Minor League Recap: Games of June 15, 2014

AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks: 13-9 win over Las Vegas (NYM)

-> L.J. Hoes: 3-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
-> Enrique Hernandez: 2-for-5, HR, R, 3 RBI
-> Marc Krauss: 2-for-4, 2B, R, 3 RBI
-> Austin Wates: 2-for-4, BB, 3B, SB, 2 R
-> Gregorio Petit: 1-for-3, HR, R, 3 RBI
-> Domingo Santana: 1-for-3, 2B, SB, 2 BB, 4 R
-> Preston Tucker: 1-for-4, BB, 2 R
-> Ronald Torreyes: 1-for-4
-> Max Stassi: 1-for-5, 2B, RBI
-> Matthew Duffy: 1-for-1, RBI (pinch-hitter)
-> Joe Sclafani: 1-for-1 (substitution)

SP Jake Buchanan: 7.0 IP, 5 R (4 ER), 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Ross Seaton: 0.2 IP, 4 R (1 ER), 3 H, 2 BB, 1 K
RP Andrew Robinson: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (save)

OKC was up 11-1 after five innings, but Las Vegas scored eight runs over the next three innings to make it a game again. In fairness to the pitchers, there were three OKC errors tonight, and four of the nine runs were unearned.

Still, four of Buchanan's five runs were earned, and that's not great. He's been on a bit of a tougher stretch recently, with a 5.40 ERA, 1.44 BB/9 and 3.24 K9 over his last four games. The walk rate is nice, but it's hard to project a ton of positive regression with a pathetic strikeout rate like that. You have to be able to miss some bats.

Hoes is on a nice run right now, with 10 hits in his last four games. He's hitting .378/.452/.486 over his last ten games.

Hernandez is hot as well; he's on a five-game hitting streak, with a .349/.356/.535 slash line over his last ten games, during which time he's homered twice and tripled. He's struck out just 15 times in 53 games with the AAA club.

Santana is at .287/.366/.487 on the season, with 18 doubles, a triple and 11 homers.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 7-2 win over San Antonio (SDP)

-> Telvin Nash: 2-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Nolan Fontana: 2-for-4, BB, SB, 2 R
-> Jiovanni Mier: 1-for-3, 2B, SB, R
-> Leonardo Heras: 1-for-3, BB, SB
-> Delino DeShields: 1-for-3, 3 RBI
-> M.P. Cokinos: 1-for-3, RBI
-> Tyler Heineman: 1-for-4
-> Andrew Aplin: 0-for-4, BB, 2 R

SP David Rollins: 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Tyson Perez: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K (save)

Heras is on a little four-game hitting streak now, with two singles, a double, a triple and a long ball during those games. Despite not hitting much on the season, he's something of a walk machine, so he has a solid .339 OBP despite just a .209 average. If he's turning the corner, he could really break out and help fill the big hole Tucker left in the lineup.

The last ten games for Fontana have been classic him; poor average, no power, striking out more than you'd want from a TOTO guy...but still productive from a ridiculous number of walks. 12 of them, which have given him a .404 OBP during that run. 14 strikeouts is really worrisome though. Without being able to watch, I imagine a fair number of them are from watching close pitches, rather than him just being a horrible contact hitter. Still, I hope he improves on that area some more. His splits tell the tale of him being much, much better against opposite (right) handed pitchers, so you wonder if, as a super-utility guy in the future, that will be something that determines his usage as well.

All Rollins has done this year is go out there and put solid starts up on the board. Fourth straight outing allowing two or fewer runs, and nine of his last ten. On the season, he's posted a 3.18 ERA, 2.65 BB/9 and 9.00 K/9 in 34 innings even.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: Off Day

First day of the California League's All-Star break. Game is on Tuesday.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 13-2 win over Wisconsin (MIL)

-> Brian Holberton: 3-for-5, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R
-> James Ramsay: 3-for-5, BB, 2B, SB, 2 RBI, 4 R
-> Jake Rodriguez: 3-for-5, 2B, RBI, 2 R
-> Tyler White: 2-for-3, BB, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R
-> Chase McDonald: 2-for-3, HR, R, 2 BB, 3 RBI
-> Brett Phillips: 2-for-5, RBI, R
-> Chan Moon: 1-for-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI
-> Jon Kemmer: 0-for-4, BB, RBI
-> Thomas Lindauer: 0-for-4, BB

SP Michael Feliz: 5.0 IP, 2 R (0 ER), 6 H, 0 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Jandel Gustave: 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K (save)

Feliz's run continues. His last eight starts have been nothing short of dominant; 1.16 ERA, 2.32 BB/9 and a 10.74 K/9 over that stretch from May 8th to this game.

Gustave continues to look like a real prospect as well. He's mixed in rough starts here and there, but roughly seven out of ten games he looks awesome. Even when he's getting knocked around, his control doesn't seem to suffer much. On the year, he owns a 3.81 ERA, 2.32 BB/9 and 8.45 K/9. The BAbip against him has been a little elevated this year too, so we could see even more improvement.

I'm glad to see Holberton getting back into things. After his little world beater run, he really fell off for a while. He has seven hits in as many games now though, two of them doubles and one a homer. He's still hitting .325/.376/.530 with 11 walks and 18 strikeouts in 42 games.

After a quietly-solid May (.273/.397/.384, 7-for-9 SB), is off to a rough start in May. He has eight hits in his last eight games though, so he might be starting to turn a corner.

Tyler White has a 1.305 OPS in May. He's only whiffed 32 times in 55 games. I still don't want to get up my hopes, but he's hitting like a star over his last 37 games, with seven homers during that run.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 3-2 win over Connecticut (DET)

-> Alex Hernandez: 1-for-2
-> Marc Wik: 1-for-3
-> Alfredo Gonzalez: 1-for-3
-> J.D. Davis: 1-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> Ariel Ovando: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Mott Hyde: 1-for-4, SB
-> Ravel Santana: 0-for-2, BB, R
-> Nick Tanielu: 0-for-3, R

SP Blaine Sims: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K
RP Luis Ordosgoitti: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K (win)

Nice comeback; Connecticut was leading 2-0 after the second inning, but the pitching held them down the rest of the game. Davis's two-run shot in the seventh tied it, and then Tri-City walked off in the bottom of the ninth.

Solid first start from Sims, the knuckleballer. He got five groundouts to no fly outs, by the way. Two walks, two wild pitches and a hit batter in four innings though, definitely going to be an adventure at times. Poor catcher.

Davis was DHing today in his debut, but expect him to be at 3B most of the time. There's some question about whether he can stick at the position, but all indications are that the Astros will give him some leash to see if he can. It looks like the regular infield will be Reed 1B, Tanielu 2B, Davis 3B and Hyde SS. If Reed and Davis prove to be liabilities there, you could see Reed DHing more, with Davis moving to 1B. Ovando has been playing 1B while Reed isn't there, and he could fill in too, but something tells me he could move up to QC if he starts performing. That said, he's whiffed six times in three games already...

Speaking of Reed, Monday night is supposedly going to be his first game.

Tomorrow's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Nicholas Tropeano vs. Noah Syndergaard
AA: Luis Cruz vs. Leonel Campos
A+: All-Star Break
A-: All-Star Break
SS: TBD vs. Randy Perez