Sounds about right. Gustave is a very intriguing arm to keep an eye on in the short-season ranks, provided that he dramatically slashes his walk rate.
Also interesting is that although Gustave is a starter, he only throws 2 pitches: a fastball and a slider. "Bonifay" is Greeneville manager Josh Bonifay. Gustave signed with Houston as a free agent in 2010 and has spent each of the past three seasons with Astros' Rookie-level affiliates. He went 2-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 10 outings last year with the Gulf Coast Astros after spending two seasons primarily as a reliever in the Dominican Summer League. Despite currently featuring just two pitches, Bonifay says the Astros like Gustave as a starter, a role he has filled off and on since debuting in 2010.
Thursday Stories George Springer makes his OKC debut. Greeneville dominant. Tri-City looking to Tri-City again this year. Yeah, I think Carlos Correa is OK. Kyle Hallock has now suited up for all 4 full-season affiliates. How did he do in his Corpus debut? Recap Nashville 5, Oklahoma City 2 The Redhawks dropped the opener as Asher Wojciechowski was knocked around in his 5 2/3 innings. Wojo allowed 4 runs (1 inherited) on 5 hits (solo and 2-run homers), walked 4, and struck out 5. Science Guy got the final out of the 6th, but not before allowing an RBI triple to Blake Davis, which brought the final run that was charged to Wojo home. He also allowed another run of his own in the 7th. Berger went 1 1/3 and allowed 3 hits and struck out 3. Kevin Chapman worked around a hit to retire the side in the 8th. On offense, the Redhawks got an RBI single from Carlos Perez in the 8th and a solo homer from Jimmy Paredes (5) in 9th. Jonathan Villar, Brandon Laird, and Marwin Gonzalez had 2 hits apiece. George Springer, in his OKC debut, was 0-4 with a hat trick. He was the starting CF and hit 5th. Another doubleheader awaits. Why not. Game 1 is at 6:05 and the pitching matchup will be Brett Oberholtzer for OKC, and Jimmy Nelson for Bud's Team's AAA affiliate. Game 2 features TBA for the Redhawks and Zach Kroenke for the Sounds. Springfield 6, Corpus Christi 5 A nice Corpus debut for Kyle Hallock was wasted, as Pat Urckfitz and Carlos Quevedo failed in epic fashion in the 9th. The Hooks had a 4-1 lead heading into the 9th. The Cardinals got 2 in the 9th, and Quevedo had Cody Stanley in an 0-2 hole with 2 outs. After a foul ball, Stanley then unloaded on a pitch and sent it down the left-field line for a 3-run homer to put Springfield in the lead. Ugh. Hallock, who has now appeared in a game as a member of all 4 Astros full-season affiliates this season (not sure when this last occurred), pitched 5 1/3 and allowed a run (inherited) on 1 hit, walked 4, and struck out 2. Andrew Robinson tagged in for 1 2/3 and allowed a hit (in the 7th) and walked 2 (one of which allowed a run charged to Hallock to score). Jorge De Leon did his job in the 8th, striking out 1 in a 1-2-3 inning. Unfortunately in the 9th, it hit the fan. Here's a play-by-play of the mess: Urckfitz allowed a single to Ruben Gotay to lead off the inning, then forced him out for out #1. On the play, Chris Swauger reached safely. He then allowed two straight singles to Xavier Scruggs and Stephen Piscotty to load the bases. Another single from Luis Mateo landed right in front of Preston Tucker and allowed Swauger to score. The 4th consecutive single from Vance Albitz landed right in front of Drew Muren in center and brought Scruggs home. Muren stepped up and nailed Adam Melker, who pinch-ran for Piscotty, at home for the 2nd out. Urckfitz exits, Quevedo enters, and... well, one freaking strike away from a 4-3 win. Tucker hit an RBI groundout in the 9th to make it a 1-run game, but Zach Johnson flew out to end it. Jonathan Meyer went 2-4 (both doubles) with an RBI double in the 1st to put the Hooks on the board first. He'd score in the 4th, on a Zach Johnson single. Johnson also hit a double as part of a 2-hit night. The final 2 Corpus runs came in the 6th, courtesy of a 2-run homer from Michael Burgess (11). One night after his rampage, Max Stassi went 3-5. The RBI groundout was Tucker's first AA RBI, and now gives him 75 on the season. From that 2nd tweet regarding the Corpus rotation (post #1512): <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Seaton complicates the 6-man rotation, though. Bodie had four definite starters and three others to weed out. Details in tomorrow's gamer.