Minor League Recap: Games of August 10, 2014

AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks: 10-2 loss to Iowa (CHC)

-> Matthew Duffy: 3-for-4, 2B, R
-> Andrew Aplin: 2-for-4, R
-> Ronald Torreyes: 2-for-4
-> Max Stassi: 1-for-3, RBI
-> Preston Tucker: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Jonathan Villar: 1-for-4
-> Joe Sclafani: 1-for-4

SP Asher Wojciechowski: 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 K (loss)
RP Patrick Urckfitz: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Paul Clemens: 0.1 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 K
RP Tommy Shirley: 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Anthony Bass: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Torreyes is hot. Scaldingly (that's not a word, is it?) so. Straight nuclear meltdown, man. .500/.524/.625 in August so far, and that's without hitting a homer. He has 20 base hits in nine games. Twenty. He's struck out just six times in his last thirty games.

And speaking of hot, Aplin is hitting .371/.410/.400 in nine games with the AAA club. Now let's see what happens when he starts drawing a ton of walks too, as he normally does.

And Duffy is even on fire, too; .405/.432/.541 with two doubles and a dinger in his last ten games. His is probably less sustainable, though I have to say, he's quietly putting a nice season together; .270/.333/.464 in 67 games with OKC.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 8-3 loss to Arkansas (LAA)

-> Leonardo Heras: 1-for-1, HR, RBI, 2 R, 3 BB
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 1-for-4, solo HR
-> Colin Moran: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Tony Kemp: 1-for-4
-> Telvin Nash: 0-for-3, BB
-> Brandon Meredith: 0-for-3, BB
-> Carlos Perdomo: 0-for-3, BB

SP Mark Appel: 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 7 K (loss)
RP Colton Cain: 2.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Mitchell Lambson: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K

Without having seen him in person, Appel seems to be having the "one big inning" troubles that plague a lot of young pitchers at times. Despite giving up eight ER in his last two games, his peripherals have actually trended in the right direction in those games, to what we see now.

Moran has been solid, if unspectacular, in nine games with our organization, hitting .278/.333/.417 with a couple of doubles and a long ball.

In wondering about his and Appel's progress, seeing as how they were drafted five picks apart, I just went and looked up how all the other college first-round picks from 2013 are doing; of them, only one has made the Majors (Marco Gonzales of the Cardinals, black magic or something), and just one is in AAA (Kris Bryant). Everyone else is in either AA or A-ball, including Jon Gray, who is also having a solid-but-unspectacular season in AA right now. And, of course, no one else has had the surgery, the injuries, the Cal League and everything else all to deal with in the same year like Appel. So just keep that in mind for both of these guys; they're by no means really behind schedule at this point.

After a nice month of June (.273/.351/.470), Heras fell off in July. He's been roaring back recently though, with a .296/.486/.556 line and two doubles, a triple and a homer in his last ten games. As well as that? How about 10 walks to just three strike outs. On the year he has 45 walks compared to just 47 punch outs.

One or more hits for Hernandez in each of his six games with Corpus, but 11 strike outs and no walks, too.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 6-2 win over San Jose (SFG)

-> Danry Vasquez: 3-for-4, BB, 3 R
-> Jon Kemmer: 3-for-5, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R
-> Rio Ruiz: 2-for-4, BB, 2B, RBI
-> Austin Elkins: 2-for-4, RBI
-> Chan Moon: 1-for-4, BB, RBI
-> Tyler White: 1-for-5, 2B, R
-> Brett Phillips: 1-for-5
-> Ronnie Mitchell: 0-for-3, RBI, 2 BB
-> Jobduan Morales: 0-for-4, BB

SP Brian Holmes: 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K (win)
RP Daniel Minor: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K

Holmes has strung together three really nice outings together; 1.59 ERA, 2.12 BB/9 and 11.57 K/9 in 14 innings during those games. On the season, his ERA isn't pretty, but it's the California League, of course, and his 2.58 BB/9 and 8.35 K/9 for the year look encouraging.

Vasquez has six hits in the last three games. He's hitting .288/.350/.412 with 25 doubles, two triples and five long balls on the season. The 25 doubles is tied for the 14th best mark in the league.

