Minor League Wrap (7/9-15/12)
Jordan Shipers threw a no-hitter on Wednesday. I’m sure that right now, you’re curious about what I’m going to say regarding Jordan Shipers’ no-hitter, but I think that that’s probably because you haven’t read it yet. When you read it, you’re going to be all like “no… no… no! why you gotta bring that up? no! aw jeez! no…” And then I’m going to get a bunch of angry comments in the thread from friends and family because that’s just how this stuff goes.
To pre-empt some of that, no this isn’t my “real job” (I have one), yes I’m aware that people are better than me at baseball, I may or may not be jealous but I don’t actually devote a lot of time thinking about what life would be like if I was awesome at baseball. Baseball is surprisingly low on the list of things that I think about outside of what is necessary to fill this out, nor is it something I am particularly jealous about. I think most recently, I was watching a program on PBS talking about possessions of the British royalty and was a little jealous of that guy who takes care of the ravens in the Tower of London. That would be a cool gig, I imagine.
Other significant things happened this week too. Not among them: additional draft signings. Among them: AZL stats. Blake Beavan getting more outs. Hitting in Jackson. More hitting in High Desert. Three home runs in a game. Three home runs allowed by one pitcher in the same number of batters. Other spoilers. Read it already.
To the jump!
Tacoma Rainiers (2-2 this week, 40-53 overall, 15 GB in PCL Pacific Northern)
The Week in Review:
Monday, July 9th 2012
All-star break
Tuesday, July 10th 2012
All-star break
Wednesday, July 11th 2012
All-star break
Thursday, July 12th 2012
Colorado Springs 1 (COL 0), Tacoma 5
W: Beavan (4-0, 2.61) L: Moscoso (5-4, 5.58)
Friday, July 13th 2012
Colorado Springs 4 (COL + 1), Tacoma 3 (eleven innings)
W: Harris (1-0, 0.00) L: Hensley (1-2, 7.47) S: Woods (1)
Saturday, July 14th 2012
Colorado Springs 9 (COL + 1), Tacoma 16
W: Moran (1-1, 5.40) L: Bergmann (1-2, 9.88)
Sunday, July 15th 2012
Colorado Springs 7 (COL + 2), Tacoma 4 (eleven innings)
W: Woods (1-0, 4.50) L: Hensley (1-3, 8.64) S: Escalona (5)
Hitter of the Week:
SS/2B Carlos Triunfel, R/R, 2/27/1990
4 G, 16 AB, 6 R, 8 H, 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1/2 K/BB, .500/.556/.938
Bless you, small samples. Now I get to live in a world where Carlos Triunfel goes a week with a quarter of his hits leaving the yard and has twice as many walks as strikeouts. Beyond that, has anyone noticed how there’s been no middle ground in Triunfel’s year to date? In April and June he batted .222/.286/.356 and .193/.261/.241, respectively. In May and half of July, it’s .297/.350/.477 and .311/.353/.556, respectively. I don’t get it. Nor would I be able to point to why he got through the month of June with just a double and a home run for extra-base hits, totals which he accumulated Thursday, in one game. Perhaps the issue is consistency.
The Other Middle Infielder! Mention:
SS/2B Nick Franklin, S/R, 3/2/1991
4 G, 16 AB, 5 R, 5 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, SB, 5/3 K/BB, .313/.421/.688
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Blake Beavan, 1/17/1989
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 7.0 IP, 2 H, 3/2 K/BB, 11/2 G/F, HB
If Vasquez was The Out Whisperer, what does that make Beavan? Since being demoted, Beavan has struck out 9.4% of the batters he faced. Last year, it was 15.5%, and his walk rate was lower. The year before, it was 12.2% Ks. It’s only six starts really, but if you were expecting things to change with Beavan, they haven’t for the better. This week, groundball-heavy as it was, represented an outlier for him and he’s still been trending more towards flyballs overall. I don’t know what Beavan would have to do to get himself into the organization’s future plans save for regaining several miles an hour on his fastball, but with the pitchers on the rise in the system, I see many more appealing options for the back end of the rotation.
