Due to scheduling difficulties, I won’t be able to include players whose games end at 11:30 or later. Sorry to all Cal League and PCL fans.
Top stories
AAA outfielder promoted to majors: It was announced that Lorenzo Cain suffered another another injury just before returning from the DL, and the Royals decided to bring up Jarrod Dyson from Omaha and option the struggling Jason Bourgeois to AAA. Also in one that flew under the radar a bit, Washington placed Ryan Zimmerman on the DL and called up Bryce Harper to add some power to the lineup. For now, he will be playing left field.
Durham drops another: Three days ago, Durham had a chance to end their losing streak before it hit 10, but they blew a lead and their offense couldn’t get them back in it. On Friday, they were never close as Alex Torres was charged with seven runs in 1+ innings. The pitching settled down somewhat as the game wore on, and Indianapolis ended up winning 13-2. MLB veterans Jake Fox and Nick Evans each drove in three runs with the benefit of one home run. Jo-Jo Reyes started and won the game for the Indians, and he’s off to a 3-0 start after completing a historically bad losing streak last season in the majors. One more loss and Durham will tie the franchise record for longest losing streak.
Wisconsin pitches shutout at Miller Park: Every year, Miller Park hosts what Milwaukee hopes is some future Brewers. In tonight’s edition, Wisconsin shut out Reds affiliate Dayton 3-0 behind a strong effort by Drew Gagnon. He struck out four and only allowed four hits and one walk in eight scoreless innings, and Tommy Toledo picked up the save. Outfielder Max Walla drove in all the runs with a three run home run in the first inning, and that proved to be all the scoring.
Andre Rienzo suspended: One of two suspensions announced by baseball today was White Sox pitcher Andre Rienzo. He will miss 50 games after his positive test for a performance enhancing drug, and at the very least, this will hurt Winstom-Salem. His actual prospect status was questionable due to a lack of secondary stuff and his advanced age for the level, but he got off to a great start. He led the Carolina League in strikeouts, and his WHIP was just .96 in his second tour around the league. He has a great fastball, but if he can’t develop more pitches, it’ll be hard to keep advancing.
Josh Bell goes under the knife: Earlier in the week, Pirates prospect Josh Bell was taken out of a game early due to knee pain. The Pirates announced that he underwent surgery on his left meniscus, and that’s going to keep him out of action for a while. Meniscus problems can be serious, but the Pirates seem optimistic, saying they expect Bell to return to game action later this season. Bell was off to a bit of a slow start, but that’s not out of the ordinary for a young player in low-A. He was especially struggling batting from the right side, posting an OPS under .300 against lefties. He’s batting .274, but he’s had a very aggressive approach and not much power yet.
Russell Wilson drafted by Seattle: He didn’t even play 100 professional games, but Wilson decided last year that baseball wasn’t for him. He showed tools and some promise, and it would’ve been interesting to see what he could’ve been if he had stuck with it. He was drafted twice, once by the Orioles so late he didn’t bother signing and again by Colorado in 2010. No one selected in the 4th round of 2010 has reached the majors yet, but there is a handful of promising players such as A.J. Cole, James Paxton, James Baldwin, Garin Cecchini and Mason Williams. The former North Carolina State and Wisconsin star Quarterback appears to be Seattle’s third string QB for now.
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Top Hitters | Aff. | H/AB | R | XBH | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB |
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Aaron Hicks | NB | 2/6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
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Andy Gonzalez | HUN | 3/5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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B.A. Vollmuth | BUR | 2/4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
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Gift Ngoepe | BRA | 2/4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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Jabari Blash | CLI | 2/4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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Joel Guzman | PEN | 2/4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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Jose Cuevas | AUG | 2/4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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Lucas May | BUF | 2/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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Matt Hague | IND | 4/6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Michael Earley | WS | 2/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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Michael Spina | MID | 2/4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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Nate Freiman | SA | 2/3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Nick Evans | IND | 4/6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Ross Wilson | KAN | 4/5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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Ryan Strausborger | FRI | 3/4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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Taylor Harbin | REN | 3/5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Tyler Saladino | BIR | 3/5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
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Wade Moore | POT | 2/4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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Zachary Johnson | LEX | 2/5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Top Pitchers | Aff. | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
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Aaron Northcraft | LYN | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
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Alex Gillingham | ASH | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
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Alex Sanabia | NO | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
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Austin Wright | CLE | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
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Brandon Workman | SAL | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
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David Rollins | LNS | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
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Drew Gagnon | WIS | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
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Ethan Martin | CHT | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
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Grant Dayton | JUP | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
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Jeff Francis | LOU | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
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Justin Fitzgerald | RIC | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
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Justin Grimm | FRI | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
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Kyle Hald | QC | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
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Luis Cruz | LEX | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
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Mike Ballard | HAR | 5.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
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Patrick Francescon | PEO | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
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Taijuan Walker | JAC | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
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Tyler Wilson | DEL | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
On tap today
Owens, Archer meet in battle of opposite pitchers
Nelson Figueroa takes on former organization
Chase Anderson hopes to continue torrid start
Rienzo, Adam meet in great Carolina League matchup
Chien-Ming Wang makes rehab start for Potomac
If you know of a player performance or article that should be shared, please let me know on Twitter at @5runrally!
