2017 Minor-League Player of the Day

[mace]

Alrighty, folks. Games start Thursday night, and, in this very thread, RedlegJake will submit a full report on all the exemplary deeds of our redoubtable young farmers. The rest of the weekly order goes something like this:

Sunday games (Mon morning) -- mace
Monday games (Tues morning -- texasdave
Tuesday games (Wed morning) -- Tom Servo
Wednesday games (Thur morning) -- mace
Thursday games (Fri morning) -- RedlegJake
Friday games (Sat morning) -- Tom Servo
Saturday games (Sun morning) -- lollipopcurve

In a separate post, Jake will also maintain a running list, hopefully stickied, of all the daily winners and honorable mentions for the next five months or so.

Happy prospecting.

[RedlegJake]

MiLPOD April 6^th opener. And Redszone's first MiLPOD for 2017 is:


Tyler Mahle. Starting out with 4.1 perfect innings, and fanning 6 in 5.2 overall innings with just 3 hits and a walk, made Tyler a pretty easy pick for opening night in the minors.

Honorable Mentions:
Sebastian Elizalde. Louisville. He always seems to hit then you look at his final numbers and think “Is that all he did?” But every darn game it seems like his name in mentioned in these tallies. 2 hits and a homer earns him a mention to start the season.

Eric Jagielo. Great first game for a big comeback year. Homer and 2 hits with a walk gets him an honorable mention.


Lousville Bats - Thrill in the Ville! The Bats tied it in the 9^th 2 up after trailing by 1 most of the game, then played tied until giving up a run in the 13^th. Home half, down 1, they loaded the bases but mighty Winker fanned to ensure no joy in Mudville.

Beau Amaral	CF	2 for 6	Slick gloved OFer had a quarter of the Bats hits
Philip Ervin	LF	1 for 5, walk, OF assist	Philip also muffed a play
Sebastian Elizalde	1B	2 for 4, solo HR, walk	Tonight at least, Sebastian WAS the offense
Juan Perez	SS	1 for 4, walk, R
Jesse Winker	RF	0 for 4, 2 walks	Even when he doesn't hit he gets on

That was it for the hitting side of things. Lumber lite night in Louisville.

Starter:
Sal Romano. 6 IP, 7 hits, 1 walk, 2 ER, 3 Ks. GS 57. Solid but unspectacular. Workman like. Yeoman's job. Pick your descriptor for Big Sal's night.

Bullpen:
Louis Coleman pitched a hitless scoreless 7^th. 4 other relievers provided a magic act inning after inning as they got hit, gave up walks, but managed to keep any runs off the boards until Alejandro Chacin gave up the tear-making blast in the 13^th. McMyne, Mitchell and Luetge each earned a David Weathers Award for scariest relief pitching without giving up a run....


Pensacola – the Dwellers of the Deeps proved mightier than the Denizens of the Mountain as the Wahoos speared the Smokies, 4-1, in their opener. With high performance Mahle injecting the engine, Jagielo and Sparks provided the strokes...

Blake Trahan	SS	1 for 3, run, walk, SB	Run Blake run
Devin Mesoraco	C	1 for 3	Rehabbing Rocco
Adrian Nieto	C	0 for 0, Walk, RBI
Aristides Aquino	RF	1 for 4, RBI	The Punisher just lightly stung them tonight
Eric Jagielo	1B	2 for 3, R, RBI, HR, BB	1st step in what we all hope is a big bounce back
Taylor Sparks	3B	1 for 3, 2R, RBI, HR, BB	Postgame he said he was as excited by the walk as the homer bc he has been working on discipline – with his raw power that could propel him
Alex Blandino	2B	1 for 2, SH	Seemed like all the comeback kids came back...at least for 1 night

Starter:
Tyler Mahle. 5.2 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 ER, 6 Ks. GS 69. Tyler started perfect for 4 and a third and was lifted after a walk with 2 out in the 6^th. Add to that a great pickoff move to nail a guy off first. Don't expect this kid to stay in Pensacola for long.

Bullpen:
Izzy Guillon. 1.1 IP, 0 hits, 1 walk, 4 Ks

Ariel Hernandez 1 IP, 0 hits, 2 walks, 2 Ks. 15 of 26 pitches were strikes, lost control for a couple batters but was wicked – they weren't touching what he got over

Jimmy Herget – 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 0 ER, 2 Ks. Sidewinder wasn't sharp but he was effective enough.