So Much More Interesting, But That’s a Lot of Baserunners Mention:
LHP Danny Hultzen, 11/28/1989
0-0, GS, 1.80 ERA in 5.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R (ER), 7/3 K/BB, 2/5 G/F, WP
From The Training Room:
RHP Jandy Sena went back to Jackson. It is implied that every week will feature a Jandy Sena or Andrew Kittredge transaction, possibly both… 1B/DH Mike Carp went to High Desert for a little bit, then he came back once the ASB was over. That’s All-Star Break, not Associated Student Body. Important distinctions… RHP Jeff Marquez left the DL and RHP Jarrett Grube left the system after mysteriously or not so mysteriously hitting the triple-A wall this year.
Strange Happenings:
Quiroz, coming off his all-star appearance, hit .455/.538/.727 in the four games following, but only three games had at-bats because he was a defensive replacement in one…. Not-Pitcher of the Week: two losses in four games by Steve Hensley.
Jackson Generals (4-1 this week, 14-9 in the second half, 56-37 overall, 1st in SL North)
The Week in Review:
Monday, July 9th 2012
Jackson 3, Montgomery 1 (TB + 3)
W: Fernandez (4-0, 1.20) L: Buschmann (3-4, 3.43) S: Capps (15)
Tuesday, July 10th 2012
Off day
Wednesday, July 11th 2012
Mississippi 6 (ATL – 4), Jackson 16
W: Maurer (6-2, 3.78) L: Spruill (6-9, 4.21)
Thursday, July 12th 2012
Mississippi 3 (ATL – 5), Jackson 4
W: Medina (2-4, 4.05) L: Jones (2-3, 4.21) S: Capps (16)
Friday, July 13th 2012
Rainout
Saturday, July 14th 2012
Jackson 2, Tennessee 4 (CHC + 1)
W: Rhee (6-4, 5.21) L: Walker (5-5, 4.62) S: Hatley (4)
Sunday, July 15th 2012
Jackson 6, Tennessee 1 (CHC 0)
W: Paxton (4-3, 3.26) L: Rhoderick (2-5, 4.35)
Hitter of the Week:
LF/DH Joe Dunigan, L/L, 3/29/1986
4 G, 14 AB, 4 R, 5 H, 2 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, SB, 6/2 K/BB, .357/.412/1.071
Only play five games in a week, and some interesting things have a better chance of happening because of the sample. Like Dunigan walking twice! Man! Also, all of his hits went for extras. Exiting Sunday’s game, he had eighteen apiece of doubles and home runs and three triples. No one else on the team has more than nine home runs. That also means that exactly half of his hits have gone for extra bases this year, contributing to him having a .274 isolated slugging. His May was miserable, but every other month for him has been passable or interesting, so I’d be willing to give him a shot in Tacoma. There is one issue however, and that’s his .624 OPS against left-handers. We may have a platoon bat on our hands, albeit a powerful one.
I Had Thought He’d Take It Mention:
RF Chih-Hsien Chiang, L/R, 2/21/1988
4 G, 17 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 4/1 K/BB, .353/.389/.824
No, He Actually is Hitting Better Mention:
1B Rich Poythress, R/R, 8/11/1987
5 G, 19 AB, 4 R, 8 H, 3 2B, 4 RBI, 1/1 K/BB, HBP, .421/.476/.579
Doubles! Mention:
3B Nate Tenbrink, L/R, 12/21/1986
4 G, 16 AB, 3 R, 4 H, 4 2B, RBI, 5/2 K/BB, .250/.333/.500
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP James Paxton, 11/6/1988
1-0, GS, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 8 H, R, 6/1 K/BB, 4/4 G/F
Leading up to Paxton’s DL stint, his command had been off for a little while. His final outing, he got through two and two-thirds, walking five and allowing four hits while striking out just one. Paxton has had three starts of a limited pitch count since returning from the disabled list and in that span has recorded a 16/2 K/BB in 14.1 innings. Coming into Sunday, Paxton’s career walk percentage was 11.9%, which isn’t good really. For July, he’s down to 3.5%. I don’t know if that’s going to be totally sustainable for him going forward, but gosh, wouldn’t that be awesome if it were? I’d take something that falls between that and the career mark as well, preferably on the lower end.
