Minor League Recap: Games of August 17, 2014

AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks: 7-2 win over Sacramento (OAK)

-> Jesus Guzman: 3-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI
-> Jonathan Villar: 2-for-4, BB, 2 SB, 2 R
-> Joe Sclafani: 2-for-4, BB, RBI, R
-> Ruben Sosa: 1-for-3, BB, 3B, R, 3 RBI
-> Andrew Aplin: 1-for-4, BB, R
-> Matthew Duffy: 1-for-4
-> Ronald Torreyes: 1-for-5, SB, R
-> Max Stassi: 0-for-3, BB, R
-> Preston Tucker: 0-for-4, BB

SP Rudy Owens: 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K (win)
RP David Martinez: 0.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 K
RP Anthony Bass: 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (save)

Owens is making a case to not be lost in the shuffle with all the MOR and BOR pitching depth. He's strung together two really nice starts, going 15 total innings and allowing just one earned, walking four and striking out eight. I just worry that he neither gets enough grounders nor misses enough bats to really stick. He seems like he might be Brett Oberholtzer at best.

I really do like Andrew Aplin, I wonder if anyone else around here is higher on him than me. I don't think he'll be a super star, but I see legitimate starting CF upside with him. He won't hit for power, but if he's playing plus defense in center and posing a strong OBP, that won't matter. Since being promoted, he's done well, hitting .311/.371/.328 in 16 games, with seven walks and just nine strike outs. He's also 3-for-4 in SB attempts.

Sclafani just keeps hitting; .331./.416/.400 in 50 games with AAA, during which time he's struck out just 21 times. Power is absolutely not part of his game, but with his solid hitting abilities and defensive versatility, there could easily be a Big League job for him in the near future.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 5-4 win over Arkansas (LAA)

-> Delino DeShields: 3-for-5, solo HR
-> Conrad Gregor: 2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 2-for-5, 2B, solo HR
-> Leonardo Heras: 1-for-4, 2B, R
-> Tony Kemp: 1-for-4, 2B, R
-> Telvin Nash: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Tyler Heineman: 0-for-2, 2 BB
-> Colin Moran: 0-for-3, 2 BB

SP Kyle Smith: 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 K
RP Travis Ballew: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K (blown save)
RP Mike Hauschild: 3.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 K
RP Tyson Perez: 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (win)

From July 17 to this game, DeShields has played in 29 games, during which he's hit .255/.373/.436 with three doubles, a triple and four homers, while striking out a very reasonable 22 times. This season has certainly not gone as hoped for him, but take heart in the fact that he is continuing to work and continuing to be productive, even through the struggles, in his first taste of much better competition in AA. He's hitting .294 with six walks during his last ten games.

Things have also not gone swimmingly for Gregor since his promotion, but at no time has he looked lost or over-matched. In his last 12 games, which span from August 1 to now, he's hitting .316/.426/.500 with seven walks and just four strike outs.

Teoscar's success is not even close to sustainable (one walk and 20 strike outs in 11 games? Nope), but that doesn't matter much right now, because we're seeing something very important; big power being flashed from a guy who first showed it in Lancaster. In those 11 games, he's hit .283, and of his 13 hits, five are XBH, including three jacks. That's led to a .543 SLG. Even that's not likely sustainable, but given his age and everything else surrounding him, I'm just glad he's showing power immediately after the big jump.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 7-6 loss to Bakersfield (CIN)

-> Rio Ruiz: 2-for-3, BB, R
-> Jack Mayfield: 2-for-5, 2B, RBI, R
-> Tyler White: 1-for-3, BB, 2B, RBI, R
-> Chan Moon: 1-for-3, BB, 3B, 2 RBI
-> Roberto Pena: 1-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI
-> Brett Phillips: 1-for-5, R, SB
-> Danry Vasquez: 0-for-3, BB, R
-> Ronnie Mitchell: 0-for-3, BB

SP Kyle Westwood: 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 4 K
RP Tyler Brunnemann: 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K (blown save)
RP Andrew Walter: 0.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K (loss)

At the end of the top of the third inning, Lancaster had taken a 6-1 lead. From then on, Bakersfield scored six unanswered runs, including the walk-off run in the bottom of the ninth, to win it. Ouch.

