8/6 Minor League Wrap-Up

by Gomez on Aug 7, 2008 1:30 PM PDT Comment 34 comments

- The comeback continues for Austin Bibens-Dirkx. ABD set the tone in his 2 innings for the AZLMs pitching staff yesterday by striking out the side in the 1st and going groundout, groundout, strikeout in the 2nd. The AZLMs pitching staff countered by throwing up 7 more zeroes for a shutout, including an unlikely 4 shutout innings from the struggling Fray Martinez, though the game remained a scoreless tie into the bottom 9th, where Jarrett Burgess, who I just labeled a couple days ago as an overmatched teenager, hit a one out walkoff double to lock up a 1-0 victory.

Granted, the AZL Royals have a league low .624 team OPS, but let's not rain on the parade.

- Brett Lorin took a curiously early exit in the 4th inning of Wisconsin's game yesterday. He had given up a couple runs and 4 hits, but had struck out 6, only walked two, and his outing didn't strike me as a game from which he would get chased. Chris Mehring's been having issues posting at Rattler Radio, so there was no subsequent news on any specifics within the game... but the game log gives a clue: the last batter he faced, Jose Felix, singled on a ground ball to SS, and Jonathan Greene scored from 2nd. Runners don't generally score from 2nd on a groundball to short unless the batted ball is deflected. Could Lorin have possibly deflected an errant line drive off some part of his body? Hopefully, he is okay. EDIT: He's fine. See Chris Mehring's comments below (under RattlerRadio).

Meanwhile, the T-Rats had to run a serious bullpen relay out there, using 5 relievers, but they came back from 4-0 down with a 5 run frame late in the game to win 5-4.

- So the Mavs run Steve Uhlmansiek, their rehabilitated reliever, to start yesterday's game against Lake Elsinore, because that's how desperate things get in High Desert, and Uhlmansiek does the weirdest thing: he allows one run, a walk and four hits while pitching into the 6th inning. While he had a bit of help pitching in Lake Elsinore, one of the Cal League's pitching friendlier locales... he also helped himself by inducing 9 groundballs, walking next to no one and keeping the line drives to a minimum.

Groundballs: 9
Flyballs: 5
Line Drives: 2
Pop Ups: 1
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 3

- As to who Brandon Morrow replaced in Tacoma... surprise, surprise: Joe Woerman was demoted to AA West Tenn, which is for the best given the guy walked the world both as a starter and as a reliever in AAA and got tattooed when his pitches found the zone. He got the start in Jackson, TN last night and pitched six strong innings, walking only one. Curious. Could the walks have been a product of being a little gun-shy towards AAA hitters in launchpads?
Groundballs: 8
Flyballs: 7
Line Drives: 4
Walks: 1 (plus 2 hit batters)
Strikeouts: 5

Even more surprising was the pitcher who worked the 9th for the DIAMOND JAXX: Doug FISTER. THE FIST has had notorious struggles as a starter in AA over the last couple years. Could it be that the org decided it was time to move Dougie Fistball to the bullpen, given the org largely profiles him as a reliever anyway? Or could they be giving him a rest after a long season?

Either way, these two aren't the pitching story of the game, as even though they pitched well, the DIAMOND JAXX could not score enough runs off Nic Ungs (7 GS, 1.96 ERA, 46 IP, 4 HR, 10/24 BB/K), a typical 28 year old veteran retread, who is having a surprisingly good year as a hired gun for Huntsville, and threw a CG 5 hitter against West Tenn.

- There's nothing I can add about Brandon Morrow's 34 pitches yesterday for Tacoma that Jason Churchill and his sources can't say better, so head on over for finer details. But in a nutshell, he recorded 5 outs, struck out one, he was a bit off all the way, sat at 92-93 with the fastball while occasionally dialing up to 95-97, and while he was still up with the heat, he kept his offspeed stuff down in the zone.

And like ABD in Peoria, Morrow's hot outing sparked the pitching staff, as they threw a 4 hit shutout. Scott Shoemaker finished the 2nd for Morrow and pitched through the 4th, allowing only a walk and 3 hits. Denny Stark threw 3 hitless innings after that, and Hubertime worked a perfect 9th, as the Rainiers rolled to an 8-0 win over lowly Albuquerque, the Rainiers' 9th win a row!

- WLAD's departure didn't dramtically shift the Rainiers outfield. Jon Nelson started in left, Prentice Redman in center and Shawn Garrett in RF. Victor Diaz can still "play" the corners, and though he's at the Olympics right now, Michael Saunders will be back in a couple weeks. If anything happens to Redman, they can always go get Brent Johnson or somebody from West Tenn (no, it probably won't be Greg Halman).