Regarding Walks Mention:
LHP Anthony Fernandez, 6/8/1990
1-0, GS, 1.80 ERA in 5.0 IP, 7 H, R, 4/6 K/BB, 6/2 G/F, HB
Back on Track, I Assume Mention:
RHP Carter Capps, 8/7/1990
0-0, 3 G, 2 SV, 0.00 ERA in 4.0 IP, 3 H, 4/1 K/BB, 5/3 G/F
Extra Pitching Notes:
Not bad as such, but weird: Brandon Maurer got through five+ innings and gave up four hits and two walks against six Ks. He also hit a batter. Normally what you’d expect from this is something that would put him in the “mention” column, but that turned into five runs, four earned, as Moises Hernandez scored two and Maurer faced five without getting an out in the sixth. So it goes… Taijuan Walker had a 6/5 K/BB and three hits allowed, two of them leaving the park, which translated to four runs in six innings. His strike% was rather low, just 55.2%. But he picked off a guy! And there were Ks! Look at these straws I’m grasping at! Really, look at them!
From the Training Room:
Sena coming back meant that RHP Taylor Stanton was pushed back to High Desert. He was probably all like “NOOOOO NOOOOOO DON’T SEND ME BACK THERE” but then he pitched fine so it was okay.
Strange Happenings:
Somehow I missed that, in his past ten games, Gabriel Noriega has three doubles, which means that he has four on the season. Still, talking about Noreiga’s 2012 power numbers isn’t quite as fun as talking about Kalian Sams’ 2011 outcomes… Almonte was 4-for-9 with three doubles and a triple and did not play enough… Johermyn Chavez walked three times! And struck out four times!
High Desert Mavericks (5-1 this week, 14-10 in the second half, 51-43 overall, 3.5 GB in CAL South)
The Week in Review:
Monday, July 9th 2012
Modesto 10 (COL + 5), High Desert 12
W: Shankin (1-1, 12.76) L: Matzek (5-6, 4.41) S: Burgoon (3)
Tuesday, July 10th 2012
Off day
Wednesday, July 11th 2012
High Desert 7, Lake Elsinore 6 (SD + 10), (twelve innings)
W: Kittredge (1-1, 5.00) L: Quigley (2-3, 2.56) S: Smith (5)
Thursday, July 12th 2012
High Desert 11, Lake Elsinore 2 (SD + 9)
W: Stanton (3-1, 5.23) L: Branham (2-1, 4.42)
Friday, July 13th 2012
High Desert 1, Lake Elsinore 4 (SD + 10)
W: Quigley (3-3, 2.52) L: Gillheeney (7-3, 5.22) S: Quackenbush (19)
Saturday, July 14th 2012
Stockton 13 (OAK – 9), High Desert 15
W: Hobson (4-3, 6.20) L: Brown (3-6, 4.36)
Sunday, July 15th 2012
Stockton 3 (OAK – 10), High Desert 15
W: Shankin (2-1, 10.73) L: Hassebrock (1-3, 8.65)
Hitter of the Week:
3B/1B Steve Proscia, R/R, 6/26/1990
5 G, 23 AB, 6 R, 7 H, 4 HR, 7 RBI, SB, 5/2 K/BB, .304/.360/.826
It’s one of those weeks, I guess. Proscia hit three home runs, a fact that High Desert prohibits me from appreciating because there were nine dingers in that game and the wind was blowing out to left at 20 mph. Thirteen of Proscia’s fifteen home runs have been at home. The difference between his home ISO and his road ISO is .376. The difference between his home OPS and .466. Also he’s hitting left handers at a better clip by another .500 OPS clip. So in Proscia we have a guy who struggles to hit right-handers or hit away from home but every now and then the circumstances align and something like this happens. And I’m supposed to talk about it. These have been some words.
