Sunday Stories How did OKC respond after getting 20 hung on them? Corpus looked for the... TROPEANO TIME HAS ARRIVED IN LANCASTER!!!!!! Lexington has the wheels fall off again... Tri-City still rolling! Greeneville too! Recap After allowing 20 runs to Memphis, OKC responded with a 6-2 victory. A 4-run 1st did the trick. Fernando Martinez had a 2-run triple, Brett Wallace had a sac fly, and the rehabbing Marwin Gonzalez hit a solo shot (1, 2 season). Brad Snyder had an RBI single, and Brandon Barnes had a sac fly. Armando Galarraga allowed a 2-run homer to Eugenio Velez in the 2nd, the only runs he allowed in 6 innings. He allowed 7 hits, walked 1, and struck out 5. Xavier Cedeno allowed 2 hits in 2 shutout innings, striking out 2. He now has an ERA of 0.39 as a Redhawk. Hector Ambriz finished the game in a non-save situation, allowing a hit and a walk. Corpus couldn't quite finish off the sweep of NW Arkansas, losing 2-1. Chris Wallace's solo homer (5) in the 7th was all the offense for the Hooks in this one. Too bad, since Ross Seaton had a solid outing. In 7 innings, he allowed 2 runs on 6 hits (solo homer), walking 1 and striking out 5. Josh Zeid (2 Ks) and Kevin Chapman each had scoreless innings. They couldn't get much of anything going against Sugar Ray Marimon, who held them to 2 hits over 5 2/3 shutout innings. He walked and fanned 4. Come to think of it, they were stymied all night, as they only managed 4 hits. Lancaster took the opener of their series with Modesto 3-1. A masterful California League debut for one Nicholas Tropeano, as he allowed an unearned run on 5 hits in 8 innings, walking 2 and striking out 9. Tropeano threw 101 pitches tonight. The 9 strikeouts set a new season high for a Jethawks starting pitcher. Lancaster has the fewest Ks in the California League with 537, 20 behind San Jose. Andrew Robinson, who has been absolutely filthy since a horrid April, recorded 2 Ks in a 1-2-3 9th for his 6th save of the year. The Jethawks only had 4 hits, but 2 of them were homers. Domingo Santana's 11th homer of the year came in the 1st and put 2 runs on the board. George Springer provided the cherry with a solo shot in the 9th, his 16th of the season. Lexington had a 6-2 lead on Asheville after the 6th, then... The Legends would lose this one 10-7, as the Tourists whacked the normally filthy bullpen. Roberto Pena smacked a 3-run homer (2) in the 6th. Brandon Meredith, Justin Gominsky, and Zach Johnson each had an RBI. Delino DeShields went 3-4, but it looked as if the Tourists were ready for him, as they caught him stealing (10) twice. Luis Cruz allowed 2 runs on 4 hits (solo homer) in 5 innings, walking 2 and striking out 7. Evan Grills and Murilo Gouvea were smacked around. Tri-City opened up their quick road series with Lowell by doubling them up, 6-3. 9 in a row. Jobduan Morales went 2-5 with a solo homer, his 3rd of the season. He also added an RBI single in the 6th. Joe Sclafani and Dan Gulbransen each had 2 hits and an RBI. Austin Elkins had an RBI double in the 8th. Andrew Aplin tripled, scored twice, stole a base (8), and walked twice. Aaron West went 4 2/3, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits (solo homer) and striking out 5. Jeremiah Meiners got the victory, throwing 2 1/3 innings of relief, allowing a run on 3 hits and striking out 4. Kenny Long allowed a hit and struck out the side in the 8th, and Blake Ford already has his 5th save of the year, striking out 1 in a 1-2-3 9th inning. Greeneville absolutely teed off on Kingsport, winning a 12-0 laugher of a series opener. Ernesto Genoves hit a 2-run double in the 3rd. D'Andre Toney went 2-4 with 2 RBIs, coming on a single in the 3rd, and a double in the 7th. Ariel Ovando had a 2-run double of his own in the 8th, and one batter later, Jimmy Howick iced it with a 3-run homer, his 1st with Greeneville and 3rd of the year (2 with Lexington). Francis Ramirez was a bit wild in his 6 shutout innings, allowing 5 walks, but he allowed 2 hits and struck out 7. Zach Hardoin, Andrew Walter, and Euris Quezada each had a scoreless inning to finish this one. Game Scores Armando Galarraga: 54 Ross Seaton: 61 Nick Tropeano: 77 Luis Cruz: 56 Aaron West: 49 Francis Ramirez: 70 Three Stars 3. Jobduan Morales, C, Tri-City 2-5, solo HR (3), 2 RBI, 2 R The Astros