Friday, May 26, 2006 |
Minor League Scorebook
News
- I forgot to mention in last night's Bees recap that Abel Nieves got his first appearance in an Angels minor league uniform in that game. He came straight up from the Dominican academy, and went 1-4 with two strikeouts for the Bees. While I doubt he sticks at that level, and there's no place for yet another shortstop in Arkansas, my guess is he's headed downstairs somewhere, maybe Rancho, maybe Cedar Rapids.
- Probably the biggest news of the day was the callup of top Angels prospect Jered Weaver. I was already planning on being at the park tomorrow, but as Rich already observed, the Angels just saved the two of us a trip to Vegas on a very busy weekend. Not everyone is as sanguine about Weaver's future as Rich is; Rotoworld, for one, says "He's not as exciting of a possibility in mixed leagues -- his flyball tendencies could result in a subpar ERA despite strong showings in WHIP and strikeouts -- but it is possible that he'll have some value." Well, we'll see who's right soon enough I suppose.
- A couple days old, but MILB.com's Jonathan Mayo projects the draft. Comments of interest:
2. Colorado Rockies: Evan Longoria, 3B, Long Beach State
Hat tip: Travelerocity.The Rockies have been following Longoria hard all year, and while they might rather have Miller, if he goes to the Royals, they'll likely pass on the other pitchers being mentioned near the top. Lincoln's name has been mentioned in this spot some, but we'll stick with Longoria for now. With the third basemen already in the Rockies system, Longoria likely would have to move over to second where he could eventually form a double-play combination with college teammate Troy Tulowitzki.
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5. Seattle Mariners: Luke Hochevar, RHP, No school
Last week, I had him at No. 11. Assuming he goes back into the draft -- and there are those who actually think the Dodgers will end up signing their 2005 draftee -- he'll go much higher than that. He could be a good fit as high as No. 2. The Mariners will be looking for the top college arm here; if Morrow or Lincoln dropped, they'd be all over that. Lincecum, as a local pick, would be a good PR move, but doesn't seem likely at this point.
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7. Los Angeles Dodgers: Tim Lincecum, RHP, University of Washington
At last, he comes home to rest. The Dodgers have the reputation of being fond of high schoolers and would be thrilled if Kershaw dropped to them. The next high school arm talent-wise is Kyle Drabek -- some would say he should be at the top, based on talent -- but there are some makeup issues there. The Dodgers could throw people some for a loop and go college arm. Lincecum has electric stuff and could get to LA in a hurry as a reliever.
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25. Los Angeles Angels: Travis Snider, OF/1B, Jackson HS, Everett, Wash.
The Angels like taking high schoolers (and the occasional risk-pick college guy). Suffice to say, they seldom do what's expected. They could go high school arm here with choices from Florida like Colton Willems or Matt Latos. But for now, I'll say they'll try to add to their coffer of good, young hitting talent and go with whichever high ceiling bat is left. In this exercise, it's Snider, who's not a toolsy athlete, but can flat out swing the stick.
26. Los Angeles Dodgers: Matt Latos, RHP, Cocunut Creek HS, Margate, Fla.
The two LA teams might battle it out for which prepster goes in these two picks. If the Dodgers go the surprsing college route at No. 7, there's no way they pass on a high schooler here. If they want to go offense, Chris Parmalee could be the guy. If they want to go pitcher, they can choose between Latos or Willems in Florida if they desire.
Scores
Kendrick, H: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
Gorneault: 1-4, 1 RBI
Mathis, J: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Eylward: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB
Budde: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K
Shell: (L, 1-2), 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 10 H, 1 K, 1 BB, 3.34 ERA
Jones: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 4.94 ERA
Shell got shelled (incidentally, what an awful last name for a pitcher), and the Bees took a loss as they found themselves unable to recover from the six runs Shell surrendered. Jeff Mathis got a solo homer, as did DH Ryan Budde. Howie Kendrick's multi-hit night brought his average up to .377, right where it's been... well, seems like forever now. Maybe if he got more than four at bats a week in the Show he could make some noise there, too.
The game featured three Bees errors, all three of which resulted in runs by the 51's. First, Jeff Mathis made a throwing error in the third when he failed to catch Wilson Valdez stealing second; instead, he threw the ball away. Valdez reached third safely, subsequently scoring on a Delwyn Young sac fly. In the sixth, Marcus Gwyn threw away a pickoff toss, which resulted in leadoff batter Tydus Meadows taking third and scoring on a squeeze bunt. Finally, in the seventh, Joel Guzman got aboard on an error by SS Abel Nieves; a steal, a wild pitch, and a GIDP later, Guzman scored.
Speaking of Joel Guzman, his positional merry-go-round continued as he manned the hot corner in today's game. And, for Angels fans curious about the defensive development of Howie Kendrick, he, too, played third base, while Abel Nieves got his second start at short for the Bees.
Wilson: 0-3, 1 BB
Pali: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 K
Rodriguez, R: (W, 1-3), 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 K, 5 BB, 8.73 ERA
Edwards: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 3.90 ERA
The second win in a row for the Travs, who must feel like they've been underwater forever. Rafael Rodriguez had a fine seven-inning shutout game, perhaps regaining some of the glimmer he had at Rancho. Bobby Wilson didn't get a hit, but he did get a walk and scored a run. Chone Figgins, are you listening?