Is It the Second Half Already? Mention:
CF James Jones, L/L, 9/24/1998
5 G, 25 AB, 8 R, 11 H, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 2 SB, CS, 6/1 K/BB, HBP, .440/.481/.680
Stolen Base? Mention:
DH Dennis Raben, L/L, 7/31/1987
5 G, 20 AB, 5 R, 7 H, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, SB, 4/5 K/BB, .350/.480/.600
Stolen Bases? Mention:
RF Julio Morban, L/L, 2/13/1992
5 G, 23 AB, 4 R, 10 H, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 3 SB, 4/0 K/BB, HBP, .434/.458/.609
The Power He Has Mention:
SS Brad Miller, L/R, 10/18/1989
6 G, 26 AB, 7 R, 9 H, 3 2B, 2 3B, 9 RBI, 2 SB, 5/5 K/BB, .346/.438/.615
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Taylor Stanton, 1/15/1988
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 3 H, 4/0 K/BB, 11/3 G/F
When you pay attention to baseball for a while, you start to notice that there are certain things that players are comfortable doing and certain things that they do not seem to excel at. This year, Stanton has nine appearances as a reliever with the Mavs. He’s let eighteen earned runs score in 15.1 innings after twenty-eight hits allowed. Along the way, he’s had a 9/6 K/BB. In the rotation, he’s had five starts, let seven score in 27.2 innings after twenty-seven hits, and run a 20/2 K/BB. There’s a difference of eight runs between those two ERAs and tRA picks up on an expected difference of about a run and a half. In the rotation, Stanton has the same tRA as Anthony Fernandez had when he was promoted. Maybe we should just keep him in the rotation.
Long and Short Relief Mention:
RHP Andrew Kittredge, 3/17/1990
1-0, 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 4.0 IP, H, 5/3 K/BB, 2/1 G/F, WP
Bad Luck, in the Form of Two Inherited Runners Scoring Mention:
LHP James Gillheeney, 11/8/1987
0-1, GS, 3.52 ERA in 7.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 7/2 K/BB, 5/7 G/F, HB
From the Training Room:
Carp and RHP Stephen Pryor were both with the team for rehab things. Pryor walked three in two-thirds of an inning, then got the hook. Two runs scored. That was the first outing. The second outing, he struck out three in two frames. Stanton also came back… RHP Mario de Jesus went to the Lumberkings, sort of, and RHP Tim Boyce went on the DL which meant that RHP Tyler Blandford came off the DL. Perhaps Blandford will throw strikes ever.
Strange Happenings:
Tyler Matzek gave up ten runs to the Mavs (nine earned) on eleven hits and three walks in four innings in four+ innings, but then again Matzek hasn’t been great this season… So the Mavericks played a twelve-inning game against Lake Elsinore on Wednesday two weeks in a row… Hicks was 8-for-20 this week, all singles, no walks. Marder was 6-for-19 with a double, two dingers, and a walk, but lacked playing time. Mario Martinez was 5-for-15, double, home run, two walks, lacked playing time. Wiswall was 7-for-16 with a dinger and two walks. He didn’t qualify. In the whole of the Stockton series, the Mavericks had ten dingers… Shankin got only groundballs on Sunday. All right.
Clinton Lumberkings (3-3 this week, 13-10 in the second half, 36-55 overall, T-1st in MWL Western)
The Week in Review:
Monday, July 9th 2012
Clinton 7, Quad Cities 10 (STL + 5)
W: Wyatt (4-2, 1.45) L: Shore (1-2, 3.38)
Tuesday, July 10th 2012
Off day
Wednesday, July 11th 2012
West Michigan 0 (DET – 1), Clinton 10
W: Shipers (4-3, 3.18) L: Carreno (4-6, 3.38)
Thursday, July 12th 2012
West Michigan 5 (DET 0), Clinton 1
W: Ferrell (3-3, 4.70) L: Miller (5-6, 3.65)
Friday, July 13th 2012
West Michigan 12 (DET + 1), Clinton 3
W: Palacios (10-6, 3.47) L: Kim (2-2, 4.67) S: Saupold (2)
Saturday, July 14th 2012
South Bend 3 (ARI 0), Clinton 5
W: Pries (1-0, 3.75) L: Bradley (6-6, 4.55) S: Shackleford (6)
Sunday, July 15th 2012
South Bend 3 (ARI – 1), Clinton 5
W: Shore (2-2, 2.95) L: Capaul (1-2, 5.89) S: Vargas (1)
Hitter of the Week:
2B/DH Dan Paolini, R/R, 10/11/1989
5 G, 17 AB, 4 R, 8 H, 2 2B, HR, 6 RBI, CS, 1/2 K/BB, .471/.500/.765
I believe I’ve mentioned Paolini before, but it feels like I haven’t gotten to talk about him in a while. Paolini was a guy that we were hoping could stick at second, or failing that, left, considering the level of offense he was expected to provide. Instead, Paolini’s spent about half his games at first and split the remainder between second and DH. This didn’t work so well when he had a .558 OPS in April, or the .762 OPS in May, or the .702 OPS in June, but it seems to be tolerable when he’s hitting .400/.444/.650 for July and .324/.380/.535 overall in the second half. The only weird thing is that he’s a bit better on the road, when the home park is neutral, more or less.
