Woj with 5 innings of more than effective shut out work thus far. What I like the most is that he did it in 58 pitches while walking no one. Third start of the year for Woj, and he has yet to give up a run. I like the tandem idea for most pitchers, and I know it isn't permanent, but I wish starts like this one would be rewarded with a longer start. Also, in 57+ innings of work for the Hooks, Asher has kept his ERA below 2 while having a K:BB ratio above 3. He is proving to be a boss in AA. Cannot wait to see what he does the rest of the year. Also, can you imagine having a "Wojciechowski" and a "Foltynewicz"? Visiting announcers may start investing in nicknames.
Ya something is going to have to give with the tandem system. Wojo needs to experience pitching to the lineup 3-4 times. Something to consider as Wojo gets to the 100-120ip mark at AA, if he gets the mid-season promotion to AAA he won't have seen the league a 3rd time. That's usually when the book is out on your stuff and you need to learn tendencies and pitch strategically. Hmm.. basically the sum of my post is #freeWojo
Great point. That is worth keeping an eye on as his time goes on for the Hooks. In the mean time, it will be interesting to see how they handle his tandem deal. He is breaking away from the rest (only three starts, I know), but he has only shown great signs since joining the organization. Also... I loathed Happ, and I would love to see someone that we received in that trade pay off. #freewojo
Delino DeShields was held out of Lancaster's game tonight as his finger continues to bother him. Also, Tyler Heineman left the game after an awkward feet-first slide into 2nd as he tried to avoid a pickoff attempt.
Nice outing for Cosart - 3.2, 3 Ks, 3 hits (all singles), and no walks. Equally important, an impressive 8 groundouts - 0 flyouts. Not sure why they didn't let him finish off the last out, he was only at 61 pitches. Possibly just wanted to get to see Hallock as a pure situational lefty in an 11-0 game.
Monday Stories OKC looked to get at least a positive result from a tough first home series. Asher Wojciechowski was on the hill looking to continue his dominance. Typical California League game Recap Oklahoma City 11, Memphis 0 The Redhawks avoided getting swept in their first home series of the season. Despite this onslaught, no home runs were hit. Oh yeah, the pitching wasn't too shabby either. Wes Musick went 5 and allowed 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 5. Jarred Cosart threw 3 2/3 scoreless, allowing 3 hits and striking out 3. Kyle Hallock served as the human victory cigar, getting the final out. Everyone had a hit except for Fernando Martinez, Che-Hsuan Lin, and Jason Jaramillo. Martinez did have an RBI groundout in the 6th and scored a run before giving way to Lin in the 8th. 3 RBI singles in the bottom of the 1st opened the floodgates in this game. Those came courtesy of Brandon Laird, Trevor Crowe, and Marc Krauss. Laird finished 3-4 with a double and 2 runs scored, Crowe was 2-3 with 2 walks, and that was Krauss' only hit of the game. He added 2 sac flies. In addition to Laird, Robbie Grossman, Jake Elmore, Jimmy Paredes, and Jonathan Villar also scored twice. Paredes was 2-5 with a 2-run double in the 6th, Villar was 2-4 and led off the 6th with a triple. Elmore was 1-3 with a sac fly in the 4th. The Redhawks will be welcoming the Astros' former AAA team to Bricktown for 4 starting tonight at 7:05. Brett Oberholtzer is the scheduled starter for OKC; opposing him will be... Brad Mills. Tulsa 3, Corpus Christi 2 Asher Wojciechowski stifled the Drillers for 5 innings, allowing 4 hits and striking out 3. However, he did not receive a win, or a decision. David Martinez tagged in and allowed a solo shot to Henry Wrigley. In 1 2/3 innings, that was the only run he allowed. He gave up one other hit and struck out 2. Jorge De Leon came in and lost the lead by serving up a solo shot to Angelys Nina. That was the only run he would allow in 1 1/3 innings, and he allowed one other hit, walked 1, and struck out 2. Andrew Robinson lost the tie, and the game as Kyle Parker took him deep with 1 out in the 9th. He got the final out of the 8th and the 1st out of the 9th, and walked 1. George Springer opened the scoring with an RBI single in the 1st. Austin Wates had one of his own in the 2nd. Carlos Perez's double was the Hooks' extra-base hit. He and Wates each had 2 hits. Wates stole 2 (7) and Springer had one of his own (2). The Hooks will try to avoid the sweep as they send out the team of R.J. Alaniz and Matt Heidenreich out to the mound tonight. Opposing them for the Drillers is Christian Bergman. Lancaster 15, High Desert 5 Just your garden variety Cali League game. Lots of runs, lots of hits. For injury news, see post #407. The Jethawks poured it on with 7 in the 7th, and that was capped off by an Andrew Aplin grand slam, his 1st home run of the season. He also added an RBI triple in the 4th. Everyone had at least one hit in this game except for Zach Johnson, who was 0-6 with an RBI groundout in the 3rd and a hat trick. Nolan Fontana was 1-3 with 3 walks and 3 runs scored. Drew Muren hit a 3-run shot (2) in the 4th. Preston Tucker was 2-4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI single in the 1st to open the scoring, and he also added a solo homer (3) in the 5th. Raoul Torrez was 2-5 with a 2-run double in the 7th. M.P. Cokinos was 2-4 with an RBI single in the 7th and scored twice. Tyson Perez struggled last night, as he allowed 5 runs on 8 hits (solo homer) in 3 2/3. He walked 2 and struck out 1. T.J. Geith (I suppose he prefers to go by T.J. instead of Theron now) threw 1 1/3 scoreless, walking 2 and striking out 1. David Rollins came out and was excellent in his 4 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits, walking 2, and striking out 6. Quad Cities and Clinton was postponed Doubleheader scheduled for tonight with Game 1 beginning at 6. Wait, I've already posted this... oh, right. Posts #405 and #406. Lance McCullers should be starting game 1 and Dan Minor game 2. Three Stars, Honorable Mentions, and Goat: Decide for yourselves.