</p>— Kenny Ryan (@Caller_Kenny) <a href="https://twitter.com/Caller_Kenny/statuses/350405685936259073">June 28, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> the probability of the "four definite starters" being Bobby Doran, Nick Tropeano, Mike Foltynewicz, and David Martinez is about 99.9%. The three guys under the microscope would probably be Jorge De Leon, R.J. Alaniz, and probably Matt Heidenreich. With Ross Seaton back for a 3rd tour of duty in Corpus, that obviously throws things into limbo. Speaking of Heidenreich, he's listed as the starter for the series finale, and he'll be taking on Seth Blair. This is probably subject to change. First pitch is at 7:05. Rancho Cucamonga 12, Lancaster 6 The loss snapped the Jethawks' 7-game winning streak to open the 2nd half. They were pretty much buried when the Quakes jumped out to a 6-1 lead, but then they ran off 6 in the 6th. Andrew Aplin scored on an error in the 4th for Lancaster's first run. He'd score again in the 6th on a Joe Sclafani sac fly. He finished 3-3 with an RBI single in the 8th and a sac fly in the 9th. M.P. Cokinos went 3-5 with a double and a run scored. Cokinos has pushed his average to .348; the two guys behind him, Ji-Man Choi and Chris Taylor, are currently in AA. Preston Tucker was 4th, but he's in Corpus now, so the next closest guy is Alex Yarbrough, who's hitting .319. That double came in the 8th; he would score on a homer from Joe Sclafani (4). Chris Epps and Nolan Fontana both doubled in 4 at-bats. Brady Rodgers went 2 1/3 and allowed 4 runs on 6 hits (solo homer) before exiting with blisters. T.J. Geith went 1 2/3 and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1. Chris Devenski lasted 2 innings and gave up 6 (5 earned) on 4 hits and walked 2. Cam Lamb was the only Jethawks pitcher to not get tagged, and he allowed a hit and struck out 2 in 2 innings. David Rollins will look to close out the month of June in style, as he gets the start in game 2 of this series. As has been the case all season, Tyson Perez is his partner, and they'll be taking on TBA. Gustavo Gomez started for Rancho 5 days ago; the Jethawks teed off for 9 runs in 3 1/3 off of him on Sunday. First pitch is at 7:05 Pacific. Peoria 5, Quad Cities 4 Well, Carlos Correa looks to be A-OK. Batting 3rd for what I believe is the first time this season, he went 2-4. Terrell Joyce hit an RBI double in the 2nd and immediately after, scored on an error that allowed Jobduan Morales to reach. Teoscar Hernandez hit an RBI triple in the 7th and Roberto Peña hit a solo homer (3) in the 8th. Jamaine Cotton went 3 2/3 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits, walked 3, and struck out 1. Mitch Lambson allowed a hit and struck out 2 over 1 1/3 scoreless. Colton Cain threw 3 scoreless, allowing 2 hits and striking out 2. The River Bandits will look for the split, and they'll send out Dan Minor and Lance McCullers to take on Joe Cuda. First pitch is at 6:30. Tri-City 9, Lowell 4 The ValleyCats swept this 2-game series as their bats came alive again. Jake Rodriguez, the Astros' 19th-round pick out of Oregon State, made his pro debut in this game. Batting 8th and playing C, he was 0-3 with a walk and a hat trick. Everyone in the lineup had a hit except for him and Thomas Lindauer, who was 0-4 with 2 strikeouts. James Ramsay put TC on the board with a solo homer (2) in the 1st, his 2nd straight