Sunday, July 23, 2006 |
Minor League Scorebook
News
- I heard from Tim Mead about Jason Bulger, out since June 17 on the DL. His injury is a sore shoulder, with no ETA for a return date.
- With the return of both Dustin Moseley and Joe Saunders to the AAA roster, that also means Jesse Smith gets to go back down to AA Arkansas; he started tonight, and more on that by the game score.
- Working this in here because it involves squandered talent and
an organization dedicated to screwing things up (courtesy of David
Pinto), here's a fine Joe Posnanski piece about ex-prospect Dee Brown:
This is not a bad time to take stock. Dee Brown is 28 years old. He was once one of the top prospects in baseball. He's been released five times. He plays Class AA baseball at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. There are a few hundred people in the stands, and many of them are demonstrative in the late innings of "Beers 4A Buck Night." The Wichita Wrangler mascot stands in foul ground and seems too tired to lead cheers. Dee Brown looks even more tired. He digs in.
Think about 1999. Was it that long ago? Yes. A lifetime ago. "Last time I had any fun playing this game," Dee Brown says. He was 21. He hit .331 in the minor leagues. He had 25 home runs, 30 steals and 107 runs. He played in the first Futures Game. Baseball America ranked him the No. 11 prospect in baseball -- the three previous seasons the 11th prospects were Matt Clement, Todd Helton and Paul Konerko. All three are All-Stars. All three are multi-millionaires.
A couple of guys in the upper deck scream for a rally.
"Why are we shouting?" one yells.
"I don't know," the other one yells back.
Dee Brown hits a ball to left-center. When he connects he thinks the ball has a chance to drop for a hit. The ball is caught by the center fielder.
- I got to this a little bit late because I check Sickels about weekly, but even then, since he publishes a schedule, I had no excuse to get to his Dodgers preseason prospects in review list, at least in passing. The short version is that the kids are doing just fine, thanks for asking and couldja pass the mustard?
- Speaking of the Bums, the Dodgers finally decided they didn't need a third catcher and unloaded Sandy Alomar, Jr. to the White Sox for 25-year-old AA reliever B.J. LaMura, who will report to Jacksonville.
Scores
Smith, C: 4-5, 1 2B
Aybar: 3-5, 2 RBI
Eylward: 2-5
Gorneault: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K
Blakely: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K
Moseley: (L, 8-5), 3.1 IP, 10 R, 7 ER, 9 H, 2 K, 5 BB, 1 HR, 4.50 ERA
Heaverlo: 1.1 IP, 7 R, 7 ER, 5 H, 2 K, 3 BB, 2 HR, 7.84 ERA
The Hell? Every now and then you think they need a mercy rule, but they're professionals, &c. The 28 runs scored was a PCL high for the year, the most ever allowed at Salt Lake, and included two grand slams and two Sidewinders with five-hit games. Brian Barden hit slams in consecutive games with this one, and Chris Young got the game's other slam. Jon Weber was a triple short of the cycle, Alberto Callaspo was five for eight, and all but two Sidewinders got at least one free pass. Tucson batted around three times. Four batters got plunked, three of them by Bees pitching.
Here's something else to blow your mind: all this was with a 5 MPH wind blowing in. Imagine what it would have been like if the wind was going the other way.
For the Bees, the pitching situation was as horrible as horrible could be, thus providing some confirmation of my low opinion of Moseley. However, we allow for bad outings around here, noting he wasn't anywhere near ten runs over three and a third innings bad before this game, and so allow him to skate off no worse in my estimation than before. In fact, even despite this awful game, he ended it with a 4.50 ERA -- the exact definition of a quality starter.
The real loser in all this, though, was Jeff Heaverlo. Heaverlo was brought in to patch over the hole created by Jered Weaver's callup to the big club in the first place, but he's been miserable in either a starting role or out of the bullpen. He's only had three games in which he held his opponents scoreless, the most recent being his July 15 appearance. After this disaster, I have to imagine the Angels will be casting about for other organizational options.
As for the Salt Lake offense, well, had this not been such a laugher, we might have said they had a good night. Dallas McPherson got the evening off, but Casey Smith, Erick Aybar, and Mike Eylward all had multi-hit nights, Aybar picking up a pair of RBIs. Nick Gorneault struck out twice, but got his first hit since returning from the DL, and his first RBI as well.
