Bus Leagues Express: July 18

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Brown heating up: After a tremendous 2011 season in the Cal League, Gary Brown got off to a dreadful start in 2012 with Richmond. His OPS in April and May was .617 and .635 respectively, but he finally turned it up a bit in June. The dynamic leadoff hitter has been tremendous in June with a 1.123 OPS in 16 games. In the first two months of the season, he only had nine extra base hits, and he tied that in June and easily eclipsed it in July. Brown’s speed and defense are not in question, and he’s slowly showing that last season wasn’t a Cal League fluke.

Goodwin’s strong season continues: Brian Goodwin had some of the best tools in the 2011 draft, and the Nationals will always happily pay for amateur talent. The former Tar Heel has a .979 OPS as an athletic center fielder in his pro debut season, and it certainly looks like he’s ready for high-A competition. Although he didn’t finish his amateur career at UNC, just the experience of playing at a top ACC school means he could probably playing at a higher level. In addition to the impressive hit and power tools he’s shown, he has more walks than strikeouts, a great quality for any leadoff hitter to have. If Washington is patient, they may finally have a long term solution in CF.

Zunino socks a pair: Mike Zunino‘s transition to pro ball has seemed effortless, and he proved that with a two homer game Tuesday in Everett’s 6-2 win over Salem-Keizer. He has a hit in all four games he’s played in so far, and he now has three home runs in his last two. Yesterday, both Zunino and former Florida teammate Nolan Fontana hit their first pro homers, a nice coincidence for a pair of players that probably won’t take long to reach the majors. Zunino could probably advance to Clinton quickly once he’s back at game speed, and they hope his transition to full season ball is smoother than another catcher they once took in the first round, Steven Baron.

Butler continues to build momentum: The Rockies popped Eddie Butler a bit earlier than many expected, and Radford doesn’t exactly have a rich baseball tradition. Butler is easily the highest selected players from the university, and he’s looking to become the third player from Radford to reach the majors. After allowing four runs in four innings in his second start, Butler has been cruising through Pioneer League hitting in his last three starts. Tuesday, he had seven strikeouts in 5.1 scoreless innings, and for the 4th time in five starts, he didn’t walk a batter. For the season, Butler has 15 strikeouts to just one walk in 19.1 innings, but it’s fair to say that a college pitcher should do well in a rookie league.

Green-Thompson strikes out five more times: In what almost seems like it has to be a stat stringing error, Red Sox minor leaguer Shaq Green-Thompson has struck out 31 times… in 32 at bats. His only at-bat where he put the ball in play came 12 days ago on July 6th against the GCL Twins. Tuesday, he struck out five times in five at-bats, a career high. This strikeout rate is truly impressive; his 79.5% is about 27 points greater than Seth Schwindenhammer‘s, another prodigious strikeout ace in Boston’s system.

Potomac may have stadium deal: It’s been reported that the Potomac Nationals and officials in Woodbridge, Virginia have reached an agreement to fund a new stadium for Washington’s high-A affiliate. It would be built just off I-95, similar to Aberdeen’s Ripken Stadium up north in Maryland. It appears that the entire stadium will be funded by the time while public funding will go towards a parking lot adjacent to the stadium. Potomac’s field has been at the center of controversy in recent years due to playing conditions that are often poor. It’s believed that’s one of the reasons Washington promoted Bryce Harper right to AA from low-A in 2011.

On tap today

MiLB.TV schedule

Tyler Skaggs pitches in friendly territory at Tucson

Jed Bradley looks to turn season around

Luis Heredia hopes for another good start