game with a homer. He finished 3-5 with 2 runs scored and added an RBI single in the 3rd, an inning in which the ValleyCats scored 4. He would score on a single from Dan Gulbransen, and later, Ronnie Mitchell added a 2-run single. Mitchell finished 3-4 with a double and a walk. Ryan Dineen hit a 2-run double in the 4th. And speaking of Mitchell's double... it came in the 8th and brought in a run. Michael Martinez chipped in with an RBI single. Gulbransen finished 3-5 with 3 runs scored, Conrad Gregor was 2-3 with 2 walks and 3 runs scored, and Tony Kemp was 1-5 with a run scored and a steal (5). Evan Grills went 5 innings and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits (solo homer), walked 1, and struck out 2. Kevin Comer tagged in and threw 4 innings, allowing a run (on a groundout) on a hit (a triple), walking 1, and striking out 2. The ValleyCats will host Connecticut in a 3-game series beginning at 7:00 Eastern. Tanner Bushue and Adrian Houser will start the opener, and their opponent will be Alex Phillips. Greeneville 8, Kingsport 0 The Appy Astros guaranteed themselves a series win thanks to a spectacular pitching performance and a late outburst that pretty much sealed it. Jandel Gustave was dominant, as he no-hit the K-Mets for 6 innings. He walked 3, hit a batter, and struck out 7. Sebastian Kessay struck out 2 in a 1-2-3 7th. J.D. Osborne allowed both Kingsport hits (both singles), but he struck out 5 as he closed it out. The combined no-hitter lasted 7.2 innings and was broken up by Yeixon Ruiz. Well, it was a pretty tight game throughout. After Tanner Mathis singled to lead off the 1st, he advanced to 2nd on a balk and took 3rd on a passed ball. Juan Santana then hit a sac fly to put Greeneville on the board first, and that turned out to be the only run until Mathis hit another sac fly in the 7th. And then... Darwin Rivera greeted Andres Perez with a solo homer (2) to lead off the 8th inning, and the floodgates opened. Alfredo Gonzalez has had a strong series; he went 3-4 with a double in the 7th (scoring the 2nd run on Mathis' sac fly) and a 2-run single in the 8th. Also in the 8th, Marc Wik reached on a force out attempt that turned into an error, allowing Edwin Gomez to score. Ariel Ovando scored on a wild pitch, and Santana provided the cherry with an RBI single. Greeneville will look for the sweep as they send out Frederick Tiburcio against TBA. First pitch is at 7:00 Eastern. GCL Yankees2 5, GCL Astros 4 Tit for tat. After the GCLstros walked off with a win in Kissimmee, the Yankees' 2nd GCL team walked off with a win in Tampa. Tyler White was 1-3 with 2 RBI; the first came on a sac fly in the 1st, and the other was an RBI groundout in the 1st. Yonathan Mejia hit an RBI single in the 3rd and added a steal (1). Jason Martin was 3-5 with an RBI groundout in the 4th and 2 runs scored. Javaris Reynolds was 2-4 with 2 steals (4) and a run scored, and Alex Gonzalez was 2-5 with a double, a steal (1), and a run scored. Agapito Barrios went 5 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, walked 2, and struck out 6. Jorge Perez walked 2 and fanned 1 in a scoreless 6th. Kevin Ferguson marked his pro debut by allowing a run on 1 hit and striking out 1 in the 7th. Juan Carlos Santos, the Astros' 39th-round choice from 3 weeks ago, allowed a hit in a scoreless 8th. Erick Gonzalez served up a 2-run homer to Nathan Mikolas with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th... and he took the loss. Ferguson, a LHP, is an undrafted free agent from Northeastern. The GCLstros will host the Pirates in Kissimmee at noon Eastern. DSL Astros vs. DSL Rays were postponed I guess they'll make it up on July 13.
So far a bunch of 3 out of 4s in my research (including Singleton this year, who only avoided Lancaster). Wilton Lopez pitched at 4 levels with the Yankees (Rookie, A-, A, A+). Roger Clemens pitched at A, AA, AAA, and the majors in 2006 for us.
