Dbacks Minor League Round-Up 8/27: Six Dbacks Named to AZ Fall League

Six Diamondback minor league were named yesterday to the roster of the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, three pitchers and three position players. The pitchers include Andrew Chafin, Jake Barrett and Matt Stites. The position players include Jake Lamb, Mike Freeman and Nick Ahmed. A little bit of a surprise that Matt Stites was named since he hasn't pitched since undergoing an emergency appendectomy before he was traded to the Dbacks in the Ian Kennedy deal. Apparently he's on the mend. Chafin and Barrett have both had good seasons and Chafin has had his pitch count scaled back in recent starts, apparently in preparation for the Arizona Fall League so as not to over-extend him. Barrett is pitching so well he's a candidate to be a part of next year's bullpen if he has a good spring.

This is an excellent opportunity for Jake Lamb to show he deserves a higher placement after missing a chunk of the season to a a wrist injury. He's hitting .372 with 5 home runs and a 1.138 OPS in 21 games since returning in early August. I'm prepared to predict he's the Dbacks starting third baseman come 2015. He'll be highly placed on my end-of-year Top 60 list, perhaps top 5. Nick Ahmed needs to show he can hit advanced pitching after having a miserable first third of the season and a barely passable second half.

Snake Stars
3 Stars: Mobile Bullpen* 3 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 9 K
2 Stars: Visalia Bullpen** 3 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 K
1 Star: Reno Bullpen*** 5 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 K
0 Stars: AZL Dbacks 4, 5, 6 Hitters 0 for 12, 8 K
* Bryan Woodall, Willy Paredes, Jake Barrett
** Patrick Schuster, Conrad Flynn, RJ Hively
*** Matt Wright, Tony Sipp, Kevin Munson, Evan Marshall

Triple A: Reno 10 @ Tucson 1. Nate Adcock threw 4 innings of no-hit baseball, though Matt Wright stole the victory with 2 innings of relief. The Reno bullpen as a group tossed 5 shutout innings. The offense was in form for once collecting 15 hits led by Tuffy Gosewisch who went 3 for 4 with a double, an RBI, and 3 runs scored.

Double A: Mobile 2 @ Tennessee 4. The BayBears offense was stymied all night Eric Jokisch and didn't score until picking up 2 meaningless runs in the 9th inning. Bo Schultz had a sub-par start allowing 4 runs in 5 innings. But the bullpen was electric with each of three relievers striking out the side for 9 strikeouts in 3 innings.

High A: Visalia 6 @ San Jose 1. The Rawhide picked up a critical win in their effort to hold onto the #2 seed in the playoffs. They lead Modesto by 3 games with 6 to play as they take on first place San Jose for three more games. Keith Hessler had a very good outing allowing 1 run over 6 innings on 5 hits and 3 walks. The bullpen was electric with 3 shutout innings and 6 strikeouts. They trailed 1-0 heading into the 8th when they scored 1 run to tie it. Then blew it open with 5 runs in the top of the 9th. Gerson Montilla led the late charge with 2 hits and 3 RBI.

Low A: South Bend - Off Day

Short Season A: Hillsboro - Off Day

Rookie: Missoula - In Progress (after my bedtime)

AZL Rookie: Dbacks 2 @ Giants 4. The Dbacks are in a desperate scramble to capture the #2 seed in the East Division and have lost 3 in a row to fall a game out of the playoff spot with 2 games to play. Sean Furney had a decent start going 7 solid innings allowing 3 runs and striking out 8. But the offense couldn't get it done with 2 runs on just 4 hits. Yeisson Rosario hit a solo home run, his 3rd.