It's not, but this is also his 3rd season at Greeneville. In the battle of the "best lefty in the system," I'd just give it to the guy that has a record of production above A ball, that's all. Player performance in the short season leagues is just really difficult to judge in terms of future projection. There's the obvious Small Sample Size concern, but there's also a huge variation of talent level in those leagues. Some guys are fresh out of high school as 17 or 18 year olds, and other guys are 22, physically mature, and seeing their third helping of Appy League ball. Because so many guys are early in their careers, many hitters still have terrible approaches and holes in their swing - a pitcher with one plus pitch can dominate a lineup, even though they'll need command control of multiple pitches to succeed at higher levels. A player who dominates at that level can definitely get scouts taking notes, but that leap to the Midwest League is a big one and has people holding their breath. Cliff Notes: I like Chris Lee, but I want to know more about him and see him sustain the success against full-season hitters before I get pimp him as the organization's top lefty.
Being the best lefty in our system is like being the smartest kid on the short bus. Lee & Rollins both need promotions (AAA was just a spot start for Rollins).
Is anyone else thrilled that DDJ has turned it around this much? 19 steals on the month and one more would match his season totals from the previous three months. Really seems like he is "getting" A+.
Saturday Stories Enjoy your stay in OKC, David Rollins. Max Stassi. Let's play 2 in Greeneville! Recap Oklahoma City 5, Iowa 0 In game 2 of this 4-game set, the Redhawks got a stellar spot start from David Rollins, who was part of a combined 4-hitter. Rollins threw 90 pitches (61 strikes) over 6 shutout innings and allowed 3 hits (all singles), walked 1, and struck out 8. Philip Humber struck out 1 in a 1-2-3 7th, Kevin Chapman walked 1 and struck out 2 in the 8th, and Josh Zeid allowed a hit while striking out the side to finish it off. The Redhawks got on the board with 3 in the 1st, on a sac fly from Brandon Laird, an RBI double from Jimmy Paredes, and an RBI single from Marwin Gonzalez. In the 5th, George Springer hit an inside-the-park home run (9, 28 season). He hit a line shot to center, and I-Cubs CF Jae-Hoon Ha mistimed his dive for the ball, which ended up rolling all the way to the wall in almost dead center. OKC got their final run of the game on another RBI single from Marwin in the 8th. Springer finished 2-2 with that homer, 2 walks, and 3 runs scored. Marwin was 2-3. Here's the inside-the-park homer. Dat speed. <iframe src='http://www.milb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=29212563&width=400&height=224&property=milb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> Game 3 of this series features the subject of a false promotion rumor a couple of days ago. Asher Wojciechowski will be on the mound for the Redhawks, and he'll face Nick Struck. First pitch is at 6:05. Corpus Christi 7, Midland 6 The Hooks have taken the first 4 from the Rockhounds as they negated an early eruption from the Midland offense. They've now won 5 in a row. You couldn't have asked for a better start to this one, as they put up 4 in the top of the 1st. Max Stassi opened up the scoring with a 3-run homer (13). This was his 9th home run in his last 13 contests. Domingo Santana was still feeling the good mojo from his nice showing in the doubleheader, as he went back-to-back (16) with Stassi. But then Ross Seaton got mauled, as he promptly relinquished the lead. He only lasted 1 2/3 and gave up 6 runs (3 in the 1st and 2nd) on 6 hits, walked 2, and struck out 1. T.J. Geith came on to throw 2 2/3 perfect innings, striking out 3. In his Corpus debut, Jonas Dufek put up an identical line to Geith's: 2 2/3 perfect, 3 strikeouts. The Hooks tied the game at 6 in the 4th on an RBI groundout from Ronald Torreyes and an RBI single from Rene Garcia. They retook the lead in the 7th on a solo homer from Preston Tucker (5, 20 season). Stassi, Santana, and Jonathan Meyer all went 2-4. Pat Urckfitz struck out 1 in a 1-2-3 8th, and Chia-Jen Lo allowed a hit and struck out 1 to close it out. The Hooks will look for the sweep, as R.J. Alaniz will take on Zach Neal at 6:00. Rancho Cucamonga 7, Lancaster 5 The Jethawks were doomed in this game by 6 errors, 4 of which were committed by Carlos Perdomo. Delino DeShields went 2-5 with a double, a steal (39), and an RBI groundout in the 3rd that put Lancaster on the board first. But, 2 errors in the bottom of the inning allowed the Quakes to strike for 3. The Jethawks did respond by tying the game in the 4th, on a Matt Duffy solo shot (16) and an RBI fielder's choice from Ryan McCurdy. The Quakes got 3 more in the 5th, as they knocked around Michael Dimock, and another