Three Stars: June 27 3. James Ramsay, CF, Tri-City 3-5, solo HR (2), 2 RBI, 2 R Ramsay was the best defender in the country this season, but he's showing that he can do some things with the bat, too. 2. Kyle Hallock, P, Corpus Christi 5.1 IP, H, ER, 4 BB, 2 K About the only thing that went wrong for Hallock were the walks. He's been dependable everywhere he's pitched, despite racking up some serious frequent flyer miles. Or miles on his car. 1. Greeneville pitchers: Jandel Gustave, Sebastian Kessay, and J.D. Osborne Gustave: W(1-1), 6 IP, 3 BB, 7 K Kessay: IP, 2 K Osborne: Save(2), 2 IP, 2 H, 5 K Wild prediction: Gustave will be the Latin pitcher in the low minors who puts himself on the radar this year. It's interesting that he only throws 2 pitches. Kessay, I don't know much about, but I'm thinking that he'll fare better than the previous 2 Arizona JUCO pitchers that the Astros drafted (Scott Zuloaga, who's retired, and Zach Dando, who's now in the GCL). The early returns on Osborne have been a revelation, given his track record at Wofford. Of course, there's not too much to be expected from 5th-year seniors who were drafted in the 36th round, but I believe that he'll be this year's Jordan Jankowski. Honorable Mentions Alfredo Gonzalez, C, Greeneville: He's having a great series at the plate. Gonzalez's CS% number has gone up every year as a pro. Also, it looks like fewer runners are wanting to test him, too. Andrew Aplin, CF, Lancaster: A perfect night at the plate shouldn't be ignored. His power's been missing this month, but his on-base rate has been very consistent this season. Cam Lamb, P, Lancaster: For being the only Jethawks pitcher who wasn't scored on. Jonathan Meyer, 3B, Corpus Christi: If there's a prospect whose stock has done a complete 180 since April, Meyer's probably that guy. M.P. Cokinos, C/1B/OF, Lancaster: This was the 2nd straight night that he started in left field. Building some versatility. His bat's just too good to hold out of a lineup, too. Ronnie Mitchell, OF, Tri-City: He's put up 3 straight multi-hit and multi-RBI games. This Tri-City lineup is really going to be something. Goats One. Strike. Away.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Luhnow says Mark Appel threw side session in Florida recently & looked good. He expects him to start in Tri-City, w/perhaps a start in GCL.</p>— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/statuses/350739025813962752">June 28, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
George Springer's first AAA hit: an RBI double in the 6th that has tied game 1 of their doubleheader with Nashville at 1.
Jonathan Villar led off game 2 with a home run. Jake Buchanan is on for his first appearance at OKC this season.
It didn't take long for George Springer to go deep for the first time at OKC. A solo shot in the 2nd ties the game at 2. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>George Springer first home run for Class AAA <a href="https://t.co/2ReX5AWreb">https://t.co/2ReX5AWreb</a></p>— Mr. Crawfish (@CrawfishBoxes) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrawfishBoxes/statuses/350805293036351488">June 29, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
^^ possibly the best scoreboard I've ever seen (maybe second best behind the original Astrodome's...)
Max Stassi is on a tear! Walk off double in the 10th to win it for Corpus. He had 1 home run in his first 120+ plate appearances. He's added 3 home runs in his last 15 plate appearances. Greeneville is tied 1-1 in the 14th. Each time has a solo HR. Greeneville pitchers have recorded 23 Ks. Rollins in Lancaster continues to do his thing. 5 innings, 2 singles, 0 walks, 4 Ks. Springer added a walk to his HR, but was then picked off. Welcome to AAA.
Greeneville and Kingsport are now in the 15th. 364 days ago, they played a 17-inning game against Danville, which is currently the longest game in their history. They lost 6-2 as Tanner Bushue gave up 4 unearned runs in the top of the 17th. Adrian Houser threw 6 shutout innings that night. He allowed 3 hits and struck out 8.