traded Justin Ruggiano for this guy? Christ, what a steal. I'm still in disbelief that Luhnow managed a deal like that. 2. The short-season teams Tri-City: W 6-3 @ Lowell Greeneville: W 12-0 @ Kingsport Loving this. ValleyCats on a 9-game winning streak. Appy Astros showing no ill effects from a heartbreaking 17-inning loss. Both teams have just straight up outplayed each and every one of their opponents so far. I'm going to be incredibly excited for Lexington's team next year. Greeneville just owned Kingsport in every facet of their game tonight. Tri-City isn't a glamorous team, but it's as if they just know how to play the game the right way. 1. Nick Tropeano, P, Lancaster 8 IP, 5 H, R (unearned), 2 BB, 9 K, 77 GS Undoubtedly the man of the hour right now. If his time in Lancaster is anything like this, he won't be spending much time there at all. He's the first pitcher in the system to 100 strikeouts. When the updated lists are out, he's a no-doubter for a Top 10 spot in this organization. Honorable Mentions Brett Wallace, 3B/1B, Oklahoma City: #FreeBrettWallace Ross Seaton, P, Corpus Christi: Really was a nice start for him. Too bad he got saddled with a loss. Andrew Aplin, CF, Tri-City: 9 walks, 1 strikeout. George Springer and Domingo Santana, Lancaster: Supporting their pitcher with a couple of blasts. Being good teammates, that's all... Andrew Robinson, P, Lancaster: Has just been dominating. The high ERA was a product of his horrible start to the season. Xavier Cedeno, P, Oklahoma City: Why the hell was he demoted? Delino DeShields, 2B, Lexington: Caught twice, but his .275 average is currently the high-water mark of the season. That's right about where I'd expect him to hit as a big leaguer. He'd be on the lower end of a Top 100 list for me. Dan Gulbransen, OF, Tri-City: Another possible candidate to skip Lexington? Ernesto Genoves, C, Greeneville: I'm trying to decide which one of the short-season catchers has a higher upside: him or Morales. Ariel Ovando, RF, Greeneville: He's in a 3-way tie for 1st on the team (with Brian Blasik and Jean Carlos Batista) with 12 RBI despite not hitting a home run yet. The power will come. But nonetheless, he and his teammates have had an absolutely torrid start to the season. Goat What in the world is wrong with the Lexington bullpen? Dishonorable mention goes out to.... the other 8 guys in the Corpus Christi lineup not named Chris Wallace for failing to do anything on offense. Looking Ahead OKC and Memphis will play the 3rd game of their series at 7:05. Brett Oberholtzer will start for the Redhawks; he'll be opposed by Shelby Miller, who they've already beaten 2 or 3 times this season. Corpus will welcome the Tulsa Drillers for 3 games starting at 7:05. MiLB.com lists the matchup as Jake Buchanan going up against Cory Riordan. Lancaster and Modesto will play the middle game of their series at 7:05 Pacific. Tyson Perez will take the mound for the Jethawks; he will be opposed by Juan Gonzalez. Lexington will try to erase the horrible memories of the past 2 games with Asheville at 7:05 Eastern. TBA (Luis Ordosgoitti, I guess) will start against the Tourists, who will go with TBA. Tri-City will look for their 10th win in a row as they play Lowell in the middle game of their series at 7:05 Eastern. Brian Holmes takes the mound for the ValleyCats; he'll be opposed by William Cuevas. Greeneville and Kingsport will be back at again at 7 Eastern. Chris Lee will start for the Appy Astros, and his Mets counterpart will be Steven Matz. The GCLstros will host the Marlins in Kissimmee at Noon Eastern.
What a guy. Dominates Modesto; takes his pals out to Denny's. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Eating Denny's with ace/allstar @<a href="https://twitter.com/PaPaTropeano">PaPaTropeano</a> Brad and twitterless alaniz</p>— J CHOW21 (@Jason_Chowning) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jason_Chowning/status/219649330649366530" data-datetime="2012-07-02T04:30:55+00:00">July 2, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
how has morales been defensively? so ridiculous that he traded air in exchange for who is likely the #1 catching prospect in the system, whether that's by default, or not. seems like the marlins should have been able to give us cash for ruggiano.
