D-backs Minor-League Round-up, 4/21 Frandsen comes alive!

The Diamondbacks signed infielder Kevin Frandsen to a minor-league deal, and assigned him to the Reno Aces. Frandsen appeared in 105 games for the Washington Nationals last year, his eighth in the majors, and hit .259/.299/.309 for them. He has played for the Giants, Angels and Phillies too, and also spent time in the Padres and Red Sox organizations. I have to wonder if the move was a result of the Jake Lamb injury, since Frandsen has had most experience in the majors is at third. The team may just be being cautious, but that would suggest Lamb might be out of action for longer than the hoped-for "2-3 weeks."

Snake Stars
3 stars: Matt Pagnozzi, Reno - 3-for-4, HR (1), DBL, R, 3 RBI
2 stars: Blayne Weller, Visalia - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 K
1 star: Peter O'Brien, Reno - HR (5), 3-for-4, HR (5), BB, 2 R, RBI
0 stars: Jamie Westbrook, Visalia - 0-for-4, two K

Triple-A Reno 8, Las Vegas 3. Peter O'Brien continues to destroy AAA pitching. Three more hits tonight, including his fifth home-run of the season, and is now batting .431 on the season. He wasn't alone here. C Matt Pagnozzi finished a triple shy of the cycle, driving in three, and Frandsen had three hits too, making his Reno debut at 1B. After falling behind 2-0 in the second. the Aces scored eight unanswered runs to make a winner of Justin Marks, who scattered eight hits and a walk over seven inning, striking out six. SS Danny Worth notched his first homer of the year and drew two walks,

Double-A Mobile 1 @ Montgomery 5. Aaron Blair took the loss for the Rawhide, scattering eight hits and three walks over 5.2 innings with six strikeouts, giving up a pair of long-balls. R.J. Hively took things the rest of the way, being charged with two runs (one unearned) on three hits and no walks, with a pair of strikeouts. The offense were unable to do much against some apparently solid Biscuits pitching, though 2B Brandon Drury doubled and singled, driving in the only BayBears run in the third, which briefly tied the game at one. But Mobile went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and were also caught stealing twice.

High-A Visalia 7 @ Modesto 1.  Blayne Weller is racking up the strikeouts, with 11 over his six innings tonight: he gave up a run on five hits and two walks. In his 17.1 innings for the Rawhide, he now has 27 K's. The bullpen added five more strikeouts the rest of the way, in the three innings of one-hit relief. On offense, LF Daniel Palka got his first homer and also doubled, one of five Visalia players with multi-hit games tonight, as they out-hit the Nuts by a margin of 12-6. RF Stewart Ijames had two hits and stole a base, as the Rawhide improved their record to 10-3, and have already opened a three-game lead at the top of their division.

A-ball Kane County 5, Clinton 2. Jeferson Mejia, one of the pitchers received in the Montero trade, allowed one run over five innings on three hits, and struck out five, but can consider himself lucky, as he had major control issues, walking five. That's 11 walks in 14 innings for the 20-year-old. C Stryker Trahan broke a 2-2 tie with his second homer of the year in the sixth, and LF Grant Heyman extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the fourth. Ethan Elias got the win, for three relief innings and an unearned run allowed, and Mason McCullough picked up his third save, striking out two in the ninth. 2B Fenery Ozuna had three hits, including a triple.