Friday Stories Let's play 2 in Nashville! Walkoffs!!! Greeneville with the.... David Rollins closes out June in style. Recap Game 1: Oklahoma City 5, Nashville 1 in 9 innings 4 runs in the top of the 9th allowed the Redhawks to take the opening game of the twinbill. All 5 OKC runs were unanswered. George Springer hit an RBI double in the 6th to tie it. Carlos Perez hit the go-ahead 2-run single in the 9th, and then Marwin Gonzalez scored on a well-executed squeeze play from Jose Martinez. Perez would score on an error that allowed Robbie Grossman to reach. Jonathan Villar, Jonathan Singleton, and Brandon Laird had 2 hits in game 1. Brett Oberholtzer allowed a run on 5 hits, walked 1, and struck out 5 over 6 1/3 innings. Jason Stoffel pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings, striking out 1. And Wade LeBlanc pitched a 1-2-3 9th. Game 2: Oklahoma City 6, Nashville 3 Doubleheader sweep!!! Villar led off the game with a home run (8), and then George Springer led off the 2nd with his 1st AAA homer (20 season). Ruben Sosa hit an RBI single in the 4th, and then Villar was back at it again, smacking a 2-run double. Marwin then hit an RBI single in the 6th to bring Sosa home. Jake Buchanan gave up 2 runs in the 1st, then recovered very well to earn his first win at the Triple-A level. He tossed 5 innings, allowing 4 hits and striking out 2. He induced 9 groundball outs and 2 flyouts. Rhiner Cruz allowed a run on 1 hit, walked 1, and struck out 1 in the 6th. Josh Zeid worked around a walk to record the save, striking out 1. The Redhawks wrap up doubleheader week with a regularly scheduled game. Brad Peacock will take on Chris Narveson at 6:35. Corpus Christi 7, Springfield 6 in 10 innings Again, bullpen issues for the Hooks late in the game allowed the CAArdinals to tie it late, but the outcome of this game was much, much more pleasant. They took 2 of 3 from Springfield, despite getting outhit 14-8. After the Cardinals jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the 2nd, the Hooks responded with 5 in the 3rd to take the lead. Jio Mier put them on the board by scoring on an error. Rene Garcia then hit an RBI single, and Erik Castro reached on a force attempt. There was an error, but he was credited with an RBI on the play. Jonathan Meyer had a sac fly, and Preston Tucker hit a ground-rule RBI double. They got one more in the 6th on a Max Stassi solo homer (4). Tucker finished 2-4. Stassi was 2-5... more on that 2nd hit in a moment. Matt Heidenreich went 4 innings and allowed 3 runs (all in the 2nd) on 6 hits and struck out 5. Kenny Long pitched a scoreless 5th, walking 1. However, he allowed hits to the 2 guys he faced in the 6th. Jorge De Leon pitched 2 2/3 and allowed 3 runs (1 inherited, all in the 8th) on 4 hits and struck out 1. Pat Urckfitz wasn't charged with any runs, but he did allow the hit that allowed one of 2 runners he inherited from De Leon to score, resulting in a 5-5 tie. So, he got charged with a blown save. It's the 2nd straight night in which he's had a hand in a Springfield rally. Andrew Robinson pitched a 1-2-3 9th. The Hooks' 10th-inning rally was started when Erik Castro singled to lead it off. He'd reach 2nd (on a walk from Preston Tucker) before being lifted for Zach Johnson. Then, Stassi dropped a double over James Ramsey's head for the winner. The Hooks will now host Tulsa for 3 starting tonight at 6:05. Mike Foltynewicz makes his first start of the season free from the tandem system. He'll go up against Christian Bergman. Rancho Cucamonga 6, Lancaster 3 The Jethawks blew a 3-0 lead as all 6 Quakes runs were unanswered. Miscues in the 9th culminated in Travis Ballew serving up a walk-off grand slam. Nolan Fontana struck out on a wild pitch in the 3rd, resulting in Matt Duffy scoring the first run of the