Wood: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Evans: 1-4, 1 K
Wilson: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
Pali: 2-3, 1 BB
Rodland: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Smith, J: (W, 7-8), 8.1 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 10 H, 6 K, 2 BB, 2 HR, 4.28 ERA
Zimmermann: 0.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 6.07 ERA
After looking at that trainwreck of a game, I bet Jesse Smith was happy to be back at Arkansas. He successfully held Springfield to four runs despite giving up a pair of homers, while the offense steadily supported him to a win.
I didn't mention it yesterday, but Brandon Wood now leads the Texas League in doubles with 35, and his teammate Matt Brown is one back of him. (In case you were wondering, Joe Koshansky holds the Texas League lead for homers with 24, but Brandon is solidly in third place with 21, and Hunter Pence is between them with 22.)
Collins: 2-5, 1 K
Remole: 2-5, 1 2B
Fuller: 2-4, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 2 K
Leahy: 3-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB
Adenhart: (W, 3-1), 7.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 3 K, 2 BB, 4.55 ERA
I have a reply for the Rev, who earlier wanted to trade for Alfonso Soriano: however much Nick Adenhart might not be as impressive as he was in low-A, he's still nothing to send off on a half-season rental of a strikeout-prone outfielder who doesn't really even want to be there.
All that said — well, Nick was good enough tonight to earn the win, though the sudden decline in K's is a mite troubling; on the other hand, when I saw him in his first Cal League appearance, he was having command issues, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.
All but one Quakes position player got a hit in this game. Brad Beck pitched a scoreless eighth, and his ERA dropped to 1.93 with the game; he's allowed three earned runs since his early July promotion to Rancho.
Trumbo: 1-3
Mosebach: (L, 7-5), 6.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 3.12 ERA
23-year-old Quad Cities starter Donnie Smith made his first Midwest League appearance this year and baffled the Kernels, spoiling a good game by Bobby Mosebach in this seven-inning affair, the first half of a doubleheader. Cedar Rapids clawed together a rally in the top of the seventh to get their only run when Mark Trumbo singled and a wild pitch let him get into scoring position; Dallas Morris singled him in, but Jordan Renz then struck out into a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play to end the threat, though not the inning.
Statia: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Trumbo: 0-3
Martinez: 2-2, 1 BB
Butcher: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 K, 0 BB, 4.58 ERA
Didjurgis: (BS, 5)(L, 0-6) (in relief), 0.1 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 4.73 ERA
Swept. Tim Didjurgis was the proximate mound-filler responsible for the loss. Darren O'Day got his first taste of the Midwest League, and pitched a scoreless inning and a third.
Pettit: 1-2, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Phillips: 1-4, 1 K
O'Sullivan: (W, 1-0), 6.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 1.67 ERA
Incinelli: 1.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 K, 1 BB, 4.38 ERA
Sean O'Sullivan collected his first Pioneer League win, though that's largely because it's only the third time in six starts he's lasted long enough to qualify. He's only allowed five earned runs over 27 innings while striking out 23. Good stuff.
Jimenez: 5.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 6 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 3.13 ERA
Brandt: (L, 0-1) (in relief), 0.1 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 14.21 ERA
Valdez: 1-3, 2 BB
Kemp: 1-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K
Guzman, J: 2-4, 2 RBI
LaRoche: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 K
Young, D: 3-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Houlton: 0-2, 1 K
Houlton: (W, 6-9), 5.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 4 BB, 1 HR, 6.08 ERA
Carter: 3.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 4.46 ERA
Houlton and Carter both held on to keep the 51's in it, despite each giving up a home run. Jeff Duncan was perfect at the plate, and Delwyn Young drove in the winning run with Andy LaRoche at second.
Hoffmann: 0-1, 1 K
Dewitt: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 K
Dunlap: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 K
Locke: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 K
Wade: (L, 0-1), 7.0 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 8 H, 7 K, 1 BB, 6.43 ERA
Thppt.
Bell: 0-4, 2 K
Brooks: 2-3
Johnson: (L, 1-3), 5.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 3.60 ERA
: 7/24/2006 12:36:00 AMNewer› ‹Older
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