Minor League Report: the return of Chris Pettit

AAA Salt Lake Bees, 57 and 58

Jose Arredondo, rhrp - (4 appearances) 1 W, 4 IP, 1 hits, 0 ER, 4 K/2 BB

Arredondo earned his way back to the bigs, one Salt Lake appearance at a time. Most of his AAA numbers looked great: he struck out 10.5 per 9 innings and limited the opposition to a .188 BAA. Despite the nasty stuff, however, he continued to struggle with his control, walking 6.1 per 9 innings.

Chris Pettit, OF - (27 AB's) .407/.448/.556 with 1 Dbl and 1 HR

The Bees have floundered over the past month and a half due to a thin pitching staff and injuries/promotions to key line-up fixtures. Pettit was one of said injuries, but he got back into the swing of things this week. Teammate Freddy Sandoval is rehabbing in the ASL, and may join Pettit and the Bees as soon as this week. 

Brandon Wood, 3B - (27 AB's) .259/.310/.667 with 3 Dbls, 1 Trpl, and 2 HR's

Matt Brown, 1B - (24 AB's) .375/.444/.500 with 3 Dbls

Wood showed why he ranks first in the Pacific Coast League in slugging percentage (.595) and third in homeruns (19).  Brown also had a good week, but we're still waiting for him to get into a consistent groove. 

AA Arkansas 17 and 24 (second half)

Trevor Reckling, lhsp - 1 L, 13 IP, 8 hits, 2 ER, 11 K/6 BB

The Trav's offense waited until the 8^th inning last night to provide run support, costing Reckling a well-deserved "W."  He's gone 6 or more innings in each of his last 5 starts, a good sign of things to come. After Bell, he would be the next logical promotion, though the Halos are facing a logjam on the 40 man roster.  Who are they going to bump on Wednesday?  

Brian Walker, C - (12 AB's) .417/.533/.500 with 1 Dbl and 3 K/3 BB

Walker raked in his first full week in the Texas League. He'll back up Conger from here on out, likely catching between 1/3 to ½ of the remaining games.

Nate Sutton, OF - (27 AB's) .333/.455/.519 with 5 Dbls, 6 BB's, and 2 SB's

The 26-year-old Sutton is now hitting .313/.396/.395 on the year. The UC Santa Barbara alum would be an interesting choice for Travs MVP due entirely to his season-long consistency.

Pete Bourjos, CF - (30) .300/.400/.500 with 2 Dbls, 1 HR, 6 RBI's, and 5 BB's

When I first compiled this list a couple of days ago, Bourjos was batting just .264 on the week. I was going to include him anyway due to good patience and power numbers, the point being that he's showing enough secondary skills to contribute offensively even when the hits aren't falling.  Bourjos went on to hit for average anyway, but the point still stands. 

High A Rancho Cucamonga, 21 and 21 (second half)

Clay Fuller, CF - (18 AB's) .444/.524/.722 with 3 Dbls, 1 Trpl, and 5 RBI's

Alberto Rosario, C - (16 AB's) .500/.529/.625 with 2 Dbls and 5 RBI's

Jeremy Moore, OF - (20 AB's) .300/.391/.600 with 2 HR's and 3 BB's

Andrew Romine, SS - (25 AB's) .400/.464/.520 with 1 Dbl, 1 Trpl and 3 BB's

P.J. Phillips, CF - (20 AB's) .350/.381/.600 with 2 Dbls, 1 HR, and 6 RBI's

Abel Nieves, 2B - (23 AB's) .348/.444/.522 with 2 Dbls and 1 Trpl

Jake Rife, OF - (15 AB's) .333/.375/.533 with 1 Dbl, 1 Trpl and 3 RBI's

Hot hitting up and down the line-up pushed the Quakes to the .500 barrier, which is a huge deal for a team that's wallowed at the bottom of California League standings for most of this year. Quick updates: 22-year-old Rosario is a basestealer's nightmare, erasing 52 of 107 this season, or 49%. Moore, who never met a pitch he didn't like, walked an astounding 3 times in Wednesday night's game. Former shortstop Phillips appears to be done with the infield, playing center for most of the week. Lastly, 2009 draftee Rife continues to hang with the big boys, holding his own in High A.

Ismael Carmona, rhrp - (3 appearances) 3 Svs, 1.2 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 2 K/0 BB

Taylor Wilding, rhrp - (3 appearances) 1 W, 4 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 3 K/1 BB

Mike Kohn, rhrp - (2 appearances) 2.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 3 K/2 BB

Eddie McKiernan, rhrp - (1 appearance) 1 W, 2 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 1 K/2 BB

The other big story of the Quakes' recent success is their bullpen. The starters haven't been bad exactly, but neither have they been especially good, so the Quakes' have made due with the formula of explosive offense and effective bullpen. Hmmm, that sounds familiar - which other club has used that formula over the past month?

A Cedar Rapids, 24 and 18 (second half)

Alexi Amarista, 2B - .296/.345/.593 with 3 Dbls, 1 Trpl, 1 HR and 8 RBI's

Amarista ranks 5^th in the Midwest League in BA while flashing enough patience and pop to rank 8^th in OPS. Needless to say, that's impressive for a table-setting second baseman who also contributes plus defense. There's going to be some debate this offseason about whether Amarista or Orem's Jean Segura is the better prospect - Segura also ranks fifth in his league in BA, though he's a lowly tenth in OPS.

Ryan Chaffee, rhsp - 1 W, 6 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 5 K/2 BB

Chaffee made it to the 6^th inning or further in 4 of the last 10 starts. Look for him to jump a level if he can keep going that deep into games.

Darwin Perez, ss - .381/.458/.429 with 1 Dbl

Perez is finally beginning to look like the player he was with the Owlz last year. The Halos have a lot of middle infielders, so he is going to have to hit to keep his spot in the coming year.