The minor-league regular season ended today, so we'll have only three teams to follow from here on out - Reno, Mobile, and Missoula. The Aces are likely to struggle in the playoffs, as they're missing many of the pieces that made them so successful early in the year, such as Wily Mo Pena, Sean Burroughs, and Wade Miley. Mobile may not have Paul Goldschmidt or Ryan Cook, but their rotation is dramatically better than it was at the beginning of the season with the additions of Tyler Skaggs and Trevor Bauer, while the lineup remains formidable with Adam Eaton and A.J. Pollock around. Missoula might be receiving the biggest boost to their roster prior to the playoffs, with Archie Bradley, Anthony Meo, and possibly Andrew Chafin joining the club's pitching staff. I'll be keeping up with the Farm Round-ups throughout the post-season as long as I can dig up the box scores, so stay tuned.
Snakelet of the Day:
Bobby Borchering (Hi-A): 3-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
Triple-A: Reno 12, Tucson 8. (77-67) The Aces had a great day at the plate, capped off by a no-out grand slam from Angel Berroa in the seventh inning. The Reno offense also received doubles from Ryan Langerhans, Lucas May, Mark Hallberg, and Cody Ransom, with Hallberg and May each having two-hit games and with Langerhans, Ransom, and Juan Miranda each walked twice. The Aces also stole four bases, including two from Evan Frey and one from starting pitcher Tom Layne. Layne pitched decently, allowing five runs, four of which were earned, in six innings, posting a 2:0 K:BB ratio and 12:3 GO:AO ratio while allowing a home run. Two relievers just up from the A-levels of the system debuted for the Aces, with Michael Bolsinger (up from Low-A South Bend) allowing one hit in a scoreless frame and Eury De La Rosa (up from Hi-A Visalia) giving up a pair of runs in his one inning of work, striking out one, walking another, and giving up three hits.
Double-A: Tropical storms ended their season before their scheduled double-header against Huntsville began. A rather inconspicuous end to the Mobile regular season, but there's plenty of post-season action left.
Hi-A: Visalia 6, Modesto 4. (63-77) The Rawhide struck early, notching two runs in the first, another run in the second, and three more in the third inning to build a quick 6-3 lead that they wouldn't relinquish. Bobby Borchering hit his 24th home run of the year, a two-run shot in the first inning, while collecting three hits to end the year on a very high note. Meanwhile, Matthew Davidson hit his 39th double of the season, while Jon Mark Owings and Rossmel Perez each added doubles of their own. Left-hander David Holmberg started this one, working 5.2 innings and giving up six hits, four walks, and three runs while striking out six.
For Holmberg, it's been a tale of two seasons: dominant through his first 14 starts at South Bend, posting an 81:13 K:BB ratio and 2.39 ERA in 83 innings, but scuffling upon his promotion to Visalia. Upon arriving in the Cal League, Holmberg has done just fine in missing bats, with 70 strikeouts in his 12 starts with the Rawhide, spanning 65.2 innings. Unfortunately, Holmberg has walked 31 in his Cal League stint, leading to a bloated 4.66 ERA. He's still just 20 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to iron out his control and command kinks, but he isn't the top-100 prospect that some were calling him around mid-season.
Low-A: South Bend 5, Great Lakes 3. (67-72) Right-hander Tyler Green started the Silver Hawks' season finale, and worked five solid innings, giving up just one earned run on three hits and a walk while striking out two and posting an 8:5 GO:AO ratio. He did allow another pair of unearned runs, though. He was followed by three scoreless frames from Patrick Schuster, and a scoreless ninth from Christopher Odegaard for the save. Offensively, the Silver Hawks received doubles from Roberto Rodriguez and Gerson Montilla - good for Montilla's 20th two-base hit in just 66 games for the Silver Hawks this year - to go with a triple from Raywilly Gomez. Gomez had a three-hit day, while Rodriguez, Montilla, and Yazy Arbelo each had two-knock days to lead the Hawks to an 11-hit game overall.
Advanced-Rookie: Missoula 2, Billings 6. (40-33) First baseman Jonathan Griffin whacked his 18th home run of the season, a two-run blast, to tie some guy named Paul Goldschmidt for the Missoula Osprey single-season record. Pretty impressive company, but pump the brakes before trying to make any sort of comparison - Griffin's .292/.352/.539 line for Missoula this year pales in comparison to Goldschmidt's .334/.408/.638 abusing of Pioneer League pitching back in 2009. Griffin's blast was the only extra-base hit the Osprey would collect on Monday, with just six hits total leading to no additional runs. Starting pitcher Raymond Hernandez had an off-day, allowing five runs in five innings despite a solid 4:1 K:BB ratio and 6:0 GO:AO ratio, allowing 10 hits and a three-run home run.