Quite a lot of doings down on the farm this weekend. Bill Bray and Jared Burton are pitching in Louisville. Might one of them be the help we need in the bullpen? Edinson Volquez made his first rehab start and threw 3 shutout innings. He was reportedly throwing 92-95 and topped out at 96. And the Reds 2nd round draft pick from last week, Ryan LaMarre has already signed and joined the Dragons this weekend. In honor of his signing and some other fine performances, we present an all-Dragons Farmers Market.
Jacob Johnson
Last year's 11th round draft pick had a rough start to the year, but in his last 3 starts he's thrown 15 innings, allowing only 3 earned runs while striking out 12. Johnson is only 19 and induces a ton of groundballs, so it would be nice to see him put together a nice run this season and become a legitimate prospect.
Cameron Satterwhite
The Moeller and UC product has been raking. His last 5 games he's gone 13-22 with 2 home runs and 4 doubles. He almost never walks, but with a .992 OPS so far this season he's set for a promotion soon.
Josh Garton
Last year's 12th round selection has been crushing the ball. So far through 32 games his slash line is .296/.352/.565. That high slugging number is due to 6 homers, 9 doubles, and 2 triples. He should be in Lynchburg by the end of the year as well.
JC Sulbaran
He's repeating the level and can't seem to get his walks under control. He's struck out 48 in 47 1/3 innings, but he's also walked 29. As a result he's averaging less than 5 innings per start. I'd really like to see him start throwing more strikes and go deeper into games.
Ezequiel Infante
The 21 year old reliever started the year strong but has really struggled lately, giving up 6 runs in 7 innings in his last 4 outings. Those runs are largely due to the 8 walks he's allowed in that time. Someone needs to teach the relievers in this organization to throw strikes.
Andrew Means
Means was having a decent season, but at age 23 and playing in low-A ball, he needed to start moving up the system. Unfortunately, he got hit by a pitch that broke his hand this week and is going to be out for a while. He can't really afford any lost time, so this injury threatens to rob him of any prospect status he may have had.
Look after the jump for a recap of a busy weekend of games!
- Louisville lost Friday 5-3. Joe "The Cycle" Krebs threw 1.2 scoreless innings in relief. He's been nails since getting to Louisville. Time to try him as the MLB LOOGY? Yonder Alonso was 2-3 with a walk, Chris Burke and Chris Valaika were each 2-4, and Wladimir Balentien hit his 10th homer. Saturday saw the Bats lose 1-0 in a game shortened by rain. Aroldis Chapman had an encouraging start. He threw the entire 5 innings, giving up just the one run. He struck out 9 and only walked 2. He also only threw 83 pitches, so he likely would've gone 6 or 7. Not much offense in this one. Sunday the Bats held on to win 3-1. Joe Krebs and Bill Bray each threw a scoreless inning in relief. Drew Sutton was 2-3, and Zack Cozart and Yonder Alonso were each 2-5 with a double. Up Next: Matt Maloney starts at 7:05.
- On Friday Carolina lost 2-1. Matt Klinker, who was inexplicably sent back to AA, allowed 2 runs in 7 innings, striking out 5. Jose Castro was 2-4 and Eric Eymann was 1-2 with a triple. Saturday the team won 6-5 in 11 innings. Dave Sappelt continued raking, going 3-4 with a triple, and Devin Mesoraco was 3-5 including the game winning walk off home run, his 13th of the season. Sunday the Mudcats won 5-1 behind a strong start from Tom Cochran. He threw 6.1 innings, allowing no runs and struck out 6. Well balanced offense in this one, with almost everyone getting at least 1 hit. Jake Kahaulelio was 2-3. Up Next: Matt Fairel starts at noon.
- Lynchburg won 3-0 on Friday behind 6 shutout innings from James Avery. Donnie Joseph picked up his second save for the Hillcats, striking out 2 in his scoreless inning. Carlos Mendez was 3-4, Jose Gualdron was 2-4, and Neftali Soto was 1-4 with a double. Saturday the team won 6-0. Edinson Volquez threw three shutout innings in his first rehab start since surgery, striking out 3 and walking none. Jordan Hotchkiss responded by striking out 8 in 5 shutout innings of relief. Alex Buchholz was 2-4 with a double, and Neftali Soto was 2-4 with a double and his 9th homer. Sunday saw the Hillcats lose 3-2. Neftali Soto keeps hitting, going 1-4 with a double, and Cody Puckett was 2-3 with his 8th homer. Donnie Joseph pitched another scoreless inning, striking out 2. He now has 19 Ks in 10.1 innings for Lynchburg, and 59 Ks in 33.1 innings total. That's just plain gettin' it done. Up Next: Bradley Boxberger starts at 7:05.
- Dayton was rained out Friday, so Saturday the played a double header, winning 10-0 and 3-2. Lots of good in both games. Just go look at the boxscores, will you? Sunday the Dragons won 8-7. DiDi Gregorius was 2-4 with his 4th homer, Cameron Satterwhite was 2-5 with a double and his 2nd homer, Chris Richburg was 3-4 with 2 doubles, and a bunch of other guys had multiple hits. 2nd round pick Ryan LaMarre, in his first action as a pro, went 1-8 with a walk on the weekend. He did steal 3 bases! Up Next: Dayton is off today.