No more farm transactions to fill everyone in on today, and it's looking like the only major moves left that we might see in the coming days are possible promotions for Paul Goldschmidt, Tyler Skaggs, and perhaps A.J. Pollock. Personally, I still hope we give Skaggs a full year at Visalia - even with yet another stellar performance tonight - and I think that Pollock will probably stay put, though I have to imagine a Goldschmidt move is only a matter of time. With a logjam of outfielders at Double-A brought on by the promotion of Adam Eaton (and the presence of Pollock, Marc Krauss, and, believe-it-or-not, Ollie Linton), it's also possible that we could see Krauss aggressively pushed up to Triple-A in a sink-or-swim move.
So it's looking like the rosters are mostly set in the minors until we get to the late-year tweaks a la Matt Davidson's 2010 promotion to Visalia. It's incredible how much this farm has developed in the last six months.
Snakelet of the Day:
Tyler Skaggs (Hi-A): 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 9 K, 9:1 GO:AO
Triple-A: Reno 10, Salt Lake 14. (49-33) I'm through trying to figure out creative ways to phrase a sentence detailing all of the offensive exploits of this lineup. Sorry sentences, you're being replaced:
The following (7) hitters had two hits: Collin Cowgill, Brandon Allen, Cody Ransom, Andy Tracy, Cole Gillespie, Konrad Schmidt, Mark Hallberg.
The following (2) hitters had a home run: Ransom and Tracy.
The following (2) hitters had a triple: Allen and Cowgill.
The following (5) hitters have a double: Ransom, Cowgill, Gillespie, Hallberg, and Tracy.
The following (3) hitters drew a walk: Cowgill, Ransom, and Tracy.
Man, that was easier. Starter Gaby Hernandez blew chunks allowing 3 HR's, 14 hits, and 11 earned runs in 4 innings.
Double-A: Mobile 6, Montgomery 3. (44-36) It was a duel of two top prospects who have faced serious performance issues in 2011, with Mobile's Jarrod Parker squaring off against Montgomery's Chris Archer. Jarrod won by default, as Archer posted a 3:5 K:BB ratio and allowed five runs (four earned) to score in just five innings of work. Although it's hard to argue with the five innings of one-run ball Parker put in, there was a little luck on Parker's side, as he posted just a 1:0 K:BB ratio in his standard five innings. In Parker's credit, his 10:3 GO:AO ratio explains why he may have been able to so easily keep down the runs he allowed. The offense was mostly provided by two sources: a triple from Your Daily Goldschmidt (Paul also struck out once) and a three-hit night from the newcomer, Eaton, who made a good practice of driving in the guys in the bottom part of the lineup, who drew an unusually large number of walks in this game (the 6-9 spots combined for six free passes).
Hi-A: Visalia 11, Lake Elsinore 1. (37-42) The Storm put up no real struggle outside of a solid night from top third base prospect Jedd Gyorko when faced with Visalia lefty Tyler Skaggs, who absolutely mowed down the Lake Elsinore lineup. Skaggs was brilliant in his seven innings of work, striking out nine batters with no walks or home runs allowed. He allowed just five hits and one run while also posting a stellar 9:1 GO:AO ratio. Utter dominance. Clearly, the offense wasn't too put out by the promotion of Eaton, as six doubles led the way for the Rawhide. Visalia received one double apiece from David Nick, Brent Greer, Matt Davidson, and Jon Owings, as well as a pair of doubles from Raoul Torrez. Owings went 4-4 with a walk, Keon Broxton had three singles, and Torrez and Davidson each reached base three times.
Low-A: South Bend 15, Lake County 2. (39-39) You thought the last one was a laugher? Well, the 2- and 3-hitters in South Bend's lineup - Gerson Montilla, Zach Walters, and Yazy Arbelo - made sure that this one would be as well. Montilla was particularly impressive, going 3-5 and falling just a triple short of the cycle while also drawing a walk (and striking out twice). Arbelo had a nearly identical night to Montilla's (2-5, 2B, HR, BB), and Walters had three hits, a triple, and a walk. On the mound, starter Tyler Green was phenomenal in his five shutout innings, striking out three and generating six ground-ball outs with no walks, though Patrick Schuster struggled out of the bullpen for the second straight appearance. Schuster gave up two runs in three innings of work, though he posted a 7:0 GO:AO and 2:0 K:BB ratio. Needless to say, I'm not any more worried about Schuster than I was when I woke up this morning.
Short-Season-A: Yakima 7, Boise 2. (5-11) The pitching was impressive all night, particularly the three-run scoreless relief appearance from Justin Albert. Offensively, the Bears were led by young catching prospect Jae Yun Kim, who has been starting to show flashes of his offensive potential in recent games. Kim went 2-3 with a double and a walk in this game, raising his season line to .194/.286/.323. Sprinkle some extra BABIP on top and that's a delightful prospect.
Advanced-Rookie: Missoula 3, Billings 4. (5-8) It was a career night for infielder Tom Belza, who belt-ed (see what I did there?!?!) three doubles in this game, effectively artificially inflating his numbers for most of the year. Starter Jesse Darrah struck out seven in five innings of work, though he surrendered a home run and three runs (all earned).
Low-Rookie: D-backs 5, Brewers 2. (5-5) In spite of the fact that the AZL-Diamondbacks only managed one extra-base hit, a double from John Leonard, they still had five runs cross the plate to lead the team to a win. On the mound was Yiomar Camacho, who I detailed a bit the last time he pitched in my round-up, and Camacho remained very impressive by striking out six with no walks or home runs in six innings, surrendering only an unearned run. I'm already looking forward to seeing Camacho at South Bend late next Spring (because hopefully by that point I'll have a job sorted out...). Geoff Blum was DH'ing and went hitless.
DSL: D-backs 1, Orioles 6. (10-20) The pitching did not go well from the very beginning for the DSL-Diamondbacks, as the DSL-O's scored one in the first and another in the third as they began to build up some cushion against a possible run. The DSL-backs couldn't catch up, as Pedro Ruiz's double was the only extra-base hit the team managed.