Minor League Updates Thursdsay 5/16/2013

[texasdave]

Matinee baseball out west as Bakersfield and Stockton hook up. Listening to Bob Dylan and thinking about those folks up north who are being pummeled by tornadoes. I have relatives in the area but, thankfully, they are okay.

The Blaze strike first, scoring on a Kyle Waldrop single followed by Juan 'Gone' Duran's two-run poke. Stockton jumped on Bakersfield starter Jake Johnson for a run in the bottom of the first. After one it is Bakersfield 2 Stockton 1.
Jake Johnson allows four runs in the bottom of the second. It could have been better -two were unearned due to an error by Chris Berset. It could have been worse - Kyle Waldrop gunned down a runner at the plate. Blaze trail 5-2.
Jake Johnson does not build upon his last effort, failing to make it out of the third inning. Brooks Pinckard did not fare much better in his inning of work.
Blaze fell behind 8-3 but have picked up a run in the fifth and now trail just 8-4. Steve Selsky had a solo blast. Yorman Rodriguez, Juan Perez and Juan Silverio have doubled.
Wes Mugarin pitched a scoreless frame and now Jimmy Moran is on the mound in the bottom of the fifth.
Stockton pounded Kyle McMyne in the eighth for five runs to put the game way out of reach. Carlos Gonzalez, who started on the 6th and the 11th pitched an inning of relief. With the day off he should have been scheduled for the 17th. But I am assuming they are just going to skip his turn in the rotation.

Stockton 14 Bakersfield 4.

[mace]

I'm really, really reluctant to say this. But does it seem like maybe, possibly, oh so surprisingly, Juan Duran is starting to get it?

[texasdave]

I'm really, really reluctant to say this. But does it seem like maybe, possibly, oh so surprisingly, Juan Duran is starting to get it?

He is just 21 in High A. But this is the California League.

His numbers for the month of May (including his 1-2 today). .357/.438/.524/.962.

[mace]

He is just 21 in High A. But this is the California League.

His numbers for the month of May (including his 1-2 today). .357/.438/.524/.962.

It doesn't seem like this is a California aberration. If that were the case, I'd expect the home runs to show it. They don't. Duran's progress seems to be in the area of making contact.

I'm curious, also, if anybody has seen him in the outfield. Previous reports were that he practically trips over his feet going after fly balls. Wonder if he is coming to terms with his body and controlling it better.

[texasdave]

Mace, here is his K% over the years. I don't see a huge improvement. His BABIP for 2013, according to baseball-reference.com, is .391.

Year	SO	PA	K%
2008	47	163	28.8%
2009	52	174	29.9%
2010	71	221	32.1%
2011	152	404	37.6%
2012	151	458	33.0%
2013	37	120	30.8%

[mace]

Well, that's pretty sobering. Thanks a lot.

Along those lines, the one area that does seem improved is his K:BB ratio.

Where do you see his BABIP on baseballreference? Haven't seen that listed.

[texasdave]

Well, that's pretty sobering. Thanks a lot.

Along those lines, the one area that does seem improved is his K:BB ratio.

Where do you see his BABIP on baseballreference? Haven't seen that listed.

If you go to the gamelogs and click on the first and last one it shows the BABIP on that totals line all the way to the right.

2012 - .333
2011 - .405
2010 - .347

So, maybe .391 is not all that out of line.

[mace]

Cool. Baseballreference.com never ceases to amaze. And constantly gets better.

[texasdave]

Pedro Diaz took the ball for Dayton tonight against West Michigan. He failed to last three innings as the Dragons fell behind 6-0.
Tony Amezcua came on in relief and was outstanding: 4.2IP 2H 0R 0ER 0BB 2K. Alejandro Chacin has hurled a scoreless frame as well.
Dayton posted a crooked number in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three runs.
Jesse Winker followed singles by Petersen and Gelalich with his fifth home run of the year.
Dayton trails 6-3 in the middle of the eighth. Dayton scores one in the bottom half of the eighth but it is not enough as they fall 6-4.
Dragon relievers pitched 6.2 innings of one-hit, no-walk, six-strikeout baseball.
The Dayton run in the eighth came on singles by Winker and Mejias-Brean and a pair of wild pitches.

West Michigan 6 Dayton 4.

[texasdave]

Louisville drew first blood on the road at Charlotte. Back-to-back doubles by Phipps and Burriss gave the Bats a 1-0 lead.

Chad Reineke pitched into the sixth inning, giving up four runs. Clay Hensley has followed with 1.2 spotless innings of relief, striking out three.
The sticks have been pretty quiet since grabbing that short-lived one-run lead.
Louisville trails 4-1 in the top of the eighth.
Louisville hitters can only manage singles by Perez and Rodriguez over the final seven innings.

Charlotte 4 Louisville 1.

[texasdave]

Ryan LaMarre swatted a solo shot (4) in the bottom of the first and Wahoo pitching has made it stand up through five. Manny Parra pitched two shutout innings and Tim Crabbe has followed with three of his own.
Pensacola leads 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth. Single runs in the sixth and seventh for Chattanooga. Pensacola plated a run in their half of the sixth. Game tied 2-2 in the eighth. Pensacola looking for their third walk-off in as many games.
Crabbe pitched okay: 4.2 IP 4H 2R 2ER 2BB 7K. Pensacola's run came on a single by Mattair (second of the game) and a triple by Barnhart.
Josh Ravin had it going tonight with 5Ks in his two shutdown innings of relief. Drew Hayes was a different story altogether. Hayes has allowed three runs in the top of the tenth so far. Blue Fish hitters are going to have to go to work to walk this one off tonight. On a positive note, Blue Fish pitchers have struck out 16 batters in the game.
Chattanooga 5 Pensacola 2 in the top of the tenth.
Shaun Ellis came on and went to the gas can instead of the rosin bag, allowing a three-run jack to the first batter he faced. Middle of ten and Pensacola trails 8-2. Six to tie and seven to walkoff. Looks like it's going to be an 0-4 night for the farmhands.

[OGB]

Always appreciate the updates, Dave, but boy are these starting to get depressing.