run in the 7th, as Perdomo's horror show in the field continued. Lancaster got 2 in the 8th off of groundouts from Perdomo and Andrew Aplin. Chris Epps was 2-4 with a run scored and a steal (8). Kyle Hallock allowed 4 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits (solo homer), walked 3, and struck out 3. Dimock pitched 3 innings and gave up 3 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits, walked 1, and fanned 2. Cam Lamb allowed a hit in a scoreless 8th. David Rollins was supposed to start the rubber game this evening, but I highly doubt that's going to happen. Luis Cruz started 5 days ago, so I'm going to go ahead and make the assumption that he'll be starting tonight. Well, whoever's the starter will be taking on Jon Michael Redding at 5:05 Pacific. Beloit 8, Quad Cities 6 A 5-run 6th turned out to be the difference for the Snappers as they took the opener of this series. Carlos Correa went 2-4 with an RBI double in the 1st that opened the scoring for the River Bandits. He came around to score on a single from Rio Ruiz. The River broke a 2-2 tie in the 6th with a 2-run homer (7). After that 5-run 6th which gave Beloit a 7-4 lead, QC got RBI singles from Jordan Scott and Correa. After Correa's RBI single, Bobby Borchering struck out to end the inning. Ruiz also added a steal (9). Teoscar Hernandez was 2-5 with a double and 2 runs scored. Chris Devenski went 5 innings and allowed 2 runs on 10 hits (solo homer), walked 1, and struck out 4. Juri Perez was shelled in the 6th, as he allowed all 5 runs on 5 hits and walked 1 while only getting 2 outs. Gerardo Sanchez got the River Bandits out of the inning, but allowed a run of his own in the 7th. He went 2 1/3 and allowed a run on 4 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. The middle game of this series will start at 2:00 and features Joe Bircher on the mound as he faces Deyvi Jimenez. Vermont 4, Tri-City 0 The ValleyCats wrapped up their roadtrip by getting swept out of Vermont. They were held to 5 hits in the game. Ronnie Mitchell hit a double and Chan-Jong Moon had a triple. Tony Kemp was 1-3 with a steal (15). Adrian Houser allowed 2 runs on 7 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3 in 5 innings of work. Tanner Bushue tagged in for 2 innings and he also allowed 2 runs. Bushue gave up 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. Pat Christensen allowed a hit in a scoreless 8th. Tri-City will have a pit-stop series, as they host Connecticut today and tomorrow before hitting the road again. Andrew Thurman and Michael Feliz will face Joe Mantiply in the opener. First pitch is at 5:00 Eastern. Game 1: Pulaski 5, Greeneville 4 The 14-game winning streak is over. Pulaski got 4 in the 7th to take this game, which had been suspended on Friday. Edwin Gomez hit an RBI double in the 1st, and he came around to score on a Chase McDonald single. An error in the 3rd allowed Gomez and Brett Phillips to score. Gomez finished 3-3 with the RBI double and scored twice. Enderson Franco went 2 innings and allowed a run on 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. Christian Garcia threw 3 no-hit innings after play resumed, walking 1 and striking out 5. Ryan Connolly blew it in the 7th, although a costly error from Tyler White also helped open the floodgates. Connolly went 2 innings and allowed 4 (2 earned) on 4 hits and struck out 2. Tyler Brunnemann allowed a hit and struck out 1 over 2 scoreless frames. What happened in game 2? Game 2: Pulaski 2, Greeneville 1 The Appy Mariners scored late again to get the doubleheader sweep. Thomas Lindauer, in his Greeneville debut, hit an RBI double in the 5th. Chris Lee went 5 1/3 and allowed 2 runs (both on a 2-run homer in the 6th) on 6 hits and struck out 5. Gonzalo Sanudo retired all 5 Mariners he faced. Greeneville will look to avoid the sweep. Jandel Gustave will be taking on Eddie Campbell at 6:00 Eastern. If you're so inclined, you can read Appy Astros' writeup on yesterday's doubleheader. Here's the blurb on Lee: GCL Tigers 3, GCL Astros 0 The Kissimme Stros were held to 4 hits in Lakeland. Yonathan Mejia had 2 of them. Jose Montero went 5 innings and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits (2-run homer), walked 5, and struck out 3. Samil De Los Santos struck out the side in order in the 6th. Erick Gonzalez and Zach Dando allowed a hit and struck out 1 as they worked a scoreless 7th and 8th, respectively. DSL Royals 4, DSL Astros 2 The Academy got doubled up, despite being even in the hit column. Hector Roa went 2-4 with an RBI double in the 9th. Jesus Bermejo hit into a force out that scored Roa in the 5th. Luis Payano went 2-4 to raise his average to a much more respectable .238. Gerardo Juarez went 5 2/3 and allowed 4 runs on 6 hits, walked 2, and struck out 5. Geronimo Franzua threw 2 1/3 scoreless, allowing 2 hits, walking 1, and fanning 1.