So Hitting in Clinton is Easier? Mention:
DH Kevin Rivers, L/R, 8/24/1988
5 G, 21 AB, 3 R, 9 H, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 6/2 K/BB, .429/.478/.523
I Really Wish He Could Play Somewhere Other than First Mention:
1B/DH Ji-Man Choi, L/R, 5/19/1991
5 G, 18 AB, 6 R, 6 H, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 3/3 K/BB, 2 HBP, .333/.478/.500
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Jordan Shipers, 6/27/1991
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 9.0 IP, 2/2 K/BB, 15/7 G/F, WP
A little over eleven years ago, John Halama threw a perfect game for the Tacoma Rainiers. It was the first nine-inning complete game in PCL history, and the league had been around since 1903. In response to this feat, the Mariners promoted him back to the majors, since he had been sent down at the end of June. But in the major leagues, John Halama was still John Halama. In his first appearance, a start against the Diamondbacks, he exited after three innings, having thrown fifty-five pitches and given up five runs on six hits, a couple of walks, and a strikeout. He surrendered three home runs. When Shipers threw his no-hitter, the articles were quick to mention that the last time the feat had been done was a seven-inning stint by Domingo Valdez nine years ago. In 2000, Scott Dunn threw a perfect game for the squad. Scott Dunn had a career strikeouts to walks ratio of under two in the minors. He pitched just over ten innings in the major leagues and hasn’t been in affiliated ball since 2007. Domingo Valdez, whose ratio is slightly better, didn’t play after the season he threw his no-hitter. Shipers throwing a no-hitter is a great accomplishment. I think it’s the first I’ve ever covered. But look at that ratio. It’s not good. And we’re paying attention to a sport where Phillip Humber can throw a perfect game. Have you seen what he did since? I think last week’s outing had a more positive effect on my perception of him than this one. This one is just an oddity. If I think anything particularly positive about this outing, it’s either “well, he was mixing up his pitches well” or “wow, maybe I underrated the Clinton defense.”
Long Relief (Not That It Was Much Competition) Mention:
LHP Kyle Hunter, 6/18/1989
0-0, G, 2.25 ERA in 4.0 IP, 4 H, R, 5/1 K/BB
From the Training Room:
Like some sort of baseball hot potato, de Jesus was passed on to Everett almost as soon as he was assigned to Clinton… Late in the week, RHP Richard Vargas left the DL and RHP Nolan Diaz went back to Pulaski.
Strange Happenings:
Seon Gi Kim faced seven batters without an out on Saturday. Six runs scored. Whoops?.. Jordan Pries’ first start this week: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R (3 ER), 9/4 K/BB. Yeaaaah… Kyle Hunter has only walked 3.1% of the batters he’s faced this season…. Lumberkings relievers inherited five runners on Monday and scored all of them… Seven batters were plunked this week. Somehow, this seems notable. That’s 13.7% of their HBP for the season… Blash struck out ten times in five games this week.
Everett Aquasox (5-1 this week, 22-8 overall, 1st in NWL West)
Monday, July 9th 2012
Everett 4, Vancouver 3 (OAK + 4)
W: Wood (1-0, 0.00) L: Kadish (1-1, 1.88) S: Plotz (2)
Tuesday, July 10th 2012
Off day
Wednesday, July 11th 2012
Tri-City 7 (COL 0), Everett 10
W: Garcia (1-0, 4.70) L: Hungerman (0-3, 3.77) S: De Jesus (2)
Thursday, July 12th 2012
Tri-City 3 (COL – 1), Everett 9
W: Sanchez (4-0, 3.03) L: Slaats (0-1, 3.56) S: Leone (1)
Friday, July 13th 2012
Rainout
Saturday, July 14th 2012
Tri-City 3 (COL – 2), Everett 6 (seven innings)
W: Unsworth (4-0, 3.74) L: Hughes (1-3, 4.35)
Tri-City 1 (COL – 3), Everett 5 (seven innings)
W: Ewing (2-1, 3.68) L: Tago (1-4, 7.53)
Sunday, July 15th 2012
Tri-City 7 (COL – 2), Everett 0
W: Broyles (3-0, 1.80) L: Hidalgo (1-2, 5.49)
Hitter of the Week:
1B Taylor Ard, R/R, 1/31/1990
6 G, 21 AB, 3 R, 5 H, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 2/3 K/BB, HBP, .238/.360/.571
One of the questions I had of Ard when he was drafted is how much he would be able to hit for average as a pro, since it was never a strong point of his in college. Ard is batting .250 for the season. That’s not good, really, but his on-base percentage is more than a hundred points above that and his slugging is more than two hundred points above that. In the case of this week, three hundred was enough to push him over. He’s had half his hits go for extras so far this year. While I find these results good and all that, I’m also finding myself intrigued by the fact that his BABIP coming into Sunday was only .264. I don’t know that he’s super slow, he’s had two triples already (perhaps he’s merely a smart baserunner), and he should have the power to get some distance on each of his hits. They just find defenders, it seems.