BTW, Brandon Wood's batting third, which I can understand, but why is .226-hitting Dwaine Bacon in the leadoff spot?
Collins: 1-3
Toussaint: 1-4, 2 K
Arredondo: (W, 3-2), 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 9 K, 1 BB, 2.28 ERA
Jepsen: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 3.78 ERA
A real tour-de-force by Sean Rodriguez, who homered and walked; Jose Arredondo's near-complete game was just as praiseworthy, striking out one more batter than inning pitched. Clifton Remole provided half the Quakes' offense by driving in two on an RBI single to center in the bottom of the eighth.
Coon: 1-1, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 2 BB
Trumbo: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K
Marek: (W, 5-1), 7.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 2.34 ERA
Aldridge: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 4.50 ERA
Revenge is a dish best served nightly, and the Kernels made up for the previous night's taut game by serving up another one. Stephen Marek pitched a fine game, caveats about hits and strikeouts aside.
Valdez: 3-5, 1 RBI
Young, D: 1-3, 3 RBI
Guzman, J: 1-4
Loney: 0-3, 1 BB
Houlton: (W, 2-4), 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 2 HR, 5.93 ERA
Miller: (H, 1), 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 0.00 ERA
Carrara: (H, 1), 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 1 BB, 0.82 ERA
Houlton's having a terrible season in Vegas, but he outlasted the Bees, whose offense is being hauled off to the Anaheim of Los Angeles at quite a clip. Greg Miller and Gio Carrara had excellent outings, and both look like serious callup candidates; this was Miller's fourth inning since being called up to Las Vegas. Eric Gagné retired the side in order in the ninth inning, striking out two.
Kemp: 1-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K
LaRoche: 0-3, 1 BB
Brazell: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
Ruggiano, J: 0-1, 2 BB
Abreu: 2-4
Raglani: 0-1
Ojeda: 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 6 K, 2 BB, 2 HR, 3.09 ERA
Thomas: (W, 2-1) (in relief), 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 K, 2 BB, 4.26 ERA
Reliever Adam Thomas got the tying RBIs in the sixth in a crazy game against Brewers AA affiliate Huntsville Stars; his single scored both Tony Abreu and Justin Ruggiano, who executed a double steal of third and second, respectively. Matt Kemp's two-run blast decided the game.
Dewitt: 4-7, 1 RBI
Dunlap: 3-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB
Santana: 2-5, 1 3B, 1 BB, 2 K
Westervelt: 1-3, 2 BB
Russ: 2-5, 3 RBI, 2 K
Hoffmann: 0-1
Malone: 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 K, 2 BB, 1 HR, 4.71 ERA
Akin: 2.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 3 K, 2 BB, 1.80 ERA
Wright: 3.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 5 K, 1 BB, 1.52 ERA
Hammes: (W, 3-2) (in relief), 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 1 BB, 4.65 ERA
Vero made up for yesterday's game today, and for some reason the MILB.com guys are going back to what they did last year on makeup games (i.e., showing them as rescheduled games the next day), which is far less confusing.
Blake DeWitt's RBI single in the 12th gave the Dodgers the lead and the win. Normally this would have qualified as a seven-inning game, but Vero tied it in the seventh.
Hoffmann: 3-5, 1 RBI, 1 K
Dewitt: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Dunlap: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 K
Denker, T: 2-2, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB
Nicholson: 2-4, 1 K
Elbert: (W, 3-4), 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 11 H, 6 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 3.23 ERA
Pimentel: 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 3.88 ERA
Now this one was played in seven innings, with Vero pounding on Lakeland Tigers pitching for twelve runs, all but one of them earned; two Vero errors left the Dodgers with a pair of unearned runs, which did not affect the outcome.
Both Xavier Paul and Travis Denker hit two-run homers; Blake DeWitt and David Nicholson had multi-hit games. Vero's run totals included a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch on Carlos Santana and a bases-loaded walk to Chris Westervelt.
Scott Elbert picked up a win despite a terrible line that included a grand slam to Lakeland CF Victor Mendez, but Julio Pimentel held on to the lead for the Dodgers.
Mitchell: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Locke: 1-2, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB
Sutherland: 2-4
Harper: 2-4, 1 RBI
Alvarez: (W, 2-5), 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 4 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 5.10 ERA
Reading those numbers, you'd be inclined to conclude that somebody in the bullpen sure screwed up. You'd be right; the culprit was David Horlacher, who's barely pitched this year for the Catfish and whom I suspect is a recent callup from extended spring training. With the Fish leading the RiverDogs 8-3 going into the top of the ninth, Horlacher walked leadoff man Irwil Rojas, and then CF Adam Godwin screwed up fielding a J.T. Lafountain single, moving both baserunners over a base. But here's the play I don't get:
Austin Jackson walks. Wild pitch by pitcher David Horlacher. Tony Roth scores.Whoa — either it's ball four, or it's a wild pitch strikeout. Which is it? Whatever the case may be, Francisco Felix came in and restored order, though not before uncorking a wild pitch of his own that let Austin Jackson to take second. Sheesh.
On an unrelated note, it looks like Jose Arredondo was interested this time out.
: 5/29/2006 11:28:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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