Wappingers Falls, NY – The 2026 Hudson Valley Renegades made a habit out of late-game dramatics. From winning 18 games in their final at-bat to recording eight walk-off victories, including five walk-off home runs, the Renegades had a flair for the dramatic.
Fittingly, their playoff hopes lasted until the final week of the season.
The Renegades were three games back of the Greensboro Grasshoppers with 21 games left to play. They then won nine in a row and 11 of their next 13 games to get within a half-game of the Grasshoppers.
With one series left at Wilmington, Hudson Valley’s fate depended on Greensboro losing its series to the Asheville Tourists.
Ultimately, the Renegades did not get the help they needed and wound up falling just short of the playoffs.
Early in the season, Hudson Valley was defined by solid pitching. After the Renegades led the South Atlantic League in ERA for four straight seasons, including a 2.82 mark in 2025, which was the lowest team ERA in MiLB since 2019, expectations were high coming into the year. In April and May, the arms delivered.
In a season where offense exploded across the minor leagues, Hudson Valley was one of just three High-A teams in the first two months to hold an ERA below 4.00. The starting rotation of Bryce Cunningham, Rory Fox, Luis Serna, Allen Facundo, Sean Paul Liñan and Franyer Herrera proved formidable. So much so that four of those six starters ended up winning SAL Pitcher of the Week across the first nine weeks of the year.
Leading the way, Serna won the first award of the season, dealing 7.0 one-hit innings in his first career High-A start. Four weeks later, Liñan took home the award for delivering 6.0 no-hit innings against the Winston-Salem Dash at Heritage Financial Park. Just two weeks after Liñan, Fox won the award for throwing a complete-game shutout on the road at Brooklyn in game one of a doubleheader. Another two weeks went by, and Facundo won the title for throwing 6.0 no-hit innings at Frederick while striking out 12 batters.
That set the tone for a season in which Renegades starting pitchers would tie the franchise record set originally in 1994 with five complete games, and see the team's single-season strikeout record fall and have Facundo tie the team's single-game strikeout record with 13 (on May 21 (1) at Brooklyn).
This strong pitching helped the Renegades lead the SAL North in April with a 14-9 record. However, the pitching wasn’t the only reason for Hudson Valley’s early success.
The Renegades started the year with some serious talent at the plate. The lineup was anchored by two of the Yankees’ top prospects in Core Jackson and Kaeden Kent with the potential of Roderick Arias, Wilson Rodriguez and Josh Moylan further down the card.
In April, Kent led the way for the Renegades, slashing .326/.402/.488 in 21 games. Kent was tied for the most doubles on the team that month with Camden Troyer (five), and he led the team with three home runs and 15 RBIs.
Kent’s first home run of the year set an early tone for the Cardiac ‘Gades, a nickname that lasted much of the season. On April 21, Hudson Valley trailed Brooklyn by one in the bottom of the ninth inning. Kent was down to his final strike with runners on second and third base, and he clobbered the 3-2 pitch to center field for the Renegades’ first walk-off homer of the year.
One night after Kent’s walk-off homer, lightning struck again.
The Renegades and the Cyclones were tied 3-3 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. On the first pitch of the frame, Kyle West hit his second of 20 homers this season to deep center field for back-to-back walk-off home runs. It was the first time in the Portal Era (2005-present) that the Renegades have won back-to-back games via a walk-off home run.
However, things took a turn in early May. Just one week after sitting atop the SAL North standings, the Renegades found themselves in fourth place. Hudson Valley struggled mightily, falling to as many as 11.0 games back of the league leaders by the time June rolled around.
A big reason for the falloff was that Core Jackson hit the IL on May 9 and didn’t play until May 26.
Jackson returned with a vengeance. Across his first two series back, the lefty hit .333/.475/.800 with three home runs and 13 RBIs. The Renegades went from averaging 4.4 runs scored per series to 6.0 after Jackson’s return. In 24 games after returning from the IL, Jackson more than doubled his RBI total from the first 29 games of the season. He also hit five more home runs and struck out 13 fewer times.
Still, the Renegades were just 11-13 during those 24 games.
The poor May was in large part due to a struggling pitching staff. After posting a 3.15 ERA in April, the pitching staff recorded a 4.93 ERA in May.
The turnover on the pitching staff played a significant role in the team's May struggles. Jack Cebert, who started in the rotation and had a 0.98 ERA in three appearances and two starts, was promoted to Double-A Somerset on April 27.
Chris Veach, who made 13 relief appearances including six in May, had a 0.63 ERA and was promoted to Double-A Somerset on May 19.
Ben Grable was promoted to Somerset on April 27 after delivering a 1.17 ERA across six relief appearances with the Renegades.
The bullpen needed a boost, and it got one in late May.
Hansel Rincon found his game in June, tossing six scoreless appearances. On May 19, Bryce Warrecker was activated off the IL and delivered a 1.17 ERA across seven outings thanks to his wicked sweeper. The Renegades also benefitted from Luis Velasquez returning from injury as he pitched a 1.93 ERA in six rehab outings for the Renegades.
