Down on the Farm: 08-28-2010

AAA Sacramento River Cats clubbed the Fresno Grizzlies 12-4:

Brandon Belt- 0 for 2, 3 BB, OF assist(Wimberly at 3B from RF!). BA=.077.
Jesus Guzman- 3 for 4. BA= .309.
Ryan Rohlinger- 4 for 5. BA= .311.
Matt Yourkin- 6 IP, 11 H, 10 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.36.
Craig Whitaker- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.41.

Interesting line from Belt despite getting no hits. They had him playing RF? He threw out Wimberly at 3B? Is there anything this guy can't do? Terrible start from Yourkin who has been mostly solid this year. Whitaker is in a good stretch, but his BB/9 is almost 9 to go with a K/9=9+. He has to cut down on the BB's if he wants to pitch in the majors.

AA Altoona nipped the Giants 3-2 in 10 innings:

Sharlon Schoop- 2 for 5. BA= .295.
Thomas Neal- 2 for 4. BA= .292.
Mike McDonald- 5 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.05.
Ronnie Ray- 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.35.

Ray has a line of 1-0, 0.00, 15.1 IP, 5 BB, 16 K's in his last 10 appearances. His overall line for the season is 2-3, 3.35, 78 IP, 17 BB, 65 K's. He's 26 years old.

High A Stockton Ports topped the San Jose Giants 7-5:

James Simmons- 3 for 4, HR(11). BA= .255.
Danny Otero- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.61.

Simmons is red hot, hitting .357 over his last 10 games. His overall season line is climbing into respectable territory at .255/.341/.452. His BA progression for the season:
April- .225.
May- .232.
June- .239.
July- .254.
August- .333.
He is hitting .282/.373/.565 post all-star break.

Low A Augusts Greenjackets downed the West Virginia Power 7-4:

Nick Liles- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .311.
Ryan Cavan- 3 for 4, 2 2B, SB(11). BA= .278.
Luke Anders- 2 for 4. BA= .292.
Hector Sanchez- 2 for 4. BA= .279.
Zack Wheeler- 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.86.
Jeremy Toole- 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.93.
Jose Casilla- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(13). ERA= 1.23.

I wonder where Wheeler will be assigned next season? It seems that maybe he still has some things to master at the low A level? Toole has been inconsistent this season but is 0-0, 1.17, 15.1 IP, 5 BB, 19 K's in his last 5 appearances. His draft scouting report had him in the high 90's with his fastball. I hope Casilla gets into a situation where he gets more IP, next year.

Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes came from behind to beat the Vancouver Canadians 5-4:

Mike Murray(.319), Ryan Scoma(.315), Dan Burkhart(.347), Jose Medina(.250)- 2 hits each.
Aaron King- 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.89.
Stephen Shackleford- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.86.
Stephen Harrold- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(7). ERA= 3.38

The Volcanoes had no XBH's in this game. Too many walks for King! This was Shack's best game since his promotion from the AZL where he dominated.

Rookie AZL Giants blanked the Angels 3-0:

Gary Brown- 1 for 4, SB(2). BA= .211.
Rafael Rodriguez- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .301.
Sundrendy Windster- 1 for 4, HR(5). BA= .311.
Chuckie Jones- 1 for 3, 3B(4), BB. BA= .279.
Lorenzo Mendoza- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA- 3.50.
Brennan Flick- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.35.
Mike Kickham- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 11.57.
Matt Graham- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.63.
Raymundo Montero- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.70.

Windster seems to be playing mostly DH and 1B now. That's not a good sign for the future despite a pretty nice offensive season in the AZL. I guess it's a bit tough getting playing time in the OF on a team with Brown, RafRod and Jones. Windster sure looks incredibly big and strong in the latest pics from Joe Pun over at azgiants.com. Maybe he can hit enough to play 1B? This was the first appearance for Kickham that can be called successful. I think this was Graham's best outing of the season.

DSL Giants defeated the Mariners 5-2 to win their 3 game playoff series:

Christian Paulino- 2 for 5.
Jorge Lopez- 2 for 4.
Alberto Robles- 2 for 4.
Shurendell "Danny" Mujica- 2 for 4, 2B.
Luis Angeles- 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.00.

I believe the Giants will now face the winner of the Cubs-Reds game today for the DSL championship.