Minor League Game Thread:Monday 5/23/16

[texasdave]

Louisville (22-21/L1) Off - Coulda. Woulda. Shoulda. Last Sunday, Louisville led Columbus 6-2 at one point in the game, and led 8-6 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. They lost. Yesterday, Louisville led 4-0 at one point in the game, and led 6-3 heading into the ninth inning. They lost. If they had managed to hang on to both of those contests, they would be in a first-place tie. They didn't. Coulda. Woulda. Shoulda. Hernan Iribarren went 3-4 yesterday to lift his average to an even .400. He has had a safety in every game that he has had an official at-bat this season, save one. Jermaine Curtis leads the I.L. in both batting average (.325) and on-base percentage (.449). And in fan voting for the best AAA ballpark, Louisville's Slugger Field upset the Durham Bulls stadium in the second round. They move on the round 3. Drop them a vote or two. http://ballparkdigest.com/2016/05/21...ound-triple-a/

[texasdave]

Pensacola (25-19/L2) 7:05PM EDT - Pensacola currently stands in second place in their division, 1.5 games behind Biloxi. They have staff ace, Amir Garrett (1.51) on the hill tonight. Garrett has 7 quality starts in 8 outings, failing to go 6 innings just once. He has been especially effective at home, allowing just 1 earned run in 24.2 innings, which works out to a tidy 0.36 ERA. For the season (47.2 IP), Amir has yet to give up a home run. When Garrett was a senior in high school he attended Findlay College Prep. They did not have a baseball squad. His father arranged for a tryout for major league scouts. According to reports, Garrett hit 96 on the gun. Dennis Quaid was not impressed. However, the Reds scouts were. Garrett was drafted in the 22nd round that year, and signed for a cool $1 million dollars. Amir is one of eleven siblings. Others include: Mackenzie, Aubrey, David, Keshawn, Asiane, Destinee, Kreon, Marcus, James and Michael. A scouting report from the 27 Outs Network:

Garrett has taken huge strides toward fulfilling his potential since leaving basketball behind, but he has not hit his ceiling. Not by a long-shot. While he’s always had plus velocity, sitting comfortably at 91–94 and peaking at 96, it’s his secondary pitches that will determine whether he’s in the rotation or coming out of the ‘pen. It would be hard to imagine his not making it to the Majors at all. At 6’5”, 210, Garrett possesses impressive strength and agility, moving quickly off the mound when necessary. He pitches from a mid-to-low-angle arm slot and is more of a “tall and fall” guy in terms of his stride (as opposed to “drop and drive”). He has a high leg kick and usually squares up to the plate during his delivery, though his momentum sometimes causes him to spin off toward third and can hinder his control. Along with his fastball, he has been working on a slider and change-up. Having even average secondary pitches would likely make him a good fit as a strong #4 starter; an above-average feel for either pitch, or perhaps adding a splitter to his repertoire (from which I feel he could greatly benefit), would probably bump him up to the #3 slot. His floor should be no lower than short relief or setup man, barring injury.

A couple of odds and ends.
Pensacola's stadium has reached the third round of the AA best ballparks. http://ballparkdigest.com/2016/05/21...ound-double-a/ Blue Wahoos mascot, Kazoo, chilling in his DeLorean. Attachment 10859 And this last item has nothing to do with Pensacola, but I thought it was pretty neat. Congratulations to Julie Arens, Champion of the Hubba Bubba Bubble Blowing Contest at GABP!
Attachment 10860

[texasdave]

Daytona (19-25/L1) 7:05PM EDT - Daytona's offense took the day off yesterday, collecting just 3 hits in a 2-0 loss. Unfortunately, the defense took the day off as well with both runs being unearned. Tejay Antone (3.28) will make the start tonight for the Tortugas. Antone has been a workhorse of late, going 15 innings in his last 2 starts. Antone pitched for the Weatherford Coyotes, the oldest community college in the southwest. Its first graduating class totaled 6 students. Jake Arrieta also attended Weatherford, and the Reds are hoping that lightning does indeed strike twice. Weatherford is located west of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, somewhere between hell and high water. Just kidding, kinda. You are well on your way to a whole lot of nothing. Weatherford is the Peach Capital of Texas, and the Cutting Horse Capital of the World. And, somehow, Stedman Graham made it from Weatherford College to Oprah Winfrey. So, there is hope. Back to baseball. Despite the lack of offense, 2 streaks managed to continue: Blake Butler's hitting streak is now 13, and Blake Trahan's has reached base in 28 straight games. Funny pic: "Stranger Danger!" Attachment 10861
The Reds minor league affiliates all must have some pretty nice ballparks. http://ballparkdigest.com/2016/05/21...-round-high-a/

[texasdave]

