Three Iron Pigs hit home runs and five had multi-hit games. Brad Lincoln pitched fairly well there. Kelly Dugan went 2-4 with a double, and Severino Gonzalez plodded through five uninspiring innings as Reading overcame a six run deficit to defeat New Hampshire.

Zach Green hit his third home run in two days among his 4-8 performance, and Andy Knapp hit one out in the top of the 15th as Lakewood overcame a seven run deficit to beat West Virginia. Jon Prosknski got walloped for a bit out of the gate, but the bullpen held the Power scoreless for 12.1 innings to snag the W.

Undrafted Free Agent Aaron Baker picked up the win after allowing five hits and three runs in 1.1 IP for the GCL. Jesus Alastre went 3-4 with two steals in the VZL. He’s at 7-16 on the year on the base paths. Not as bad as he was earlier. Looking forward to maybe getting a scouting opinion on him from Instructs this fall.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/30/2014 →

Leandro Castro had three hits and  a walk in five trips to the plate and Grady Sizemore was 2-5 for Lehigh Valley. Kelly Dugan announced his return from the post-DL doldrums with two home runs, and Jake Fox matched that feat for Reading.

Brian Pointer ended his hot June (CLR is off Monday) with a 3-4 day, that included a double a and a home run. He OPSed .953 for the month. I will temper my enthusiasm, as he’s run off a couple nice stretches the last couple year only to fall off a cliff thereafter. Also for CLR, Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez worked scoreless innings on a back-to-back day this weekend. In five rehab appearances during his most recent stint, he’s been in control, striking out eight and walking none, while allowing one run on six hits in six innings. Be sure to check out Jim’s report from yesterday’s outing for more on MAG.

Zach Green went deep twice and Andrew Pullin kept his hitting streak alive at 12 games. Pullin’s got just three multi-hit games and only one extra base hit during the streak, so it hasn’t really spiked his season numbers too much, though he was having a pretty nice June anyway, with five multi-hit games and four doubles in the first 14 days of the month, just before this current streak. I guess he’s been hitting well, one way or the other.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/29/2014 →

Grady Sizemore and Jason Marquis with their Iron Pigs debuts. Remember where you were, folks. You’ll be telling your grandkids about this moment. Kelly Dugan was back in the lineup for Reading. Perci Garner did not have it going on – eight walks in 3.1 IP.

J.P. Crawford with his first A+ home run – he and Quinn both had two hits and Quinn drew a walk and stole a base. I’m gettin’ the tingly good feelings over that pair. Andy Knapp went deep for Lakewood. Matt Imhof made his first appearance of the year, tossing three scoreless innings in the GCL. Jesus Posso hosed two men stealing. Edwin Rodriguez with two hits in the DSL.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/27/2014 →

Maikel Franco had a hit and two walks, which nearly doubled his total for the month. Let’s hope July is like May. Greg Smith and the bullpen, led by a three K inning from Hector Neris, shutout Rochester’s lineup on five hits. Aaron Altherr and Pete Lavin took Henry Owens deep – not bad, as the often-dominant Owens had allowed just three bombs in his prior 14 starts on the year.

Roman Quinn and J.P. Crawford had two hits a piece. Crawford added a walk and Quinn a steal. Crawford has hit in five of his last six games, so his stats are beginning to perk up after an 0-8 to start his A+ season. Lee Ridenhour’s put together a nice year thus far, with an FIP that’s much lower than his ERA, 3.30 vs. 4.21. He struck out the side in the ninth to finish off Tampa after MAG couldn’t hold Colin Kleven’s the lead in the eighth.

Cord Sandberg couldn’t extend his hitting streak – I wrote about him with some help from Chris King and Mitch Rupert at Crashburn Alley yesterday. I hope you’ll check it out if you haven’t already.

Also in the short season leagues – Deivi Grullon went 4-4 on the night, and David Whitehead pitched pretty well in his third start of the year. He’ not striking many men out, just 10 in 18.2IP thus far on the year. Joel (I wonder if it’s pronounced Joe-ELL?) Fisher with his first pro home run and Luis Morales pitched well for the GCL. Julsan Kamara still doesn’t have a professional hit, but he walked three times on Thursday in the Dom Rep. And Jesus Alastre was on base twice for the VZL squad – his OBP for the year sits at .444. That’s four out of every nine PAs. Seems pretty solid. You’d have to think he’ll be at instructs in the fall and ticketed for GCL next summer if he handles himself well next spring.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/26/2014 →

Yankees pre-season #9 (per BA) Luis Severino, totally shut down the Clearwater squad – he allowed just one walk and struck out six in six no-hit innings. Mercy. Andrew Pullin had three hits and a walk, and Zach Green two plus a free pass for Lakewood.

