On the day Trevor Rosenthal gets a surprise call to the majors, Springfield has no trouble hitting Yordano Ventura, Quad Cities squanders an early lead and it only takes Batavia six innings to score 13 runs as the system goes 2-2.
Memphis was postponed.
- Greg Garcia was 2-5. Garcia is quietly putting together a good year at the plate, light on power but with a startling 16.1 BB%. He doesn’t have shortstop quality range but he has a strong feel for middle infield and he won’t embarrass you there if you try him in a utility role.
- Jamie Romak was 2-5 with a double.
- Xavier Scruggs was 2-4 with a double.
- Audry Perez had a single and somehow managed two walks two walks, thereby almost doubling his walk total on the season.
- Chris Swauger also had a single and a pair of walks.
- Adam Melker hit a double and a home run.
- Oscar Taveras had only one hit. Bust.
- Seth Maness was quite good in 5.2 IP, for the most part. He gave up a couple home runs and a double but had a 7-1 K to BB and 6-2 GO-FO.
- Keith Butler, who has been rock solid this season, picked up the save.
- Mike O’Neill was 1-2 with a couple walks.
- Ronny Gil had the only extra base hit of the game for PB with a double. He also committed his 28th error.
- Geoffrey Klein had a single and a walk.
- Scott Schneider struggled in 4.0 IP, giving up 6 runs on 8 hits with 2 home runs. He did manage to strike out 5 and walk only 1.
- Matt Williams and David Medina had a single and a walk.
- Stephen Piscotty was 1-3 with two walks.
- Luis Mateo was 2-4 with a triple.
- Roberto de la Cruz was 2-4 with a double.
- Willy Paulino could only make it through 1.2 IP, walking 4 and giving up 4 runs.
- Robert Stock picked up 3.1 innings, walking 3 and striking out 4. He gave up a run.
- Breyvic Valera was 2-5 with a double.
- While his brother struggles in the major leagues, the younger Jesus Montero has been quite successful so far, hitting .320/.393/.476. He was 1-3 with two walks.
- Jordan Walton was 3-4 with a double.
- David Washington and Kolby Byrd were 2-3 with a double and walk.
- Stephen Ramos was 2-4.
- Joe Cuda went 4.0 IP, giving up 7 hits and 3 runs, striking out 3 and walking none.
Johnson City was postponed (again).
Entries (RSS)
Has anybody seen P Michael Blazek and P Jorge Rondon recently? Both have really come on as middle relievers recently. Blazek’s strike outs per inning have greatly improved. Has he been clocked as a reliever as opposed to his FB speed as a starter? Rondon’s control has also greatly improved recently.
Another converted started (like Blazek) that has pitched well in relief is Darryl Hooker.
Rondon’s future with the organization should be decided at the end of the year. He’s a minor league FA at the end of the year if not on the 40 man roster.
I saw Rondon couple days ago pitch. He’s added a cutter to his repertoire this season along side his straight fastball that was sitting 95-98 and his go to secondary pitch was his change-up he uses when he’s ahead in the count. Also think his command is a lot better this season than it was last year.
It would seem that Blazek, Rondon, Hooker, Fornataro and Butler all line up as potential middle relief/setup assets as early as next year. I would think Reifer should also do better over the remainder of this year and going into next year.
Since middle relievers are so hot and cold you almost can’t have too many of such guys to pick from in any given year, which should give asset depth for next season and hopefully thereafter.
Don’t forget about Swagerty coming back from TJ next season. He could also be an asset as a potential middle relief/setup definitely has the stuff. Not sure if the organization still projects him as a starter or reliever.
Butler could of help as early as next year. I’m thinking late in 2013, or more likely, 2014. I’ve been pretty high on Fornataro and have seen him pitch live 6-8 times this season. However, he’s been brutal the last few outings (sss) and he may need considerably more developmental time if he makes it at all-remember he was a starter last year. It remains to be seen whether his stuff will play up enough in the pen to make the majors.
Rondon and Blazek aren’t likely to be useful on up the ladder. Rondon has a very fast, straight FB, almost no movement, and he can’t consistently locate it. Blazek doesn’t have great stuff or control and was absolutely awful to begin the year in his second go around as a AA starter. He has been better in the pen, but we are working from an ever smaller sample size there. I’d say his chances of contributing in the majors aren’t zero, but he isn’t likely to be much better than say a Chuckie Fick type, for whatever that is worth.
Surprising how many HR’s Maness gives up for having such a high GB rate.
About Maness home runs last night. The first one was a line drive to right center which is only 365. The second was what I call a Hammons field home run. Very high fly ball that normally would be an out, but the wind was blowing hard to left-hit the top of the wall.
Also both home runs were in the sixth inning. You could tell he was getting tired.
Maness is a control pitcher that throws consistent strikes he will tend to leave pitches up in the zone that probably what causes him to give up so many HR.
Maness gave up 2 HR’s back to back to the last 2 batters he faced so I consider it a blip on the radar of a great season being put up by him. Happy to see 7 K’s in 5 2/3 as well!
Notes on the Springfield game:
The offense looked good.
Maness absolutely mowed through the first four innings, lots of k’s. He looked great–lots of movement. Then he gave up a run in the 5th. In the sixth, he lost whatever mojo he had and gave up back-to-back no-doubters.
The S-Cards were up 8-4 in the 9th. Fornataro came on and gave up a double and two singles without recording an out. He’s feast or famine, the times I’ve seen him. Butler came in and was about 2 feet away from giving up a tying homerun (instead giving up a sac fly, then maybe a run-scoring single, and a double-play ball?).
As a humorous side note–Romak slid-flipped and ripped his pants. Given the brown after-effects of the slide and the blow out in the pocket region, the effects were pretty humorous.
The Rosen-news is extraordinary. Talk about being a fast mover! I just hope this is an audition for a starting role a la Waino of a couple of years ago, not a trade … Either way, congratulations to the young man for what must be the most exciting day in a young player’s life.
I always like the accounts of the game from somebody that was there, although there does seem to be a big difference of opinion between just making it over the wall and being no doubters.
So who is getting dropped from the 40 man roster today? Anderson, Hamilton or Gaub?
Squirmy three-month-old syndrome is fogging my brain. I was a bit generous with the no-doubter.
Garcia went to the 60 day DL. The second home run was off the top of the wall Swauger was upset he didn’t catch it.
Looking at Audry Perez statistics this season. .277 AVG .296 OBP .366 Slugging K Rate of 20.1% Walk Rate 2% .089 ISO not very good at all.
So, wait, our Jesus Montero really is the brother of the other Jesus Montero? I thought that was a joke for a while but now I am just confused. Oscar Taveras only had one hit the other day, too, so now I’m basically going to hole up in my basement in a fetal position.
Yep, that is indeed Jesus Montero’s actual brother, differentiated only by middle name (ours is Jesus Rafael Montero, theirs is Jesus Alejandro Montero).
I don’t recall seeing anyone mention it previously but this past Thursday Jason Parks at Baseball Prospectus had an article reviewing his scouting analysis of the top prospects on the World Roster of the Futures Game (I think he is doing the same for the US Roster on Tuesday). In the comments section he was asked the question: “Is Taveras a top 10 prospect or is there just a little too much refinement that is still needed?”
His answer should make all of feel good: “For me, he’s a top 5 prospect, and the best pure offensive force in the minors. I’d rank him above Myers. Profar gets the slight edge because of hi defensive skill-set at a premium position.”