Baseball-Reference Honestly, not too bad so far. The only downside has been 3 passed balls. Morales has thrown out 33% of potential base stealers (3-9). IIRC, the only error that he's been charged with was catcher's interference. No errant throws yet. <script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.sports-reference.com/wg.fcgi?css=1&site=br&url=%2Fminors%2Fplayer.cgi%3Fid%3Dmorale001job&div=div_standard_fielding"></script>
Whats the story on Tropeano? The knock on him coming out of college was he had a below average heater, yet, since he has been w/ the organization, he has averaged over 10Ks per 9.
The Jethawks radio guy said this on twitter....... Jason Schwartz@jasondschwartz Nick Tropeano strikes out Kyle Parker on a 96 mph fastball to end the 1st. Not bad... not bad at all. Fastball velocity has jumped up from college The voice of the Modesto team said this on twitter....... Alex Margulies@marguliespxp Impressive job by Lancaster's Nick Tropeano in Cal League debut: 8IP, 5H, R (0E), 2BB, 9K - Perhaps best stuff I've seen this year #Astros
John Sickels's mid-season top 120 update Astros selections: (previous ranking in parentheses) 47) Jonathan Singleton, 1B, Houston Astros (47) 53) George Springer, OF, Houston Astros (55) 80) Jarred Cosart, RHP, Houston Astros (108) HM) Nick Tropeano, RHP, Astros HM) Delino Deshields Jr *** Singleton and Springer: Not much to see here folks. He basically thinks they've done an on-par job, which is a pretty accurate assessment. It had looked like Singleton and Springer were on pace early for really special seasons, but Singleton has been stumping horribly and Springer has been solid but not spectacular of late. Cosart did jump almost 30 spots off the back-end of the list, which was surprising to me as I haven't thought of him as having a great season. But when I looked at the stats, I saw his AA ERA dropped from 4.71 to 3.65 this season. Not bad. The pleasant surprise is the same guy tellitlikeitis has been hyping all year: Nick Tropeano. Getting an HM on this list is basically saying he's in Sickels top 175-ish. ***DDJ was added to the honorable mention list after first press. My comments below were based on his absence from the first press. [The exclusion here on everyone's mind is DDJ. He was probably dinged for a) repeating the level and b) not dominating the level on repeat. Something to consider though is that Billy Hamilton made the list at 57 last year after a full season that was a little worse than what DDJ's season is projected to finish at. So DDJ may make an appearance on next year's pre-season list.] It's going to take a breakout season to crack these lists. My personal apologies to: Mike Foltynewicz: great season, but repeating a level and on the older side for low-A Domingo Santana: good season, do it again in AA and he's looking at HM status. Looking forward to his updated list in August with the draftees!
BTW anyone noticing Jonathan Villar lately? He shook off his god-awful-terrible April and made solid improvement every month. His June stats were: .292/.396/.492 with 5HR, 20 RBI, 20 R, 15 BB, 25 K, 12 SB.
Tropeano's FB has picked up a good bit from what it was in college. Throw in a dominating changeup, and you have a recipe for strikeouts. You have to keep in mind that at lower levels, having great offspeed stuff is a big advantage.
I think Folty is knocked for a lack of strikeouts more than anything else. Santana is probably knocked for the high K rate and playing in Lancaster. Edit: I see in the comments he addresses Santana. Said he looked at him and the K-Rate and Cali league kept him off.
Probably the biggest snub from that top 120 list as far as Astros are concerned. Outside of his terrible April, he has been very good.
Tropeano had the best game score in the minors last night. Seaton made the top 10. Even Ramirez down in Greeneville had a top 5 Short-Season game score. http://www.baseballamerica.com/statistics/topperformers/
DDJ is in the HM section. 2nd paragraph, 2nd name. Good to see DDJ and Trop getting some recognition.
I really wanna see DDJ in Lancaster now. Nothing left to prove in Lexington. I think his power swing would def benefit from the offensive free4all that is The Hangar. It'd help him gain more confidence in his very promising game.
Huh. Sickels went back and added him, interesting. He definitely wasn't there on first press. You can actually see in the comments section when he decided to go back and add him.