Damek Tomscha remains the dominant force (small sample size) you’d expect to get when you put one of the SEC’s top five on-base guys of 2014 into a league with a bunch of recent high school grads and Dominican teenagers on the hill against him. Ok, to be fair, some of those guys are from Venezuela and probably like Panama or Columbia or other places.

And speaking of Dominican teenagers, 17-year-olds Randy Alcantara and Oscar Marcelino both made their pro debuts. Both allowed a couple of base runners and single unearned runs. Welcome to the pros, fellas.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/25/2014 →

Really nice start from Severino Gonzalez – 2R on 1H 1HR 1BB and 7K – he’s only given up four walks in his last six starts, (since a five walk mess on May 22), and has 33K in that same span (36.2IP). For him to have much success, he’ll need to keep that up going forward, and limit the home runs allowed – he’s given up seven over that same time frame. That won’t fly. Also from Reading – don’t get your hopes up just yet, but Zach Collier’s got eight hits in six games since he came off the DL.

Cam Perkins left the Lehigh Valley game after running into a wall on defense in the first inning. No word yet on the extent of his injuries, as far as I’ve seen.

Two hits a piece for Andrews Knapp and Pullin as Mark Leiter and Co. got shelled by Greensboro. Williamsport was on the other end of the cannon as they put up a ten spot on Auburn. Cord Sandberg extended his hitting streak to 13 games, Jiandido Tromp hit two home runs, (again – guy only hits two at a time, apparently), and was a single short of The Big Wheel, Jan Hernandez hit his second bomb of the season, and Aaron Brown had two hits.

In the GCL, Luis Encarnacion’s first pro hit was also his first pro home run, and Damek Tomscha and Jake Sweaney each had two hits. Seranthony Dominguez pitched well in his stateside debut, striking out five in 3.2 innings of work. He took the loss as he couldn’t hold off the Yankees in the tenth. Bryan Martelo was 3-5 in the DSL, his first multi-hit game as a pro.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/24/2014 →

Aaron Nola got his feet wet with a fifty-pitch limit in place – he allowed 5R 4ER on 3H 1 HR 3BB and 3K. He’s not lined up to pitch Saturday on turn because he’s a finalist for the National College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher of the Year award, which will be given out on that date. Aaron Brown is in the running for the John Olerud award for two-way players that night as well, so I assume he’ll be out of the lineup for WIL.

I don’t know how poorly Brad Lincoln would have needed to pitch to not get the call-up for Saturday’s double-header in Philly, but he certainly passed in my eyes, as he allowed 2R on 2H 3BB 4K in 7IP. Would have liked to see him throw more strikes – he had just 53/93 or ~57%. Jesse Biddle didn’t fare as well for Reading, and you have to wonder if there’s something physically wrong with him at this point. Might not be, but it would at least help explain the tragically bad June he’s put up – he’s walking more than he’s striking out, he’s allowed six home runs in 15.2 innings, and he hasn’t only gotten out of the fourth inning once in four June starts.

Also in Reading, Pete Lavin was a single short of the cycle, which may be a bit of a letdown, but that’s a heck of a night anyway. Logan Moore connected for two doubles. It’s still a small sample there, but his hitting is something to watch. Roman Quinn was on base twice and stole his sixth bag of the year in his 26th game. It’s about half the pace he had the last two years, but that would be about 30 steals for a full-season. Coming off his Achilles’  injury, I’ll take that as a good sign. Also for CLR, Brian Pointer stays hot – he’s hit in seven straight, and is OPSing .926 for the month of June.

Sam Hiciano went deep (7) and Aaron Brown did as well, his first as a pro. Cord Sandberg continued his hitting streak – it’s at 12 if you include last year’s finale. And Yoel Mecias returned from TJ with good results, while 4th rounder Chris Oliver made his pro debut with results that were not so good. I imagine they’ll give him a couple more chances before they give up on him.

And now in the interest of me not rambling too badly, (too late, I think), I’ll let you all scour the rest.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/23/2014 →

Luis Garcia gave up an earned run *audible gasp*, and BJ Rosenberg struck out two before being called up to take Ethan Martin’s spot in the big league bullpen. Ryan Demmin struck out eight in eight scoreless innings for Clearwater. He’s struck out 27 and walked two in 28 innings in CLR. Impressive line, though he’s not more than an org arm right now.

Samuel Hiciano was 3-5 with a double, Andrew Knapp was 2-4 with a walk and Larry Greene was 2-4 with two doubles, but it wasn’t enough to push Lakewood to victory. Jan Hernandez hit his first home run of the year, and Cord Sandberg remains hotter than whichever attractive lady (or gentleman) you prefer to reference in such cases. No matter the lady or gentleman, he’s hotter. Sorry, Betty White.

And Mitch Gueller gave up six runs on seven hits and five walks in four+ innings. Ricky Bielski hit two of the three men he faced, which emptied the benches and got him and his manager tossed.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/22/2014 →