I know Andrew Velazquez getting promoted to Missoula doesn't rank up there with Tyler Skaggs making his major league debut, but there wasn't much else going on in the minor leagues yesterday. I confess I really like what I've seen of Velazquez so far in his first professional season. He was drafted in the 7th round of this year's draft and he came out raking in the AZL Rookie League playing mostly at 2B. His average was hovering around .380 with an OPS above 1.000 until he sprained his ankle legging out an inside the park home run in mid-July. He hasn't been quite as electric since coming back from that injury but he still finished his AZL stint with a .319 BA, an OPS of .906, 20 stolen bases and 20 RBI in 29 games. He started at 2B for Missoula and batted 9th last night going 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. The promotion of Velazquez also makes some room in the AZL for John Leonard to get some playing time and see if he can't bounce back from his early professional struggles.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Josh Bell, Reno 2 for 3, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 HR (11), 2 RBI
2 Stars: Tyler Green, South Bend 6 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 K, 2 R, 0 ER
1 Star: Evan Frey, Mobile 3 for 5, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 DBL, 1 RBI
0 Stars: Taylor Harbin, Reno 0 for 3, 2 errors
Game summaries after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 5 @ Tacoma 15. Zach Kroenke was not very good, though Taylor Harbin contributed to his woes with a couple of errors. Bryan Henry was also not very good behind Kroenke and 5 runs by the offense wasn't nearly enough. Josh Bell hit a couple of solo home runs and Konrad Schmidt went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.
Double A: Mobile 5 Jackson 7. Michael Bolsinger started off well but ran into trouble in the 5th and 6th innings. The offense battled back to tie the game at 5 in the 8th but Eury De La Rosa couldn't keep it there when he allowed 2 runs in the 9th. The Bay Bears managed a dozen hits and 5 walks but left 15 runners on base. Evan Frey had a nice game going 3 for 5 with a pair of doubles. Alfredo Marte went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI and Brent Clevlen had a pair of doubles.
High A: Visalia 7 @ San Jose 5. The Rawhide got a much-needed win when the offense plated 6 runs in the 4th inning and the pitching was just good enough to make it stand up. Taylor Siemens didn't have his best stuff but he still got the win as he allowed 5 runs on 11 hits and 3 walks in 5+ innings. Michael Freeman and Jonathan Griffin each went 2 for 4 and Blake Cooper pitched a scoreless 9th for his 4th save.
Low A: South Bend 1 @ Bowling Green 3. Tyler Green had an excellent start but the offense was a no-show and it went for naught. He allowed 2 unearned runs over 6 innings on 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. The meager offense was led by Matt Helm and Raul Navarro who each had two hits.
Short Season A: Yakima 4 Boise 7. Boise scored 4 in the 1st and 2 more in the 4th off starter Alexander Carreras and the bats couldn't make all of that up. Michael Lang was the lone offensive highlight with 2 hits including a triple.
Rookie: Missoula 5 @ Ogden 6. The Osprey lost in extra innings when Justin Thompson gave up a solo home run in the bottom of the 10th. Ross Gerdeman started and wasn't anything special as he allowed 4 runs on 10 hits and 3 walks over 5 innings. Rudy Flores had a nice game going 2 for 4 including his 3rd home run of the season, a 3-run shot in the 4th inning. Socrates Brito also had a couple of hits and an RBI.
AZL Rookie: Dbacks 3 Athletics 1. Josh Collmenter started and threw one perfect inning with a strikeout in a rehab assignment. Luis Hernandez came on behind him and tossed 4 solid innings allowing 1 run while striking 6. Relievers Elroy Urbina, Harry Marino and Don Medlinger tacked 3 scoreless innings on top of that for the win. Jose Munoz went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and a stolen base to lead the offense. OF Ollie Linton played in his first game of the year. A former 13th-round pick he posted some decent minor league seasons for Mobile in 2010 and 2011. He's another of those speedy, top-of-the-order outfielders we seem to have so much of.