Minor League Recap: Games of June 29, 2014

AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks: 10-3 win over Omaha (KCR)

-> Preston Tucker: 4-for-5, R, 3 RBI
-> Enrique Hernandez: 3-for-4, BB, 2B, 4 R
-> Marc Krauss: 3-for-4, BB, 2B, RBI, R
-> Ronald Torreyes: 3-for-5, 2B, RBI, R
-> Austin Wates: 2-for-4, BB, 3 RBI
-> Carlos Perez: 1-for-2, R, 3 BB
-> Robbie Grossman: 1-for-5, BB, R
-> Joe Sclafani: 0-for-4, BB, SB, RBI
-> Domingo Santana: 0-for-5, SB, RBI, R

SP Nicholas Tropeano: 8.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 9 K (win)
RP Andrew Robinson: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K

On a day when the offense went nuts, Santana goes 0-for-5 with four strike outs. Ouch.

But hey, Preston Tucker, at long last, seems to be figuring it out. Well, it's only been 15 games, so maybe I shouldn't act like we've been waiting for ages, but he did get off to a slow start initially. Now he has six hits in three days, including a homer.

I know people probably don't want to hear about him, but Marc Krauss is tearing it up since his demotion; .338/.442/.550 with 11 xBH in 22 games since being sent packing to AAA.

Hernandez continues to look like a viable Major Leaguer; .332/.376/.486 on the season with 15 2B, 2 3B and 7 HR, and he has a 1.146 OPS in his last ten games. He's struck out just 24 times in 66 games this season.

It took Nitro precisely 100 pitches to get through eight innings; 71 of them went for strikes. He also got 11 outs on the ground, compared to just three on the fly. Just a dominant game, I'm almost shocked he gave up three runs during the course of it. On the season he sits at a 2.38 ERA, 2.28 BB/9 and 8.38 K/9. He's allowed just one homer in his last seven games, but if he's going to keep getting punch outs and fly outs like this, the regression won't be too painful.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 4-3 loss to Tulsa (COL)

-> Leonardo Heras: 3-for-6, RBI, 2 2B
-> Andrew Aplin: 2-for-6
-> Jonathan Meyer: 1-for-4, BB, 2B, SB, R
-> Jiovanni Mier: 1-for-4, BB
-> Delino DeShields: 1-for-5, BB, SB, 2 R
-> Carlos Perdomo: 1-for-6, 2 RBI
-> Ruben Sosa: 0-for-2, BB

SP Luis Cruz: 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K
RP Richard Rodriguez: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K
RP Tyson Perez: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K
RP Alex Sogard: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RP Travis Ballew: 0.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K (loss)

Tough loss here; Corpus tied it with a run in the eighth, and it remained that way until a walk-off for Tulsa in the bottom of the 13th inning. Ouch.

But at least there's Heras to talk about. He's been getting progressively better month-to-month, and June has finally seen some power show up; he has a solid .807 OPS for the month. He's hitting .324/.395/.500 over his last ten games, with four walks and just three strike outs. He's whiffed once in his last seven games.

Aplin has been turning things around recently too; he's slashing .263/.370/.474 over his last ten, though a big chunk of that SLG is due to those two homers that are certainly not going to be the norm for him. He has, however, walked seven times and fanned just four times during that stretch. He's 11-for-17 on the season in stolen base attempts; maybe they can make him spend the winter training with Altuve and improve that, ha.

Still better news is DeSheilds' recent run; .297/.422/.351 over his last ten games, with five steals in six attempts. He's still striking out too much, but the hits and walks are returning. A big second half is needed to keep his prospect stock up there.

And last but certainly not least, Luis Cruz continues to improve his stock. He owns a 1.29 ERA, 1.71 BB/9 and 9.00 K/9 over his last four outings (21 innings). His ERA sits a 3.13 on the season in 15 games (68.1 IP).

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 8-5 loss to Lake Elsinore (SDP)

-> Tanner Mathis: 3-for-3, BB, SB, R
-> Jobduan Morales: 2-for-4
-> Chan Moon: 2-for-5, RBI, R
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 1-for-4, BB, 2B, RBI, R
-> Daniel Gulbransen: 1-for-4, R
-> Jack Mayfield: 1-for-4, R
-> Rio Ruiz: 1-for-4
-> Conrad Gregor: 1-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI

SP Gonzalo Sanudo: 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K
RP Daniel Minor: 2.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 0 K (blown save, loss)
RP Jamaine Cotton: 1.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 K

Conrad Gregor's hit streak is at 23 games now, and I feel like I saw something online somewhere that said that that's the new California League record. You'd think it'd be longer than that, considering the environment. At any rate though, it's been an awesome run. He's hitting .415/.478/.780 over his last ten games, just stupid hot right now.