- So what is the deal with Matt Tuiasosopo's power spike? I want to explore the question, but First Inning decided to be funny and post no splits whatsoever for Tui's 2008. Really funny, guys. I can tell you, however, that he hit 5 of his HRs in June, but 11 of his doubles in July, plus his K's went way up in July. He is walking more the last couple months, though that likely is a pitching byproduct of his hot streak.

Let's look at stats....

Dominican: DSL Cardinals 16, DSL Mariners 5
DSLMs: 35-20... DSL Cardoids: 21-31
(League: 237/339/321... 3.72 ERA)

Gregorio Aquino: 3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, walk, 4 K, balk (11 app, 1st start, 7.80 ERA, 15 IP, 1 HR, 9/11 BB/K)
Bruno Mercedes: 2 IP, 6 H, (7 R) 6 ER (HR), 3 walks, 2 K, wild pitch, hit batter (20 app, 3.56 ERA, 55.2 IP, 2 HR, 21.61 BB/K)
Julio Antigua: 3 IP, 7 H, (8 R) 3 ER (HR), 2 walks, 2 K, wild pitch (10 app, 4.80 ERA, 15 IP, 1 HR, 9/11 BB/K)
Axel Wel: 3-4, 2 doubles, R, 2 RBI (271/357/333)
Oliver Garcia: 1-4, 3 run HR, K (196/333/314)
rest of DSLMs lineup: 4-25, 4 walks, 9 K

Rk-AZL: Mariners 1, Royals 0
AZLMs: 6-3... AZL Royals: 2-7
(League: 265/349/379... 4.45 ERA)

Austin Bibens-Dirkx: 2 IP, 4 K
Fray Martinez: 4 IP, 2 H, 5 K (7 GS +3, 7.08 ERA, 40.2 IP, 4 HR, 18/39 BB/K)
Brandon Maurer: 3 IP, 2 H, walk, 4 K
Jarrett Burgess: 1-3, walkoff RBI double, walk, SBs #10 & 11 (211/290/260)
rest of AZLMs lineup: 4-26, 7 K

Rk+: Pulaski 5, Johnson City 2
PMs: 29-19... JC: 25-23
(League: 264/335/395... 4.26 ERA)

Nick Czyz: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 walks, 6 K, wild pitch (7 GS +4, 4.15 ERA, 43.1 IP, 2 HR, 15/43 BB/K)
Stephen Penney: 2.2 IP, 1 H, K, wild pitch (11 app, 6.23 ERA, 17.1 IP, 1/10 BB/K)
Blake Nation: 1 IP, walk, K (13 app, 3.00 ERA, 18 IP, 1 HR, 7/19 BB/K)
Dwight Britton: 2-3, double, triple, 3 R, K (258/297/422)
Deybis Benitez: 1-4, R, 2 RBI (309/380/519)
Mario Martinez: 3-3, R, sac fly RBI (322/347/486)
Juan Fuentes: 3-4, 2 RBI, K (369/439/496)

A-: Everett 6, Tri City 3
EVE: 20-29... 3C: 23-26
(League: 257/346/374... 4.24 ERA)

Aaron Brown: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 walks, 4 K, 2 wild pitches (7 GS +4, 5.45 ERA, 38 IP, 1 HR, 31/28 BB/K)
Bradley Reid: one out, 3 walks, K, wild pitch (8 app, 6.10 ERA, 10.1 IP, 1 HR, 7/6 BB/K)
Christian Staehely: 1 IP, 1 H, walk, K (13 app, 4.38 ERA, 24.2 IP, 1 HR, 19/17 BB/K)
Matt Renfree: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 2 K (17 app, 2.31 ERA, 35 IP, 1 HR, 14/36 BB/K)
Bennett Billingsley: 1-4, 3 RBI, K (250/324/411)
Fleming Baez: 1-3, double, RBI, walk (232/315/366)
rest of Aquasox lineup: 2-21, 4 walks, 5 K

A: Wisconsin 5, Clinton 4
WIS: 14-31... CLI: 23-22
(League: 252/323/374... 3.70 ERA)

Brett Lorin: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 walks, 6 K, wild pitch (5 GS, 3.63 ERA, 22.1 IP, 1 HR, 10/25 BB/K)
Ryan Moorer: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, K (36 app, 4.04 ERA, 49 IP, 2 HR, 19/35 BB/K)
Natividad Dilone: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 K, wild pitch (17 app, 4.70 ERA, 23 IP, 2 HR, 11/23 BB/K)
Jose Jimenez: two outs, walk, K
Robert Harmon: no outs recorded, 2 walks (29 app, 8.03 ERA, 37 IP, 3 HR, 32/40 BB/K)
Jeff Dunbar: 1.1 IP, walk
Ronald Garth: 1-5, double, 2 K (265/318/403)
Joe Dunigan: 2-4, R, RBI, walk, K, SB #22 (230/289/407)
Alex Liddi: 2-5, R, RBI, K, SB #16 (223/288/330)
Israel Nuñez: 2-4, double, 2 RBI (212/268/281)
Maximo Mendez: 2-3, RBI, walk, K, SBs #21 & 22 (248/341/346)

