Supplemental round pick Aaron Blair is showing off his stuff a lot more than 1st round pick Braden Shipley is. They're both playing for Hillsboro in short season A ball, and while Shipley has struggled, Blair has not. In 7 starts this year Blair has really only had one poor outing. In his other six starts he has allowed 2 runs or less and in four of them he has allowed no runs. His walks are on the high side but he's getting his strikeouts too. he has 25 strikeouts in 27 innings with 13 walks and just 19 hits allowed. His ERA is a shiny 2.67 and his BAA is a very impressive .204. He has great size at 6-5, 230 and is an imposing presence on the mound. The organization is really going out of its way to keep his innings under control as they have yet to allow him to extend beyond 5 innings, and in fact has only gone 5 innings twice. So far he's looking like the real deal.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Bradin Hagens, Mobile 7 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 5 K, 0 ER, W (10-7)
2 Stars: Jacob Cordero, AZL Dbacks 4 for 5, 2 R, 1 HR (1), 1 RBI
1 Star: Nick Evans, Mobile 3 for 5, 3 R, 2 DBL, 1 HR (18), 3 RBI
0 Stars: Jake Miller, Missoula 0 for 4, 2 K
Triple A: Reno - Rained Out
Double A: Mobile 9 Birmingham 1. Bradin Hagens was terrific tossing 7 shutout innings on 2 hits. The offense made sure that was plenty good with 9 runs on 13 hits led by Nick Evans who had 2 doubles and his 18th home run accounting for 3 RBI. Mike Freeman went 3 for 5 with a double and 3 RBI.
High A: Visalia - Off Day
Low A: South Bend 4 Ft. Wayne 1. Kyle Winkler had one of his best starts as a pro going 6 and a 1/3 strong innings allowing 1 run on 5 hits. Henry Garcia tacked on 1.2 shutout innings and Enrique Burgos pitched a perfect 9th with 2 strikeouts for his 17th save. Alex Glenn hit his 11th homer while Socrates Brito and Breland Almadova each added a couple of hits.
Short Season A: Hillsboro 3 Tri-City 2. Aaron Blair pitched 4 scoreless innings on 3 hits and 4 walks while striking out 5. Johnny Shuttlesworth pitched a pair of scoreless innings to earn the win, while Daniel Gibson pitched a clean 8th and Jimmy Sherfy a perfect 9th for his 3rd save. Yogey Perez-Ramos went 3 for 4, and both Yosbel Gutierrez and Taylor Ratliff went 2 for 4 with a double.
Rookie: Missoula 3 @ Helena 6. Adam Miller got roughed up for 5 runs on 9 hits over 5 innings, and the offense could only respond with 3 runs. Colin Bray went 2 for 5 with a double and a stolen base.
AZL Rookie: Dbacks 6 Mariners 5. The Dbacks blew a 5-2 lead in the 7th and 8th innings, but won it in walk-off style in the 9th when jamie Westbrook tripled leading off the inning and scored on a Yeisson Rosario single. Starter Dallas Newton was solid allowing 2 runs over 6 innings to earn the win.Jacob Cordero had a big night going 4 for 5 and hitting his first homer as a professional. Alex Byo pitched the 9th to get his first win.