Bus Leagues Express: August 18

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Bauer efficient in first complete game: While he’s one of the best pitching prospects in the game, Trevor Bauer is certainly not known for pitch economy. Friday night, he was able to record some quick outs while maintaining his nasty strikeout stuff in Reno’s 9-2 win over Round Rock. He needed only 102 pitches, 70 of which were for strikes, to throw all nine innings. While he allowed a lone run in both the 1st and 9th innings, he only allowed five hits and struck out 12. Maybe most importantly, he only walked one. If Bauer uses his fastball more, he’ll be able to set up his swing and miss breaking pitches.

Taillon promoted to Altoona: Two months after the Pirates bumped Gerrit Cole up to Altoona from Bradenton, the Pirates will have Jameson Taillon join him. In 2010, the Pirates were almost comically cautious with the former #2 pick, and this aggressive promotion represents a different approach in handling him. His overall season numbers are solid, a 3.82 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 125 innings with 98 strikeouts, but his season was three months of struggles sandwiched by a strong April and August. He has about 30 more innings than last season, so Pittsburgh probably feels comfortable giving him a few more starts.

Glaesmann homers again in Charlotte win: The Rays failed to sign their top two picks in the 2009 draft, but the money they didn’t spend on LeVon Washington and Kenny Diekroeger allowed them to spend overslot on other picks, including outfielder Todd Glaesmann. After disappointing seasons in 2010 and 2011, Glaesmann found his power stroke in 2012, hitting 19 home runs across two levels which is tied for the Rays’ organizational lead with Henry Wrigley. Since being promoted to the power suppressing Florida State League, Glaesmann has six home runs in 22 games including one in three straight games. His Charlotte OPS sits at 1.030, but he’s going to need to work on his plate approach to continue tapping into his power.

Jankowski hits first pro homer: After leading Stony Brook to an improbable College World Series appearance and getting drafted in the first round by the Padres, Travis Jankowski‘s pro career has gotten off to a bit of a slow start. He was assigned to the Midwest League after a couple warmup games in the Arizona League, and he’s batted just .224 with a .594 OPS in 43 games for Fort Wayne. While power will never be a big part of his game, Jankowski’s homer after entering the game late is the first of his career. He’s going to earn promotions based on his speed and defense, but the bat will still have to improve enough to keep him in the lineup.

Nimmo hits second grand slam: Although he only has four home runs this year, Brandon Nimmo is certainly making them count for Brooklyn. His 9th inning grand slam gives him two this season already and helped Brooklyn defeat division leading Tri-City 12-4 Friday. Nimmo got off to an incredibly slow start, batting just .200 (albeit with an OBP over .400) in 12 June games, but he’s been steadily improving. It’s culminated into a great month of August so far with a 1.100 OPS in his first 10 games of the month. He has his season slash line up to .282/.400/.446 which is more than acceptable for a teenager from Wyoming. He still has a lot to work on, but the Mets have to be happy with his progress in year one.

Berrios continues pitching with hair on fire: When the Twins selected J.O. Berrios 31st overall in June, they knew they would be getting a pitcher with nice velocity and starter potential, but they didn’t think he would acclimate himself to pro ball so quickly. After striking out 27 and walking only three in 16.2 GCL innings, the Twins bumped him up to the Appy League where he has remained untouchable. Friday night, he threw five scoreless innings, a career high, and struck out 11 batters in Elizabethton’s 5-1 win over Kingsport. Although he’s a bit undersized in the 6’0-6’1 range, he effortlessly fires fastballs in the mid 90′s with a feel for a couple offspeed pitches.

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