Daytona's Tortugas start the season with a win 3-1. They were hapless against Luiz Gohara for 5 innings but found Andres Santiago the chink in Forida's armor, scoring all 3 runs in the 7^th off him.

Nick Senzel	3B	2 for 4 and a run	Saint Nick starts out the year with a pair of singles
Gavin LaValley	1B	2 for 4 and a run	Nick's unsung corner mate matches his stat line, got himself picked off once though
Alfredo Rodriguez	SS	1 for 4, run, RBI	Alf flashed some leather too, K'd twice
Narciso Crook	RF	2 for 4, double	Tools, tools, tools, hope he has a healthy campaign
Reydel Medina	LF	2 for 4, double 2 RBI	24 so old for this level probably his last year to make his mark as a serious prospect, has power

Sweet, Long, Butler and Okey hung with collars although Okey did draw a walk

Starter:
Jonathan Crawford 4.1 IP, 3 hits, 3 walks, 6 Ks, 1 ER, GS 59 – Surprisingly strong start for the nearly forgotten righty. Suarez for Simon was a steal. If Crawford keeps this up and stays healthy that trade may end up one of the Reds best ever.

Bullpen:
Sandy Lugo and free agent Geoff Broussard go 2 innings (2.1 for Lugo), fan 3, are unscored upon and walk 1 each. Lugo gave up 2 singles, Broussard 1.


Dayton – Dragons game suspended mid 4^th trailing 3-1. Game will be finished tomorrow.

Taylor Trammel homered in his first AB and Tyler Stephenson doubled.

Santillan had a rough debut, walking 4, allowing 3 hits and 3 runs, 1 earned with 2 wild pitches and a fielding gaffe. He showed a pickoff move, nicking 2 batters in the second. Rain out may have been a blessing for him but it was also his curse – hard to judge his pitching since he was hurling in winds and downpour. That Texas lightnin' is a little hard to control in such weather....

[texasdave]

Maybe this thread can be stickified?

[Tom Servo]

Games of Friday, April 7


Rob Wooten, Louisville: 6 innings, 5 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts, 2 earned runs. Not an easy choice picking a non-prospect on a night of pretty good performances, but W00ten, as I like to call him, is an interesting case. He made one start in college at UNC in 2006. Before and after that, he's been a reliever until drawing a start in AAA in 2015 and 6 more in 2016. But this offseason he pitched in the Dominican Winter League, drawing 5 starts and pitching to a 2.49 ERA in those 25.1 innings. And so here was now, starting the Bats second game of the season and dominating the Columbus Clippers outside of a leadoff HR and an RBI double.

Honorable Mention: Luis Castillo, Pensacola: 6 innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 1 earned run. Hard to find anything to complain about in Castillo's organizational debut, the lone run came on a solo HR.

Honorable Mention: Chris Okey, Daytona: 2-4, 2B, 3B, BB. Not only a productive day at the plate, the former Clemson Tiger gunned down two baserunners behind the plate as well.


In other action:

Beau Amaral, Louisville: 1-3, 2 BB

Dilson Herrera, Louisville: 2-5, HR, 4 RBI. Started at second base and played the entire game.

Sebastian Elizalde, Louisville: 2-4, RBI

Jesse Winker, Louisville: 2-3, 2B, BB

Zach Vincej, Louisville: 2-4

Nick Routt, Louisville: 2 innings, 0 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 0 runs



Josh VanMeter, Pensacola: 2-4, 2B. One of ya boi Servo's breakout picks, VanMeter also turned a nifty double play manning the keystone.

Gabby Guerrero, Pensacola: 2-4

Brian O'Grady, Pensacola: 1-3, HR, RBI. Ol slow and steady O'Grady has reached AA.

Austin Brice, Pensacola: 1 inning, 0 hits, walks, or runs, 2 strikeouts. A good sign for Brice's health, expect him in the Reds bullpen sooner than later.



Nick Senzel, Daytona: 1-5, 2B. Nasty Nick will get going soon, brother.

Reydel 'Funky Cold' Medina, Daytona: 2-4, 2B, BB, 2 RBI. It's still a fairly small sample size, but after bottoming out in Dayton in the first half of last year, all the 24-year-old Cuban has done in Daytona so far is hit.

