7/15 Minor League Wrap-Up

Pretty much every A, AA and AAA league save for the Short Season leagues took Tuesday off in homage to the Exhibition Of Popular Players All Star Game, so not much baseball to report save for the rookie squads.

- Jason Churchill went into some detail at Prospect Insider on some of the scouting info he's received on the low minor leaguers, and mentioned an interesting tidbit: apparently the DSL and VSL umpires call a generous strike zone, which hampers the hitters and helps the pitchers.

In light of this, that makes the DSLM's team OBP (now tied for tops in the DSL at .372) even more impressive: Given a liberal strike zone, the DSLMs are still able to draw a ton of walks.

- In the top 9th yesterday, DSLMs pitcher Henry Perez accomplished a dubious feat: he recorded a strikeout without retiring a batter. Perez uncorked a wild pitch on a two strike count which, true to form, Abraham De Leon swung at and missed for strike three, but it got past Hassiel Jimenez and De Leon was able to safely reach 1st. Perez walked the next batter and got the hook.

- Round two for JJ Putz's rehab stint went even better than round one. He retired all six batters he faced in his Peoria rehab start, with 3 K's and 2 groundouts.

Speaking of returning faces, Brazilian pitching prospect Jean Tome, who spent last year with the VSLMs, made his 2008 debut right after Putz... but couldn't find the strike zone, recorded one groundout, uncorked a wild pitch and walked three batters before taking a seat. Richard Ortiz allowed two of those runners to score, but finished the 3rd and worked through the 5th, eventually recording the win as the AZLMs blew the game open in the 4th and 5th innings.

- Pulaski used a bullpen relay yesterday, with Kyle Haas opening with 3 hitless innings (incredible given the guy had given up 28 runs in his previous 14 innings). Said relay took a no-hitter into the 7th, before Brian Conley finally lined a single off Brandon Pullen with one out to break it up. Fortunately for the PMs, they had a 3-0 lead at this point, and Pullen finished the 7th and 8th without allowing another hit. But Philip Roy allowed two runs on a walk, back to back lined singles and two sacrifices to make it close before finally getting Levi Carolus on strikes to end the game.

- We talk a lot about Dennis Freaking Raben, but how about Juan Freaking Fuentes, running a 464/519/623 line in Pulaski after 69 ABs, with 8 doubles and 10 walks vs 7 Ks? Granted, Pulaski can be friendly towards hitters, but still!

- Dave Cameron suggested at USSM that readers go check out last night's Aquasox game in Everett, against the meh but competitive Eugene Emeralds, and while Walter Suriel and Co helped keep Dave's promise that there would be offense (13 runs between the two teams), Suriel struck out a surprising 11 batters in 5 innings. However, methinks home plate umpire Charles Billington was calling a strike zone larger than the Hewitt Avenue Trestle, because Everett relievers added 5 more K's before the 9th and Emeralds pitching racked up 9 Ks of their own for an astonishing total of 25 Ks between the two teams. These are not two teams known for hacking tendencies either or for their prowess as strikeout pitchers.

Let's look at stats, statheads!

VENEZUELA~! The VSLMs game with the VSL Phillies was rained out.

Dominican: DSL Mariners 12, DSL AthleticsUno 10
DSLMs: 26-10... DSLA1s: 15-11
(League: 235/339/320... 3.73 ERA)

Miguel Celestino: 4 IP, 7 H, (5 R) 3 ER, walk, 4 K (8 GS +1, 2.31 ERA, 39 IP, 6/31 BB/K)
Anthony Fernandez: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, walk, 6 K, wild pitch (5 GS +5, 3.53 ERA, 35.2 IP, 16/32 BB/K)
Gregorio Aquino: no outs recorded, 3 H, 4 ER, walk
Henry Perez: no outs recorded, walk, K, wild pitch (5 GS +3, 2.54 ERA, 28.1 IP, 14/38 BB/K)
Nelson Germocen: 1 IP, walk, K, hit batter (15 app, 1.11 ERA, 24.1 IP, 12/37 BB/K)
Efrain Nuñez: 3-4, triple, R, K (291/396/558)
Ameilis Carvajal: 1-5, 2 run HR, 2 R, 4 RBI (256/407/395)
Hassiel Jimenez: 2-5, 2 doubles, 3 R (341/467/424)
Mario Flores: 2-5, 2 doubles, R, 2 RBI (307/442/511)
Ramon Morla: 2-4, 3 RBI (221/406/338)
Rey Lebron: 0-5, 4 K: The Golden Sombrero (203/292/234)
Marbin Beltre: 3-4, double, 2 R, K, SB #10 (272/409/304)

