Minor League Recap: Games of August 8, 2014

AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks: 8-5 loss to Iowa (CHC)

-> Carlos Perez: 2-for-2, 2B, R
-> Dexter Fowler: 2-for-3, RBI
-> Andrew Aplin: 2-for-4, RBI, R
-> Ronald Torreyes: 2-for-5, 2B, R
-> Max Stassi: 1-for-3, BB
-> Joe Sclafani: 1-for-3
-> Matthew Duffy: 1-for-4, R
-> Jiovanni Mier: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Preston Tucker: 1-for-5, 2B, RBI, R
-> Jonathan Villar: 0-for-4, BB

SP Nicholas Tropeano: 4.2 IP, 7 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 6 K (loss)
RP Anthony Bass: 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Tommy Shirley: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K
RP Richard Rodriguez: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K
RP Kevin Chapman: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Bit of a rough patch going on for Nitro right now; 6.99 ERA, 3.81 BB/9 and 10.80 K/9 for his last five starts. Been walking some guys, but it hasn't been terrible, and that strike out rate bodes well. Could just be a bump in the road, maybe a little BAbip luck going against him.

Shirley has been used out of the bullpen as a reliever his last four games; he didn't throw more than 1.2 innings in any of them. They may just be having him work out of the pen for a while so they can work on some things in between outings, but they may have also decided he's a future reliever at this point.

Aplin is hitting .321/.387/.357 with a double, three walks and two steals in seven games since being promoted from AA.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 3-2 loss to Arkansas (LAA)

-> Brandon Meredith: 2-for-4, HR, SB, R, 2 RBI
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 2-for-4, R
-> Delino DeShields: 0-for-2, 2 BB, 2 SB
-> M.P. Cokinos: 0-for-2, BB

SP Jordan Jankowski: 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 7 K (loss)
RP Ruben Alaniz: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

I get the feeling DeShields could break out soon. He's better than this, and some of his numbers suggest he's been hitting into some bad luck. You know how, historically, strike outs have been an issue for him? He whiffed just 18 times in 28 games in July, but hit just .211. There's no way a guy with his solid hit tool, foot speed, good history with BAbip and other factors does that consistently when he's putting the ball in play at a rate like that. Oh, by the way, he's hitting .320/.455/.480 in August so far.

Jankowski doesn't have a flashy ERA, but the peripherals make him another in the long line of interesting depth arms that might have some MLB upside. 4.20 ERA, 2.20 BB/9 and 8.90 K/9 in 90 innings on the season.

Hernandez has hit safely in each of his four games with Corpus, good for a .294 average.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 2-1 loss to San Jose (SFG)

-> Tyler White: 2-for-4
-> Tanner Mathis: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI
-> Brett Phillips: 1-for-3, BB
-> Roberto Pena: 1-for-4
-> Jack Mayfield: 0-for-2, BB
-> Chan Moon: 0-for-3, BB, R

SP Zach Morton: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K
RP Vincent Velasquez: 3.1 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, 1 BB, 7 K (blown save, loss)

Oh man, heartbreak city in this one. Lancaster scored a run in the second inning, and the 1-0 lead held...until the bottom of the ninth. Tying run scored on an error. Another error in the inning as well. Ouch.

The good news is that Velasquez looked very good again. In three games since returning from his lengthy injury layoff, he's posted a 3.00 ERA, 3.00 BB/9 and 9.75 K/9 in 12 innings of work.

Phillips has hit safely in all five of his post-promotion games. First walk tonight, 1.294 OPS in the five games.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 5-2 loss to Beloit (OAK)

-> Chase McDonald: 2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> J.D. Davis: 2-for-4, SB
-> Thomas Lindauer: 1-for-3, R
-> James Ramsay: 1-for-4
-> Brett Booth: 0-for-2, BB

SP Troy Scribner: 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 8 K (loss)
RP Andrew Thurman: 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K
RP Albert Minnis: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Scribner up from Tri-City, fun times await! I mean, sure, he's not likely to become anything, but it's fun to root for the underdog. And eight strike outs in five innings works for me.

Davis continues trucking along. I have to say, this is a nice start for a guy who was thought to have serious contact issues. To be clear, it's not as though he's not striking out; he has 22 times in 21 games, in fact. But he's not a whiff machine, and he's productive when he does put the ball in play. .355/.398/.487 with seven doubles and a long ball in 21 games so far with QC.

As expected, McDonald has been mostly DHing now that A.J. Reed has arrived on the scene. He's fallen off a little recently, hitting .235/.235/.500 over his last ten games. The power is still there, of course, with three doubles and two dingers during that span, but he has no walks and 18 strike outs during the course as well. That'll kill a hitter's line pretty fast.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 4-3 loss to Auburn (WAS)

-> Jamie Ritchie: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
-> Bobby Boyd: 1-for-3, SB, 2 BB, 2 R
-> Terrell Joyce: 1-for-4, solo HR
-> Nick Tanielu: 1-for-4
-> Juan Santana: 1-for-4
-> Jose Solano: 1-for-4

SP Robert Kahana: 5.0 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 3 H, 0 BB, 3 K
RP Raul Rivera: 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K
RP Aaron Vaughn: 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Jordan Mills: 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 1 K (loss)

I keep thinking that Ritchie will come back down to earth big time, but he never seems to. He's fallen off recently though, hitting just .313/.436/.344 in his last ten games. What's wrong with him, right? Goodness. .407/.524/.519 with 17 walks to just 12 strike outs on the season in 29 games.

Boyd is coming out of a tough stretch, but now he has six hits in his last three games. He's also 13-for-18 in SB attempts; the success rate could be tightened up a bit, but 13 steals in 41 games is no joke, that's 40-50 SB ability projected out.

Joyce is flat-out on fire; seven-game hitting streak, with two doubles and four long balls during it. He's up to 10 doubles and eight taters in 34 games on the year now.

RK Greeneville Astros: Rained Out

Double-header action to make it up today!

DSL Astros Blue: 2-0 loss to DSL Dodgers

-> Rodrigo Ayarza: 2-for-3, BB
-> Jake Bowey: 2-for-4, 2B
-> Andy Pineda: 1-for-3
-> Cristopher Luciano: 1-for-4
-> Luis Vasquez: 1-for-4
-> Marcos Almonte: 0-for-3, BB

SP Moreno Polanco: 4.0 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K (loss)
RP Jose Rosario: 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RP Dariel Aquino: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K

DSL Astros Orange: 9-5 win over DSL Yankees2

-> Edgar Lorenzo: 4-for-5, BB, SB, RBI, R
-> Jose Benjamin: 3-for-4, BB, SB, R
-> Juan Fuentes: 3-for-6, SB, R, 2 RBI
-> Angel De Leon: 2-for-6, 2 R
-> Felix Lucas: 1-for-4, BB, 2B, RBI, R
-> Hayden Timberlake: 1-for-4, BB, R, 2 RBI
-> Ihan Bernal: 1-for-4, RBI, 2 BB
-> Anardo Peralta: 1-for-5, BB, R
-> Reiny Beltre: 1-for-5, BB, R

SP Antonio Almonte: 6.0 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, 1 BB, 7 K (win)
RP Adonis Pena: 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K (save)

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Luis Cruz vs. Dae-Eun Rhee
AA: Brady Rodgers vs. Tyler DeLoach
A+: Evan Grills vs. Joe Biagini
A-: Blaine Sims vs. Junior Mendez
SS: TBD vs. TBD
RK: Reymin Guduan and Brock Dykxhoorn vs. TBD and TBD