Dbacks Minor League Round-Up 7/13: Unheralded Relievers

We've talked plenty about some of the relievers of tomorrow who have been working their way up the ladder. Kevin Munson, Jake Barret, RJ Hively and Jose Jose are names that come to mind. In this edition of MILB Round-Up we're going to take a quick glance at some of the unheralded relievers who have quietly been putting together good seasons but aren't closers so they rarely get mentioned. Each of these guys has done enough to earn promotions yet this year or clearly will be moving up a level next year.

Willy Paredes, RHP, Mobile
0.53 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 3.66 K/BB
Paredes is putting it all together this year and has been almost unhittable as a reliever. He did go up and make two emergency starts for Reno but those can be discounted. he has not allowed a run in his last 10 appearances for Mobile and has become their key set-up man. He's 24 with good size and may have a chance to earn a fringe bullpen spot in a couple of years. Don't get over-excited about the stats as it's a smallish sample size with just 14 appearances for Mobile following his promotion from Visalia. But the numbers were very good in Visalia too.

Seth Simmons, LHP, Visalia
1.71 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 3.00 K/BB
I'm not sure what else a guy has to do to get promoted. Simmons has been dominating all year for Visalia and has been one of their primary set-up guys. No doubt some of the disrespect is due to his John Franco-like stature of 5-9. But he just gets guys out and has piled up 69 strikeouts in 52 innings. He's already 25 so he deserves his shot in Mobile sooner than later.

Patrick Schuster, LHP, Visalia
2.01 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 3.50 K/BB
Schuster, like Simmons has simply been getting the job done all year in Visalia. Schuster is three years younger than Simmons so he's at the right level for his age and will undoubtedly be in Mobile next year. Their performances have been eerily similar but it seems the organization thinks a little more of Schuster and has been putting him in slightly more high-leverage situations than Simmons. Schuster is repeating at this level and has yet to put up a sub-3.00 ERA in three minor league seasons so this should be characterized as his coming out party.

Henry Garcia, LHP, South Bend
1.51 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 17.5 K/BB
I know, you think the K/BB number is a misprint. No it is not. In 32 innings Garcia has struck out 35 and only walked 2. He was signed as an undrafted free agent out of the North American Baseball League and he's been amazing ever since he landed in South Bend. I don't know what his secret is, I just know he's producing.

Snake Stars
3 Stars: Mike Bolsinger, Reno 9 IP, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 ER, W (4-3)
2 Stars: Tom Belza, Visalia 2 for 2, 2 BB, 2 H, 1 R, 1 HR (4), 2 RBI
1 Star: Tyler Bortnick, Reno 2 for 4, 1 DBL, 1 RBI
0 Stars: Braden Shipley, Hillsboro 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 3 ER

Triple A: Reno 4 @ Tacoma 1. Mike Bolsinger continues to do a solid job for Reno and last night he tossed a complete-game victory allowing 1 run on 6 hits and no walks while striking out 5. Bolsinger is doing his best to get his name on the prospect lists because he currently leads all Reno starters in ERA. Juan Rivera hit a solo home run and Tyler Bortnick went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI to provide just enough offense.

Double A: Mobile - Rained Out

High A: Visalia 3 Inland Empire 5. Keith Hessler got roughed up a little though he did strike out 9 in 5 innings. Tom Belza was perfect at the plate going 2 for 2 with 2 walks and a home run. Seth Simmons threw 2 more shutout innings with 3 strikeouts in what is proving to be a stellar season of work.

Low A: South Bend 4 Clinton 5. Brad Allen gave up a couple of runs in the 1st and was cruising after that until he hit the wall in the 7th and gave up the go-ahead runs. He finished with 5 runs surrendered in 6+ innings. The offense scored 4 runs in the first 3 innings but couldn't get the equalizer late. Socrates Brito continued his hot streak with 2 more hits including a triple. Rudy Flores went 2 for 4 with a double and Breland Almadova had a couple of singles.

Short Season A: Hillsboro 2 @ Tr-City 15. The Hops got mauled as 1st round pick Braden Shipley couldn't get out of the 1st inning before allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk. Austin Platt got blasted for 7 more runs (just 3 earned), and Blake Forslund followed with more bad pitching. Josh Parr went 2 for 4 with a double to lead the meager offense.

Rookie: Missoula 2 Idaho Falls 6. Blayne Weller didn't pitch bad going 8 solid innings allowing 4 runs on 9 hits and striking out 7. The offense couldn't do much in spite of 10 hits. Colin Bray went 3 for 5 and Jake Mayers went 2 for 4 with a triple.

AZL Rookie: Dbacks 7 Royals 5. The offense overcame an early 4-run deficit Justin Williams who went 2 for 3 with a double and drove in 3. Jacob Cordero contributed 2 hits with a double and an RBI and Phildrick Llewellyn added a pair of singles. Sean Furney got the win allowing 1 run over 2 innings with 4 strikeouts.