night. They got single tallies in the 7th and the 8th on a Fontana RBI single and Carlos Perdomo scoring on a wild pitch. Quakes pitchers threw 5 wild pitches and walked 9. Yet, the Jethawks only scored 3. Baseball's weird. Another awesome effort from David Rollins went to waste. He threw 5 shutout innings and allowed 2 hits and fanned 4. Tyson Perez tagged in for 2 2/3 and allowed a run (in the 8th) on 3 hits, walked 2, and struck out 2. Ballew got the final out of the 8th via strikeout, but the Quakes rocked him in the 9th. He didn't record an out. None of the balls in play before the grand slam left the infield. Perdomo screwed it up to lead off the inning, and Ballew threw a sac bunt attempt that he fielded away. Luis Cruz and a Blair Walters will be tonight's pairing. They'll be taking on either Jon Michael Redding or Lindsey Caughel, who's coming off the DL. First pitch is at 7:05 Pacific. Peoria 4, Quad Cities 2 The River Bandits dropped 3 of 4 in rather insipid fashion. 3 guys had 3 hits apiece: Jesse Wierzbicki, Rio Ruiz, and Jordan Scott. Wierzbicki hit an RBI double in the 1st that put QC on the board. Ruiz hit 2; one of which brought Wierzbicki home in the 6th. The River's hitting .256/.316/.372 this month. Although slow, it's progress. Carlos Correa went 0-4 and reached on an error in the 1st. He'd score on Wierzbicki's double. Lance McCullers went 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, walked 2, and fanned 3. Juri Perez pitched 3 innings and allowed a run on 3 hits and struck out 3. John Neely allowed a run on 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1 in the 8th. Quad Cities returns home to open up a 5-game series with Clinton. Juan Minaya and Vince Velasquez will take the mound, and their opponent will be Charles Kaalekahi. First pitch is at 7:00. Tri-City and Connecticut was postponed Doubleheader mañana, beginning at 5:30 Eastern. Tanner Bushue will start game 1, and Adrian Houser gets the call in game 2. Greeneville 2, Kingsport 1 in 15 innings The Appy Astros got the sweep in a 15-inning affair, 364 days after they had played a 17-inning game against Danville. Fortunately, this one had a happier ending. Frederick Tiburcio pitched 5 innings and allowed a run (on a solo homer) on 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 7. Amed Rosario, who received the largest bonus in the previous international signing period ($1.75 million), took him deep in the 5th. Wallace Gonzalez answered in the bottom half with a solo shot of his own (1). He finished 2-5, and those 2 solo homers would stand for 9 1/2 innings. Jack Mayfield went 2-6 with a double. Ariel Ovando was 2-5, and Tanner Mathis was 2-4 with 3 walks and the winning run. I'll get to that in a minute. Mathis, who was drafted in the 27th round last year out of Ole Miss, didn't sign that year. He ended up going undrafted this year and the Astros got him as a free agent. He's walked 9 times and struck out only once in the first 9 games of this season. For the 2nd straight night, the story of the game was the pitching. As I mentioned earlier, Tiburcio had a fine outing. He and 5 relievers combined for 25 strikeouts. With a hat tip to Curtis Leister of The Crawfish Boxes, that's 39 strikeouts for Greeneville pitchers in their last 2 games. Tyler Brunnemann was the first guy out. He went 2 innings and allowed a hit, walked 2, and struck out 4. Ryan Connolly was the only Astros pitcher who didn't record a strikeout. He walked 1 in a scoreless 8th. Gonzalo Sanudo allowed 2 hits and struck out 3 in 2 innings. Gerardo Ramirez tagged in for 4 and allowed 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 9. And finally, Christian Garcia worked around a hit to retire the side in the 15th, fanning 2. Garcia emerged as the victor after Mathis finally