AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 7-3 loss to Albuquerque (COL)
-> Tyler White: 2-for-5, 2B, RBI, R
-> Preston Tucker: 2-for-5, RBI
-> Tony Kemp: 2-for-5, RBI
-> Jon Kemmer: 1-for-2, BB
-> Alejandro Garcia: 1-for-3, BB, 2 R
-> Juan Centeno: 1-for-3, BB
SP David Martinez: 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K (loss)
RP Aaron West: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Brendan McCurry: 1.0 IP, 3 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Golden Sombrero for A.J. Reed tonight, ouch.
Don't look now, but White looks like he might be coming back to life. This was his eighth multi-hit game in a row. He began showing some positive signs in May, with a bit more pop and a reduced strike out rate. Now he's hitting .383/.464/.702 during the month of June.
Kemp is also on a nice run at the moment. His hitting streak is nine games and he's batted .372 over that stretch. He's really been Mr. Consistent this season, hitting .297 in April, .301 in May, and now .308 in June. It's no surprise that he's sitting with a strong .301/.352/.415 line on the season. Though his walk rate is down, his strike out rate has gone from very good to spectacular this season at 8.3%.
AA Corpus Christi Hooks: Rained Out
Scheduled to be made up on Friday as part of a double-header.
A+ Buies Creek Astros: 4-2 loss to Potomac (WAS)
-> Alex De Goti: 1-for-3, BB
-> Randy Cesar: 1-for-4, solo HR
-> Stephen Wrenn: 1-for-4, R
-> Spencer Johnson: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Pat Porter: 0-for-3, BB
-> Dexture McCall: 0-for-3, BB
SP Jorge Alcala: 5.0 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 6 H, 1 BB, 2 K (loss)
RP Justin Ferrell: 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K
RP Ralph Garza: 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K
The transition up a level hasn't gone so smoothly for Wrenn yet, though there are some good signs. His strike out rate is actually down a bit so far, almost 5%, and his BAbip is notably lower than at all previous stops in his young minor league career. Don't be surprised if he goes on a run soon. He's also 3-for-4 in stolen base attempts in just 13 games with BC, which makes him 11-for-14 (78.6%) on the season in 55 games. His profile seems somewhat similar to Derek Fisher; Fisher has more raw power, but Wrenn looks like he might ultimately be the better defender.
Alcala's command troubles have increased with his promotion to BC; in five outings he owns a 6.3 BB/9. He's continuing to be very hard to hit, though, so if he can tighten that up, he could take off soon.
A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 7-1 win over Cedar Rapids (MIN)
-> Yordan Alvarez: 3-for-3, BB, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
-> Taylor Jones: 2-for-4, RBI
-> Marcos Almonte: 2-for-5, R
-> Chuckie Robinson: 1-for-3, BB, 2 RBI
-> Wander Franco: 1-for-3, BB, 2 R
-> Jonathan Arauz: 1-for-4, BB, R
-> Raymond Henderson: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Carmen Benedetti: 1-for-4
-> Daz Cameron: 0-for-2, SB, R, 2 BB
SP Cionel Perez: 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 6 K (win)
RP Abdiel Saldana: 2.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 K
RP Erasmo Pinales: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K
Welp, what can I saw about Alvarez at this point? Five dingers in his last 10 games. He's hitting .371/.471/.649 with seven total long balls in his 28 games now. This is a kid who's only just about to turn 20. It's only been a month so there's some thought that the league might adjust to him an challenge him, and he does strike out a bit (26.1%) so I don't think it's nessicary to pound the table for a promotion just yet. But another couple of weeks of this and that may change.
It's been an see-saw season for Perez, but this is his second-straight start of allowing no runs and no walks. He's seen his ERA drop from 5.68 to 4.39 as a result. Despite some wobbles here and there, his control hasn't been bad, and he owns a 2.2 BB/9 to go with his 9.0 K/9.
Robinson continues to look good. His OBP fell off a bit in May but he started hitting for power. In June, the OBP is back up, he's hitting for more average, and still showing solid pop. He's at .292/.364/.479 on the month.
The sample size on Arauz, a good prospect in this system, is small at 12 games. But he's hit .275/.341/.325 over that stretch, and notably has four walks and just two strike outs during it.
Today's Scheduled Starters
AAA: Kyle Smith vs. Barry Enright
AA: Brock Dykxhoorn vs. Grant Holmes
A+: Framber Valdez vs. Brannon Easterling
A-: Gabriel Valdez vs. Clark Beeker