Rk-AZL: Mariners 10, Brewers 2
AZLMs: 8-12... Brewers: 3-15
(League: 265/345/384... 4.46 ERA)

JJ Putz: 2 IP, 3 K
Jean Tome: one out, 2 ER, 3 walks, wild pitch
Richard Ortiz: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 walks, 3 K (7 app, 0.73 ERA, 12.1 IP, 9/12 BB/K)
Taylor Stanton: 1 IP, 1 H, K
Colin Buckborough: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 walks, 2 K, hit batter (6 app, 4.41 ERA, 16.1 IP, 1 HR, 9/15 BB/K)
Terry Serrano: 2-4, double, R, RBI, walk, K (246/270/333)
Joel Mendez: 1-2, double, R, K (301/320/370)
Jarrett Burgess: 1-4, R, RBI, K (194/250/239)
Emmanuel Familia: 1-4, triple, R, 2 RBI, K
Jharmidy De Jesus: 3-3, double, solo HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, walk (342/385/507)

Rk+: Pulaski 3, Bluefield 2
PMs: 19-8... BLU: 9-18
(League: 265/336/397... 4.38 ERA)

Kyle Haas: 3 IP, 3 walks, 5 K (6 GS, 10.59 ERA, 17 IP, 1 HR, 16/16 BB/K)
Brent Gaphardt: 2 IP, K
Jordan Alvis: 1 IP, 3 K
Brandon Pullen: 2 IP, 1 H, 4 K (7 app, 2.38 ERA, 11.1 IP, 2 HR, 2/12 BB/K)
Philip Roy: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, walk, K (9 app, 1.10 ERA, 16.1 IP, 5/16 BB/K)
Jose Rivero: 1-3, 2 RBI (333/421/489)
Juan Fuentes: 2-2, RBI, walk (464/519/623)
Gabriel Noriega: 2-4
Dwight Britton: 2-4, double, R (194/257/328)

A-: Eugene 7, Everett 6
EVE: 11-17... EUG: 11-17
(League: 254/343/363... 4.14 ERA)

Walter Suriel: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER (2 HR), 2 walks, 11 K, balk (6 GS, 6.09 ERA, 34 IP, 7 HR, 14/33 BB/K)
Doug Salinas: two outs, 3 ER, 3 walks, K, hit batter (8 app, 3 GS, 5.33 ERA, 25.1 IP, 1 HR, 13/23 BB/K)
Matt Renfree: 2.1 IP, 1 H, walk, 4 K (11 app, 2.66 ERA, 20.1 IP, 1 HR, 7/24 BB/K)
Javier Martinez: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 walks, wild pitch (10 app, 6.97 ERA, 10.1 IP, 1 HR, 9/8 BB/K)
Ryan Royster: 1-2, R, RBI (165/280/190)
Bennett Billingsley: 2-4, double, RBI, walk (246/324/366)
Dennis Freaking Raben: 0-5, 2 K. Damn.
Brandon Fromm: 3-4, double, R, RBI (292/338/338)
Welington Dotel: 2-4, R, RBI, K (262/318/279)
Tyson Gillies: 2-4, double, R, 2 RBI, K

A: The T-Rats had Tuesday off.

A+: The Mavs also had Tuesday off.

AA: Hey, look at that. The Southern League also took Tuesday off.

AAA: And oh, hey, look... the PCL is on their All Star Break!