originally placed on the inactive list after developing tendinitis in his throwing elbow following back-to-back days where he pitched in spring training. Garceau later said he came to York in shape and ready, but he hadn’t thrown for the full week leading up to the beginning of York’s spring training. So, maybe that played a part in him building up arm strength.Revs’ pitching coach Mark Mason has said previously he would like to start Garceau as a long-inning reliever and possibly consider him as a starter later in the year. At this point, Garceau just needs to show he’s healthy while building up his arm strength.

Garcia arrived in York last week after having not pitched for two months. So, he’s basically in the same boat as Garceau in terms of building up his arm strength. Garcia, 28, went 2-3 with a  3.68 ERA in nine relief appearances and four starts for York last season after joining the club in early August.

Cody: Starter Chris Cody gave up nine earned runs on ten hits in 3.1 innings of work against Camden on Thursday. In his previous start at Sugar Land, he surrendered three earned runs on five hits in five innings of work. His ERA has ballooned to 12.96. But don’t give up on Cody just yet. Looking back on his numbers in 2011, the left-hander began the year with three shaky starts (three earned runs in five innings, two earned runs in six innings, five earned runs in four innings) before turning it around in his next three (he combined to allow just two earned runs over 16.1 innings). So, he may be off to a rough start in 2012, but there’s reason to believe he’ll right the ship.

What to watch this weekend: The Revs host the Bridgeport Bluefish in a three-game series this weekend. Right-hander Omar Javier will get the start on Friday and will likely be relieved by lefty Jesus Sanchez, who was recently moved out of the starting rotation and into the bullpen. Left-hander Yunior Novoa will get the start on Saturday. Why is all this important? Well, the team recently signed former major league starter Shawn Hill. He’ll likely come out of the bullpen on Saturday. But Etch’ eventually wants to use Hill as a starter. The first three spots in the rotation (RHP Corey Thurman, LHP Ryan Feierabend, LHP Chris Cody) are pretty much locked in. And right now it looks like Javier, Novoa and Sanchez are on the bubble. So, their performances this weekend might have an effect on their future with the Revs.

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When it comes to surgeries, Shawn Hill could probably write a medical book.

–Tommy John surgery to his right throwing elbow in 2004.

–Surgery to repair a separated left shoulder in 2007.

–Tommy John surgery again to his right elbow in 2009.

–Oh, yeah, he also had his elbow scoped in 2008 and 2009.

–Finally, he’s hoping his most recent surgery in February will be his last.

Hill, a former major league starting pitcher, arrived in York on Thursday. The right-hander is set to see game action on Saturday against Bridgeport, and he’ll likely be worked into the starting rotation sometime soon.

He says this is the healthiest he’s felt since 2004 when he first reached the big leagues with the Montreal Expos.

The reason for his optimism is somewhat complicated, but Hill basically feels like he’s been misdiagnosed for the past eight years. And the most recent surgery in which he had a rib removed may have finally fixed him.

Vascular surgery: While he had been feeling pain in his right elbow, the problem wasn’t with the elbow after all. Rather, it was a matter of correcting a blood circulation issue.

“Essentially I wasn’t getting the right circulation (to my arm) so the nerves (in my elbow) ended up getting damaged and not functioning properly,” Hill said.

To repair the problem, the 31-year-old Hill underwent vascular surgery in February, this time to remove a rib under his right clavicle.

“It’s a small rib. You would never even know it’s there,” Hill said. “So, they removed that and the part of the muscle that goes through the area.”

Hill had been dealing with the pain in his arm for years. He reached the big leagues for the sixth time in his career at the end of the 2010 season with the Toronto Blue Jays.

He said he pretty much pitched through that entire season despite experiencing severe pain after games.

The following spring training, the then Florida Marlins released Hill because the pain returned in his elbow.

“Last year after spring training it was basically up to me to find an answer,” he said. “So, I had stem cell treatment done to see if it would help. I don’t know if it did or not.”

Hill went on to pitch for Team Canada in the 2011 Pan-Am Games in October, all the while still looking around for answer to fix his arm.

The Florida resident ended up talking to the team doctor of the Tampa Bay Rays, who suggested seeing a vascular surgeon in Dallas.

Effective: Given what he’s been through, Hill has thought about walking away from the game. But he’s put up decent numbers in the majors, despite not feeling 100 percent.

In 44 combined starts spanning from 2004 to 2010, Hill has a career 9-18 record and 4.47 ERA at the big league level.
“It’s just tough to say why I should be walking away from everything when I can be effective if I’m fine,” he said.
Hill said he feels fine now. He just has to show he’s still effective.

Revs’ Upgrade: If Hill is healthy, he might end up being a good addition to a starting rotation that, quite frankly, hasn’t been very good. Before Ryan Feierabend’s start on Wednesday (Feierabend threw five scoreless innings against Camden on Wednesday), Revs starters had a combined 6.87 ERA. With Chris Cody surrending nine earned runs in 3.1 innings on Thursday, the ERA for Revs starters has ballooned to 7.76.

Results from Thursday’s game: York fell to 2-5 with a 15-10 loss in the series finale against the Camden Riversharks on Thursday at Sovereign Bank Stadium. While the pitching wasn’t great, the bats finally came alive. York collected double-digit hits and double-digit runs for the first time this season, and also surpassed six hits in a game for the first time this year.

Scott Grimes hit two solo homers. He became the all-time leader in home runs hit by a Revolution player at Sovereign Bank Stadium (18). He moved into a second-place tie with Matt Dryer for the most homers in a Revs’ uniform (35). It marked the fourth time in his Revolution career he had a multiple-homer game, tying Jason Aspito for the club record.

