Aaron Nola allowed just one hit and struck out five in five scoreless innings relieving Cliff Lee from last night’s rainout. Maikel Franco was 2-3 for Lehigh Valley, and Roman Quinn was 2-3 with a triple in the second game of the CLR double header. Quinn was hit by a pitch in both games, though one was yesterday before the rain.

Larry Greene and Dylan Cozens had three hits a piece, but the Claws earned a pair of Golden Sombreroes – Andrew Pullin and Samuel Hiciano both struck out four times. Not sure I recall a time when two of or guys managed that in the same game. Matt Imhof pitched really well for WIL – surrendering two hits and a walk with five Ks in four scoreless innings. Derek Campbell and Rhys Hoskins each put up four hits in that one.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/7/2014 →

Another good line from Severino Gonzalez, though he allowed another longball – his HR/9 rate is something like 1.25. That’s quite bad. And before we “Hey, doesn’t he pitch in a bandbox” this one, I’ll note that his rate on the road is almost twice as bad as it is at home. Nefi Ogando has been horrendous lately, but he threw 9/12 pitches for strikes and struck out two men in a clean inning of work. Speaking of…Phillippe Aumont threw 12 of his 13 pitches for strikes en route to an identical result to Ogando. Aumont had a stellar June, walking just two men and striking out 13 in 9.2 IP. His July was of to an inauspicious start, as he walked four men in his first two appearances. Hopefully Sunday’s turn is a precursor to more success.

J.P. Crawford hit his third A+ home run, (matching his A- total in far fewer PAs), and Cliff Lee worked two scoreless innings before the skies opened up over Brevard County. Zach Green had three hits and Yacksel Rios pitched well again as a starter, going seven strong innings for Lakewood. Frank Rivas is having a fine year out of the WIL bullpen in his stateside debut. The soon-to-be-22-year old has 13K to just five walks in 13.1 IP. Jia Tromp hit his sixth home run of the year, second in the league to State College’s Rowan Wick’s 11. Wick’s been in a bit of a slump lately, though, he’s only OPSing 1.182 over his last 10 games. Weak.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/6/2014 →

Lehigh Valley outlasted Rochester. Maikel Franco had three hits including a double and a home run, (albeit in 8 ABs over 16 innings). Russ Canzler hit two homers. Cam Perkins 1-7 – he’s really scuffling. Kelly Dugan 2-4 for Reading, and MAG allowed one hit and walked one while striking out four over 2 scoreless innings. Carlos Tocci and Mitch Walding both had two doubles, while Dylan Cozens had two steals for Lakewood. Cozens has 15 on the year. Not bad for a monstrously large human being.

Aaron Brown and Emmanuel Marrero with multi-hit games in support of a good start for Alejandro Arteaga in Williamsport. The GCL squad walked seven times versus Yankees pitching, though they managed just four hits. Denton Keys worked four scoreless innings after Jeff Manship worked the first as the opening test of his rehab assignment.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/5/2014 →

Maikel Franco was 2-5 with a double and a triple after a 4-4 on Thursday. He’s absolutely mashing in July. It’s just those two games, but still. Reading I don’t really want to talk about. Ok, same with Clearwater. Way to honor your nation’s birthday, dudes. Except the Latin guys. They get a pass.

Williamsport’s Mitch Gueller tossed a seven inning complete game shutout. Mitch Rupert mentioned he was sitting at 89 with his FB, but says he’s looking pretty comfortable with his slider. Encouraging. Jia Tromp hit his fifth homer of the year in game two of the double header. It’s the first time he’s hit just one home run in a game, and I guess one’s nice, but it does seem like kind of a letdown. Two’s better. He should try that again next time.

Big lefty Austin Davis earned his first pro save for the GCL, and Hugo Arrocha was 2-5 with two doubles in the DSL. Edwin Rodriguez also collected two hits in that game. Luis Mendoza had two hits, giving him multi-hit games in three of his last for in the VZL.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/4/2014 →

Roman Quinn was 3-5, and JP Crawford was on base three times as well, with a hit and two walks. Carlos Tocci had gone a little cold, OPSing .469 since the SAL all-star break (13 games), though he did manage a triple on Thursday, his first XBH of that span, and he’s got seven hits in his last five games, so I’d say he’s turned the corner on that slump. Sam Hiciano’s been slumping since the ASB also. He went 2-4 with a double. His K Rate this year is a very respectable 22%. Tyler Viza managed his way through six innings, allowing 1R 4H 0BB and 4K. He could use a couple more games where he doesn’t get hit around, like he’s been since pretty much the start of May.

Cord Sandberg and Matt Shortall hit home runs in the twelfth inning to make Williamsport a winner. Both had multi-hit games, as did Jia Tromp, Aaron Brown (who added 2 steals) and Derek Campbell. David Whitehead threw six shutout innings, giving up three hits and walking one, but striking out just one. Scott Tomassetti celebrated his 21st birthday was his first professional hit. It was a double, pinch-hitting for rehabbing big leaguer Wil Nieves. I bet he’ll never forget it. I celebrated my 21st birthday by going to the store and buying beer. The guy who carded me wished me a happy birthday. Then I drank the beer at a party and I really don’t remember much else. Ahh…memories.

Out on the island, Julsan Kamara went 3-4 with a triple, his first multi-hit game and first XBH as a pro. Guy’s OBP is .385. He’s drawn seven walks in 10 games. Nice. Old-ish DSL rookie Ismael Cabrera threw five shutout innings and struck out six a day after his old-ish DSL rookie teammate Jose Taveras threw a CGSHO. Two guys to keep in the back of your mind and nothing more, I’d say. Cabrera’s walk rate is very high, and Taveras is almost 21 years old already, so not being stateside doesn’t inspire a lot of hope that the org thinks they have what it takes.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/3/2014 →

Jason Marquis pitched well again, and could be a trade chip if they bring him up and get him a couple starts in the bigs pretty soon, IMO. Might not net you much, but maybe a low-level flier type guy from a position of depth in someone’s org. If you were contending and needed a fourth/fifth starter on the cheap, would you give up someone like Malquin Canelo or maybe Jia Tromp for someone like Marquis? Probably.

MAG debuted in Reading with a scoreless inning and 2K. Roman Quinn hit his second HR of the year, and Brian Pointer his sixth. Ethan Stewart worked out of the bullpen for CLR for just the second time in his four-year pro career. We’ll see if that’s permanent, and if it helps his stuff play up to more Ks, helping to nullify his soul-crushing walk rate. Dylan Cozens went deep for the third time in five games. He struggled in June, but he’s OPSing .927 over his last ten games.

In the short-season leagues, second rounder Matt Imhof got the starts for WIL, pitching to a line of 1R 1H 2BB 3K in 3IP. Luis Encarnacion was 2-4 with a double for the GCL, while Darin Ruf and Wil Nieves rehabbed. 20-year-old Jose Taveras pitched a complete game shutout for DSL. Julsan Kamara logged his first pro hit in that contest and Bryan Martelo had two in that one.

Look for my July 2 recap at CrashburnAlley.com later this morning.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/2/2014 →

His name is Rios, and he set down lots of Suns //

They tried to hit off him, but he allowed just one.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/1/2014 →