Whoops.... Aaron West and Luis Cruz will be tonight's pairing for Lancaster in the middle game of their series with High Desert. First pitch is set for 7:05 Pacific, and their High Desert counterpart has not been announced. Brett Shankin started 5 days ago for the Mavericks, but he's been promoted to AA Jackson.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Dating back to last season, Asher Wojciechowski has allowed just 1 ER over his last 6 starts</p>— Corpus Christi Hooks (@cchooks) <a href="https://twitter.com/cchooks/status/324220392447291392">April 16, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
No matter. Still a great start. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Recent high velocity reports on Wojo may be inaccurate. Just told he was low 90's yesterday</p>— Brooks Parker (@Subber10) <a href="https://twitter.com/Subber10/status/324284058442010624">April 16, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> QC lineup for Game 1 vs. Clinton; Correa back in lineup 1. Joe Sclafani, 2B 2. Carlos Correa, SS 3. Chase Davidson, DH 4. Jesse Wierzbicki, 1B 5. Rio Ruiz, 3B 6. Jobduan Morales, C 7. Ariel Ovando, RF 8. Terrell Joyce, LF 9. Jordan Scott, CF Starter: Lance McCullers
McCullers with a tough outing... 2.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R (3 ER), BB, K Quad Cities trails Clinton 6-0 in the 3rd.
Today's Transactions: From the websites of the Pacific Coast League, California League, and Midwest League. Oklahoma City IF Andy Simunic called up from extended spring training LHP Eric Berger assigned to OKC IF Ruben Sosa assigned to extended spring training Lancaster C Tyler Heineman and RHP Alex Gillingham were placed on the 7-day disabled list OF Chris Epps was activated from the temporarily inactive list Quad Cities IF Carlos Perdomo was promoted to Lancaster IF Austin Elkins was promoted from extended spring training LHP Joe Bircher assigned to extended spring training 1B Chase Davidson activated from temporarily inactive list
Huh, wonder why Bircher was sent to EST. He's been pitching pretty strong so far. At what point do we become concerned that our top prospects are mostly sucking it up? Other than Wojo and Fontana, no one is really impressing in the early showing.
Woof. Glad Paul Clemens is providing something resembling a return from that one trade. Brett Oberholtzer has just been horrid to open the season.
Tuesday Stories Let's play two in the Quad Cities! Could Corpus Christi avoid getting swept out of Tulsa? Heartbreak in High Desert. #1 prospect in baseball burns OKC. Recap Round Rock 8, Oklahoma City 6 OKC's 4-run 2nd was negated by the former AAA team's 5-run 3rd. Jurickson Profar, who will be someone we'll be hearing about for at least a decade, was 3-5 with a triple and a 3-run shot in the 3rd. Fernando Martinez was 1-5 with a hat trick as he continues his rehab assignment. Marc Krauss hit a 2-run double in the 8th. Che-Hsuan Lin had an RBI single in the 2nd and walked twice. Also in the 2nd, Cody Clark was credited with an RBI on a sac bunt attempt as an error was charged to the pitcher, Brad Mills. Jonathan Villar grounded out, allowing Lin to score, and Jake Elmore had an RBI single scoring Clark. Brett Oberholtzer allowed 5 runs (on 2 homers) on 5 hits, walked 2, and struck out 3 in 5 innings. His rough start to the season continues. C.J. Fick got 2 outs in the 6th, both via strikeout. He also allowed 2 hits. Kevin Chapman got the final out of the 6th and 1 out in the 7th, but ran into trouble. He allowed 3 runs (1 earned, 2 inherited) on 1 hit, walked 1, and struck out 3. Josh Zeid allowed 2 runs that were charged to Chapman on 1 hit and struck out 1. He got the final 2 outs of the 7th and 1 out in the 8th. The Science Guy, otherwise known as Eric Berger, making his Astros organizational debut, walked 1 as he got the last 2 outs in the 8th. Jose Valdez had a 1-2-3 9th. Game 2 pits Rudy Owens and Jose Cisnero against Randy Wells. First pitch 7:05. Tulsa 9, Corpus Christi 3 Swept. The Hooks got a 2-run homer from Rene Garcia (1) in the 7th and George Springer added a solo shot (3) in the 8th. Austin Wates was 2-5 with a triple. Jio Mier scored on Garcia's blast. R.J. Alaniz went 5 innings and allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits and struck out 3. It wasn't Matt Heidenreich's day, as he was drilled for 5 runs (all on 3 homers) on 7 hits in 1 1/3. Pat Urckfitz allowed a hit (not a home run) to the only batter he faced. Alex Sogard finished the final 1 2/3, allowing 2 hits and a walk. The Hooks will return home tonight and will welcome Frisco to Whataburger Field on Thursday. Jake Buchanan and Carlos Quevedo will be the pairing that night; opposing them for the Roughriders will be Neil Ramirez. High Desert 6, Lancaster 5 in 11 innings Kevin Rivers put the first pitch he saw from Tom Shirley in the bottom of the 11th into the stands, and the Jethawks walked off losers. Aaron West went 5 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits (2 solo homers) and struck out 5. Luis Cruz tagged in and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits (2-run homer), walked 3, and struck out 2 in 3 innings. Travis Ballew was just awesome as he struck out all 6 Mavericks he faced. See above for Shirley's outing. On offense, 5 guys had 1 RBI apiece. The Jethawks got 3 in the 2nd on an RBI double from Matt Duffy, a single from Drew Muren, and a groundout by Chris Epps. Preston Tucker hit a solo blast in the 4th (4), and in the 5th, Zach Johnson hit a sac fly. Tucker and Muren had 3 hits apiece. Nolan Fontana had his multi-walk game, but after appearing on Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet this week, he's thawed considerably. Despite that, his OPS still stands at 1.069. The series finale is tonight at 7:05 Pacific. Alex Gillingham was just placed on the 7-day DL, which means that both pitchers acquired in the Wilton Lopez trade from the Rockies are now on the shelf. So, we'll see if Mike Foltynewicz goes it alone. High Desert's pitcher is TBD; Mayckol Guaipe started for them 5 days ago. Clinton 6, Quad Cities 3 in Game 1; Quad Cities 3, Clinton 2 in Game 2 In game 1, the River Bandits were held to 2 hits and were down 6-0 at one point. The lone hits were doubles from Chase Davidson and Terrell Joyce. Jesse Wierzbicki hit a sac fly in the 6th, Carlos Correa had an RBI groundout in the 7th, and Joyce's double, which came in the 7th, brought home a run. Joe Sclafani drew 3 walks; Davidson and Jobduan Morales walked twice. Lance McCullers was knocked around in his 2 1/3, as the LumberKings got all 6 of their runs off of him. 2 of them were earned. He allowed 7 hits, walked 1, and fanned 1. Mitch Lambson came on and threw 3 2/3 scoreless, allowing a hit, walking 1, and striking out 3. Cameron Lamb threw a scoreless 7th, allowing a hit and striking out 1. QC's 3-run 5th in game 2 proved to be the difference, as Austin Elkins hit an RBI single in his season debut and one batter later, Ryan Dineen smashed a 2-run double that gave the Bandits a 3-2 lead. Those hits were their only hits in the game, but they were clutch. Wierzbicki was 2-3. Dan Minor went 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits (solo homer), walked 2, and struck out 4. Mike Dimock got the victory by throwing 3 perfect innings of relief, striking out 4. Random: Clinton RF Gabriel Guerrero is Vladimir's nephew. Quad Cities wraps up this series and this homestand tonight at 7. It's Chicago Blackhawks night at the ballpark. Colton Cain and Mike Hauschild will take the hill for the River Bandits, and Clinton will counter with either Tyler Pike or Matt Anderson. Three Stars, abridged 3. Ryan Dineen, 3B, Quad Cities 2. Preston Tucker, OF, Lancaster 1. Travis Ballew, P, Lancaster Michael Dimock, P, Quad Cities Honorable Mentions, also abridged Rene Garcia, C, Corpus Christi Drew Muren, OF, Lancaster George Springer, CF, Corpus Christi Mitch Lambson, P, Quad Cities Goats Matt Heidenreich, P, Corpus Christi Tom Shirley, P, Lancaster
Quad Cities and Clinton got rained out. Makeup date TBA. The River Bandits visit Clinton for 3 games beginning on May 25, so I assume that it'll be made up then. Next up for QC... a return to Kane County. Colton Cain and Mike Hauschild will be tomorrow's pairing.
Lancaster JetHawks (@JetHawks): Movin’ on up! Rafael Valenzuela (@RafyValenzuela) and Drew Muren heading up to AA with @cchooks. Best of luck in the Texas League. @JetHawks: …and we’d like to welcome INF Carlos Perdomo and C Ryan McCurdy to Lancaster! #JetHawks
