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Jeffress tries to find command: Jeremy Jeffress has always had great stuff, but he’s been unable to harness it throughout his career. In a small sample of innings in 2010, he showed some progress in AA for Milwaukee and made his ML debut that season. Over the following offseason, he was part of the package sent to Kansas City for Zack Greinke. He started 2011 in KC, but he wasn’t throwing enough strikes to stay in the majors. He’s off to a nice start in AAA this year, but it may be hard to sustain.
Swarzak could be in the majors for good: Anthony Swarzak was a top pick by Minnesota out of high school and through 2007, his career appeared to be on track. Suddenly in 2008, his strikeout rate dropped, but Minnesota hasn’t been an organization that cares about that in recent years. He struggled in his ML debut season in 2009, but he made it back in 2011 and pitched a little better. Thanks to a weak Twins roster, he should be getting a nice audition this season to see if he can stick in the majors. He’s an extreme contact pitcher, but so far in his career he’s done a good job giving batters free passes.
Dawkins out of baseball: For the first time since 1997, baseball is being played without Gookie Dawkins on a roster. He hadn’t appeared in the majors since 2003, but since then he’s bounced from AAA team to AAA team and played nearly 900 games at that level. In recent years, Dawkins went from the White Sox to Marlins organization every other year, and he finished 2011 with a .714 OPS in Charlotte. He was once a top 25 prospect after a very good season at the plate as a shortstop, but he hit just .163 in 110 ML PA’s.
Moviel can’t get on track: At 6’9 and 240 pounds, the Mets hoped they were getting a big, durable workhorse when they made him a second round pick in 2007. In over 450 innings since, things haven’t gone as planned. Moviel has spent four straight seasons in high-A, and he hasn’t shown any signs of improvement. Injuries have held him back, and surprisingly unlike a lot of tall pitchers, throwing strikes was not a problem. The complex league is the only place he’s been able to miss bats.
Former #1 prospect Lambo can’t restore stock: After a quality season in low-A, Andrew Lambo ranked as LA’s top prospect and a top 50 prospect in all of baseball. His potential plus power and bat speed could’ve been a big part of the Dodgers lineup, but he hasn’t replicated that success since. Pittsburgh received him in a trade for Octavio Dotel, hoping to get his career on track. It didn’t happen. Lambo is back in AA for the 5th year, and the results aren’t getting any better. Pittsburgh could use a bat or six, but it doesn’t look like he’ll ever be one of them.
Tate still in low-A: On MLB Network’s first televised draft, Harold Reynolds thought San Diego taking Donavan Tate was a great pick, and that was probably the first sign that things weren’t going to go smoothly. Injuries and his athleticism not translating to production have completely derailed his career, and it’s hard to imagine him ever panning out. He’s shown a flash or two of getting his development on track, but it’s never really been enough to have much hope.
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Top Hitters | Aff. | H/AB | R | XBH | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB |
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Alex Hassan | PAW | 3/5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Angelo Gumbs | CHR | 2/5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
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Anthony Rizzo | IOW | 2/3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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Blake Smith | CHT | 3/4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Brady Shoemaker | WS | 3/4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Chris McGuinness | FRI | 2/5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
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J.T. Realmuto | JUP | 3/5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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James Jones | HD | 2/3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
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Jesus Valdez | HAR | 3/4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
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Jimmy Paredes | OKC | 2/3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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Kyle Kubitza | ROM | 4/4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
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Mark Canha | JUP | 2/3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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Matthew Skole | HAG | 2/3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
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Miguel Sano | BEL | 2/4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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Nate Samson | TEN | 4/4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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Randy Ruiz | REN | 2/5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
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Steven Proscia | HD | 3/4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Taylor Lindsey | IE | 2/4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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Will Middlebrooks | PAW | 2/5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Top Pitchers | Aff. | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
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Anthony Vasquez | TAC | 7.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
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B.J. Hermsen | FM | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
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Barret Loux | FRI | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
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Christian Bergman | MOD | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
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Danny Hultzen | JAC | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
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Darin Gorski | BIN | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
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Fabio Castro | SAC | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
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Jameson Taillon | BRA | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
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Matt Palmer | TUC | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
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Mike Ballard | HAL | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
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Mike Montgomery | OMA | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
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Nicholas Tropeano | LEX | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
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Ryan Carpenter | BG | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
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Santo Perez | HIC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
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Sonny Gray | MID | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
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Terry Doyle | CHA | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
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Trevor Rosenthal | SPR | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
On tap today
Casey Crosby looks to rebound
Wily Peralta tries to keep up momentum
Julio Rodriguez gets another chance to prove himself in AA
Nestor Molina hopes to get on track
Gerrit Cole makes third start
If you know of any player performances or stories that should be shared, please let me know at @5runrally on Twitter so I can check it out!
