Down on the Farm: 4/14/2016

AAA  Las Vegas 51's downed the Sacramento River Cats 6-2:

Ramiro Pena 2B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .370.
Hak-Ju Lee SS- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(1).  BA= .391.
Chris Stratton RHP- 5 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 9.82.
Mike Broadway RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 9.00.
Clayton Blackburn RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's.  ERA= 3.00.

At the rate the injuries are piling up for the Giants, Pena and Lee could be getting called up soon.  More BABIP weirdness from Stratton.  Broadway is a candidate to replace Romo on the 25 man roster.  Blackburn was just getting in some work after missing his start with a GI virus.

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels squeaked past the Altoona Curve 2-1:

Myles Schroder LF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .300.
Adalberto Mejia LHP- 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 6.30.
Jose Casilla RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Dan Slania RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00
Ray Black RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 3.00.

Ray Black is the guy I'd like to see called up to replace Romo.  How fun would that be?

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High A  San Jose Giants topped the Inland Empire 66'ers 4-2(I attended this game):

Steven Duggar RF- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1). BA= .350.  Duggar was the hitting star of the game staking the Giants to an early lead with a solo HR over the R-CF fence in the top of the first inning and later splitting the gap for a double.

CJ Hinojosa SS- 1 for 3, BB.  BA= .333.  Hinojosa ranged all the way into the 66'ers bullpen area behind the warmup mound to catch a long foul pop-up.  His other plays on the night were fairly routine, but that was definitely a big league play.  Kinda reminded me of Brandon Crawford in High Desert a few years ago.

Jose Vizcaino Jr. 3B- 0 for 3, BB, SB(2).  BA= .222.  Viz Jr also made a big league play on a dribbler just to the left of the mound.  He came charging in, barehanded it and just got the runner at 1B.  I thought it was going to be a hit all the way, so he really showed me something there.  He's got the size of a 3B, and the athleticism of a SS.  Now, if he can hit…..

Jason Forjet RHP- 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 0.00.  I've liked Forjet from his numbers, but had not seen any kind of scouting report on him.  He's kind of average in size for a pitcher, maybe slightly on the small size.  His FB sits 88-90 MPH.  He was able to command it at the knees and up in the zone, although big league hitters probably would have laid off some of those high fastballs the 66'er hitters swung through on.  He complemented the FB with a sharp slider at 80-82 MPH and a slow curve at 73 MPH which he threw just often enough to keep hitters off balance.  I like Forject as a sleeper in the system and I think he should be pitching in AA now.

Dusten Knight RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.  Knight was similar to Forjet.  FB 88-90 MPH with a sharp breaking ball.

Reyes Maronta RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 6.00.  Maronta looks like a clone of Jean Machi.  Impressive velocity at 92-96 MPH, more 95's than any other single number on the radar gun.  He had obvious command issues but got out of the inning nicely with 2 K's.  He showed a wicked breaking ball that served as a wipeout pitch on the 2 K's.  If I'm an opposing scout, Maronta is on my list of potential targets in a deadline trade.

Rodolfo Martinez RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(3).  ERA= 0.00.  They turned off the stadium gun in the top of the 9'th inning.  I tried to sneak up behind a scout with a gun but couldn't see the numbers.  Comparing  Martinez FB to Maronta's, it was at least as fast, probably a tick or two faster, with much better command.  He also showed command of breaking stuff and the IE hitters were completely overmatched.  Martinez is one guy I would hope is untouchable at the deadline.  He's a future MLB closer in my book.

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Low A  Charleston River Dogs defeated the Augusta Greenjackets 3-1:

Kelvin Beltre 3B- 1 for 4, 2B.  BA= .200.
Phil Bickford RHP- 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 5.19.
Tyler Cyr RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 1.23.

Bickford now has 16 K's against 2 BB's in 8.2 IP.  Cyr has 15 K's against 2 BB's in 7.1 IP in 3 appearances.