Also Peripherals! Mention:
SS Chris Taylor, R/R, 8/29/1990
6 G, 22 AB, 5 R, 5 H, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 SB, CS, 4/3 K/BB, .227/.320/.545
Fewer Ks This Time Around Mention:
3B Patrick Kivlehan, R/R, 12/22/1989
6 G, 22 AB, 5 R, 7 H, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, 5/1 K/BB, HBP, .318/.375/.455
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Dylan Unsworth, 9/23/1992
1-0, GS, 3.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 9/0 K/BB, 5/2 G/F
Sharkie has played #2 to Sanchez for most of the season and has kind of been overshadowed as a result. But he shares in Sanchez 4-0 record, thirty hits allowed, and 30/13 K/BB ratio, it’s just that Unsworth has managed his in five fewer innings, which is better for the Ks (hey, they’re tied for second in the league) and worse for the hits and walks (hey, tied for… fourth). Also he’s two+ years older. At least he gets more grounders? Nevertheless, he’s keeping hitters at bay who have a lot more experience than he does, so I’m waiting now to see whether or not the prospect evaluators deem his stuff to be sufficiently worthy of paying attention to at the end of the season.
A Rare College Draftee Being Used as a Starter Mention:
LHP Steve Ewing, 8/8/1991
1-0, GS, 1.80 ERA in 5.0 IP, 2 H, R, 6/3 K/BB, 7/2 G/F
Closer? Sort of? Mention:
RHP Dominic Leone, 10/26/1991
0-0, G, SV, 0.00 ERA in 3.0 IP, 4/1 K/BB, 1/2 G/F
From the Training Room:
De Jesus was back. Yeah. He wasn’t passed to Pulaski… C Mike Zunino was also assigned to the team and a day later, LHP Rusty Shellhorn was added from Peoria. Rusty Shellhorn! Shellhorn had a 26/3K/BB, eight hits allowed in 17.2 innings, and no business being the AZL.
Strange Happenings:
McGruder had a 1/5 K/BB this week but not enough power to qualify… Marcus Littlewood is batting .176/.317/.176 in July. Whoops?.. Sanchez evades mention because he gave up three runs in six innings after five hits, a hit batter, two walks, and five Ks. Them’s the breaks.
