It was a pretty vindictive day for Jerry Dipoto, who saw his two biggest acquisitions from the 2010 trade deadline have spectacular nights. Daniel Hudson threw a complete game to beat the White Sox, and Tyler Skaggs was spectacular again for Hi-A Visalia. Add in some spectacular numbers from David Holmberg here, a stretch of utter dominance from Patrick Corbin there, and it's looking more and more like Dipoto might not have been as ripped-off as initially believed. That, or he's been incredibly lucky with these moves working out in a best-case scenario thus far...
Snakelet of the Day:
Bobby Borchering (Hi-A): 2-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, K, BB
Triple-A: Reno 4, Las Vegas 6. (40-29) A shocking lack of extra-base thunder from the Aces, who managed just a pair of extra base hits - both doubles - from Tony Abreu and Mark Hallberg. Brandon Allen drew three walks, and Evan Frey singled and drew a pair of walks. Left-hander Tom Layne had a rough outing on the mound in spite of a 4:1 K:BB ratio and 9:2 GO:AO ratio, allowing six runs in six innings of work. I have no idea how Alberto Castillo wound up on the Aces, but he pitched for them in this game. He struck out two in one inning of work, and has had some success in the big-leagues as a reliever in recent years, though 2010 was not one of those years. Castillo now has an ERA well under 2 on the year at Triple-A, with a 28:8 K:BB ratio. We'll see if the 35-year-old Cuban right-hander is another of KT's savvy relief moves, or just more Triple-A relief filler.
Double-A: Mobile 5, Montgomery 6. (36-32) At least this one was more competitive than Wednesday's no-hit laugher, but Wes Roemer continues to be bad, giving up five runs in five innings of work with a trio of home runs surrendered. The offense put up a good fight, but an insurance run for Montgomery in the top of the eighth off of Mike DeMark did in the BayBears. The best night at the plate for Mobile came from Ryan Wheeler, who went 2-4 with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to pull the game to within one. Wheeler continues a solid campaign, with a .299/.369/.463 line on the year. With all the focus on (Your Daily) Paul Goldschmidt - who went 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout - Wheeler's strong campaign as the second-most-potent bat in the Mobile line-up has gone largely unnoticed, though it shouldn't. Even after last year's struggles for with Visalia, Wheeler was ranked a C+ prospect and in the top-20 in the D-backs system according to John Sickels. I'm not sure he's played himself into the B- rank yet, but he's still a sure-fire top-20 guy in the system.
Hi-A: Visalia 6, Bakersfield 4. (30-37) The big power bats put on a show for the Rawhide, with a pair of homers from Bobby Borchering, his 11th and 12th of the year, and Matt Davidson's ninth home run of the year. That would be all of the offense the Rawhide would need to win, backed by a strong start from lefty Tyler Skaggs, who threw six innings and surrendered just one earned run on three hits and three walks. Skaggs struck out seven and posted a 5:2 GO:AO. It's very encouraging to see the power starting to show in Borchering and Davidson, as they've always been the type of prospects whose bats will have to carry them through the farm system.
Low-A: South Bend 2, Bowling Green 7. (33-34) Back-to-back rough starts for young Tyler Green, who gave up five runs in just 4.1 innings of work, striking out only one and allowing three walks and a home run. I vaguely recall reading somewhere that Green worked as a reliever in high school and I do know that he has a fairly violent delivery, so it would make sense if he's simply getting tired working every fifth or sixth day. The most potent bat in the Silver Hawks' lineup was Zach Walters, who went 3-4 with a double, though he did strike out once.
DSL: D-backs 8, Cubs 7. (6-10) The DSL-backs drew ten walks Friday morning, and managed to work around a shaky start from Juan Valdez, who walked four in just 3.2 innings of work.