Trevor Bauer had his pro debut yesterday. Let's be honest, you don't want or care about an intro to this. In fact, you didn't even read this intro after you saw the title, you just clicked straight to "continue reading" and prayed for some reason to be excessively encouraged by a two-inning outing. Before we get to Bauer, though, let's not forget the second-best pitching prospect in the system, who pitched mighty well yesterday:
Snakelet of the Day:
Jarrod Parker (Double-A): 6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R (3 ER), 8:1 K:BB, 8:1 GO:AO
Honorary Snakelet:
Trevor Bauer (Hi-A): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3:1 K:BB, 2:1 GO:AO
Triple-A: Reno 4, Fresno 7. (63-44) Reno received plenty of pop in this one, but it seemed that a lack of well-timed singles and simple base hits doomed the club. Cole Gillespie, Tony Abreu, and Angel Berroa each doubled, while Konrad Schmidt hit his eight home run of the year, a two-run shot, while also drawing a walk. However, Gillespie and Abreu accounted for five of the team's eight hits, and considering that the team has a total of 10 baserunners, seven runs scored is pretty impressive. Starter Tom Layne struggled mightily, walking six batters in just 5.1 innings on the mound with no strikeouts, allowing eight hits, including a homer, and seven earned runs. He posted his usual 10:2 GO:AO ratio, but not even Brandon Webb could get enough grounders to compensate for that many walks.
Double-A: Mobile 4, Mississippi 3. (64-41) The story of the night was Parker's triumphant start, as, in spite of the three runs allowed, there was a ton to love about his outing. First, Parker threw 6.2 innings, his longest total of the year, throwing 100 pitches. It seems that the team is starting to take the training wheels off in anticipation that Parker might be called upon in 2012 to log some serious innings at the big-league level. Second, Parker put up absolutely fabulous peripheral rates, whiffing over a batter per inning and walking just one, while consistently keeping the ball on the ground. All-around epic outing from Parker, who appears to be doing his best to re-establish his prospect stock among those who may have grown discouraged by his command wobbles.
No extraordinary nights on the offensive side for the BayBears, with Adam Eaton's 2-5 night with a double was the best day any of the Mobile bats recorded, although Eaton hurt the club on the basepaths by getting caught stealing third base. Marc Krauss also doubled, while Mississippi is clearly and deliberately pitching around Paul Goldschmidt whenever they have the opportunity to - the big first baseman went 1-2 with another two walks.
Hi-A: Visalia Bauers 11, Stockton Not-Bauers 2. (45-BAUER-60) Clearly, there's nothing to see here... Right. That Bauer guy debuted for the Rawhide, throwing his promised two innings and making quick work of Stockton. Visalia subsequently pieced together a few nice multi-inning relief outings, beginning with Mike Belfiore, who threw three shutout frames while striking out five. After Belfiore was Dan Taylor, who struck out two in his two innings with no walks, but surrendered a two-run homer. Christian Beltre threw the final two innings to close out the game.
The two big offensive outputs were from David Nick and Alfredo Marte, though three other players also chipped in extra-base hits. Nick went 3-5, falling a triple short of the cycle. With Zach Walters being dealt by the Silver Hawks, it's nice to see that the team's now-undisputed top second base prospect still has his foot on the gas. The impressive day raised Nick's line to .289/.338/.430, a good line from a 21-year-old middle infielder in Hi-A. Marte also had a 3-5 day, but with two doubles and a triple, boosting his line with Visalia this year to .330/.360/.541 in 26 games. The 22-year-old isn't going to hit for that much contact forever and he sports poor on-base skills, but that's plenty of power for a center fielder. The rest of the extra-base hits, all doubles, were provided by Chris Owings, Raoul Torrez, and Brent Greer.
Low-A: South Bend 4, West Michigan 6. (49-54) The Silver Hawks lineup looks a lot less intimidating without Walters around, although South Bend did receive nice days from 1-2 hitters Ender Inciarte and Gerson Montilla. Inciarte went 2-4 with a double and a walk, while Montilla went 2-4 with a double. Starting pitcher Tyler Green struggled early, surrendering a four-run first inning and allowing five runs in his five-inning outing. Green struck out three with no walks, but allowed 10 hits, including a home run. Patrick Schuster had a nice long-relief outing, working three innings and allowing just one run, striking out four with no walks or homers.
Short-Season-A: Yakima 9, Salem-Keizer 2. (14-29) After making a spot start for Hi-A Visalia recently young right-hander Yiomar Camacho has been pushed up to Short-Season-A, making an impressive debut for the Bears on Sataurday. Camacho worked six innings and allowed just four hits and two runs while posting a nice 11:3 GO:AO ratio, although his 1:1 K:BB ratio is hardly inspiring. The only extra-base hit Camacho allowed in his outing on the mound was to newly-drafted first-round pick Joe Panik of the Giants' system, a big-program college kid who is simply too polished for the level. Yakima had a rare offensive explosion, registering 16 hits, including doubles from Garret Weber, Henry Zabala, Danny Pulfer, and Marc Bourgeois. Bourgois had four hits, and leadoff man Westley Moss reached base four times on two singles and two walks.
Advanced-Rookie: Missoula 5, Great Falls 3. (25-13) The big offensive night came from slugging first baseman Jon Griffin, who tattooed two home runs (and singled once) in this on to drive in four of the Osprey's five runs in the contest. That was more than enough for starter Jesse Darrah and the bullpen, as Darrah posted an impressive 8:3 K:BB ratio in his five inning start, though he did surrender three runs to the Voyagers. Thankfully, the bullpen locked things down for the remaining four innings, keeping Great Falls off the board and securing the victory.
Low-Rookie: D-backs 3, Giants 5. (11-21) Outfielder Wagner Mateo had another multi-hit game, going 2-5 with a double, though he did strike out twice. Nonetheless, Mateo is on a nice run as of late, and is showing signs of eventually being able to fulfill the enormous potential he has. Unfortunately, the D-backs didn't score a run until the ninth inning, and didn't muster up nearly enough offense overall. Starting this game, oddly enough, was right-hander Kevin Mulvey on rehab. Mulvey didn't fare so well, lasting just 2.2 innings and coughing up three runs on eight hits and a homer, while striking out nobody.... against complex-league hitters. Looks like Mulvey might even be toast as far as his Triple-A future is concerned.