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There's been some bemoaning of late (myself included) that Adam Eaton's rehab wasn't going so well and maybe they should look at keeping him in the minors to get things worked out. Well, Eaton must have rabbit ears because he decided he better start hitting and mounted a 3 for 5 night with a double and a stolen base. True, it's Visalia but you have to start somewhere. He's still got 10+ days of rehab left to go so it's more than enough time to get the bat going. I'm a little more concerned he hasn't played in the field yet. If he doesn't start playing in the field soon then an extended stay in the minors might be the only way to go. I don't have any inside knowledge whether he's working on throwing outside of game action so for all I know the fact he's not playing in the field is to make sure all his throwing rehab is intended to be in a controlled environment rather than the excitement of a game environment where he might be tempted to uncork one just because the competitive juices are flowing.
Around the minors Reno caught a break and had an off day, which they surely needed. Mobile lost as Anthony Meo continues to struggle with more walks and homers allowed. Visalia got a solid performance from Keith Hessler and an offense led by Eaton in a 5-2 win. And South Bend got trimmed 4-2.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Adam Eaton, Visalia 3 for 5, 3 R, 1 DBL, 1 SB
2 Stars: Keith Hessler, Visalia 6 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 ER, W (2-1)
1 Star: Michael Bolsinger, Mobile 3.1 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 0 ER
0 Stars: Anthony Meo, Mobile 2.2 IP, 2 H, 5 BB, 0 K, 2 HR, 4 ER, L (0-4)
Triple A: Reno - Off Day
Double A: Mobile 4 Jacksonville 10. Anthony Meo's troubles continue as he had another very poor outing with 5 walks and 2 home runs allowed in less than 3 innings. Both home runs were by top prospect Christian Yelich. Meo wasn't the master of control last year in Visalia but it was never this bad. Either a move to the bullpen or a step back to Visalia might be contemplated soon. Michael Bolsinger pitched very well in relief of Meo with 5 Ks in 3 innings. The offense battled back and got it to 6-4 at one point but the back end of the relief effort (Brett Lorin and Derek Eitel) surrendered 6 runs over the final 3 frames to silence any comeback attempt. Nick Evans led the offense with a 2 for 3 effort including his 5th home run.
High A: Visalia 5 Lancaster 2. Keith Hessler had a very nice start going 6 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk. The bullpen was even better behind him. Robert Coe, Patrick Schuster and Jake Barrett all pitched hitless/scoreless innings with Barrett getting his 9th save. The offense was led by Adam Eaton who finally got some hits with a 3 for 5 night and scored 3 runs. Ryan Court continues to be a force on offense with a home run and 3 RBI. Tom Belza went 2 for 3 with a double.
Low A: South Bend 2 @ Great Lakes 4. Brandon Sinnery started and was okay but it wasn't one of his better outings. He allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk in 5 innings of work. The offense was pretty flat with 8 hits on the night but all were singles. Pedro Ruiz had 3 of those singles.