Still, Hudson Valley struggled to find wins as it neared the end of the first half. The Renegades wrapped up the half with a 30-34 record, 11.0 games back of the Frederick Keys who won the SAL North.
As the calendar flipped from the first half to the second, one very key player for the Renegades was catching fire. Roderick Arias, who was the Yankees’ third-highest-rated prospect by MLB Pipeline in 2024, showed why he was such a highly regarded international prospect.
From June 5 to the time he got promoted to Double-A Somerset on Aug. 4, Arias played 46 games for the Renegades.
He got on base in 42 of them and slashed .349/.415/.616 with a 1.031 OPS, 10 home runs and 40 RBIs. He also put together a season-long 23-game on-base streak and a 15-game on-base streak during the 46 games.
Early in Arias’ hot stretch, the Renegades saw a different position player make Hudson Valley history.
Josh Moylan, who started the year with Hudson Valley for a third straight year, became the Renegades’ all-time home run king on June 10 with his 25th career homer. It was Moylan’s 10th home run of the season, which also marked the first time in his professional career that he crested double-digit homers in a season.
On the other side of the diamond during that stretch, Rory Fox became one of the Renegades’ most reliable starters.
The Yankees’ 2025 sixth-round draft pick, whose ERA was sitting at 5.71 on June 12, finished his time with the Renegades on a strong note. He allowed just 12 earned runs across his last five starts, tallying a 2.97 ERA. He also struck out 41 batters and walked just six.
The strong stretch earned Fox a promotion to Double-A Somerset on July 28.
Fox wasn't the only starter to find his footing in June and July. Franyer Herrera allowed three or fewer earned runs in seven straight starts while walking just 13 batters and striking out 37. He also joined Rory Fox this season in throwing a complete-game shutout at Bowling Green on June 28.
The rotation received another boost in July with the arrival of Henry Lalane, one of the Yankees’ top pitching prospects. Lalane, whose minor league progress was stifled by injury, made his High-A debut on July 10. In three starts with the Renegades, he threw a 2.87 ERA while striking out 17 and walking just four.
Despite all the individual success in June and July, the Renegades still struggled as a team. On Aug. 2, a day before the MLB trade deadline, the Renegades were 17-19 in the second half of the season and fifth in the SAL North.
However, the trade deadline gave the Renegades a bit of a boost.
The Renegades’ starting rotation was hurt the most by the deadline as Henry Lalane and Kaeden Kent (who had been on the IL for a month at that point) were traded to the San Francisco Giants. Otherwise, the Renegades avoided significant losses while adding several players from the Yankees’ 2026 draft and signing class.
On Aug. 4, the Renegades received Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek (Single-A Tampa), Maika Niu (2026 signee), Dean Toigo (2026 20th round draft pick) and David McCann (Single-A Tampa). Just a week earlier, the Renegades also added Jackson Lovich and Willy Montero from Single-A Tampa.
From Aug. 4-23, the Renegades won 14 of 18 games. They went from fifth in the SAL North and 4.5 games back to third in the league and 1.0 games back. Hudson Valley also won nine games in a row, its longest winning streak since 2022 which included a six-game sweep of the Jersey Shore BlueClaws at ShoreTown Ballpark.
The Renegades carried that nine-game winning streak into their Aug. 25 matchup with Brooklyn. The two teams were locked in a 4-4 tie through nine innings, and they needed extra innings. Brooklyn erupted in the 10th to win 11-5, denying Hudson Valley its first 10-game winning streak since 2017.
Still, Hudson Valley finished that series against the Cyclones just two games back of the Greensboro Grasshoppers for the second half playoff spot.
In a must-win series the last week of the year against Wilmington, the Renegades took just one game and were eliminated from playoff contention.
Offensively, Jackson Lovich got on base in 20 of his last 21 games. He finished his High-A season with a .399 on-base percentage in 34 games, and he mashed six home runs.
Dean Toigo, Yankees’ 2026 20th-round pick, got on base in 16 of his first 17 professional games and 19 of his 21 total.
Kyle West finished the year as just the third Renegade all time to hit 20-plus home runs. He also finished just two stolen bases shy of becoming the first Renegade to record a 20-homer, 20-steal season.
As for Renegades pitchers, Luis Serna finished as the SAL ERA leader at 4.32 and strikeout leader with 140. That set a new team record, with Serna surpassing the 138 strikeouts recorded by Drew Thorpe in 2023.
Just behind Serna in the strikeout category was Allen Facundo, who had 123. Hudson Valley pitchers also accounted for five of the eight complete games and two of the three shutouts thrown in the SAL this season.
While the year didn’t end how Hudson Valley would have wanted, the Renegades created plenty of memorable moments and accomplishments under manager Aaron Bossi, hitting coach Scott Nestor, pitching coach Ryan Mossman and defensive coach Chase Gerbrick. The Cardiac ’Gades left their mark on the Hudson Valley.