Dayton (13-30/L1) 7:00PM EDT - The Dragons spotted the Hot Rods and 8-0 lead on Sunday before making things interesting, falling 9-7. Dayton has won 6 of their last 9 contests, averaging nearly 5 and a half runs a game. The sticks have finally awakened from their early-season ennui. Jose Lopez (3.61) has no problem with that continuing tonight. Lopez is tied for the league lead in strike outs with 47 in just 42.1 innings. He has surrendered just one home run on the season. James Vasquez has been swinging some heavy lumber lately, homering 5 times in his last 10 games. For the season, Vasquez has 7, placing him 1 bomb off of the league lead. His numbers over the last 10 games are staggering: .395/.425/.868/1.293. Shed Long seems to have put an end to his slide, hitting safely in each of his last 7 games. Long has picked up the pace with runners in scoring postion. Through games of Saturday, May 21st: .370/.419/.556/.975. Ariel Hernandez understands the importance of retiring the leadoff hitter. In 20 plate appearances, he has yet to give up a hit, walking 2 and punching out 11. Fun Facts - Chris Sabo. Chris Sabo was the Dayton Dragons hitting coach in 2005. In high school, Sabo was a standout goalie in hockey. He played on 2 national championship 17-and-under teams. Chris played collegiate baseball at Michigan, where he was a teammate of Barry Larkin, earning first-team, All-American honors from both The Sporting News and Baseball America. Sabo is currently a baseball coach at IMG Academy in Florida. He is a scratch golfer, who has qualified for several major USGA tournaments. Chris, minus the trademark goggles, coaching them up in Dayton. Attachment 10862

[texasdave]

Congratulations to Daniel Wright, Louisville! International League Pitcher of the Week!

Attachment 10864

[texasdave]

DAYTONA - Seth Varner's last 8 starts stretching back to 2015: 5-2 record, 0.85 ERA, .169 BAA, 40 K-8 BB, 8.5 K per 9 IP, 0.80 WHIP. Hasn't allowed an ER in 4 of the 8 starts

[texasdave]

DAYTONA - Odd double play pulled off by Daytona in the top of the first. With runners on second and third with one out, well, let the game log tell the story:

Michael Katz grounds into a double play, first baseman Gavin LaValley to pitcher Tejay Antone to first baseman Gavin LaValley to shortstop Blake Trahan. Luis Guillorme out at 2nd.

That would make it a 3-1-3-6.

Blake Trahan wastes no time at all extending his on-base string to 29 games, walking in the bottom of the first.

CORRECTION: Daytona twitter has this to say about the double play. It makes more sense.

Just your typical 3-1-6 inning ending double play to get Antone out of a 2nd and 3rd, one out jam!

[texasdave]

DAYTON - Jose Lopez has hit 94 on the gun so far tonight. Hot Rods announcer is impressed by the Lopez curve. A walk and 2 singles (1 questionable) have the Dragons down 1-zip in the second.

UPDATE: The Dragons strike right back. Mardirosian walked and Charlton doubled. Charlton moves to third on an error. Just one out. Hector Vargas with a bloop triple gives Dayton the lead. Ground ball and the throw pulls the first baseman off the bag. Vargas scores. 3-1 now.

Dayton is 3-2 in its last 5 games. In their 3 wins they have scored a combined 10 wins. In their 2 losses they have scored a combined 17 runs. As Kal Daniels might say, "Because baseball."

[texasdave]

PENSACOLA - The Wahoos stake Amir Garrett to a 2-run lead in the top of the second. Kyle Parker walked. Donald Lutz singled. Calten Daal doubled (only his second extra-base hit of the season) home one run. A Chad Wallach sac fly plates the second run.

[texasdave]

DAYTONA - The Big Green onslaught continues. Shields doubles Gonzalez to third. Kevin Garcia, now 2-2 in the game, singles them both home. 5-1. Garcia is now 4-8 since joining Dayton. Shed Long walks. First and second with just one out. Balk on the obviously-rattled Bowling Green pitcher. Second and third. 7 straight Dragons have reached. The only out was off the bat of James Vasquez, who flew out to the warning track in right. Pickoff attempt goes down the left field line. 6-1. Long to third. 3 Hot Rods errors in the inning.
Vasquez walks and that is all for the BG starter. He is at 60 pitches in 1.2 innings of ugliness.

[texasdave]

PENSACOLA - Atypical inning by Garrett. Jacksonville plates 3 to lead 3-2.

Moises Sierra lines out to center fielder Phillip Ervin.
Chris Curley walks.
James Roberts singles on a line drive to right fielder Brandon Dixon. Chris Curley to 3rd.
Sharif Othman strikes out swinging.
Jeremias Pineda hit by pitch. James Roberts to 2nd.
Patrick Johnson singles on a ground ball to shortstop Calten Daal. Chris Curley scores. James Roberts scores. Jeremias Pineda to 3rd. Patrick Johnson to 2nd. Throwing error by shortstop Calten Daal.
Yefri Perez strikes out swinging. Passed ball by catcher Chad Wallach. Jeremias Pineda scores. Patrick Johnson to 3rd. Yefri Perez to 1st.
J. T. Riddle grounds out, shortstop Calten Daal to first baseman Kyle Parker.

Only one of the runs was earned.

[texasdave]

DAYTONA - Antone has hung 4 zeros on the scoreboard so far. He has struck out 5. The Tortugas have just 1 hit, but it resulted in a run. Reynoso singled and came around on an error. Daytona leads 1-0.

[texasdave]

PENSACOLA - Kyle Parker has walked in his first 2 plate appearances tonight. He has now walked 15 times, as he plays in his seventeeth game. Parker has struck out just 12 times. Kyle, despite hitting just .213, has a .397 on-base percentage.

[texasdave]

DAYTONA - Tejay Antone is finished after 5 scoreless frames, hurling 95 pitches.
5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Alex Powers assumes pitching duties.

[texasdave]

PENSACOLA - The Blue Fish tie the game in the top of the fifth. Tony Renda doubles, and with 2 outs Ervin delivers the tying run with a single.