Quad Cities got the day off, while the rest of the farm went 2-1. Find out which team nearly got no-hit after the break…
Memphis 5, Fresno 4 in 14 innings
- Memphis was hitless through 7 innings before Tony Cruz broke it up in the 8th with a single. Memphis ended up coming from behind to take the lead 4-3 in the 8th, but Marte blew the save. The Redbirds ended up winning the game on a sacrifice fly by Donovan Solano in the 14th inning.
- James Rapoport went hitless in the leadoff spot, but he had 4 walks
- There was 1 extra-base hit in 14 innings for Memphis, and that came off of the bat of Nick Stavinoha for his only hit
- Nobody else in the lineup did anything of note, but Daryl Jones scored after pinch-hitting for a hit
- Brandon Dickson gave up 3 runs in 7 innings, walked 1, but only had 1 K. 12 of his 17 outs that reached the field were groundballs
Baseball America Top 15 – San Francisco Giants
1. Brandon Belt (1B/OF, 4/20/1988) went 2-6 with a double and walk. Here’s the name of another prospect you probably already know. Having made the team out of Spring Training, Belt struggled in a limited sample of 52 at-bats. He showed good patience at the plate, but struck out at a high rate and didn’t make consistent enough contact to convince the Giants he was ready for the Show. Ranked as No. 23 in Baseball America’s Top 100, Belt shows very good plate discipline, the potential for above average power, and stellar defense at 1st base with the ability to play a corner outfield spot. He also shows a very good split against righties and lefties. Don’t expect him to stay down for long, because he’s already displaying a 1.100 OPS in ~70 at-bats with 23 walks, and the Giants are going to need the offense whenever they feel he’s ready.
- The whole offense contributed evenly tonight, as 5 of the following players had 2 hits each:
- -Jermaine Curtis had 2 singles
- -Ryan Jackson had a single and double with 2 RBI’s and a walk
- -Alex Castellanos hit a solo bomb and finished with 3 RBI’s
- -Niko Vasquez added 2 singles and a walk
- -Eric Duncan belted 2 doubles with 2 RBI’s and a walk
- Chris Swauger had to 1-up them, going 3-5 with a double
- Matt Adams was the only hitless Springfield batter, but he contributed 3 walks
- Michael Blazek had more than enough offensive help to get the win, as he gave up 5 runs (3 earned), 7 hits, and 2 walks in 5 IP. He struck out 5
Baseball America Top 15 – Los Angeles Angels of…..you know what comes next
1. Mike Trout, prospect extraordinaire, finished 2-5 with his 4th triple of the year. See scouting report from last week
- D’Marcus Ingram led off with 2 walks and a single
- Zack Cox went 1-3 with a walk. After recording only 2 extra-base hits in his first ~100 at bats, Cox has 5 XBH in his last 6 games. You’d like to see the walks go up, but he’s posting a respectable .766 OPS.
- Edgar Lara hit 1-3 with a double, walk, and 2 RBI’s. He had their only extra-base hit
- John Gast was ineffective, giving up 11 hits (3 extra bases), 5 runs, and 2 walks in 6 IP. He struck out 6
Baseball America Top 15 – New York Yankees
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Good to see Castellanos with the HR – he’s had a power drought.
I wont be surprised to see Ingram up to SPFLD real soon even if it is just for a week or two. He’s off to a good start and SPFLD is in desperate need of a CF until Pham comes back. Ingram needs to realize that walks are his ticket to the show. He has shown an excellent eye in the past until last year. This year he seems have his walk rate back up over 12% and is back to walking as much as he K’s. He’s also 7-0 in SB in just 11 games. I’m not saying he is or isn’t ready for SPFLD. His PB numbers are a small sample size but he played there last year and most importantly SPFLD needs a CF!
To me the most encouraging thing in this whole report is Adams getting three walks. Maybe he’s been reading this blog?
Looks like one was intentional, another was with men on base. It’s a good thing, but probably a lot of it was guys pitching around him.
hey, that’s one way to get it done.
And it will be a good test for him as he sees less and less pitches in the zone.
agreed.
The walks are only encouraging if his OBP goes up without sacrificing his BA and RBI pace.
If those goes down, then being more selective with pitches has no benefit. Last night, his BA went down with no RBIs despite RISP chances. Not saying that last night was bad for him to take 3 walks, not saying that at all. Just pointing out that if this trend became longer term, then Adams will no longer be a prospect on the radar.
Batting average? RsBI? REALLY?
Just saw Jess Todd is back
Don’t be surprised if Broderick comes back.
They are in desperate need for relief arms with all of the injuries.
Ingram is doing great and so is Cox. There hitting in palm beach. For Springfield it’s great to see two Division II players Adam and Castellanos hitting over 300.
Carp continues to excel in Memphis I like that. Jackson is batting as well.
This is kind of a random, out of the wind question, but does anyone know if Matt Carpenter has ever played any other positions? Since they seem to not want to move Cox to 2B could Carp work there? I’ve never seen him play in person so I have no clue.
He has one (1) game at first in the minors. He also played first about 20% of the time in college. No middle-infield experience, from the looks of it.
I believe he played 1B one full year in college following an injury.
He played some outfield in spring training.
Matt Carpenter, at 6′ 3″, would be the tallest 2B that I’ve ever heard of. Not saying he absolutely couldn’t pull it off, but making that 180 degree turn on DPs would be really tough on a guy with the higher center of gravity….
Besides, there are indications (many, actually) that Carpenter could be an *elite* defender at the hot corner. Like 10-15 runs above average, that kind of elite.
Matt Adams, last ten games: .314/.419/.743 (That’s with a sub-.300 babip, over 35 AB’s)
With seven walks, and seven whiffs. Yes!
Now THAT would be a future terrific MLB bat, if he can maintain it. We shall see.
6’3″ is exceptionally tall for a second baseman, but it has been done. According to BP, of the top 40 or so 2Bmen last year in terms of playing time, two, Reid Brignac and Neil Walker, stood 6’3″. None were taller.
Bob, what are you basing the assessment of Carpenter’s defense off of? That’s a pretty bold statement! Not that I doubt you, just interested in what you have to say.
Is Carpenter really that good in the field? The best assessment I’ve heard of him is “average” (which, IMO, would be great if his OBP vaguely translates to the majors, which it hopefully should). What makes you think he can be beltre/rolen good?
Aaron Luna played some 2nd base last night. why is he not in the starting lineup every day on that team?