Despite hitting just .244 during his last ten games, Hernandez owns a .779 OPS during that stretch thanks to walks and six XBH. He's hitting .288/.370/.548 on the season. He will end June with 23 games played, the same as in May, but with 29 strike outs, compared to 35 in May. Baby steps.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: Double Header!

Game One: 11-3 win over Peoria (STL)

-> Jon Kemmer: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
-> Marc Wik: 2-for-4, BB, RBI, 2 R
-> James Ramsay: 2-for-4, BB, 2 SB, 2 R
-> Ronnie Mitchell: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
-> Brett Booth: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
-> Jose Fernandez: 2-for-4, 2B, R
-> Tyler White: 1-for-1, BB, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Chase McDonald: 1-for-4, 2B, R
-> Brett Phillips: 1-for-4, BB, SB, R

SP Chris Lee: 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Anthony Bass: 2.0 IP, 2 R (0 ER), 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K

Game Two: 4-2 loss to Peoria (STL)

-> Jon Kemmer: 2-for-2, BB, SB, R
-> Chase McDonald: 1-for-3, solo HR
-> Jake Rodriguez: 1-for-3, RBI
-> Brett Phillips: 1-for-3
-> Tyler White: 1-for-3

SP Andrew Thurman: 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 2 K (loss)
RP Andrew Walter: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Nice to see Lee end a rough month on a high note. Since a breakout April (2.65 ERA) and a decent May (4.05 ERA), things have not gone his way during June (5.82 ERA). He walked nine in 6.2 innings during his first two starts of the month, but in the next three he walked just one.

Thurman continues to alternate between good and bad starts. Well, this one wasn't terrible, but he's been a lot more hittable than you'd expect a high-round, polished college pitcher to be against Low-A hitters. I'm still expecting better things from him, but I definitely didn't think he'd still be in Low-A this far into the season. 4.92 ERA, 3.06 BB/9 and 8.78 K/9 on the season for him.

Phillips keeps on rolling; .353/.415/.412 in his last ten games. He's struck out just 51 times in 73 games and owns a 16.3% strike out rate.

And just a quick Anthony Bass update; this was his third outing, he now has four innings under his belt and hasn't allowed an earned run yet. No walks and six strike outs in those four innings.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 6-4 win over Connecticut (DET)

-> Bobby Boyd: 4-for-5, 2B, SB, R
-> A.J. Reed: 2-for-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI
-> Nick Tanielu: 2-for-4, 2 R
-> Ryan Bottger: 1-for-4, 2 RBI
-> Ricky Gingras: 1-for-4
-> Alex Hernandez: 0-for-3, BB, 2 R
-> Ariel Ovando: 0-for-3, BB
-> J.D. Davis: 0-for-4, BB, R
-> Jamie Ritchie: 1-for-1 (defensive sub)

SP Joseph Musgrove: 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 11 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Ryan Thompson: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K (win)
RP Bryan Radziewski: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K (hold)
RP Chris Munnelly: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (save)

Finally, another really nice game from Reed. He's hitting just .245 so far, but still has the nice OBP (.385) working for him and keeping him from being a liability up in the lineup.

Radziewski has been good so far. Interestingly enough, he's been used as a multi-inning guy out of the pen so far; two innings a piece in his first two outings, and now three in this one. Two earned allowed in seven innings so far.

Ovando has dropped off just a touch in the last few days, with just one single in his last three games, but he has also struck out just four times in his last ten games. Five of his 11 strike outs came in his first two games; he's whiffed just six times in 13 games since.

RK Greeneville Astros: 11-0 loss to Burlington (KCR)

-> Antonio Nunez: 1-for-3, BB, 2B
-> Trent Woodward: 1-for-3, BB
-> Jacob Nottingham: 1-for-4
-> Ramon Laureano: 1-for-4
-> Ydarqui Marte: 1-for-4
-> Conner Goedert: 0-for-2, 2 BB
-> Juan Santana: 0-for-3, BB

SP Juan Santos: 0.1 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 2 H, 3 BB, 0 K (loss)
RP Eric Peterson: 1.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 0 K
RP Angel Heredia: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RP Austin Nicely: 3.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 3 K
RP Aaron Greenwood: 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K

Things haven't gone as well as Nicely would have liked out of the gate; he's coughed up seven earned in 12 innings so far, thanks to allowing 18 hits and eight walks; a 2.167 WHIP doesn't work out too well most of the time.

For the most part, Greeneville hasn't been doing much hitting, but Woodward is one guy who's gotten off to a nice start; he's hitting .321/.462/.393 in his first nine games as a pro, and he has more walks than hits (8-to-7) so far, as well as a steal. Interesting; a switch-hitting catcher who can draw some walks? Might be a guy to keep an eye on going forward.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Rudy Owens vs. TDB
AA: Brady Rodgers vs. Tyler Anderson
A+: Off Day
A-: Jandel Gustave vs. Rob Kaminsky
SS: Blaine Sims vs. Jerad Grundy
RK: Reymin Guduan vs. Corey Ray