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 →

Not a whole lot of note in AAA or AA, so I’ll start with JP Crawford getting his first extra base hit and his first multi-hit game at Hi-A. USA Today’s man in Lakewood Steven Falk reports that Yacksel Rios has taken Drew Anderson’s spot in the rotation while Anderson is out with an elbow injury. Sounds great. Just super. Rios went three innings, allowing five hits and five runs, though only one was earned. Larry Greene walked twice and walked-off in the tenth with a single in his return to Lakewood following a one=game rehab assignment at GCL. Andrew Knapp went deep in that one.

Cord Sandberg kept his season-long hitting streak alive with a 2-3 night, and he added a walk. He’s OPSing .994 in nine games. Damek Tomscha was 3-3, and Jake Sweaney stole two bags for GCL. Jason Marquis started his rehab assignment there today, and Jim reports that after his appearance, he got himself a couple simulated innings to get to 90 pitches. May not be long until he’s pushing for a big league spot, if he’s showing good stuff and getting some guys out when he gets to the higher levels.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/21/2014 →

Cam Perkins went 2-4 with 2Ks. He’s been scuffling since his call up, OPSing just .558 at AAA. Hector Neris and Jose Garcia pitched three scoreless innings to close out the Pigs win. Aaron Altherr was 2-5 with a double for Reading. Kelly Dugan left that game after a play down the right field line that Carlos Alonso fielded. Not sure what happened as I wasn’t watching the game. Anyone see it?

Roman Quinn and JP Crawford each walked twice, and Quinn stole two bases and had an outfield assist. Art Charles and Brian Pointer went deep – Pointer’s on a nice stream right now, OPSing .955 over his last ten games. He’s been known to be streaky, so we’ll see how cool he gets after the hotness wears off. MAG pitched an inning out of the CLR bullpen tonight, which makes you wonder if that’s what they’re plan is for him the rest of the year. Could be.

Malquin Canelo was 4-4 for Lakewood, and Jesen Therrien pitched three scoreless innings out of the pen. Cord Sandberg hit in his eight straight game dating back to the last game of 2013. He’s got a pair of home runs on the year now after hitting just two all year last summer in GCL. David Whitehead pitched well in the follow-up to his remarkable pro debut last weekend.

And the GCL season kicked off, with Damek Tomscha hitting his first pro home run and Olvy Marte getting on base three times. Larry Greene was 1-4 with 3ks on his rehab assignment, I think it was Jay Floyd who first reported Greene was going to have surgery, but I guess that didn’t happen. Matt Hockenberry and Brandon Liebrandt worked 5.2 scoreless innings and struck out seven. College starters throwing strikes.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/20/2014 →