Top stories
MiLB names Player of the Week recipients: Every Monday, MiLB recognizes the best hitter in each league. For the second straight week, Corpus Christi’s Brandon Barnes was named Player of the Week. He has a ridiculous 13 doubles in 15 games this season, and he had a two homer game during the week. Christian Yelich is off the DL where he was to start the season, and he took home the honor in the Florida State League. In his first seven games, Yelich is batting .500, has six extra base hits and more walks than strikeouts. Other winners include Brad Eldred (IL), Alex Castellanos (PCL), Josh Rodriguez (EL), Scooter Gennett (SL), A.J. Kirby-Jones (Cal), Ronnie Welty (Car), Ender Inciarte (MWL), and Kyle Kubitza (SAL)
MiLB names Pitcher of the Week recipients: Every Monday, MiLB recognizes the best pitcher in each league. For his near-perfect game last week, Edwar Cabrera was honored by the Texas League. His strikeout rate isn’t as high as it’s been in previous seasons, but he’s been very effective so far in AA. When it was announced that Daniel Hudson would be going on the DL in Arizona, people wondered if Trevor Bauer would be called up. He wasn’t, and he earned Southern League Pitcher of the Week with an efficient seven scoreless inning outing where he struck out eight. Other winners include Charles Shirek (IL), Neil Ramirez (PCL), Daniel Rosenbaum (EL), Christian Bergman (Cal), Mike Rayl (Car), Brody Colvin (FSL), Drew Granier (MWL), and Nicholas Tropeano (SAL)
Bisons pitcher Dylan Owen hits home run: As far as I can tell, Owen is the first minor league pitcher to hit a home run this season. The long time Mets farmhand was making his first start of the 2012 season and also pitched solidly. He couldn’t get the win since he only pitched 4.2 innings, but they were effective, only allowing one run on three hits. The blast came in the 5th inning against former Met Pat Misch. This is his first professional home run, and judging by his prior hitting statistics, will probably be his last.
Matsuzaka makes rehab start: At this time last year, it’s hard to imagine the Red Sox or their fans would miss Dice-K, but they need someone, anyone, that can record outs at this point. In his first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery last season, he showed he still has a lot of work to do. The good news is that he didn’t walk anyone which has plagued him lately in the big leagues. The bad news is he was probably pitching in the zone a lot, and in four innings, he allowed three runs on six hits, including two home runs. Striking out three and walking none is one positive to take away from the rehab start.
Turner working his way back: Top prospect Jacob Turner had a chance to win the #5 spot in Detroit’s rotation this spring, but he was ineffective and came away with a shoulder injury. On Monday, he rode the team bus east on I-4 from Lakeland to Daytona to make his first appearance of the season, and he made it count. He pitched four no-hit, scoreless innings while walking two batters. He didn’t record any strikeouts, but it’s a positive that he was able to take the mound and pitch four quality innings. For now, Drew Smyly seems to be holding down the last spot in Detroit’s rotation, but Turner could probably use a little more seasoning anyway.
Lindor smacks first pro home run: Francisco Lindor projects to be a fringe-average power hitter at best, but his first professional home run is still a nice accomplishment. As the second youngest player in the Midwest League, he’s having a respectable season so far, batting .273 with a .728 OPS. He’s a defensive shortstop first which is valuable enough as it is, but he is expected to develop into a quality hitter. He already has six steals as well. Lindor is a switch hitter, and in the early going he’s been hitting much better from the right side.
|
. |
Top Hitters | Aff. | H/AB | R | XBH | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB |
|
. |
Name | |||||||||
|
. |
Anthony Hewitt | CLE | 2/4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
. |
Blake Smith | CHT | 2/5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
. |
Brad Eldred | TOL | 2/4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
. |
Brandon Hicks | SAC | 4/4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
|
. |
Charlie Blackmon | CS | 3/6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
. |
Colin Walsh | QC | 2/3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
|
. |
Cory Vaughn | STL | 3/4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
. |
David Vital | BAK | 2/5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
. |
David Winfree | REN | 4/5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
|
. |
Justin Trapp | KC | 3/4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
. |
Luigi Rodriguez | LC | 3/5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
|
. |
Matt McBride | CS | 4/5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
|
. |
Stefan Welch | BRA | 2/4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
. |
Whit Merrifield | WIL | 3/5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|
. |
Top Pitchers | Aff. | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
|
. |
Name | |||||||
|
. |
Andre Rienzo | WS | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
|
. |
Burch Smith | LE | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
|
. |
Carlos Pimentel | FRI | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|
. |
Chase Anderson | MOB | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
|
. |
Cody Buckel | MB | 6.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
|
. |
Greg Reynolds | RR | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
|
. |
Jake Odorizzi | NWA | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
|
. |
Jason Adam | WIL | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
|
. |
Joe Ross | FW | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
|
. |
John Pedrotty | SB | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
|
. |
Justin Germano | PAW | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
|
. |
Marcus Walding | LNS | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
On tap today
Shelby Miller has chance to get on track
Tim Hudson makes one last rehab start
Chad James takes on Jameson Taillon in Florida
Barnes, Bundy meet in SAL showdown
If you know of a player performance or article that should be shared, let me know on Twitter at @5runrally so I can check it out!
