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AAA Salt Lake, 25 wins to 17 losses
Terry Evans - (this week) .346/.393/.846 with 4 Dbls and 3 HR's
Evans has spent the bulk of his time in the leadoff slot lately, and the gig agrees with him. After a slow April, he's wrestled his season line up to .278/.327/.503.
Freddy Sandoval- (this week) .360/.429/.640 with 1 Dbl, 2 HR's and 2 SB
On a team that includes sluggers Brandon Wood, Sean Rodriguez, and Matt Brown, it's telling that Sandoval bats third. It would be nice to see him getting more time at second base, where his bat plays up and he could become an attractive trade chip.
Jeremy Hill - (this week) 3 IP, 2 saves, 1 hit, 0 ER, 2 K/1 BB
The Halos signed Hill out of the Mexican League this past offseason, and he's now established himself as the Bee's closer, converting 9 saves this May. He had overpowering stuff in his younger days, before injuries derailed his career, so it will be interesting to see where he goes from here.
AA Arkansas, 15 wins to 26 losses
Peter Bourjos - (this week) .400/.400/.640 with 4 Dbls and 1 Trpl
Bourjos' hit streak now stands at 16 games: when in his groove, Bourjos is an outstanding hitter. However, he didn't walk once this week, so I'd really like to see him continue the progress he made on his plate discipline earlier this year. Just ask Howie how it'll feel when the hits stop falling.
Trevor Bell- (this week) 7 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 7 K/0 BB
I was worried through April that Bell's success was unsustainable due to a mediocre 13/8 K/BB ratio, but all he did this May was put up a 26 K/3 BB ratio. Combine that with a healthy 1.53 GO/FO ratio, and you have a dominant starter.
Bobby Cassevah- (this week) 5 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 2 K/1 BB
Bryan Rembisz - (this week) 4.1 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 2 K/0 BB
The Trav's lost every game this week, five of them by only one run. Their starting pitching has been great - they're leading the league with a 3.64 team ERA - but they can't hit worth beans, trailing the league in OPS and homeruns. That combination has put a lot of stress on the bullpen, which has put up great individual ERA's despite accruing 12 losses. Cassevah and Rembisz are indicative of that trend: Cassevah has an 0 and 3 record to go with his 1.78 ERA, while Rembisz has 2 losses to accompany his 0.00 ERA.
I'm going to pour on the bad news: last night, a miracle 9th inning rally came to an end when the Travs' tying run was thrown out at the plate. Moreover, the Travs lost Ryan Mount to the disabled list with a sprained wrist on Friday, while Hank Conger hasn't played since Tuesday due to a sore wrist (hat tips to G Abbes, Travelerocity, and Phil Elson). Times are tough in Arkansas.
High A Rancho Cucamonga, 18 Wins to 25 Losses
Julio Perez - (this week) .391/.417/.783 with 1 Dbl, 1 Trpl, and 1 HR
The 23-year old's-season line now reads .312/.339/.532 and he leads the Quakes with 6 homeruns.
Tom Kiely - (this week) 15 IP, 2 wins, 10 hits, 2 ER, 7 K/0 BB
Kiely threw his first professional complete game last night, holding Lansing to 1 run over 9 dominant innings. He threw mainly out of the pen after the Halos' drafted him in the 27th round last year, but has looked great as a starter for the Quakes this year. His K and groundball rates aren't anything to write home about, but he's done a great job at limiting walks and hard contact.
Steven Geltz - (this week) 5.2 IP, 1 win, 2 hits, 1 ER, 7 K/2 BB
The California League is a hard place for a middle reliever to make his living, but Geltz has done a tremendous job as the Quakes primary swingman. Kudos to him.
A Ball, Cedar Rapids, 22 Wins to 20 Losses
Beau Brooks - (this week) .526/.591/.632 with 2 Dbls and 8 RBI's
Brooks has seized more and more at-bats at the catcher and DH slots. He didn't hit for much power this week, but his ability to make good contact while controlling the strike zone (3 BB's/3 K's this week, 16 BB's/12 K's overall) is impressive considering he was more of a three outcomes guy in college.
Tyson Auer - (this week) .400/.455/.500 with 3 Dbls, 12 runs scored, and 4 SB's
Auer was a run scoring machine this week - he's a big reason why Cedar Rapids went 6 and 1 while roaring back to a winning record. They averaged 5.4 runs a game this week despite the ongoing struggles of some key guys. This team should get even better.
Manuel Flores - (this week) 8 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 4 K/2 BB
Flores' ability to rack up the innings by efficiently pitching to contact distinguishes him in a talented, but not so efficient Cedar Rapids staff.
Ryan Chaffee- (this week) 10 IP, 2 wins, 7 hits, 4 ER, 19 K/3 BB
Speaking of talented but inefficient... Ignore, for this week, the mediocre ERA and high pitch counts, and instead take a look at that 17.1 K per 9 rate. Chaffee has steadily improved since his late April promotion and is flashing potential for brilliance.
Anel De Los Santos- (this week) .286/.375/.500 with 1 HR
The emergence of Brooks and Roberto Lopez as viable catching options has squeezed De Los Santos' time behind the plate. He caught four of seven games this week, but with his defense and quiet improvement with the bat, he ought to play fulltime somewhere. How the Halos' FO shuffles the catching logjam in Cedar Rapids and Rancho Cucamonga will be an interesting subplot to May and June.
Manuarys Correa- (this week) 7 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 3 K/0 BB
Sure it wasn't eye-popping, but it was Correa's longest start of the year and gives him something to build on.
Chris Scholl - (this week) 3 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 4 K/1 BB
Michael Kohn - (this week) 3 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 3 K/2 BB
Scholl's looked good since returning to the set-up role after Will Smith's injury compelled the Kernel's to experiment, unsuccessfully, with him as a starter. Kohn continues to plough through Midwest League hitters. The Cedar Rapids Gazette did a nice profile that provides clues as to why the Angels' aren't promoting him more aggressively. I had read elsewhere that he was further along in developing his secondary pitches.