broke the tie in the 15th. He had walked to lead off the inning, and Mayfield sacrificed him over to 2nd. What was supposed to be a routine groundout hit by Darwin Rivera turned out to be the winner for Greeneville, as Kingsport 1B Jeff Diehl picked a pretty good time to have a mental lapse in the field. Mathis, seeing the opportunity, scampered home, and he beat the throw at the plate as the catcher, Adrian Abreu, dropped it. Greeneville will now embark on a 4-game roadtrip. They'll play 3 in Burlington, and for some reason, 1 in Kingsport before returning home to face Bristol on the 4th of July. Jordan Mills will start game 1 in Burlington. The Appy Royals will go with Jake Newberry. First pitch is at 7:00 Eastern. GCL Astros 6, GCL Pirates 5 The GCLstros busted out for 5 in the 4th, but ended up having to hang on before rain called the game. There was 1 out in the top of the 9th. Jason Martin has a nice little 5-game hitting streak going; he was 1-4 with a run scored. Tyler White went 3-4, connecting for his first pro homer (1) in the 1st and adding an RBI single in that 5-run 4th. Also occurring in the 4th were 2 RBI groundouts from Jose Solano and Javaris Reynolds, a wild pitch that walked Martin and allowed Luis De La Rosa to score, and an RBI single from Yonathan Mejia. Francis Ramirez went 1 2/3 innings and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1. Troy Scribner got the victory with 2 1/3 scoreless, allowing a hit and fanning 2. Juan Carlos Santos allowed a hit and struck out 1 in 2 scoreless innings. Kevin Ferguson struck out 1 in a 1-2-3 7th. Javier Lozano allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and struck out 1 in 1 1/3. And Raul Rivera allowed a hit and walked 1. He was pitching when the game was called. They just lost to the Pirates 6-2 in Bradenton. Luis Reynoso was 2-4 with a 2-run triple in the 4th. Martin was 1-4 with a walk and a steal (5) to push his hit streak to 6. Samil De Los Santos gave up 4 in the 6th to take the loss. Game 1: DSL Astros 3, DSL Rays 0 Yay. DSL doubleheader I had no idea about since apparently they're not updating until the morning after. Alex Melendez made his debut. He's a recent graduate of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy and High School, but wasn't drafted. He was assigned to the Academy on Monday, so he probably signed sometime last week for a nominal amount, given his assignment to the Academy. In this game, he went 2-2 with a walk and 2 steals (2). Victor Tavarez finished 2-3, scoring on an error in the 2nd and hitting an RBI single in the 4th. Arturo Michelena hit an RBI single in the 6th. Jean Estrella was 2-4. Edwin Villarroel is another one of the pitchers at the Academy who is building a case to come to America. He threw 6 1/3 shutout innings and allowed 2 hits and struck out 2. Angel Heredia allowed a double, sandwiching that between the final 2 outs of the game. Game 2: DSL Rays 4, DSL Astros 3 in 9 innings Victor Mesa went wild in the 9th, which allowed the Rays to score the go-ahead run. Melendez capped off a strong first day at the Academy by going 3-4 with an RBI single in the 2nd. Arturo Michelena went 2-4 and hit a 2-run single in the bottom of the 7th that tied the game at 3. Luis Payano went 2-5 with a run scored. Gerardo Juarez went 3 innings and allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits and struck out 2. Harold Arauz tagged in for 2 innings and allowed an unearned run on 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1. Joselo Pinales didn't allow a hit or a run in his 3 innings, walking 1 and fanning 2. Mesa's wild pitch came with 2 outs in the inning, after he allowed a leadoff double to Angel Moreno, who made his way to 3rd on a sac bunt. The Academy's playing the Indians right now. Or, they're probably done.