Jose Lopez, Daytona: 5.1 innings, 8 hits, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts, 5 runs, 1 earned run. Unfortunately, an error to start the 3rd inning by AlfRod led to Lopez pitching with two on and two out and a run in, and a 3 run blast by Austin Riley did the real damage.

Jake Paulson, Daytona: 1.2 innings of 1 hit, nothing else ball

Tanner Rainey, Daytona: 1 inning, 0 hits, walks, or runs, 3 strikeouts. It has gotten a little Rainey in South Florida, as the dearly-departed Chuckie's favorite whipping boy starts his 2017 off with a dominant performance, striking out all three batters swinging.



TJ Friedl, Dayton: 2-3, triple, RBI. You might have heard of this guy before.

Brantley Bell, Dayton: 1-3, 2B

Luis Gonzalez, Dayton: 1-3, 2B

Hector Vargas, Dayton: 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI

Scott Moss, Dayton: 4.1 innings, 5 hits, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts, 5 runs, 2 earned runs. Perhaps the definition of "an up-and-down performance" Moss' debut in full season ball was a mixed bag. He lost the zone in the 2nd inning, issuing 3 of his 4 walks there and seeing 5 runs cross the plate, in part because of an error he himself committed (the classic ERA saver).

Ryan Hendrix, Dayton: 1.2 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 3 strikeout, 1 unearned run.

Jesse Stallings, Dayton: 1 inning, 2 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 0 runs.

[M2]

Time to get those Wooten Clan t-shirts made up.

[lollipopcurve]

Games of Saturday, April 7

Your scripture reading for a MILPoD Sunday:
"The mastery of that art of hitting into either field while a boy is responsible, I think, for my batting and run-getting record in the major leagues. Often I have wished that I could devise some such compulsory method to make our present left-handed hitters shift from one field to the other."
John J. McGraw, My Thirty Years in Baseball. 1923


Wennington Romero, Dragon: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 9 K. The diminutive Dominican lefthander has performed every step of the way so far. On this night he way outpitched the former top draft pick in the country, Brady Aiken. Threw 74% strikes.

Honorable Mention: Tyler Stephenson, Dragon: 2-4, HR (1), BB, 2 RBI. Homer went a long way to left -- good to see, as Stephenson's general approach had been geared to going the other way. If this kid fulfills his potential...

Honorable Mention: Rob Brantly, Bat: 3-6, 2B, HR, 4 RBI. Former 3rd rounder out of UC Riverside OPSd .832 in his first 100 ABs in the big leagues at 23 y-o. He can hit a bit.

Elsewhere around the affiliates:

Sebastian Elizalde, Bat: 2-6, 3B, RBI. Interesting that he's been the 3 hitter, not Winker.

Jesse Winker, Bat: 2-4, BB, RBI

Phil Ervin, Bat: 2-5, BB

Kevin Shackleford, Bat: 2 IP, zeros, K. Only Bat pitcher to post a goose egg.


Devin Mesoraco, Blue Wahoo: 1-3, HR (1), 2 RBI. First inning shot to left center.

Josh VanMeter, Blue Wahoo: 2-4. VanMeter was a Rule V maneuver with no strings attached, and the 22 y-o is now hitting cleanup for the Wahoos.

Jake Ehret, Blue Wahoo: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 2 K.


Shed Long, Tortuga: 1-3, BB

Nick Senzel, Tortuga: 1-4, 2B (2), SB.

Chris Okey, Tortuga: 1-3, BB

Mitch Piatnik, Tortuga: 1-2, BB, 2 assists from CF.

Vlad Gutierrez, Tortuga: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 6 K. All 3 runs scored in the first.


Jose Siri, Dragon: 2-5, RBI, 3 SB

Taylor Trammel, Dragon: 0-3, 2 BB, SB.

Avain Rachal, Dragon: 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB

Michael Beltre, Dragon: 2-3, BB

Joel Kuhnel, Dragon: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K, save

Game note: Dragons stole 8 bases. This could be a fun club to follow for those loyal, long-suffering Dragons fans.

[Kc61]

Brantly is 27, has played for 9 different minor league teams. His hitting improved every year but fell back to .700 OPS last season at Tacoma. Lifetime .708 OPS with only .396 SLG.

Had a big game yesterday leading a late inning comeback.

Don't know about his catching defense but would be great if he continues hitting and makes himself a viable candidate if the Reds have a need later in the season.