Ruiz has been one of the few constants this year in a lineup that's seen so much turnover, thanks to injuries and promotions and all. He's hitting pretty well, but he hasn't hit a homer since July 30; in the 16 games since then, he's hit .312 but slugged just .393. On the season, he's hitting .302/.393/.452 with 33 doubles and 11 homers.

Phillips' first 13 games with Lancaster have gone well, and it strikes me just how similar what we're seeing from him so far here is to what we saw from him in QC; solid feel for hitting, some walks, a reasonable strike out rate, a good mix of speed and some pop, and a need for improvement in the base stealing game. He's hitting .327/.397/.558 with two each of doubles, triples and long balls, and he's 2-for-4 in stolen base attempts.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 5-4 loss to Burlington (LAA)

-> J.D. Davis: 2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> Jose Fernandez: 2-for-4, 2B, SB
-> Bobby Boyd: 1-for-3, SB, R, 2 BB
-> Marc Wik: 1-for-3, BB, SB, R
-> James Ramsay: 1-for-3, RBI, 2 SB
-> Chase McDonald: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, R
-> Ryan Bottger: 1-for-4, BB

SP Adrian Houser: 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K
RP Kevin Comer: 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 K (blown save, loss)
RP Jordan Mills: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K

Houser is a guy I really expected to break out this year, but so far, it just hasn't happened. It's odd, because I still see all the positive signs from him (today, for example, 5-to-1 in K/BB ratio and 8-to-1 in GB out to FB out), but he can't seem to put it all together in a successful way. FIP does still like him better than his ERA, but it's not as big of a gap as in years past. I'm still hopeful, but, well, he's not getting any younger; he'll be 22 in February, and probably needs to see AA at some point next year to keep from getting somewhat left behind.

Four of Davis' last ten games have been multi-hit games, and he's failed to collect a hit in just one of the ten. Notably as well is that he's managed to strike out just six times in those last ten games. He's up to 29 games with QC now, and he's hit .346/.405/.490 with the River Bandits.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 6-3 loss to Staten Island (NYY)

-> Jose Solano: 2-for-4, R, 2 2B
-> Nick Tanielu: 2-for-4, 2B, R
-> Alfredo Gonzalez: 1-for-3
-> Ariel Ovando: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Mott Hyde: 0-for-3, BB
-> Ricky Gingras: 0-for-3, RBI
-> Juan Santana: 0-for-4, R

SP Luis Ordosgoitti: 0.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 0 K (loss)
RP Raul Rivera: 3.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Jeffrey Gause: 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K
RP Aaron Vaughn: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Angel Heredia: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K

Tanielu is on a five game hitting streak at the moment, and he's batting .307/.361/.422 on the season in 53 games.

Though he's hitting just .250 with a .314 OBP in his first eight games with Tri-City, Jason Martin has four XBH and three walks already. His SLG is .469 with the ValleyCats.

RK Greeneville Astros: 4-3 loss to Kingsport (NYM)

-> Kristian Trompiz: 2-for-5, 2B, RBI
-> Sean McMullen: 2-for-5, RBI, R
-> Bryan Muniz: 1-for-3, BB
-> Ydarqui Marte: 1-for-4, BB, 2B
-> Jeffry Santos: 1-for-5, RBI
-> Yonathan Mejia: 1-for-6, 2B
-> Alexander Melendez: 1-for-6
-> Jacob Nottingham: 0-for-3, BB
-> Antonio Nunez: 0-for-5, BB, R
-> Edwin Medina: 0-for-0, R (pinch-runner)

SP Agapito Barrios: 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 K
RP Devonte German: 4.0 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, 3 BB, 0 K
RP Jorge Perez: 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K (loss)

Barrios has established himself as one of the two horses in this rotation. On the season, he's now appeared in 11 games and owns a 2.30 ERA, 1.53 BB/9 and 7.66 K/9. His ground ball rate is also hovering right around 50%.

German won't be able to keep up his 3.46 ERA, considering his peripherals (5.40 BB/9 and 6.48 K/9), but it's nice to see him have some modicum of success out of the gate, now that he's out of the GCL.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Nick Tropeano vs. TBD
AA: Off Day
A+: Lance McCullers vs. Drew Cisco
A-: Andrew Thurman vs. Chih-Wei Hu
SS: Off Day
RK: TBD vs. Yoryi Nuez