Ruiz has a 12-game hitting streak going, though this double was just his first XBH of any kind this month.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 6-1 win over Beloit (OAK)

-> Bobby Boyd: 2-for-3, RBI
-> A.J. Reed: 2-for-4, 3B, RBI, R
-> Jose Fernandez: 1-for-1, BB, RBI, R
-> Ryan Bottger: 1-for-2, RBI
-> Chase McDonald: 1-for-3, BB, R
-> J.D. Davis: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, R
-> James Ramsay: 1-for-4, R
-> Brian Holberton: 1-for-4
-> Thomas Lindauer: 0-for-3, BB
-> Dayne Parker: 0-for-1, BB, R (pinch-runner)

SP Michael Feliz: 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 K (win)
RP Chris Lee: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 K (hold)
RP Chris Cotton: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K

Reed has just a .231 average with QC so far in 14 games, but nine of his 12 hits have been extra-base hits, which has led to a .577 SLG. Come to think of it, his line right now is pretty reminiscent of Chris Carter, with fewer walks and strike outs.

Davis is on a four-game hitting streak, with four singles and two doubles during that run. Between Tri-City and Quad-Cities, he's accumulated 15 doubles a triple and six clouts in 53 total games. That's pretty nice pop already for a guy just drafted and already in full season baseball.

Feliz, though not quite as dominant this time, still had an excellent showing, his second straight one after the two disasters he ended July with. During these last two, he's allowed one run, six hits, no walks and 14 strike outs in 13 innings. A TCB writer was in attendance and will have more soon on Feliz and other QC prospects, so look forward to that!

It hasn't been quite the big breakout season for Lee we had hoped for pre-season, but there's still been some positive steps. Over his last ten games, he's posted a 3.15 ERA, 2.25 BB/9 and 4.73 K/9 in 40 innings of work. His ERA for the season is 3.88.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 4-2 win over Hudson Valley (TBR)

-> Jason Martin: 3-for-5, 3B, 2 R
-> Terrell Joyce: 1-for-2
-> Jose Solano: 1-for-2
-> Juan Santana: 1-for-3, BB, RBI
-> Ricky Gingras: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, R
-> Nick Tanielu: 1-for-4, RBI, R
-> Jamie Ritchie: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Ariel Ovando: 1-for-4
-> Mott Hyde: 1-for-5, SB

SP Austin Chrismon: 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 1 K (win)
RP Derick Velazquez: 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 K (hold)
RP Ryan Thompson: 0.1 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 0 BB, 0 K
RP Jordan Mills: 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (save)

The Jason Martin fanwagon keeps rolling, baby! Two singles and a triple in his debut game. Time to move him up again, right!?

Seriously though, it's pretty impressive for him to be in Tri-City already, he's still eighteen years old, literally just a hair less than a full year younger than Correa, and it looks like there's a real chance he starts next year in full-season ball, a full five months before his 20th birthday.

Derek Fisher's last game was July 31. He's not listed as on the DL still, but we're 10 days removed from the injury now, it must have indeed been a pretty brutal hit.

Velazquez has established himself as one of the best relievers on the club, with a 2.45 ERA, 1.23 BB/9 and 10.43 K/9 so far in 14.2 innings of work.

RK Greeneville Astros: 6-0 win over Burlington (KCR)

-> Edwin Medina: 2-for-3, 2B, SB, 2 R
-> Jeffry Santos: 2-for-3
-> Yonathan Mejia: 2-for-4, HR, RBI, 2 R
-> Sean McMullen: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
-> Ydarqui Marte: 1-for-3
-> Jacob Nottingham: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Cesar Carrasco: 0-for-3, BB
-> Hector Roa: 0-for-3, RBI

SP Reymin Guduan: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Elieser Hernandez: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K (hold)
RP Aaron Greenwood: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K

Medina was our 33rd round selection this year. The Puerto Rican-born outfielder from St. Thomas University initially began his professional career in the GCL, before being moves up to Greeneville at the beginning of August. In seven games thus far, he's hitting .286/.444/.333, with six walks, two strike outs and five steals in six tries. While the sample is too small to get excited about, those are encouraging rates, to say the least. He hit .391/.468/.520 in college, and led his team with 33 steals in 37 attempts in just 52 games, so while it's impossible to know how real his hitting ability might be, it seems clear that he does posses some real speed, if nothing else. He also struck out fewer times than he walked in college. Now that Martin has moved on up, Medina should get some significant time in center field.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Alex White vs. Dan Straily
AA: Off Day
A+: Off Day
A-: Off Day
SS: Joseph Musgrove vs. Oscar Armenta
RK: Brock Dykxhoorn vs. Niklas Stephenson