[mace]

Games of Sunday, April 9

Ryan Olson, Dayton . . . 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K. While the competition from the hitters was considerable, the 22-year-old righthander left no room for doubt, dominating Lake County in his professional debut. Olson, a two-time Division II All-American who went 12-0 as a sophomore, was drafted in the 13th round last year in spite of missing most of his junior season at Cal Poly-Pomona with a back injury. He didn't pitch for the Reds in 2016, and was a virtual unknown when he took the ball Sunday and commenced posting zero after zero. If you're interested in what Olson looked like when he was scouted, there's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcwY1ogqSOU

Honorable Mention: Daniel Sweet, Daytona . . . 4-5, 2B, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI. Leadoff man led the 18-hit parade for the Tortugas.

Honorable Mention: Jesse Winker, Louisville . . . 3-3, 2B, 2 BB, 3 RBI. Made no outs.

Honorable Mention: Gavin LaValley, Daytona . . . 3-6, 2B, HR (1), 2 R, 4 RBI. Batting cleanup, between Senzel and AlfRod.

Also notable on a splendid day when the Wahoos rallied late to cap an unbeaten afternoon, including the big club, and the bats awoke from an opening-week slumber, lifting the system to .500 . . .

Gabby Guerrero, Pensacola: 3-5, 2B, R, RBI. Walkoff single completed the comeback from 3-0 down after seven innings.

Brandon Dixon, Louisville: 2-4, HR (1), 2 R, 3 RBI. Homer went out to the opposite field. Played third, batted cleanup.

Beau Amaral, Louisville: 3-5, 3 R. Leading off for the Bats.

T.J. Friedl, Dayton: 3-5, 3B, R, 2 RBI. Led off, played left. Standing in at .462. Yet to struggle as a pro.

Michael Beltre, Dayton: 3-4, R.

Brantley Bell, Dayton: SB (5). Entered the day leading minor-league baseball in steals.

Dilson Herrera, Louisville: 2-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI. The hitting is not really an issue at this point.

Jesus Reyes, Daytona: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K. Hit 98 on the gun.

Jose Siri, Dayton: 2-4, R, RBI.

James Vasquez, Dayton: 2B, 2 RBI.

Aaron Fossas, Dayton: 2 IP, 2 H, zeroes.

Alfredo Rodriguez, Daytona: 1-4, 2B, 2 BB, R, SB (1). Certainly not hopeless at the plate. Double hit high on the wall.

Blake Butler, Daytona: 2-4, HR (1), BB, 2 R.

Josciel Veras, Daytona: 1-4, 2B, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI.

Garrett Boulware, Daytona: 2-6, 2B, R, 4 RBI.

Tanner Rainey, Daytona: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. Taking up where he left off last year out of the bullpen. Has fanned 5 in his first 2 innings.

Adrian Nieto, Pensacola: 1-3, BB, 2 RBI. Two-run single in 8th brought Wahoos within range of 9th-inning walkoff.

Domingo Tapia, Ismael Guillon, Ariel Hernandez, Alex Powers, Pensacola: Bullpen worked 5 scoreless innings with 6 K.

Tony Renda, Louisville: 2-5, 2B, BB, R, RBI.

Phillip Ervin, Louisville: 1-3, BB, RBI, 2 SB (2).

Barrett Astin, Louisville: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.

Louis Coleman, Louisville: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.

Lisalverto Bonilla, Louisville: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 6 K. Was good enough, on this day.

[texasdave]

Games of Monday, April 10....

Andrew Jordan, Dayton 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K. - On a night of outstanding pitching by Reds' farmhands, Jordan stood just a little taller on the mound than the rest. The 19-year-old righty, out of Gastonia, N.C., put the hammer down tonight, allowing just 3 baserunners (a single and a pair of walks). Not an overwhelming strikeout performance, his Game Score of 74 was tops for Reds' affiliates. Dayton pitchers have now hurled 20 consecutive scoring innings.

Honorable Mention: Ty Boyles, Daytona - 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K. Game Score - 62. A touch of wildness for the 21-year-old lefthander.

Honorable Mention: Austin Ross, Pensacola - 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Game Score - 63. Ross was making his debut in the Cincinnati organization after 7 years of cashing checks for the Milwaukee Brewers. Ross appeared in 96 games over the past 2 seasons with just one start. He is glad to be back in the rotation as a Wahoo. Ross retired 12 of the final 13 batters that he faced, allowing just a lone walk during that span.