A+: Lake Elsinore 4, High Desert 2
Mavs: 20-25... Lake: 22-23
(League: 274/342/414... 4.57 ERA)

Steve Uhlmansiek: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, walk, 3 K (29 app, 3 GS, 4.34 ERA, 45.2 IP, 4 HR, 22/35 BB/K)
Alfredo Venegas: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, hit batter (11 GS +9, 5.19 ERA, 85 IP, 8 HR, 26/78 BB/K)
Nick Hill: 1.1 IP (26 app, 10 GS, 4.78 ERA, 81 IP, 7 HR, 39/67 BB/K)
Steven Richard: two outs, 1 H, (2 R) 1 ER (HR), K (22 app, 4.65 ERA, 31 IP, 2 HR, 19/31 BB/K)
Carlos Triunfel: 2-3, walk (288/337/413)
Travis Scott: 1-3, double, R, walk (280/348/475)
Joe Simokaitis: 0-4, 4 K: The Golden Sombrero (277/340/457)
Kevin Reynolds: 2-4, R
Ogui Diaz: 1-4, RBI, 3 K (248/273/330)
Geraldo Valentin: 1-4, RBI (238/273/349)

AA: Huntsville 3, West Tenn 1
WTN: 18-27... HUN: 22-24
(League: 263/341/400... 4.20 ERA)

Joe Woerman: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, walk, 5 K, 2 hit batters
Jason Kershner: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, K
Doug FISTER: 1 IP, K
Greg Halman: 2-4, RBI, K (289/329/503)
Jeff Dominguez: 1-3, double, K (214/278/284)
rest of DIAMOND JAXX lineup: 2-23, walk, 4 K

AAA: Tacoma 8, Albuquerque 0
TAC: 63-55... ALB: 50-68
(League: 276/347/442... 4.84 ERA)

Brandon Morrow: 1.2 IP, 1 H, K
Scott Shoemaker: 3.1 IP, 3 H, walk, 2 K (27 app, 6 GS, 6.28 ERA, 67.1 IP, 14 HR, 28/43 BB/K)
Denny Stark: 3 IP, 3 K
Jon Huber: 1 IP, 2 K (42 app, 7.08 ERA, 54.2 IP, 4 HR, 19/42 BB/K)
Prentice Redman: 3-4, double, 2 R, RBI (308/383/538)
Matt Tuiasosopo: 2-4, solo HR, 2 run HR, 3 R, walk, K (272/355/429)
Victor Diaz: 1-4, 3 run HR, walk, K (288/373/550)
Craig Wilson: 2-4, 2 doubles, RBI, walk, 2 K (300/429/563)
Shawn Garrett: 1-5, double, K (295/323/441)

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Comments

Damn Tui...

I'm back to liking midgets too much.

by Thingray on Aug 7, 2008 1:35 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I thought I heard that Saunders wouldn't be coming back this year.

I want to say I saw that on FSN, but can’t recall exactly.

Is it just me, or is this AJ trade looking worse every day?

by The Alaskan on Aug 7, 2008 1:49 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I thought I heard the same thing.

Olympics, then his season is over.

I'm back to liking midgets too much.

by Thingray on Aug 7, 2008 3:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You may be right

I may be crazy.

by Gomez on Aug 7, 2008 3:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Okay Billy.

I'm back to liking midgets too much.

by Thingray on Aug 7, 2008 4:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Isn't it typical

for hitters in AAA to start doing better after the first few months after the legit pitching prospects have been called up to the majors? To what extent is Tui’s recent success due to lower-quality competition?

by greymstreet on Aug 7, 2008 2:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Probably none

Tui being younger then most people at his level still has a learning curve, but the power has been virtually non existent at any level he’s been. His walk rates have always been steady, and he has shown he can hit for average, but while he has the bat speed and power potential, he hasn’t shown it.

This year he’s showing massive improvement. Inferior pitching opponents or no, it’s still a step up for him.

Fans are typically idiots.

by The Typical Idiot Fan on Aug 7, 2008 2:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

When the arguments were brought up with Clement and Adam Jones, those guys had a previous track record of hitting for power. Tui’s power has never appeared before.

by Gomez on Aug 7, 2008 2:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sometimes a clue isn't a clue

Those game log things aren’t the most accurate things in the world.