Pulaski Mariners: (2-4 this week, 11-14 overall, 4.5 GB in APL East)
Monday, July 9th 2012
Kingsport 6 (NYM – 12), Pulaski 7
W: Chen (2-0, 6.57) L: Oswalt (1-1, 12.27) S: Holman (3)
Tuesday, July 10th 2012
Off day
Wednesday, July 11th 2012
Bluefield 4 (TOR – 4), Pulaski 2
W: Estrada (2-1, 4.05) L: Kaalekahi (1-1, 2.42)
Thursday, July 12th 2012
Bluefield 4 (TOR – 5), Pulaski 5
W: Holman (1-2, 2.31) L: Browning (0-1, 0.00)
Friday, July 13th 2012
Bluefield 12 (TOR – 4), Pulaski 3
W: Williams (1-1, 9.00) L: Marte (1-1, 1.65)
Saturday, July 14th 2012
Pulaski 1, Danville 2 (ATL + 7)
W: Briceno (2-1, 6.75) L: Holovach (0-1, 1.42) S: Fitzgerald (1)
Sunday, July 15th 2012
Pulaski 7, Danville 14 (ATL + 8)
W: Hashem (2-0, 2.79) L: Gonzalez (1-3, 2.45)
Hitter of the Week:
CF James Zamarripa, L/L, 9/17/1993
5 G, 17 AB, 3 R, 6 H, 3 2B, RBI, SB, CS, 4/3 K/BB, .353/.450/.529
The past couple of years, the Mariners have drafted some guy [out of California] who wasn’t even on the board for BA. This year it was Halamandaris in the eighth round (we did not sign him) and before that, it was Zamarripa in the sixth. Once we got a rough scouting report on him, it seemed like he was going to be an instinctual centerfielder whom they would hope would hit for some small amount of power eventually. This week might be the best of his young career, because he only hit .266/.329/.331 in the AZL and batted .125/.200/.250 over thirty-two ABs in June. Half his doubles and half his walks for the year came this week. Why, one might consider making something of these facts considering the rest of the offense was sort of sleepwalking through the week, but one would probably prefer a larger sample size.
Peripherals! Mention:
3B Jordy Lara, R/R, 5/21/1991
5 G, 17 AB, 2 R, 4 H, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2/4 K/BB, HBP, .235/.409/.471
Walks! Mention:
LF Reggie Lawson, R/R, 8/14/1991
5 G, 17 AB, 2 R, 5 H, 2B, RBI, 2/5 K/BB, .294/.455/.352
Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Rigoberto Garcia, 9/23/1993
0-0, GS, 1.69 ERA in 5.1 IP, 3 H, R, 4/1 K/BB, 7/4 G/F
Slim pickings for starters this week. Only two of them managed to make it through the fifth inning intact and a couple didn’t even make it through the fourth. I started to wonder if competition might be affecting things, and it’s true that Garcia has faced neither the best offense in the league nor the second-best, but his worst start, as far as runs allowed (five in four innings) was against the league’s worst offense. Okay, that’s weird. There was also that one outing against Bluefield where he walked four, when all of his other starts have featured one walk. I want to see what happens now when he gets an outing against Elizabethton or Danville.
The Other Guy to Reach Five Innings Mention:
RHP Charles Kaalekahi, 5/13/1992
0-1, GS, 1.80 ERA in 5.0 IP, 3 H, R, 4/3 K/BB, 2/8 G/F, HB
From the Training Room:
Diaz returning was the only thing that happened.
Strange Happenings:
Nick Valenza gave up three hits in two innings of work on Monday. “But why would you mention that, Jay? What’s so relevant about three hits? And furthermore, why are you dramatically stalling for time leading up to a big reveal that all of us have probably concluded already because what else could be so interesting about three hits?” Fine, all three hits left the park, back-to-back-to-back, happy? I’m not really. Valenza’s been getting hit unusually hard this year…. The M’s did not lose seven to fifteen on 7/15 but it was close… Matt Brazis struck out all five batters he faced this week. This is a thing that he does.
Dispatches from the Land of Rehabbers and Teens:
1B Kristian Brito: 12 G, 51 AB, 5 R, 9 H, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 SB, 19/0 K/BB, .176/.192/.196
3B Joe DeCarlo: 18 G, 61 AB, 12 R, 16 H, 5 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, CS, 15/7 K/BB, .262/.375/.475
RHP Dylan De Meyer: 1-0, 5 G (3 GS), 4.05 ERA in 20.0 IP, 25 H (HR), 13 R (9 ER), 11/5 K/BB, 2 HB
RHP Edwin Diaz: 1-0, 5 G, 6.75 ERA In 8.0 IP, 4 H (HR), 8 R (6 ER), 11/7 K/BB, 2 HB
SS Gabrial Franca: 13 G, 49 AB, 8 R, 15 H, 4 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 4 SB, 2 CS, 10/8 K/BB, .306/.404/.449
C Luke Guarnaccia: 8 G, 34 AB, 4 R, 8 H, 2 3B, HR, 8 RBI, SB, CS, 12/2 K/BB, .235/.235/.441
OF Jose Leal: 8 G, 21 AB, 2 H, 14/4 K/BB, .095/.240/.095
SS/2B Timmy Lopes: 18 G, 76 AB, 19 R, 28 H, 3 2B, 6 3B, 9 RBI, SB, 2 CS, 11/10 K/BB, .368/.437/.566
3B/CF Francisco Martinez: 8 G, 28 AB, 7 R, 8 H, 2 2B, 2 3B, 7 RBI, SB, 6/1 K/BB, .286/.323/.500
LHP Tyler Pike: 0-0, 4 G, 1.15 ERA in 15.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 18/7 K/BB, 2 HB
RHP Gabe Saquilon: 1-0, 5 G (GS), 1.06 ERA in 17.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R (2 ER), 16/6 K/BB
RHP Daniel Thieben: 2-0, 5 G (GS), 3.46 ERA in 13.0 IP, 14 H, 8 R (5 ER), 8/8 K/BB
RHP Richard White: 0-1, 4 G, 3.38 ERA in 5.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R (2 ER), 8/2 K/BB
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14 Responses to “Minor League Wrap (7/9-15/12)”
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It’s hard not to root for the raven-keeper in the Tower of London. Is Cavan Cohoes doing anything in the Land of Teens?