My unofficial timing has that at about 13.5 seconds. Not sure if that is super fast for 360 feet, but it seems fast.
Yeah, that's elite MLB speed. In the Futures game when Springer beat out a throw from Correa, I think Goldstein tweeted that they had Springer home to first in 4.1 or something. That not quite Willy Taveras back in the day, but that's up there with the top major leaguers right now.
One transaction to report.... RHP Troy Scribner is heading to Greeneville from the GCL. Scribner was 3-2 with a 1.26 ERA in 8 appearances (2 starts) in Kissimmee. In 28.2 innings, he allowed 6 runs (4 earned) on 16 hits (1 homer), walked 3, and struck out 42. He was an undrafted free agent out of Sacred Heart this year.
After a 3-4 day today with a 2B, it's probably time to check back in on Rio Ruiz. After such a slow start during the first half of the year, he's now hitting .270/.341/.473 with 3 HR over the last month. Over that time, he's had the strikeouts under control too, K-ing in a reasonable 15% of PAs. If Ruiz finishes with a strong half, I'll be interested to see where they place him next year. Another year at Quad Cities may be good for him, but he's starting to show that he's figured out A ball. An assignment at Quad Cities to start next year followed by a quick promotion if he performs may be good.
Agreed. If Ruiz can get up to .260 to end the year I'd consider this year a success. I think he can become our big time 3rd base prospect, he has the tools to do so.
Well, he was actually 3-5, but that's neither here nor there. Ruiz has really held his own in the Midwest League. He's the 13th-youngest in the league, but technically, the 6th-youngest everyday player. On that: Anthony Alford is on Lansing's roster for some reason; he's about to start football season with Ole Miss, and Andrew Velazquez has been in the league for a little over a month, so I'm not really counting them. Ruiz's numbers have improved month by month. A strong finish to the season will look good on his resumé when he's being evaluated for placement reasons next year. Otherwise, he'll probably spend the first 4-6 weeks of the 2014 season in QC, then the rest of the year in Lancaster. His K rate entering today was actually 19.4%, which is right in line with the Midwest League average. His 12% walk rate is above the league average, which is 9%. Lest we forget, the Astros believed that Ruiz was among the most polished prep hitters in the 2012 class. I'll go out on a limb and say their reports on him were pretty accurate. The River's BABIP is still below average (.279, MWL average: .307), so there's still a few balls finding gloves instead of grass. It's perfectly reasonable to expect that number to continue creeping up.... right? He's had a good year. The blood clot scare last spring might have been an aberration health-wise. IIRC, he's been on the DL once this season. So, it's good to see him with a clean bill of health.
The K rate I posted was his K rate over the past month, not the whole year. Sorry for any confusion there.
Michael Feliz with 3 scoreless coming off his worst outing of the year. He gave up 4 hits and struck out 4. No confusion. Thanks for clarifying.
Looks like the good juju that Domingo Santana was feeling from the doubleheader has continued to carry over. He's homered for the 3rd straight day, 3 in his last 4 outings. The solo shot (17) gives Corpus a 4-0 lead in the 3rd.
Jonathan Singleton hit his 4th homer (9 season) as an OKC Redhawk to lead off the 5th to give OKC a 2-1 lead. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>I love how "Slump" is used instead of "Adjustments" for Jon Homerton, a 21-year old at Triple-A</p>— Astros County (@AstrosCounty) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosCounty/statuses/361647546432618497">July 29, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
