AAA Fresno Grizzlies defeated the Reno Aces 5-4:
Justin Christian(RF)- 2 for 5, BB. BA= .325.
Edgar Gonzalez(2B)- 3 for 6, HR(10). BA= .308.
Brett Pill(1B)- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(21). BA= .318.
Tyler Graham(CF)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .271.
Conor Gillaspie(3B)- 2 for 2. BA= .282.
Andrew Kown(RHP)- 6 IP, 7 H,2 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 4.45.
Dan Otero(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.82.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels blanked the Trenton Thunder 5-0:
Francisco Peguero(RF)- 2 for 5, 2 3B. BA= .281.
Roger Kieschnick(LF)- 2 for 3, SF. BA= .267.
Wes Hodges(1B)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .323.
Juan Perez(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .246.
Clayton Tanner(LHP)- 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K's, GO/AO= 10/4. ERA= 4.13.
This was, by far, Tanner's best start in a long time. Maybe his best start as a pro. Gotta see it for more than one game to be think he's turned a corner. Maybe he's been working on a new pitch and finally put it all together, or maybe he was just very on in this one.
High A San Jose Giants beat the Inland Empire 66'ers 6-3:
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, 2 SB(42). BA= .323.
Ehire Adrianza(SS)- 1 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .286.
Ryan Cavan(2B)- 3 for 4, 3B, BB. BA= .264.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 4, BB, Assist(home). BA= .266.
Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.27.
Jose Valdez(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 7.30.
Jake Dunning(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, Save(3). ERA= 4.86.
I attended this game. There was a long delay after the top of the first inning to repair wet ground around 1B and 3B after Brown slipped rounding 3'rd and fell flat on his face. Brown's double was a bloop. He is very fast. I don't think many other players would have gotten a double out of it.
I was sitting in front of the 66'ers pitch trackers. They were making fun of Brown's approach at the plate. Part way through his 3'rd PA one of them asked " how many pitches has he seen all game?" The answer was 9. First guy then said he was tracking another game where he saw 5 pitches in 4 AB's. Brownie ended up seeing quite a few in this one. In addition to the BB, he got to 3 balll counts at least 2 other times.
Parker's Assist was a Nate-like laser beam from mid RF to nail a runner who was coming home from 2B and was running on contact with 2 outs on a groundball single to RF.
The stadium gun was not functioning, but the 66'er pitch trackers were tracking both teams and calling out the velocity of each pitch. Marte's FB sat 91-93 early, 90-92 by the later innings. He was able to command it low in the strike zone on both sides of the plate. Umpiring was inconsistent to say the least. Marte also showed a sharp breaking ball at 84 MPH which was effective but inconisistent in location. The pitch trackers were debating whether he has a changeup. I didn't see anything I would call a change from him. My impression of Marte improved after seeing him in person. He doesn't appear to have any physical projectability, but with refinement of his breaking ball and development of a changeup, he could be a mid-back of the rotation starter in the majors.
Valdez entered the game in the 8'th after Tom Vessella had loaded the bases with no outs. He gave up a SF and a single to let 2 inherited runs in the settled down. His FB is about 91 MPH on a downward plane. He's a huge presence on the mound who looks like he's releasing it halfway to home plate. The last pitch was a perfect curveball to K the last batter. The 66'er pitch trackers called it a "hammer."
Jake Dunning was a bit of a revelation. He's on the thin side but has a very loose looking arm. His FB ranged from 93-96 with good looking movement. He also had an inconsistent breaking ball, but I came away impressed with his arm and velocity. I would project him as a future setup man.
Minor league stadiums never cease to amaze me. The 66'er pitch tracker sitting right behind me had a chew and kept spitting the whole game. He wasn't spitting it into a cup either! Gross!! The PA people played "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" as walkup music for Jose Flores every AB which I found to be at least mildly inappropriate and a bit bizarre. A lady who I think might have been Tom Vessella's mother came down and took some pics while he was pitching. Too bad he didn't have a very good outing. I'm pretty sure she was the same lady who took part in the innertube rolling contest with a guy who I think was her hubby. If that is the case, the parents of an opposing player were part of the between innnings entertainment! Only in the minor leagues!!
Low A Hickory Crawdads dominated the Augusta Greenjackets 7-0:
Chris Lofton(CF)- 2 for 4. BA= .270.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 4 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.02.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes buried the Yakima Bears 13-8:
Jesus Galindo(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, Assist(2B). BA= .276.
Brett Krill(DH)- 1 for 4, HR(5), BB. BA= .377.
Joe Staley(C)- 2 for 4, HR(6), BB. BA= .253.
Chuckie Jones(LF)- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .196.
Dan Brock(1B)- 2 for 3, HR(1), BB. BA= .188.
Kendry Flores(RHP)- 3.1 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.87.
Tough season for Chuckie Jones. Tough to hit when you miss so much time with injuries. I really like what we're seeing from Galindo this year.
Rookie AZL Giants topped the Mariners 8-4:
Darren Ford(CF)- 2 for 2, 2 BB, 2 SB(2). BA= .600.
Kelby Tomlinson(SS)- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(6). BA= .321.
Ben Thomas(1B)- 2 for 4, HR(5). BA= .333.
Clayton Blackburn(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 11/1. ERA= 0.55.
Ford is obviously on a rehab assignment. Love what we've seen from the kid Blackburn so far. He has 15 K's against just 2 BB in 16.1 IP with a GO/AO= 4.50. Small sample, of course.
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Seems like the scouts bought into the "Brown has no patience" mindset that pervaded all thinking about Brown after he was drafted. I thought they would be more open-minded, but I guess I gave them too much credit.
ReplyDeleteBrown is of the mindset that he needs to get on base a lot to have value offensively, so that he can take advantage of his speed. What is wrong with his approach when he is getting on base nearly .400 OBP?
His walk rate is not the best, but he is not the worse either, around 7-8%. And part of his game, whether in college or minors, is getting a lot of HBP, he is like those guys long ago who got a lot of HBP as part of their offensive game. That has boosted his OBP everywhere he has gone so far.
And as he has shown before in his career, when he's not hitting well enough at that level, he will adjust his hitting so that his OBP is again in the high .300's. But when he's getting on at nearly .400 OBP, there is no reason to adjust his approach, right?
who takes walks in the cal league? ill worry about brown when he hits the eastern and pcl
ReplyDeletei was under the impression that marte's ceiling was as a middle rp, long reliever
im sure that the rise of peguero is what made neal expendable
I think these guys were pitchers for the 66'ers who weren't scheduled to pitch last night. That's usually who gets the pitch tracking assignments. Maybe they read scouting reports too?
ReplyDeleteI'm not worried about Brown either, but I still haven't been completely sold on the bat. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. He reminds me a lot of Dan Gladden with a bit more speed and better D in CF which is a very good yield for a #24 draft pick.
He's probably a 2 WAR player on defense alone which means all he has to be is slightly above replacement offensively to be very valuable.
I'll tell you who Kelvin Marte reminds me of, a lot, is Odalis Perez who used to pitch for the Dodgers. He was a pretty good #3, 4 starter for awhile.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've sat near the pitch trackers in the Cal League. Always kind of wondered why there are usually 3 or 4 of 'em. Guess you have to do something with your other starters. Of course they're going to throw derisive comments out, especially about 1st round draft picks. Gotta say something along the lines of "This guy ain't that good."
ReplyDeleteSure, love to see more walks from Brown. But you can't fault him for turning on grooved, get-it-over first-pitch fastballs.