Bus Leagues Express: July 15

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Bats top Braves on grand slam: Former All-Star catcher Dioner Navarro has been far from an All-Star since he appeared in the 2008 edition of the game, and he’s trying to work his way back to the majors in the Cincinnati organization. A night after Louisville crushed Gwinnett 22-1, late inning heroics by Navarro gave the Bats another win. After Jaye Chapman walked in a run to cut Gwinnett’s lead to 8-6, Buddy Carlyle came in and promptly served up a grand slam to Navarro for a 10-8 final. For the season, Navarro is batting .339 with a .876 OPS, and he’s throwing out 38% of attempted base stealers. Combined with his ML experience, the Reds probably have a chance to flip him for a player from a team looking for experience behind the plate.

Chatwood takes on former organization in marathon game: Tyler Chatwood’s not really a great fit for Colorado because of his tendency to pitch up in the zone, but that didn’t stop them from acquiring him from Anaheim in the Chris Iannetta deal. For the second time this, he took on his former organization, this time in the Texas League. He pitched well, only allowing an unearned run on four hits and a walk in six innings with four strikeouts. He took on Futures Game goat Ariel Pena who was good in his own right, only allowing a pair of solo home runs in seven innings with six strikeouts. In the 17th inning, Tulsa plated five runs to end the deadlock.

Montgomery doesn’t find answers in AA: After having a rough 2011 in AAA, Mike Montgomery was having a rougher 2012 in AAA, and Kansas City responded by sending him back down to Northwest Arkansas to try and get some confidence back. In his first start, he continued to run into the same problems as the Naturals fell to Springfield 5-1. The outing actually started out well as Montgomery only faced one over the minimum through three innings, but he couldn’t keep it up. He did strike out six in six innings, but he allowed five runs on six hits and a pair of walks. He’s now 23 years old, and it’s easier to imagine him never turning it around compared to the chances of him restoring his prospect stock.

Villar breaks hand: This year’s unfortunate, preventable injury goes to Corpus CHristi’s Jonathan Villar who could miss the rest of the regular season with a broken hand. After striking out late in the Hooks’ game on Friday, he punched the bathroom door in the dugout in frustration. This actually came in the midst of a nice hot stretch for Villar with a .904 OPS since the break. He also leads the Texas League in steals and is finally letting his talent come through in games now that he’s been able to settle into one level for a while.

Wheeler fires shutout: While Mets fans are discussing bringing up Matt Harvey to add depth to the rotation, Zack Wheeler’s stock is zooming right past Harvey’s. In his first start since his break for the Futures Game and Eastern League All-Star Game, he threw his first career complete game shutout in Binghamton’s 1-0 win over Erie. In two July starts so far, Wheeler has allowed one run in 16.1 innings on 12 hits and just one walk while striking out 13. With a career low 3.2 BB/9, his control is improving which is what’s allowed him to take the big step forward he has.

Zunino doubles in debut: A day after his expected professional debut was pushed back because of rain, Mike Zunino proved to be worth the extra wait. He doubled in his first at-bat and scored Everett’s first run in their 6-3 win over Tri-City in the first game of a doubleheader. One inning later, he would walk and come around to score on David Villasuso’s three run homer that put the game away. After catching the first game, Zunino sat out the second. Once he gets back into the swing of things, it wouldn’t be surprising if he was promoted to Clinton to help with their Midwest League playoff chase and face some tougher competition.

On tap today

MiLB.TV schedule

Simon Castro looks for his first AAA win

Brian Matusz makes second start with Norfolk

Yordano Ventura makes AA debut

Jose Fernandez makes first start since Futures Game

Chris Stratton makes pro debut

Dominican Summer League has All-Star Game