Second baseman Andres Perez also clubbed a grand slam in the sixth inning. Outfielder Stephen Douglas made it back-to-back homers after Grimes hit his first in the fourth inning. Douglas has now hit safely in five straight games, the Revs’ longest hitting streak so far this season.

Roster moves: We found out Wednesday that Etch’ moved lefty Jesus Sanchez out of the starting rotation and into the bullpen. He also named righty Omar Javier and lefty Yunior Novoa the team’s No. 4 and No. 5 starters. It’s likely Hill will be moved into the starting rotation sooner rather than later, so somebody is going to be the odd man out. Jesus Sanchez is scheduled to see time out of the bullpen on Friday. Javier and Novoa will start on Friday and Saturday, respectively. So, the performances of Sanchez, Javier and Novoa this week might have an effect on their future with the Revs.

It sounds like the Revs are going to make some roster moves on Friday. Etch’ had said earlier in the week he didn’t like what he saw out of reliever Ricardo Gomez. And he has been upset in the past with reliever Santo Luis, saying he thought Luis was going to be a guy that could throw in the mid-90s, but has only thrown in the high 80s. Luis surrendered a two-run homer in Thursday’s game. When asked about Luis afterwards, Etch’ had this to say to reporters:

“I’ll have a meeting with my coaches here after you guys leave, and I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

Bridgeport preview: The Revs will next host the Bridgeport Bluefish for a three-game series. (Note* All stats through Wednesday for Bridgeport) The ‘Fish thus far have a team .269 batting average (second-best in the Atlantic League) and 3.15 team ERA (fourth in the league). Their 24 total runs through Wednesday is tied with Lancaster for second-worst in the league. Bridgeport is the only team left (through Wednesday) in the league to not hit a home run.

With Thursday’s 10-run, 11-hit performance, York upped its team batting average from .163 to .184 (which still ranks dead last in the league). York’s 19 total runs is also last in the league. Since I’m posting this before the league’s other three games are played Thursday night, take this stat for what it’s worth: York’s team ERA is now 5.40, which is second-to-last at this point in the league.

Here are the projected starters for the three-game set with Bridgeport:

Friday, 6:30 p.m.: York RHP Omar Javier (0-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. Matt Pike (0-1, 2.25 ERA)

Saturday, 6:30 p.m.: York LHP Yunior Novoa (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Isaac Hess (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Sunday, 5 p.m.: York RHP Corey Thurman (0-1, 6.35 ERA) vs. LHP Gilbert De La Vara (0-0, 7.71 ERA)

Quotebook: Revolution officials on Wednesday said they were looking for a bat boy for Thursday’s game. So, York Dispatch columnist Larry Hicks took the Revs up on the offer. When asked about the performance of Hicks after the game, Etch’ had this to say:

“He looked worn out. He’ll probably go home, have three beers and go to bed.”

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Looking through the pre-game notes provided by the Revs on Wednesday, I was shocked to see the Revs’ 23-inning scoreless streak coming into Wednesday was a franchise record. The Revs also hadn’t hit a home run since Opening Day at Sugar Land last Thursday. And they had yet to score multiple runs in one inning this season.

Outfielder Michael Hernandez changed all that with one swing in the first inning at Sovereign Bank Stadium on Wednesday morning (yes, morning, it was an 11 a.m. game).

With two runners on base, Hernandez sent the ball over the left-field wall to give York a 3-0 lead. The Revs tacked on a run in the sixth with a sac fly from Liu Rodriguez that scored Travis Scott from third. The Revs ended up needing the insurance run as right-hander Ricardo Gomez surrendered a three-run bomb to Camden the next inning. York would hold on for a 4-3 win.

The Revs improved to 2-4 while Camden dropped to 3-3. Click here for full game details.

Offense: Though York got back in the win column, the team still only collected six hits. The Revs have yet to get more than six hits in a single game this season. Still, Wednesday may have been a good sign the offense is turning around, at least that’s how skipper Andy Etchebarren feels.

“We’re gonna hit. I’m not losing my confidence in this team,” he said. “It’s just I hope we start pretty soon.”

Feierabend dominant: Revs’ starter Ryan Feierabend bounced back in his second start of the season after he gave up five runs on eight hits in less than five innings in his first start last Friday at Sugar Land. The lefty held the Riversharks scoreless in five innings of work, allowing four hits and walking one while striking out three to pick up his first win in a Revs uniform. He threw 44 of his 66 pitches for strikes.

Sanchez moved to bullpen: Etch’ said left-hander Jesus Sanchez has been moved out of the starting rotation and put in the bullpen. This despite having a solid showing in spring training and looking decent in his first start of the season at Sugar Land on Sunday. In that game, Sanchez surrendered two runs in the first inning on three hits and two walks. After that, though, he retired the side in the second inning and only faced four batters in the third. For the game, he was credited for two runs on four hits in three innings of work with two walks and no strikeouts.

The 37-year-old Sanchez had a short leash heading into the season, though. So, he had to be lights out in his first start of the year if he wanted to keep a spot in the rotation. Etch’ said right-hander Omar Javier and left-hander Yunior Novoa will be the team’s No. 4 and No. 5 starters (for now anyway).

Game Three: The Revs host Camden on Thursday in the finale of the three-game series. York left-hander Chris Cody (0-1, 5.40 ERA) will face Camden right-hander Bryan Corey (0-1, 3.00 ERA).

Quotebook: When asked about what went wrong with Ricardo Gomez’s pitch that he served up to Steve Doetsch in the seventh inning for a three-run home run, Etch’ had the following response:

“What was wrong? Well, it wasn’t a wrong pitch at the wrong time. What was wrong  was the (nine) straight balls he threw before that. It was nine. That’s what was wrong with it. I don’t give a s— if he hits a solo home run. We had a four-run lead. It was those other nine f– pitches I didn’t like.”

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