Honorable Mention: Tim Adleman, Louisville - 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. Adleman strung together 6 scoreless innings before coughing up a 2-run jack in the 7th. Game Score - 64.

Outstanding starting pitching down on the farms on Monday night.

RELIEVERS: A number of fine performances out of the pen.

Nick Routt, Louisville (0.00) - .2 scoreless innings. Picking up where left off in 2016.

Kyle McMyne, Louisville (0.00) - 1.1 IP scoreless innings. McMyne had a season to forget last year with an ERA over 5. He has not been reached for a run here in 3 early appearances.

Austin Brice, Pensacola (0.00) - Brice held the opposition in check in his inning out of the pen.

Jimmy Herget, Pensacola (0.00) - 'Step into a Slim' Jim picked up his first save for the 'Hoos. He went a couple of innings and fanned 3.

Geoff Broussard, Daytona (0.00) - 1.1 shutout frames. Broussard has struck out 8 batters on the season in 3.1 innings of work.

Sandy Lugo, Daytona - In a baseball oddity, Lugo surrendered 3 runs without a hit in his time on the mound. 4 walks in 1.2 innings can do that.

Jesse Stallings, Dayton (0.00) - Threw 2.0 hitless innings.

Joel Kuhnel, Dayton (0.00) - Picked up save number 2 while pitching the ninth without giving up a run.

HITTERS: Position players pretty much took the night off.

Sebastian Elizalde, Louisville (.409) - 2 for 4. SGL, TPL (2).

Tyler Goeddel, Louisville - played his first game in the Reds' organization. The numbers aren't important.

Blake Trahan, Pensacola - 2 for 4. 2 SGL.

Gabriel Guerrero, Pensacola - 2 for 3. SGL, DBL (2), BB, ROE. Guerrero has reached base in seven straight plate appearances.

NOTE: Devin Mesoraco knocked in the game winner for the Blue Fish with a single in the seventh.

Nick Senzel, Daytona - 1 for 3. SGL. All that stood between Daytona and being no-hit was Senzel's lone safety.

Shed Long, Daytona - 0 for 2. 2 BB. Shed gave one of the free passes back by being caught stealing.

Avain Rachal, Dayton - 1 for 3. DBL (2).

Taylor Trammell, Dayton - 1 for 3. SGL.

Reds' farm clubs came into the night a combined 8-8, and finished it a combined 10-10. Three of the four games played were shutouts, with the good guys winning just one of them. Pitching, pitching and more pitching was the name of the game. There were just 9 runs total scored in the 4 games. Reds' underlings scored 5 of those 9.

[texasdave]

Notice: I will be on vacation on May 1st. That is a Monday. So, if someone could pick that day up for me, it would appreciated. Thanks.

[Tom Servo]

Games of Tuesday, April 11


Sal Romano, Louisville: 7 innings, 4 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts, 0 runs. Big Sal was dealing tonight and almost nothing seems to be in his way from debuting in the Reds rotation sometime in the next several weeks.

Honorable Mention: Daniel Sweet, Daytona: 2-4, RBI, 2 BB, stolen base. The 29th rounder out of Dallas Baptist has had an interesting start to his year. He wore the golden sombrero on Opening Day. The next day he went 0-4 again but this time with a walk and managed to swipe 3 bases. Then he went 4-5 with a walk, 0-4 with 3 strikeouts, and now today's performance. Feast or famine for Mr. Sweet.



In other action, with the Blue Wahoos already taking a vacation day while Daytona had to work overtime (15 innings):


Sebastian Elizalde, Louisville: 3-3. Pretty much the quintessential Elizalde game, the 25-year-old outfielder from Mexico can really hit a lot of singles. But not too much else.

Chad Wallach, Louisville: 2-4

Juan Perez, Louisville: 1-2

Zach Vincej, Louisville: 1-4, 2B

Evan Mitchell, Louisville: 1.1 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 0 runs. The groundball-seeking right-hander who impressed in spring training has a pair of two inning scoreless outings so far in 2017.


Nick Senzel, Daytona: 1-6, BB, stolen base. Also charged with an error.

Gavin LaValley, Daytona: 2-4, BB

Alfredo Rodriguez, Daytona: 2-7, stolen base

Chris Okey, Daytona: 2-6, 2B

Wendolyn Bautista, Daytona: 6 innings, 4 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, 1 earned run. Solid 2017 debut for Dominican righty who pitched to a 2.01 ERA in 10 starts for the Turtles last year despite an uninspiring 19 strikeouts to 16 walks ratio in 44.2 innings.

