Well, it's August 1st, and the names in our minor league system today are strikingly similar to the ones that have been there all year. It's nice that we can be comforted by the fact that we'll be getting to see Yasmani Grandal, Devin Mesoraco, and Travis Wood's names here for the remainder of the season, but the promising young pitcher we should have acquired for Ramon Hernandez will be sorely missed. So here's an update of the same old names.
Dave Sappelt
He's come back to earth after coming off the DL a month ago and has evened out to a tune of a .857 OPS so far this year, but his line of .429/.457/.476 of his last 10 games is a step in the right direction. I'd like to see him walk more, but that's a line I'd take out of a future leadoff hitter. Of course, this is Walt we're talking about, so don't expect to see him in Cincinnati anytime soon.
Billy Hamilton
Yes, I know he was here last week, but he hasn't slowed down at all. It looks like he's actually figuring out how to hit. A .400/.467/.650 line in his last 10 games is damn impressive (with 3 triples!), and he still leads the free friggin' world in stolen bases with 75.
Donald Lutz
The German import is having a decent season so far, but has been raking lately. Check out this excellent write-up in the Dayton Daily News about his story, and he's put up a 1.200 OPS in his last 10 games, kicked off by the cycle he hit for last week, the first in Dragons history. Prost!
Eric Campbell
After killing it in Bako to start the year (1.121 OPS in 46 games), Campbell has quieted after his hot start in Carolina. His OPS there is a pedestrian .743, but his .171/.256/.171 line in his last 10 games is pretty rough.
Juan Duran
He's had a solid year so far, and looks to be a real prospect, but he's struggling right now. He has a .631 OPS in his last 10 games, but the most telling stat to me is his 17 strikeouts to only 1 walk in that span. That's horrible, and he has 116 on the year in 258 at bats, which is honestly pretty hard to do. I think he's going to need to work on his plate discipline.
Gabriel Rosa
No pic for this year's 2nd round pick yet, but this can't be the start he was looking for. In the 11 games he's had since signing, he's hitting .184/.256/.342 (mostly in the 3 hole), with only 3 walks on the year. It's way too early to make any judgements on this sample yet, but I'm hoping he can get some positives out of his first year of pro ball.
On to the weekend's games.
- Louisville won all 3 of their games over the weekend. The Bats took an early lead on Friday to beat Rochester 8-3. Dave Sappelt and Jeremy Hermida had 3 hits each, and Chris Valaika hit a solo homer. Denis Phipps, Devin Mesoraco, and Mike Costanzo drove in 2 runs each. Matt Maloney got the start on rehab, and gave up 2 runs in 4 innings, getting up to 72 pitches. Jared Burton went 1 2/3 innings in his rehab outing, allowing a hit and walking 2. On Saturday, the Bats squeaked out a 3-2 win. Travis Wood pitched 5 innings, giving up 2 runs with 8 strikeouts. Dave Sappelt and Kris Negron had multi-hit games. The Bats finished off their weekend with a 7-2 win over Rochester. Daryl Thompson threw 6 2/3 innings with 7 strikeouts, only giving up 1 run off of 4 hits. Dave Sappelt was 4-for-5 and Jeremy Hermida hit his 11th homer of the season. Up next: Edinson Volquez will take on Pawtucket at 7:05.
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Carolina won 2 of their 3 weekend games. They beat Jacksonville 6-2 on Friday, behind a solid game by James Avery. Avery went 5 2/3 innings and gave up 2 runs. Neftali Soto was 2-for-3 with his 20th homer of the year, and the brand new Bill Rhinehart was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. They won 4-2 on Saturday behind 7 innings of 2-run ball from Kyle McCulloch. Henry Rodriguez had 2 hits and Bill Rhinehart hit his first homer as a Mudcat (and his 22nd of the year). They couldn't pull off the third weekend game on Sunday, getting shut out 1-0. Justin Lehr pitched 5 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts, but unfortunately didn't get any support, as the Mudcats mustered up 2 hits on the evening. Up next: The Mudcats take on Huntsville at the ridiculous start time of 7:43.
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Bakersfield lost all 3 of their games. They lost 11-10 on Friday, despite a pretty good night by the offense. Dayne Read had 3 hits and 5 of the starters drove in runs. They lost 7-3 to Modesto on Saturday. Josh Ravin gave up 6 runs (4 earned) in 6 2/3 innings, and Jordan Wideman had 2 hits. They lost 4-3 to Lancaster on Sunday to cap off their weekend, despite a decent start by Mark Serrano. Serrano went 6 innings, giving up 4 runs with 7 strikeouts and no walks. Brodie Greene and Stephen Hunt had 2 hits each. Up next: They take on Lancaster again at 10:45.
- Dayton lost all 3 of their weekend games. They lost 2-1 on Friday to Fort Wayne. Mitchell Clarke pitched 4 innings of 2-run ball after Tanner Robles only went 2 innings in his start. It's worth noting that Brian Pearl pitched 3 innings and only gave up 2 hits with 7 strikeouts in relief. Donald Lutz's triple drove in the Dragons' only run. The pitching got shelled on Saturday, suffering a 9-3 loss. Stalin Gerson gave up 3 runs in 4 innings. Theo Bowe had 2 hits and David Vidal hit his 14th homer of the year. Sunday wasn't any better, as they dropped to Bowling Green 3-1. Daniel Corcino had a decent start, where he gave up 3 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings with 6 strikeouts, but his offense didn't help him out much. Billy Hamilton and David Vidal had 2 hits each. Up next: Josh Smith takes on Bowling Green at 7:35.
- Billings dropped 2 of 3 over the weekend. They lost 10-7 to Helena on Friday. Wes Mugarian got shelled, giving up 6 runs (5 earned) and didn't make it out of the 4th inning. Drew Poulk and Nick O'Shea had 3-run homers to cap off a 7-run 6th inning, but it wasn't enough. They made up for it with a 4-2 win on Saturday, in 11 innings. Tony Cingrani started and pitched 4 shutout frames, and El'Hajj Muhammad pitched 2 shutout innings in relief to get the win. The offense was pretty anemic until the 11th, when Sean Buckley hit a walk-off 2-run bomb. They lost 6-4 on Sunday, despite 12 team hits. Danny Vicioso had 3 hits, and Junior Arias hit his 3rd homer of the year. Radhames Quezada struck out 7 in 5 1/3 innings, but gave up 4 runs. Up next: Ismael Guillon takes on Helena at 9:05.
- The AZL Reds won 2 of 3 over the weekend, but dropped a ridiculous 24-4 score on Friday to the AZL Cubs. Joel Bender gave up 4 runs in 4 innings, but last time I checked, the bullpen giving up 20 runs in 4 innings isn't a good thing. Juan Francisco was 3-for-4 on rehab, and could have probably pitched. They won 7-5 on Saturday. Eliezer Beard went 5 innings of 3-run ball with 7 strikeouts. Brandon Dailey was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. They beat the AZL Tribe 3-2 behind 7 innings from Justice French, who gave up 2 runs with 3 strikeouts. Up next: They take on the AZL Angels at 2 PM.