Some stats to throw out..... batters first. OKC - Jonathan Villar's 26 steals lead the Pacific Coast League. He's probably not going to catch Billy Hamilton, who's on 49 right now. Villar is tied for 2nd in AAA (not counting the Mexican League) with Felix Pie. He's also tied for 6th in the league with 81 strikeouts. - Brett Wallace's .398 on-base percentage ranks 10th in the PCL, his .554 slugging percentage puts him in a tie for 5th, and his .952 OPS is 6th. Living up to his reputation as one who destroys AAA pitching. - Marc Krauss is in a tie for 5th in the PCL with Las Vegas' Josh Satin in walks. They both have 43. Both are currently with their major league clubs. Krauss is tied for 13th in OBP (.393), tied for 26th in slugging (.488), and 17th in OPS (.881). Corpus Christi - Before his promotion, George Springer's 19 home runs put him in a tie for 2nd in the Texas League with Xavier Scruggs. Those 19 homers still lead AA. His 55 RBIs were 3rd in the league; there's a tie at the top, as the leaders have 56. His 56 runs scored still leads the league, 8 ahead of Mike O'Neill. 81 hits puts him in a tie for 6th with O'Neill, 20 doubles is good for 5th, .297 average is tied for 6th, and while he's 4th with 42 walks, he's also 2nd with 96 strikeouts. Springer is tied for 2nd with Carlos Beltrán's cousin, Reymond Fuentes, in stolen bases, with 23. His .399 OBP is 4th, .579 slugging percentage leads, and .978 OPS is 2nd. - Domingo Santana, who is currently injured, is tied for 5th with Brett Nicholas in homers, with 14. With 40 RBI, he's 11th in that statistic. His 90 strikeouts are the 4th-highest in the Texas League. His .498 slugging percentage is 7th, and his .836 OPS ranks 11th. - Jonathan Meyer's 18 doubles rank 9th, and Erik Castro is in a 3-way tie for 10th, with 17. Castro's .360 OBP is 11th and 37 RBI places him in a tie for 13th. Meyer's 47 RBI is good for 8th. - Michael Burgess is tied for 11th with 11 homers, 16th with 34 RBI, and tied for 18th with a .429 slugging percentage. Lancaster - M.P. Cokinos leads the California League with a .346 average. That average is 2nd in all of Class A Advanced. Cokinos trails Red Sox 3B Garin Cecchini, who is 4 points ahead. Cecchini was recently promoted to AA, so Cokinos actually leads everyone who is currently in Class A Advanced. His .432 OBP is 2nd, 4 points behind Robert Kral, his .535 slugging percentage is 11th, and .968 OPS is 5th in the circuit. - Andrew Aplin has scored 64 runs, which not only leads the Cali League, but leads the entire level. He and Nolan Fontana are tied for 3rd with 47 walks. Fontana's .417 OBP is 6th in the league, while Aplin is 11th, at .380. Aplin's 54 RBI rank 5th in the league. - Preston Tucker, before his promotion to Corpus, had 74 RBI, which led everyone. He's tacked on 2 more as a member of the Hooks. He's in a 3-way tie for 5th in homers with Jabari Blash and Ryan Casteel, with 15. His .326 average is 4th, .384 OBP and .544 slugging percentage are both 10th, and .928 OPS is tied for 10th with Matt Duffy. Tucker also had 97 hits. He had been leading in that category until Alex Yarbrough overtook him. - Duffy's only drawn 24 walks, but he's also been hit by a pitch 14 times. His 53 RBI rank 6th, .402 OBP and .312 average are both 8th in their respective categories, and .526 slugging percentage is 12th. - Delino DeShields is 7th with 18 steals, but he's been caught 11 times, which leads the league. He's in a 4-way tie for 9th with 6 triples. - Telvin Nash's 79 whiffs are the 10th-most in the Cali League. He's in a 3-way tie for 9th with 13 homers, and his .482 slugging percentage is 20th. - Joe Sclafani's .457 OBP would be leading the Cali League if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. - Chris Epps' .552 slugging percentage is 7th in the league and his .932 OPS is 9th. He's right behind Aplin in OBP, posting a .379 figure in that department. Quad Cities - Carlos Correa's .317 average is 3rd in the Midwest League. He's 7th in OBP (.405), 16th in OPS (.840), and 12th in RBI (45). - Teoscar Hernandez is 10th with 19 steals and 3rd with 54 runs scored. He's also tied for the 4th-most strikeouts in the league, with 79. - Jordan Scott is in a 3-way tie for 8th with 39 walks and is tied for 10th with a .391 OBP. I'll wait for the domestic short-season leagues to play a few more games. DSL - Luis Payano is 5th with 20 walks and tied for 12th with 26 strikeouts.