The “single to SS” was more like a high chopper that landed half way between the mound and second base and dribbled to a stop. Greene was running on contact with two outs and scored without a play as the throw just missed beating Felix to first.

A more likely scenario: Since he was an ‘08 draft pick and tossed 48-1/3 innings at Long Beach before signing - and 22-1/3 innings with Everett before joining the Rattlers - Seattle is limiting Lorin’s pitch count to somewhere in the 65-75 per game. This is something they have done with other pitchers.

For example, last year Shawn Kelley was limited in the number of innings he was able to toss for the Rattlers. It was innings instead of pitches because of his relief role, but the theory holds the same. Limit the amount of work for a draft pick out of college who pitched a lot for their college team.

I had Lorin at 74 pitches after the infield single. It was simply time for him to come out of the game.

He has pitched well, but has gone too deep into counts to stick around long in his outings for Wisconsin. Last night, he went to a full count on six batters and was 2-2 to two others.

That’s all. Hey! Internet is working at the ballpark. Maybe I should take care of my own blog.

by RattlerRadio on Aug 7, 2008 2:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks Chris

Good stuff

by dnc on Aug 7, 2008 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Duly noted

Thanks, Chris! “Too many pitches” sits a lot better with me than “might be hurt”.

by Gomez on Aug 7, 2008 2:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Any chance

in your eyes that Craig Wilson gets a shot at first base with the M’s?

by AZSEAfan on Aug 7, 2008 2:23 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I would have said hell no about Tuglett or Baek Bait spending time in the majors

so never say never

by Gomez on Aug 7, 2008 2:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd rather have this guy, I think...

But I heard he’s sort of a douche…

My layout.spellcheckDefault goes to 11

by PositivePaul on Aug 7, 2008 2:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He's really tearing it up in AAA.

Probably getting some benefits from the ballpark/elevation of Albuquerque.

by Jed MC on Aug 7, 2008 3:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

No doubt in my mind...

But his lefty swing would do OK in Safeco, too. Maybe not 40HR OK, but he’d be cheap…

My layout.spellcheckDefault goes to 11

by PositivePaul on Aug 7, 2008 3:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Is that Dallas McPherson?

I'm back to liking midgets too much.

by Thingray on Aug 7, 2008 4:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yup.

My layout.spellcheckDefault goes to 11

by PositivePaul on Aug 7, 2008 4:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why is a douche?

I'm back to liking midgets too much.

by Thingray on Aug 7, 2008 4:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Personality...

Thinks he pwns the world. Had a ton of talent but wasted it, really, by not putting much effort into baseball. That’s what I heard anyway—I can’t confirm or deny this, since I’ve never met him or paid much attention.

My layout.spellcheckDefault goes to 11

by PositivePaul on Aug 7, 2008 10:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Because Cantu is blocking him?

Is it just me, or is this AJ trade looking worse every day?

by The Alaskan on Aug 7, 2008 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cantu's not having a bad year in Florida either

by Gomez on Aug 7, 2008 10:46 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was thinking Cantu played first.

But it’s Mike Jacobs. Who doesn’t look good (.812 career OPS). This guy isn’t blocking Dallas is he?

I still don’t understand why Paul thinks he’d be cheap.

Is it just me, or is this AJ trade looking worse every day?

by The Alaskan on Aug 8, 2008 8:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why would McPherson be cheap?

Well, considering he was a minor league free agent last year, he’d be cheap. He defines the term freely available talent. This year, I don’t know, he certainly wouldn’t be AS cheap, in just the same way that RA Dickey is more valuable now than this spring. But he still wouldn’t cost anything to sign if you could work something out with Florida.

by marc w on Aug 8, 2008 9:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I thought we were talking cheap in a larger sense.

I guess I’m more concerned with what we’d have to give up to get that kind of talent. What are Florida’s needs? How about a Japanese catcher?

Is it just me, or is this AJ trade looking worse every day?

by The Alaskan on Aug 8, 2008 10:43 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not much

The guy’s a minor-league free agent who hasn’t cracked the Marlins roster and has been rather injury prone. It’s not THAT different from someone asking what it would take to pry Prentice Redman from the M’s.

There you go – there’s a perfect trade for ya: Redman for McPherson, straight up. Marlins get speed and a massive improvement on Willingham’s D in left, M’s get 3B with power.

One thing I’ve noticed in the 2 games I saw in this series: McPherson is a “3b.” Maybe platoon DH/1B, but still…

by marc w on Aug 8, 2008 11:20 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs