Dbacks Minor League Round-Up 4/25: Good Chafin Shows Up

Andrew Chafin continues to be all over the board in his performances this year. Bad start, good start, bad start, bad start, good start. That's not exactly a ticket to a promotion, but in the "what have you done for me lately" analysis he needs more of these kinds of starts than all those bad ones where he's walking all kinds of guys. I can't help but think there's some kind of mechanical issue in play here that determines when he's good or bad. Because when he has it going he's as good as anybody. And when he's bad, he's often really bad. Hopefully he found something in last night's start to build on. 3 hits and 1 walk in 6 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts works for me.

Around the horn, Reno got blasted again as poor Nelson Figueroa surrendered 11 earned runs in 4 innings. Mobile had a bullpen meltdown that ultimately led to a 13-inning defeat. Chafin pitched Visalia to a 3-1 win and upped their record to 13-8. And South Bend lost 7-4 as the old inconsistent Jesse Darrah raised his ugly head again.

Snake Stars
3 Stars: Andrew Chafin, Visalia 6 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 ER, W (3-1)
2 Stars: Jake Barrett, Visalia 1 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 ER, S (5)
1 Star: Brad Snyder, Reno 2 for 3, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 DBL, 1 HR (2), 1 RBI
0 Stars: Jesse Darrah, South Bend 1.2 IP, 2 H, 7 BB, 3 K, 6 ER, L (1-1)

Triple A: Reno 5 Fresno 11. Nelson Figueroa got tattooed for 11 runs in 4 innings and that was that. The bullpen threw 5 scoreless innings but it was too little too late for that. Matt Davidson was bucking for the zero stars award with an 0 for 5 night with 4 Ks. Brad Snyder was an unheralded bright spot going 2 for 3 with a double and a homer. Chris Owings had 2 more hits and is hitting .345.

Double A: Mobile 6 @ Jacksonville 7. The Bay Bears were cruising along with a 6-2 lead through 7 innings when the bullpen decided to implode. Eric Smith allowed 2 runs in the 8th and Bryan Woodall surrendered two solo homers in the bottom of the 9th to tie it. Both bullpens got it to the 13th until Jacksonville scratched out a walk-off win. Mikchael Bolsinger started and was robbed of a W as he allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings with 6 strikeouts. The offense only managed 6 hits including 2 by Justin Greene and a 2-run homer by Ryan Stovall.

High A: Visalia 3 Stockton 1. Andrew Chafin was terrific with his 6 shutout innings and Jake Barrett picked up his 5th save in 7 games with a scoreless 9th. Barrett has yet to allow a run this year. Gerson Montilla continues to swing the hottest bat in the minors with a 3 for 3 night and is now hitting .320.

Low A: South Bend 4 @ Beloit 7. Jesse Darrah took the mound and couldn't find the plate as he walked 7 batters in 1+ innings. He had a similar problem with consistency last year when he would look terrific one day and then not be able to throw a strike in the next. The Silver Hawks offense did their best to manufacture a comeback with 12 hits, but they fell a few timely hits short. Five South Bend hitters had 2 hits including hot-hitting Brandon Drury.