Dbacks Minor League Round-Up 6/2: Chafin Steadying the Ship

Andrew Chafin was promoted to Mobile about a month ago in spite of not exactly tearing it up in the California League. The results from six AA starts for Chafin have been encouraging, yet curious. The good? His ERA in those 6 starts is an impressive 2.63. The bad? Every other peripheral stat has one scratching his head why the ERA is so low. The WHIP is an unsightly 1.48. The K/BB is a modest 1.33, The BAA is a below average .277. And the K/9 is an un-Chafin-like 5.72. In 4 of his 6 starts he has allowed just 1 earned run in each of them. His GO/AO is a solid 1.33 so I'm leaning toward concluding that he's making strides in trying to pitch to contact more. If that's the case I'd say that's a step in the right direction. Learn how to get guys out with a better economy of pitches, otherwise he's destined to be a reliever. In last night's game he pitched into the 8th inning on 96 pitches.He's getting where he needs to be as a starting pitcher. Now let's hope some of his former exciting peripherals start to return that will elevate him to the blue chip pitching prospect some have predicted.

Snake Stars
3 Stars: Andrew Chafin, Mobile 7.2 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 ER, W (2-4)
2 Stars: Brandon Drury, South Bend 3 for 5, 2 R, 1 DBL, 1 TPL, 1 HR (7), 2 RBI
1 Star: Matt Davidson, Reno 3 for 5, 1 R, 1 HR (7), 1 RBI, 1 E (12)
0 Stars: Bryan Henry, Reno 1.1 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 1 K, 7 ER, L (0-1)

Triple A: Reno 5 Tucson 13. Reno needs an influx of starting pitching. Last night they tried Bryan Henry in his 1st start of the year after relieving in his first 6 outings. He didn't make it past the 2nd inning before allowing 7 earned runs. It never got interesting after that. Matt Davidson had a 3 for 5 night including his 7th home run, though he also committed his 12th error. In his last 10 games Davidson is hitting .375 with a 1.061 OPS.

Double A: Mobile 4 @ Jacksonville 1. Andrew Chafin had another terrific start allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks in 7+ innings. The offense did enough to get Chafin the win with Dustin Martin and Justin Greene each collecting 3 hits. Martin also hit his 2nd home run. Kevin Munson pitched a perfect 9th with a strikeout for his 9th save.

High A: Visalia 1 @ Lancaster 16.The Rawhide can't figure out what to do in Lancaster. They got smashed yet again as the pitching staff is getting mutilated one by one. Last night's victim was Cody Wheeler who allowed 9 runs in 5 innings and now has a bloated ERA of 7.18 since being promoted at the beginning of May. The offense produced just 5 hits with 3 coming from Ryan Court, including his 5th home run.

Low A: South Bend 8 @ Bowling Green 6. The Silver hawks offense produced in this one as starting pitcher Brad Allen was pretty so-so allowing 5 runs in 6+ innings. Brandon Drury continues to produce at the plate and just missed hitting for cycle lacking just a single. His double, triple and 7th home run was key to the win. Rudy Flores had 3 hits and an RBI, and Kevin Medrano added 3 hits, a double and 2 runs scored. Pedro Ruiz hit his 1st homer of the season.