Thanks Jay!
Cohoes is around, but falls under the usual threshold I like to maintain for mentioning guys. He’s only seen two games and he was in center both times.
Shipers was Pitcher of the Week for the MWL and Dunigan was Hitter of the Week for the SL. Someone be surprised.
I can’t find anything anywhere that seems to indicate that the team has been concerned about Walker’s results meaning anything other than struggles at a high level. Then again, I also think they have him working on something. Previous three starts before this one he’s racked up much higher ground ball out numbers than normal. This last start he was back to his normal fly ball tendencies. I don’t know if they tried getting him to work on his two-seamer more and then stopped this week, or if he was just having trouble with it this week and it flattened out on him instead of sinking, or…. what. I don’t know, it’s been bizarre. I’m not really worried about the boy, but I am a bit confused by his results the last couple of months.
At the Futures Game Walker talked about how he had lost the feeling for/having trouble locating his curveball so teams were sitting on his fastball. Interestingly, he also said the M’s were having him not throw his slider, which he liked in high school.
He emphasized he felt fine and his arm was good.
I can’t help but be a little concerned, but I am sure this is natural and may help him in the long run.
Thanks for the write up Jay. Look forward to it every Monday.
I think I saw something about Walker working to improve his secondary pitches. This may be why nobody is panicking, yet.
Glad to see Rusty Shellhorn out of beginners class, he’s been looking good so far. He and Ard are doing the eastern part of the state proud.
I’m guessing Beavan gets up for a start with the big club.
I really didn’t want to have to do an “I told you so” or anything, but… Clinton played the early game today to finish the South Bend series. Shipers took the loss after two and two-thirds, giving up eight runs on nine hits, a walk, and two Ks. Two of the hits left the park.
Awesome work as always, Jay. What is the latest on our AAA pitching staff? I know about Hultzen, of course, but I feel like Carraway disappeared. Anyone else of note, doing well or pulling a Vasquez?
Beavan is getting more outs than it seems like he should.
Carraway has been mostly mediocre lately and has lost a lot of his Ks, the exception being the CG he threw on the 30th when he had seven Ks in nine innings. That was nice. Otherwise it’s been two or more runs every time out, walks now and then, not enough strikeouts.
Watched Zunino at yesterday’s Frogs game. (The whole team was flat, but thankfully that’s unusual this season.) During his 3rd AB, starter Shane Broyles fed him two curveballs that absolutely tied him up. Perhaps Zunino will be with the team longer than expected.
…or maybe he’s doing his best impression of the major league club in hopes of getting a quick callup.
Thoan, I don’t suppose you noticed whether Miguel Olivo had perhaps driven up there before the game, sharing his wisdom with Zunino? 😉
Thanks for the info, Jay! And glad to meet you on Saturday.
Just a minor correction: I’m pretty sure that your score for the Saturday Rainiers game is wrong. It was about 11-8 when I turned on the radio at 10, and that was only the 6th inning.
Thanks again, Jay. Too bad about Carraway, I’ve been pulling for him. The Braves are my National League team, so I understand the importance of having LOTS of pitching depth, even when you have potential stars in the minors. If Carraway can click, we are one step closer to never seeing a Vasquez or Beavan on our roster again.