Austin Orewiler, Daytona: 3 innings, 1 hit, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts, 0 runs. I was a little surprised that Orewiler didn't make the Daytona rotation given his status as one of the Dragons most effective starters last season.

Tanner Rainey, Daytona: 2 innings, 0 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts, 0 runs. Rainey has faced 12 batters across three games so far (5 innings) and struck out 10 of them. The other two batters grounded out and popped out.

Robert Stock, Daytona: 3 innings, 1 hit, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts, 0 runs. A nice outing for the hard-throwing reclamation project.

Geoff Broussard, Daytona: 1 inning, 1 hit, 0 walks or runs, 1 strikeout. Broussard, a minor league free agent acquisition, picked up his second save for the Tortugas this season.


Jose Siri, Dayton: 1-3, RBI, 2 stolen bases

Avain Rachal, Dayton: 1-2, triple, 2 BB

Tyler Stephenson, Dayton: 1-4, RBI

Hector Vargas, Dayton: 1-3

Tony Santillan, Dayton: 5.1 innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 2 earned runs. A solid start, rain and free-pass free start for Guns Up Tony the second time around.

Lucas Benenati, Dayton: 1 inning, 1 hit, 0 walks or runs, 3 strikeouts

Ryan Hendrix, Dayton: 2 innings, 2 hits, 0 walks or runs, 3 strikeouts. Hendrix is one of several young relief arms to keep an eye on this season.

[M2]

(Perils of) Wendolyn Bautista

Also, Elizalde leads Louisville in XBH at the moment and was one of the top XBH guys in the FSL in 2015. He's not a singles hitter, even if singles were his three hits last night.

[RedlegJake]

Beginning to think I'd like to see if Elizalde could handle the job as the OFer off the bench in place of Kivlehan

[mace]

Games of Wednesday, April 12

Tyler Mahle, Pensacola . . . 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K. When he reached Pensacola last year, some wondered whether Mahle had peaked at High-A. Forget about it. After two starts, ERA stands at 0.71.

Honorable Mention: Alex Blandino, Pensacola . . . 3-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI, SB (1). All the offense Mahle needed.

Honorable Mention: Jake Paulson, Daytona . . . 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K. Big relief outing sets up the tall righthander for a nice bounce-back season.

Also notable on a night when I could say that Dayton scored more runs (10) than all of last June, and it would sound plausible . . .

Sebastian Elizalde, Louisville: 3-5, 2B. At .484, the Guy from Guaymas has never been so popular.

Phillip Ervin, Louisville: First HR as a Bat.

Zach Vincej, Louisville: 2-4, 2B, RBI. Just wondering -- if Vincej played basketball, would his J be superfluous?

Tyler Goeddel, Louisville: 2-4. Nice to see his name here.

Rob Wooten, Louisville: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K. The designated veteran, 31, put up six scoreless.

Jonathon Crawford, Daytona: 4 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K. Nothing says healthy like a 1.04 ERA with 10 K in 8.2 IP.

Garrett Boulware, Daytona: 2-4, 2 2B, R.

Shed Long, Daytona: 2-4. Showing signs.

Daniel Sweet, Daytona: 1-3, R, RBI.

Jimmy Herget, Pensacola: 1 IP, zeroes, 3 K, Sv (3).

Austin Brice, Pensacola: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K. The former Marlin might not be long for the Southern League.

Tyler Stephenson, Dayton: HR (2), 4 RBI. Starting to get seriously enthused about this kid.

Hector Vargas, Dayton: 3-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI.

Michael Beltre, Dayton: 1-3, 2B, BB, R, 2 RBI. Double in eighth was the game-winner.

T.J. Friedl, Dayton: HR (1). The "1" feels like a typo.

Cassidy Brown, Dayton: 1-3, 2B, BB, R, RBI.

Scott Moss, Dayton: 4.1 IP, 8 K. Let's leave it at that.

Jesse Adams, Dayton: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. Lefty hails from Maumee, Ohio.

Joel Kuhnel, Dayton: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, Sv (3). Three saves proves he's as good as Iglesias.

[StRedlegs900]

All of you folks who do these write-ups do such an outstanding, thorough, and often hilarious job. I absolutely love coming to read this thread every morning. Thanks to you all, both proactively and retroactively!!