Couple notes here as I post the graphic. Leandro Castro is trying to get back on track, OPSing near .800 for his last 10 games after a 3-4 with two 2B on Sunday. Severino Gonzalez got roughed up after a trio of decent outings previous – he was throwing strikes, though many of them were hit with bats, and three of those traveled quite far.

Andrew Knapp hit his first HR of the year. Ethan Stewart had a nice line, his best since the third week of the season. Willians Astudillo kept his hitting streak alive at 16 games. Delvi Francisco came apart at the seams, and our main man in the VSL Jesus Alastre has been out of action for a couple days now.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/1/2014 →

Jesse Biddle returns from a bout with hail-head to pitch pretty well – 3R, 2ER, 5H, 2BB and 3K in 6.1IP. Kyle Simon didn’t do Biddle any favors, allowing both of his Biddle-inherited runners to score. Miguel Nunez made a triumphant return to starting after a couple weeks in XST and the CLR bullpen – he went six scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing just three hits and one walk. Roman Quinn with a hit in that game. He’s still yet to draw a walk in nine games.

Willians Astudillo kept his hitting streak alive at 15, going 2-4 for Lakewood, while Dylan Cozens received a pretty terrible 20th birthday present. It came in a large hat box and it shines like Skinny Elvis’ most famous suit. I think Fat Elvis’ karate jumpsuit is probably more famous than the one from the postage stamp. so I figured I’d point out which iteration of Elvis I was talking about. And for all the young folks out there, Elvis was a rock n roll singer. People used to make music with like their mouths and instruments and stuff instead of computers. Wild, I know.

And DSL started today, with Edwin Rodriguez the most interesting guy to watch, IMO. He’s 16 for a couple more days, and received $100k to sign – Ben Badler from BA reported at the time that he was a “corner outfielder with a nice swing, a good approach, gap-to-gap pop and below-average speed”. The DH was Luis Beaufond, who’s listed as a catcher and will play the year as a 17-year old, so it’s worth watching him as well, I’d say. The more interesting names that were on the roster just a few day ago have been removed, and are likely headed to the Gulf Coast League roster when they kick off a few days after the draft concludes.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/31/2014 →

Colton Murray‘s getting it done at Reading – one hit and three Ks over 2-1 scoreless today, and he stranded the runner he inherited. Gabriel Lino was 2-4 with a 2B and 2Ks, while Brian Pointer was 2-3 with a pair of 2B for CLR.

Willians Astudillo has now hit in 14 straight, but Delmarva’s Hunter Harvey shut down Lakewood pretty well. Again. He did the same a few weeks ago, though this time the Claws managed two hits instead of one and two walks instead of one and scored a whole run instead of, well, not. The Orioles should promote that guy already.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/30/2014 →

Maikel Franco was 2-4 with a 2B and a 3B, his first XBHs since May 19 (8 games). Tyson Gillies threw out Brett Wallace at the plate to end the game, saving the save for Ken Giles, who gave up 2R on 2H, 2BB, 1WP and 0K in his most tumultuous inning of his short stint in AAA. Cesar Jimenez hasn’t allowed a run all month for the Pigs. He’d seem to be the next lefty up to the bigs.

Cameron Perkins left the Reading game after being hit in the arm with a batted ball while leading off third. He tried to tough it out, apparently, but was removed an inning later. Jeb Stefan pitched well allowing one run on just two hits and two walks in six innings , but his offense couldn’t score, managing just two hits and one walk in support. Ramon Oviedo entered the game with one out in the seventh and two men on base, recorded three total outs and walked five men, and did not allow a run, thanks to a DP in the seventh and a caught stealing in the eighth. Amazing.

Willians Astudillo has himself a 12 game hitting streak. Also worth noting – he’s been behind the plate nine times in the last 18 days. And Jesus Alastre kept his on-base streak alive by virtue of getting plunked in the eighth inning. Well done.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/29/2014 →

Tyson Gillies (2) and Cameron Rupp (6) went deep for Lehigh Valley. The pitching there was not so good. Brad Lincoln got good and messed up. Meanwhile, Rob Rasmussen is in the Toronto bullpen. Just sayin’.

Cameron Perkins hit a walk-off 3-run home run, his third, to win it in the 12th for Reading. Good performance from Tyler Knigge there. Art Charles‘ 3-run shot tied it for CLR in the ninth and Logan Moore walked it off with a single in the 11th. Good line from Colin Kleven there. Roman Quinn‘s some kind of scuffling in his small sample of a season – 10Ks and no BBs thus far, and he’s OPSing .465 through 7 games.

And finally, Dylan Cozens was 2-4 with two doubles for Lakewood. His last multi-hit game was five days ago when he hit two home runs at West Virginia. Robinson Torres was 1-3, but that hit pushed across Cozens and Willians Astudillo to make a winner out of recently demoted Jon Prosinski.

VSL was off, but a friendly reminder that the DSL starts on Saturday. Among those inpresently rostered there are Luis Encarnacion and “that German guy” Julsan Kamara.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/28/2014 →

Samuel Hiciano is really killing it with the bat right now. He hit his sixth home run of the year last night, and is OPSing 1.075 over his last ten games, and .959 for the month of May. Wonder if they’ll challenge him with a promotion mid-year. Would be fairly surprising, but he’s really raking, so it’s possible. Ken Giles gave up one hit and struck out one in a scoreless inning for Lehigh Valley. Severino Gonzalez put up an OK line – 3R on 7H, 1HR, 0BB, 5K in 7IP. He was throwing strikes – just over 2/3 of his 92 pitches, so that’s good to see.

And the dream is gone, folks. 17-year-old Jesus Alastre went hitless in the VSL, ending what was a ten game streak to start his pro career. Thought he’d maybe just keep going forever and ever. He did walk twice, so we can talk about his on-base streak, if you like, for as long as that lasts. Also, he managed to successfully steal a base, while unfortunately and predictably being caught stealing once as well. He’s 1-6 thus far. As AndyB pointed out, there’s nothing wrong with letting the kid keep running. My joke to the contrary yesterday was both not terribly funny, (keeps my streak going), and developmentally silly. So keep running, Jesus. Keep running.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/27/2014 →

Ken Giles earned his third save at AAA, allowing a hit and striking out one in 1.2IP. Cam Perkins was pinch-hit for with Anthony Hewitt in the seventh inning of a game where Perkins had one of three hits and the only extra-base hit. Not sure why anyone would do that without good reason, and we know “getting Anthony Hewitt a plate appearance” hasn’t been a good reason for like four years now.

Samuel Hiciano is puttin’ a hurtin’ on South Atlantic League pitchin’ right now – he’s OPSin’ 1.187 over his last 10 games and sits at .833 on the year after a 2-3 on Monday. He remains a very interestin’ guy. Ok, I’m don’. Also in that one, Tyler Viza recorded 18 outs, three by strikeout, one by flyball, and 12 on the ground, two of which were turned into double plays. That’s some heavy stuff he’s tossin’. Sorry.

And finally, our young friend Jesus Alastre was 2-2 to extend his hitting streak to all 10 professional games in which he’s ever played. Here’s something though – he’s been blanked in stolen base attempts – oh-fer his first four. Maybe give him the stop sign, coach. Just an idea.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/26/2014 →