Dbacks Minor League Round-Up 4/27: Court On Fire

While this might not register on any scouting radars, South Bend's Ryan Court is literally on fire. Granted, he's probably one of the oldest guys playing in the Midwest League at a month shy of 25, but when you cover these guys on a daily basis it's still fun to see one of them get on an insane hot streak, which does happen from time to time. In his last three games Court has 9 hits in 14 at bats with 6 runs, 3 doubles, a homer and 4 RBI. In fact the entire South Bend offense is on a roll right now as they collected 18 more hits last night after getting 19 hits the night before. Congratulations to Court and here's hoping it continues.

Reno lost again to fall to 7-16 as yet another starter got hammered, this time Chase Anderson. The PCL is where fringe pitching prospects go to die. Only the best of the best manage to survive there. Mobile got another good outing from Zeke Spruill and scored two in the 9th to break a 2-2 tie for the win. Visalia won their 9th game in a row with a 2-1 squeaker behind Keith Hessler's solid start. And South Bend pounded Beloit for the second straight day 13-5.

Snake Stars
3 Stars: Ryan Court, South Bend 4 for 5, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 DBL, 2 RBI
2 Stars: Keith Hessler, Visalia 6 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 ER, W (1-1)
1 Star: Zeke Spruill, Mobile 5 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 ER
0 Stars: Chase Anderson, Reno 6 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 1 H, 2 HR, 7 ER

Triple A: Reno 6 Fresno 9.The Reno pitchers outside of Tyler Skaggs have been getting toasted in Reno. Last night Chase Anderson gave up a 6-spot in the 3rd inning on his way to another loss. The Aces have been playing some bad baseball of late as the pitchers are getting rocked and only a handful of hitters are doing anything. One pitcher who has been holding his own is left-handed reliever Eury De La Rosa who has only allowed 4 hits and 1 run in 12 innings of work while striking out 10 for a 0.68 ERA. He might get serious consideration for a call-up ahead of Joe Paterson if the need should arise. Three hitters in particular have been doing the job in Chris Owings, Kila Ka'aihue, and Ed Easley and all three contributed again last night. Owings went 2 for 3 with a double, Ka'aihue went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI, and Easley hit a 2-run homer.

Double A: Mobile 4 @ Jacksonville 2. Zeke Spruill was solid again though he only managed 5 innings of work in a tight affair. He allowed just 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4. Derek Eitel pitched 1.1 shutout innings in relief and got the win when the offense scored 2 in the 9th. A Jon Grifin double and a Brent Clevlen triple in the 9th were the keys to the late rally.

High A: Visalia 2 @ Bakersfield 1. Lefty starter Keith Hessler had his best outing of the season as he tossed 6 innings of one-run ball. He yielded 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6. The strong Visalia bullpen followed with 3 3 shutout innings as Kaleb Fleck earned his 3rd save. Visalia scratched out its 2 runs in the 7th on a Michael Perez double and back-to-back RBI singles by Raul Navarro and Sean Jamieson.

Low A: South Bend 13 @ Beloit 5.The kids in South Bend sure are having fun this season as another offensive explosion helped raise their record to 13-6. Ryan Court has been at the center of the outbursts with 7 hits in his last two games. Kyle Schepel was the beneficiary and earned the win even though he allowed 4 runs over 6.2 innings. Kevin Medrano had 3 hits with a triple and Fidel Pena had 3 hits and his 3rd stolen base.