Second round draft pick Justin Williams has been playing consistently well from the moment he arrived in Phoenix to play in the AZL Rookie League. Williams doesn't turn 18 until next Tuesday yet he has been playing as well as anyone in the league with a .354 average, 32 RBI and an .866 OPS. He was drafted for his power and while that hasn't materialized yet with just one homer on the season, he does have 12 doubles and he isn't striking out at any unusual rate. He has an impressive .408 OBP for such a young player and is really hit of late hitting .425 in his last 10 games with 6 of those being multi-hit games. Last night he went 4 for 4 with 2 more doubles. If he wasn't so young he might have already been sent off to one of the out-of-town rookie leagues. But I suspect that will be on the agenda for next year.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Justin Williams, AZL Dbacks 4 for 4, 2 R, 2 DBL, 1 RBI
2 Stars: Ross Gerdeman, Hillsboro 7 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 0 ER, W (1-6)
1 Star: Chris Owings, Reno 2 for 5, 2 R, DBL, TPL, 3 RBI
0 Stars: Daniel Watts, Visalia 5 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 7 R, L (1-4)
Triple A: Reno 12 Nashville 7. Matt Wright wasn't very effective allowing 5 runs in 3+ innings but the offense wasn't to be denied scoring 12 runs on 15 hits. Tyler Bortnick provided the baserunners going 3 for 4 with 2 walks, and Chris Owings provided the RBI with a double and a triple. Ed Easley and Tony Campana each added 2 RBI.
Double A: Mobile 8 Birmingham 3. Bo Schultz provided 5 solid innings and a balanced attack featuring 3 RBI from Sawyer Carroll was plenty to get the win. Nick Ahmed had a nice game going 2 for 4 with a walk, a triple, an RBI, 2 runs scored and 2 stolen bases.
High A: Visalia 3 @ Bakersfield 8. Daniel Watts got roughed up again as he appears to have found an early ceiling at High A Visalia after shining in Yakima and South Bend. The offense could only respond with 3 hits though Evan Marzilli did hit a 3-run homer, his 2nd.
Low A: South Bend 4 West Michigan 10. Starter Jesse Darrah and the bullpen both got hit around pretty good for 10 runs. 13 hits on offense could only produce 4 runs with Socrates Brito going 3 for 5 with 2 RBI and Alex Glenn collecting 3 singles.
Short Season A: Hillsboro 2 Tri-City 0. The Hops offense could only come up with 3 hits again but this time it was enough as starter Ross Gerdeman was stellar throwing 7 shutout innings. Daniel Gibson put up a zero in the 8th inning, and closer Jimmy Sherfy was perfect again getting 2 strikeouts in the 9th for his 5th save. In 9 games covering 9 innings Sherfy has allowed just 3 hits, walked 1 and struck out 17. I think a higher level is in his near future.
Rookie: Missoula 1 @ Great Falls 5.A shaky outing by Carlos Hernandez and a shaky offense led to an uninspired 5-1 defeat. Stryker Trahan went 2 for 3 with a walk and a double.
AZL Rookie: Dbacks 6 Brewers 5. The Dbacks got a walk-off win when Jamie Westbrook singled with 1 out in the 9th to break a 5-5- tie. Ryan Doran had another solid start allowing 2 runs on 3 hits over 5 innings while striking out 6. Justin Williams provided a chunk of the offense going 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored. Westbrrok went 3 for 5 with a double plus the game winner.