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Triple-A: Memphis 9 -- Colorado Springs 10
- Charlie Tilson, LF, 2-for-4, BB, 2 Runs
- Randal Grichuk, CF, 2-for-3, HR, BB, K, 2 Runs, 3 RBI
- Jeremy Hazelbaker, RF, 3-for-4, 2B, BB, K, 2 RBI, CS
- Jacob Wilson, 3B, 0-for-5
- Sam Tuivailala, IP, 3 Hits, 3 ER
Memphis 16 -- Colorado Springs 4
- Charlie Tilson, LF, 3-for-5, HR, 3 Runs, 2 RBI
- Dean Anna, 2B, 2-for-4, BB, 3 Runs
- Jeremy Hazelbaker, CF, 3-for-4, BB, 4 Runs, RBI
- David Washington, 1B, 2-for-3, 2B, 2 BBs, R, 3 RBI
- Jacob Wilson, 3B, 2-for-3, 2 BBs, K, R, 2 RBI
- Miguel Socolovich, IP, H, K
Grichuk's homer was his 2nd in 12 ABs since being sent down. Tilson's homer was also his second of the season, though in 239 ABs. Tilson is holding his own so far in his first run at AAA with a .707 OPS after going 5-for-9 last night, though nothing that calls for him to sniff the majors in more than a late season call up.
Hazelbaker hasn't hit any home runs yet, but he's clobbered the ball so far, going 8-for-13 at the plate. However, aside from that being a small sample size, all three of his full games so far have been in Colorado Springs.
After starting the year on fire in Springfield, Washington was called up to Memphis where he continued to rake, though he's fallen off that pace lately. In his last 10 games he's hitting .176, with no homers and just five walks against 16 Ks, including a golden sombrero he earned on Tuesday. Still his season line is pretty solid, even if you look at just his AAA numbers -- .255/.354/.530.
After making some promising strides to get on the prospect radar the last couple years, it looks like Wilson is not going to be able to make a successful jump from AA to AAA. His line in Memphis last year was .231/.292/.391, and so far he's followed that up with a .195/.256/.292 line this year. Some of that is a downward shock to his BABIP (.256 last year, and .203 entering yesterday's games), but his walk rate has been pedestrian, and his strikeout rate has been below average too.
Double-A: Springfield 6 -- Tulsa 8
- Harrison Bader, CF, 3-for-5, 2 3Bs, 2 Runs, RBI, SB
- Anthony Garcia, RF, 2-for-4, BB, 2 Runs, 2 RBI
- Paul DeJong, 3B, 2-for-5, 2 Ks
- Carson Kelly, C, 2-for-5, K
- Mike Ohlman, 1B, 1-for-4, RBI, K
Harrison Bader has been slumping, relatively, in June. His batting average this month is just .246, which has dropped his OPS to .804 from .960 and .923 in the prior two months. In his last ten he has managed to hit .324, but with just three extra-base hits -- all triples. There's nothing particularly concerning about this; it's most likely just a minor hiccup in what is shaping up to be a great season for a rising prospect.
Don't look right now, but Carson Kelly might have finally started hitting. With a .400 average in his last ten games, he's now at .294/.333/.423 for the year. However, this is really an extension of something that's been going on for a while. Kelly hit .333/.398/.449 in May, and is at .302/.339/.528 so far this month. This is a pretty promising first half-season at the upper levels of the minors, and Kelly is still just 21. I've made a habit of pointing out how lackluster his lines have been so far in his career, so I'd be remiss to leave out that his walk rate is still bad and this has largely been BABIP-driven. Still, this is his highest ISO since his promising Rookie League campaign in 2012.
Pitching against the Cardinals in relief was Jordan Schafer, the formerly promising Braves CF prospect. Now 29, this is his 2nd season as a pitcher. He's been OK this season, with a 24:5 K:BB ratio in 24 IP.
Class A Advanced: St. Lucie 1 -- Tulsa 3
- Darren Seferina, 2B, 1-for-2, BB, K, R, RBI, SB
- Oscar Mercado, SS, 1-for-4, 2B, K, R, E (Throwing; 20th)
- Ian McKinney, 6 2/3 IP, 5 Ks, BB, 6 Hits, R, 0 ER
I know it's eye-popping, but don't worry too much about that error total for Mercado. It's not uncommon for highly-regarded defense prospects to struggle with errors at short before putting it together as they reach the majors. Off the top of my head, I believe Pete Kozma and Brendan Ryan had high error totals in the low minors as well.
This is a pretty good outing for McKinney, but while his season ERA is a solid 3.21 he has a pretty pedestrian 55:27 K:BB ratio. What's kept McKinney's numbers low in his professional career is his minuscule HR rate. In his career he has surrendered just six home runs over 226 1/3 IP, though five of those six have come in this season's 61 2/3 IP.
Class A Short-Season: State College 11 -- Batavia 1
- Tommy Edman, SS, 3-for-4, 2B, 2 BBs, 3 Runs, 2 RBI, SB, CS (6th Round, Stanford)
- Dylan Tice, 2B, 4-for-5, 2 Runs, 2 RBI (36th Round 2015, West Chester)
- Vincent Jackson, LF-RF, 3-for-5, BB, SB, CS (14th Round, Tennessee)
- Danny Hudzina, 3B, 0-for-4, BB, K, R, RBI (10th Round, Western Kentucky)
- Bladimil Franco, DH, 2-for-4, K, R, RBI (Dominican Republic)
- Dailyn Martinez, 7 IP, 6 Ks, BB, 3 Hits, R, 0 ER (Dominican Republic)
- Brady Bowen, 2 IP, 2 Ks, H (Undrafted 2015, Friends)
Rookie DSL: DSL Cardinals 2 -- DSL Rockies 5
- Wadye Ynfante, CF, 2-for-5, 2B, K, R
- Leandro Cedeno, 1B, 3-for-5
- Brian Sanchez, RF, 0-for-5, RBI
- Elehuris Montero, 3B, K, R
Today's Probables:
Memphis: Alex Reyes in Game 1, TBD in Game 2
Springfield: Trey Nielsen
Palm Beach: Austin Gomber
Peoria: Juan Perez
State College: Carson Cross
DSL Cardinals: TBD
Johnson City: Ian Oxnevad
Note: Tomorrow is Johnson City's first game of the year.