Diamondbacks Farm Round-Up 6/15: Rising Star Edition

I know it's Low-A baseball and I know he's still a teenage pitching prospect and things could go terribly wrong on any pitch.  But allow me to take a moment to indulge my own dreams and enthusiasm.  I'm becoming incredibly excited with what Arizona has in left-hander David Holmberg.  He's a mortal lock to join Hi-A Visalia once the minor-league all-star break concludes, and with yet another remarkable performance in the books, it'd be awfully hard to rank him outside of the D-backs' top-10 prospects.  That's in a loaded Arizona top-10.  Seriously, just take a look at this line:

Snakelet of the Day:

David Holmberg (Low-A): 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 10 K, 6:1 GO:AO

Impressed?  Yeah, me too.  But there's a second SotD that may very well have been better.  Feast your eyes on this line:

Snakelet of the Day:

Wily Mo Pena (Triple-A): 4-5, 2 2B, HR, 2 R, 5 RBI

Triple-A: Reno 9, Tucson 2.  (39-28)  With right-hander Kevin Mulvey hitting the Disabled List with elbow issues, newly-acquired Gaby Hernandez got the start for the Aces, and didn't fare terribly.  He had an ugly 4:4 K:BB ratio in five innings and coughed up a homer, but managed to successfully scatter eight hits throughout five innings of work to only allow two runs to cross the plate.  The bullpen was spectacular for four shutout innings, even newly-promoted Randy Hamrick, who threw 50.1 of his 54 innings in 2010 at Rookie-Level Missoula.  Yeah, he's a filler guy to soak up the occasional bullpen inning, but the fact that he managed to record three outs (including a strikeout) without allowing a run to cross the plate, even in spite of three baserunners, is pretty impressive.  The offense was once again led by Wily Mo Pena, who collected four hits, including a pair of doubles and what was reportedly a mammoth home run.  Hopefully the video will come out tomorrow.  Speaking of video, check out Pena's triple from the other night... off the end of the bat, standing up into third???  Wow.  Collin Cowgill and Brandon Allen each collected a single and a pair of walks, with Cowgill adding his 20th stolen base of the season in 22 attempts.

Double-A: Mobile 3, Montgomery 5.  (36-30)  After a string of complete dominance, Patrick Corbin had a bit of an off-night, allowing 5 earned runs in 6.2 innings of work.  In Corbin's defense, though, three of those runs came in his last inning of work, and he sported a solid 5:2 K:BB ratio, though he also served up a home run.  Bryan Woodall threw 1.1 scoreless frames of relief, and Clay Zavada struck out two in a clean ninth inning.  Mobile actually out-hit Montgomery 7-6, but were destroyed in the total base department, as Montgomery collected three doubles and a home run, while Mobile failed to notch even a single extra-base hit.  A.J. Pollock led the way offensively, with two hits, a walk, and a stolen base.  Your Daily Goldschmidt: Not one of Paul's better nights, as he went 0-4 with a strikeout.

Hi-A: Visalia 0, Modesto 2.  (29-36)  Matt Davidson doubled for the Rawhide, but Visalia got CGSO'd...  Quickly moving on from that half of the game, Derek Eitel was solid on the mound in his start, scattering 10 hits over a quality start, allowing two runs in six innings of work with a 4:3 K:BB ratio, a HBP, and a home run allowed.

Low-A: South Bend 5, Lansing 2.  (32-33)   Holmberg's line is just about as perfect as a non-perfect game could be.  Only one ball left the infield still in the air, as Holmberg's two allowed hits were ground-ball singles and two of the three balls hit in the air off of Holmberg were infield pop-ups.  He gave up no free passes, walking none and hitting none.  Holmberg actually left nobody on base, erasing two baserunners (one who reached on a single and one who reached on an error by Zach Walters) with GIDP's, and letting one baserunner erase himself by getting caught stealing.  Keep in mind, Holmberg is nineteen years old.  The fact that J.R. Bradley just turned 19 is why his full-season struggles with command are permissible, but Holmberg, who turns 20 on July 19, lowered his ERA to a staggering 2.61 with this outing, extended his scoreless innings streak to 27, and extended his scoreless appearance streak to four.  Holmberg has allowed zero earned runs in six of his last ten starts.  On the season, he now has a 74:13 K:BB ratio in 75 innings of work, with just three home runs allowed.  Yeah, the offense did some stuff, but that wasn't what this night was about.  Sorry, here's a link to the box score if you want to know.  :-)

DSL: D-backs 7, White Sox 8.  (5-10)  A rare offense-heavy night in the DSL, with the DSL-backs blowing a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the DSL-White Sox the victory.  19-year-old Bryan Escanio continued a solid campaign, striking out two and walking none in 6 innings of work, giving up two earned runs (three runs total).  On the year, Escanio now has a 15:2 K:BB ratio in 15.1 innings of work, for a 3.52 ERA.  The DSL-backs received triples from Wilmer Santana and Felipe Betemit to help build their lead in the middle innings.