Unless he goes into a funk which doesn't seem likely, i think he finishes with a cup of coffee in Lancaster. I really doubt the Astros go level by level. One way or the other I think he starts next year in Lancaster and finishes in CC with early-2015 being the most optimistic ETA. I imagine the Astros still view Fontana as a future ML regular and don't want him Correa and DD on the same team. I don't think it's overly imperative to get him to High A right now nor does it slow down his long term movement.
Was he on deck or in the hole? I was frustrated that he didn't get an AB. I've been wanting to watch him play this year!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23qctimes&src=hash">#qctimes</a> Mark Appel won't qualify for the win, but very solid Midwest League debut for No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft. 4 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K</p>— Steve Batterson (@sbatt79) <a href="https://twitter.com/sbatt79/statuses/356551023910858752">July 14, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A day after they got 5 perfect innings from Chris Cotton, Tri-City gets 6 no-hit innings from Zach Morton. He walked 1 and struck out 3. Also had 12 groundball outs and 3 airouts. The ValleyCats currently lead Batavia 7-0 in the 8th.
Crap... the short-season teams are getting some really nice starts. Chris Lee went 5 1/3 and allowed a run (on a solo homer) on 3 hits and struck out 8. Greeneville leads Elizabethton 4-1 in the 6th.
Sunday Stories Great short-season pitching performances. Mark Appel makes his Quad Cities debut. Upper levels all lost. Well, at least the lower teams pulled their weight. Recap New Orleans 7, Oklahoma City 6 Josh Zeid failed. The Redhawks dropped 4 of 5. Wade LeBlanc had a bare minimum quality start, allowing 9 hits (2-run homer) and striking out 5. Brad Peacock, for some odd reason, pitched the 7th and allowed a run on 3 hits while only getting 1 out. Jason Stoffel navigated out of that jam without allowing anything. He worked around 2 hits to retire the side in the 8th and struck out 2. Zeid blew it by allowing 3 runs in the 9th. Robbie Grossman hit a homer (2) to lead off the 1st. Jonathan Singleton followed suit in the 2nd (3, 8 season). Carlos Perez went 2-4 with a bunt single in the 4th, and the resulting error allowed Singleton to score. Later, Marwin Gonzalez drew a bases-loaded walk. After New Orleans got one in the 7th to tie the game at 4, Ruben Sosa hit a 2-run triple that allowed the Redhawks to go back in front. But alas... it didn't last. The AAA All-Star break begins. The AAA All-Star Game will be in Reno on Wednesday, July 17 and will feature the Pacific Coast League All-Stars as they take on their counterparts in the International League. Midland 5, Corpus Christi 0 The Hooks dropped the series opener as Nick Tropeano was meh, and the offense was stymied. Tropeano was actually pretty good until he got smacked around a bit towards the end of his outing. He went 5 innings and allowed 4 runs on 7 hits (2 solo homers), walked 2, and struck out 6. Carlos Quevedo pitched the final 3 innings, and the only run he allowed was on a solo homer to Jake Goebbert in the 8th. Goebbert continues to troll the Astros organization. Quevedo gave up another hit, walked 1, and struck out 3. Enrique Hernandez and Max Stassi both went 2-4 with a double. Game 2 of this series pits Bobby Doran against Sean Murphy. First pitch is at 6:30. Modesto 12, Lancaster 3 The Jethawks tied the game at 2 after the 1st inning, but the Nuts went.... well, nuts. They finished the game on a 10-1 run. Mike Hauschild received a rather rude welcome to the Cali League, as he was tagged for 5 runs on 8 hits (2 2-run homers) in 3 2/3 innings. He walked 1 and fanned 1. Cam Lamb got the final out of the 4th. Kyle Hallock had a rough landing in his return to Lancaster, as he allowed 6 runs (1 inherited) on 8 hits in 2 innings. He walked 2 and struck out 3. Blair Walters pitched the final 3 innings, and he allowed a solo homer to Harold Riggins in the 9th. He also allowed another hit and struck out 3. Tyler Heineman hit a sac fly, and Matt Duffy hit an RBI single in the 1st. After Heineman tripled to lead off the bottom of the 4th, Duffy brought him home with a sac fly. And there you go. Heineman and Duffy constituted the Jethawks' entire offense tonight. David Rollins will start the series finale against TBA. First pitch is at 7:00 Pacific. Quad Cities 9, Dayton 2 The River Bandits snapped their 4-game losing streak as their offense came alive. Also, some guy named Mark Appel made his debut for them. I hear he's pretty good at baseball. Can anyone confirm this? 2013's #1 threw 4 scoreless, allowed 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3. Dan Minor tagged in for 3 1/3 and gave up 2 (1 earned) on 3 hits, walked 2, and struck out 3. Mitch Lambson took care of the last 1 2/3 innings, as he gave up a hit and fanned 2. Everyone in the lineup had at least 1 hit except for Jordan Scott, who walked twice and scored twice, and Brian Blasik, who got an RBI on a squeeze play in the 4th. Scott's 2 runs came when he scored on a double play in the 5th and on an error in the 8th. In fact, 6 of the Bandits 9 had multi-hit games. Luis Alvarez, who went 3-4 with a double and 2 runs scored, hit a 2-run single in the 2nd to kick off the scoring. Bobby Borchering also went 3-4; he had 2 doubles and an RBI single in the 4th. One of those doubles drove in 2 in the 6th. Jesse Wierzbicki went 2-4 with an RBI single in the 8th. An error on that very same play allowed Scott to score. Austin Elkins and Roberto Peña both finished 2-5. Dan Gulbransen was 2-3 with a double and 2 runs scored. The only person in the lineup that didn't have at least 2 hits was Rio Ruiz, who went 1-4 with a run scored. In the rubber match, Colton Cain will take on Drew Cisco at 1:00. Tri-City 7, Batavia 0 The ValleyCats got yet another dominating performance from their starting pitching today. This time, Zach Morton shined. One night after getting 5 perfect innings from Chris Cotton, they got 6 no-hit innings from Morton. The 32nd-round pick from Northwestern also walked 1 and struck out 3. A nice belated birthday present for himself; he turned 23 on Friday. Randall Fant finished it off, as he allowed 3 hits and struck out 4. Tony Kemp scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch/Mike Martinez walk in the 1st. He finished 2-5 and scored 3 more times. A 4-run 4th was kicked off by a homer from Ernesto Genoves (1). Chan-Jong Moon then hit an RBI single, and Martinez hit a 2-run single. Well, considering that Morton was dominating the Muckdogs' hitters, the runs they got in the 6th and 7th were gravy. Conrad Gregor hit an RBI single in the 6th, and Adam Nelubowich had a sac fly in the 7th. Moon, Martinez, and James Ramsay also had 2 hits. The ValleyCats will look for the sweep, as they send out TBA against Jarlin Garcia. First pitch is at 7:05 Eastern. Greeneville 5, Elizabethton 3 Greeneville is now a 1/2 game behind Elizabethton as they won the series. The Appy Astros got a fine start from Chris Lee, who allowed a run (on a solo homer to Rory Rhodes) on 3 hits and struck out 8 in 5 1/3 innings. It got a little hairy, though, as Christian Garcia gave up 2 runs on 3 hits before finally getting the final 2 outs of the 6th. Those 2 runs cut the lead to 4-3. Jordan Mills threw 2 scoreless, allowing 2 hits and striking out 4. And finally, Tyler Brunnemann worked around a hit to close out the game, striking out 1. Darwin Rivera hit an RBI double in the 1st to put Greeneville on the board first. In the 2nd, Jack Mayfield and Brett Phillips hit RBI singles. Mayfield finished 3-4 with 2 runs scored, and just narrowly missed a home run in the 7th (flyout). Phillips was 2-3 and added another RBI single in the 4th after Mayfield had doubled in front of him. Juan Santana hit a clutch 2-out RBI single in the 8th to bring home a vital run for the Appy Astros. Greeneville will look for the sweep. With it, they will assume 1st place in the Appalachian League's West division. Jandel Gustave will start the series finale, and his opponent is TBA. First pitch is at 7:00 Eastern.
We don't see him every day. We don't see him in the cage, we don't see him taking infield practice, we don't talk to him, we don't see him facing live pitching, we basically don't see much of anything that the coaches, scouts, front office development staff, all the way up to Luhnow see and hear and talk about on a daily basis. Have some faith in the people who are paid to do that job. Or don't, but always remember, no matter how incompetent they are (Cam Bonifay, Tim Pupura, JP Ricciardi, etc...) they are infinitely more qualified to judge MLB talent than you or I or anyone on this board will ever possibly be.
Was I showing a "lack of faith"? If anything I was posing a question of curiosity rather than making a suggestion. I respect that the front office will do what is best, but as a fan, it is fun to speculate and wonder what they are doing. Tis all fun and games, good Sir.
Daniel Makarewicz (@danmak57): Colton Cain's final line: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO @QCRiverBandits @danmak57: In last 63 1/3 innings, Colton Cain has a 2.42 ERA @QCRiverBandits Cain's ERA on the season is now 4.14 after that terrible April.
