Since there's not too many players having trouble right now, I thought we'd have another week of 6 players who are playing well right now.
Wladimir Balentien
Wladdy's average and OBP lately are in line for the rest of his year, but over his last 10 games, he's slugging 1.000. He had a 5-game stretch last week where he had 5 hits, and all 5 of them were home runs. That's the kind of pop from a bat that we may be seeing in September in the 'Nati.
Russ Springer
Since being signed by the Reds, the 41-year-old has 5 1/3 innings pitched and no earned runs. In addition to that, he's only given up 1 hit and 1 walk in a Bats uniform. Could we be seeing him in the big leagues as soon as there's an opening?
Dave Sappelt
Sappelt had his 5th straight multi-hit game on Sunday, and has a hit in 17 straight games he's started (with one off day) since July 2nd. Ridiculous.
Matt Fairel
After throwing a shutout over the weekend, Fairel had quality starts in 3 of his last 4, and has given up 3 or less runs in 7 of his last 8.
Kyle Day
Day has a 10-game hitting streak going, and is sporting a .378/.425/.459 line in those games. Some extra base hits would be encouraging, but it's definitely a good sign.
Dominic D'Anna
Not impressed with the Arizona League, D'Anna has only hit in his first 6 Pioneer League games, for a .333 average so far. Could the Reds have found a diamond in the rough here?
Recaps for the weekend games after the jump...
- Louisville beat Gwinnett in all 3 road games they played over the weekend, 7-4, 3-2, and 8-3. In Friday's game, the scheduled starter Sam LeCure was in Houston in case Cueto couldn't pitch, so Danny Ray Herrera stepped in for a spot start. DRH went 4 innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball with 4 strikeouts. Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless 1 2/3 innings for his 7th win, and Enerio Del Rosario pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 for his 4th save. Wladimir Balentien had 2 homers and 6 RBI, and is absolutely raking. Todd Frazier also had 3 hits, including his 13th HR of the year. Matt Maloney started on Saturday, pitching 6 1/3 innings in his start, and Russ Springer and Jared Burton had scoreless outings in the 'pen. Frazier had two hits in this one as well. Micah Owings got his first start on Sunday, with 3 innings of 1-run ball. In another role change, Matt Klinker had the same results at the end of the game to pick up his first save. In the middle was EDR with 2 perfect innings and Jason Isringhausen's first inning as a Bat, where he gave up his first home run as a Bat for his only blemish in his inning. Up next: Sam LeCure will take the mound against Gwinnett at 7:05.
- Carolina won 2 out of 3 against Montgomery over the weekend. On Friday, they had a stellar pitching performance by Matt Fairel to cruise to a 5-0 victory. Fairel threw a 4-hit shutout, with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. Amazingly, that performance overshadowed another great one, as Luis Terrero went 5-for-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Sean Henry and Jake Kahaulelio homered as well. On Saturday, the Mudcats gave up a run in the 9th to drop 6-5. Henry led the way with 3 hits, and Daryl Thompson continued his road to recovery with 4 innings of 3-run ball. Scott Carroll had another great start on Sunday as they won the rubber match 5-1. Carroll gave up 1 run in 6 innings to get the win. Felix Perez had 3 hits, including a double, and Dave Sappelt went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. Up next: Off day!
- Lynchburg also won 2 of 3 against Salem, dropping the first one 11-2 before closing out strong with a 3-0 win and a 6-5 win. On Friday, Lance Janke got knocked around, and Kyle Day homered, his 5th of the year. On Saturday, pitching was the story, with Curtis Partch pitching 6 innings and only allowing 2 hits while striking out 6. Ruben Medina and Donnie Joseph closed it out with hitless outings, and Neftali Soto and Denis Phipps had 3 hits each on offense. On Sunday, Phipps and Kevin Coddington had 2 hits each, and Jordan Hotchkiss gave up 4 runs in 6 1/3 innings for his 7th win of the year. Up next: James Avery takes the mound against Frederick at 7.
- Dayton lost all 3 of their games over the weekend. They lost 4-1 against Cedar Rapids on Friday, despite 3 hits by Mark Fleury. Tim Crabbe started and got the loss, but Ezequiel Infante pitched 5 perfect innings of relief. Maybe he should start. Blair Carson got rocked on Saturday for a 11-3 loss against Quad Cities. Henry Rodriguez homered and Ryan LaMarre had 3 hits. On Sunday, they dropped a marathon game 8-5 in 16 innings. LaMarre led the offense again, going 3-for-8 and Jonathan Kaskow hit his first HR in Dayton. Jacob Johnson was actually pretty good, giving up 1 earned run in 6 innings, and Tzu-Kai Chiu and Junior Martinez were the only Dragon pitchers with scoreless outings. Up next: Ricky Bowen takes the hill at 7.
- Billings won 2 of 3 over the weekend. On Friday, they beat Idaho Falls 7-6 with a 4-run rally in the 9th inning. Billy Hamilton was 4-for-5, and Dominic D'Anna and Oliver Santos had 3 hits each. Daniel Tuttle struck out 7 in 5 innings, with 4 ER given up. The Chukars turned the tables on Saturday, beating the Mustangs 5-4 in 10 innings. Daniel Corcino gave up 2 ER in 5 innings pitched, and Porfirio Martinez pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief. Tucker Barnhart went 3-for-3 to lead the offense. On Sunday, the Mustangs won an extra innings game 3-2 against Casper in 11. Starlin Gerson gave up 1 run in 6 innings pitched, and Yorman Rodriguez hit his 2nd HR of the year. Up next: Clayton Shunick gets Casper at 9:05 ET.
- The AZL Reds lost both of their games over the weekend. They lost on Friday to the AZL Indians 7-5 behind a 3 hit night by Thomas Muller and a homer by Junior Arias. On Saturday, they had a lead going into the 9th but the AZL Athletics got the best of them, as the A-Reds lost 2-1. Pitching was the story here, with the staff taking a no-hitter into the 9th before Patrick Quinn gave up 2 unearned runs in the 9th. Radhames Quezada pitched 5 no-hit innings, with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts in only his first start since coming over from the Domincan Summer League. Luca Panerati, Doug Salinas, and John Mugarian all had perfect innings in relief. Up next: After their off day Sunday, the AZL Reds are back in action against the AZL Brewers at 10.