High A Rancho Cucamonga: 60 wins, 47 losses
Garrett Richards, rhsp - (1 start) 1 W, 5.2 IP, 10 hits, 1 ER, 7 K/1 BB
The enigma continues. Richards dominated the High Desert Mavericks in two key ways, striking out over a batter an inning and recording nine groundouts to just one flyball out. On the other side of the ledger, he yielded 10 hits in less than six innings, which works out to a .526 batting average on balls in play. Certainly some of that was just bad luck - but the high BABIP also fits the scouting report on him that goes back to his days at the University of Oklahoma. There are just some starts where he makes frequent mistakes in the strikezone, leading to a lot of hard contact despite his top flight-stuff and propensity to throw strikes.
Alberto Rosario, C - (16 AB's) .438/.500/.625 with 1 HR, 0 K/2 BB
Rosario's been the Quakes' hottest player for a month now, hitting .407/.447/.616 since his demotion to the Cal League. He continues to put up the stats of a solid defensive catcher, cutting down 42% of base stealers and keeping the passed balls in check.
Gabriel Jacobo, 1B - (22 AB's) .318/.375/.636 with 1 dbl, 2 HR, 4 K/2 BB
This is a typical Jacobo hot streak: a few walks, a few more strikeouts, and a lot of hard contact. He's knocked in 83 runs for the Quakes, good for third in the Cal League, serving a role similar to Garrett Anderson early in the decade: he's a clean-up man who consistently hits the ball hard, especially with men on base (.331/.379/.515 with RISP), even if he doesn't go yard as often as your typical four hitter. Combine that with top notch defense at first, and you have a valuable player.
Mike Piazza, rhrp - (2 appearances) 4 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 7 K/1 BB
Piazza was one of the better relievers for the Owlz last year despite going undrafted out of college in 2009. He returned to Orem in '10, struck out 17 in just 13 innings, but also gave up 3 HR's, which resulted in an ugly ERA . The K's have carried over so far in the Cal League; let's hope we won't be saying the same thing about the long ball.
Chris Scholl, rhrp - (2 appearances) 4 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 7 K/1 BB
Last week we speculated the Scholl may be starting a dominant stretch similar to what he put together in the second half last year. So far, so good.
Cedar Rapids: 63 wins, 40 losses
Drew Beuerlein, C - (15 AB's) .400/.400/.867 with 1 dbl, 2 HR's, 5 K/0 BB
The Halos selected the switch-hitting Beuerlein in the 32nd round of the 2010 draft out of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He hit .355/.452/.579 his junior year, leading the team with 10 HR's and a solid 39 SO/29 BB ratio. He also found other ways to get on base, leading the Rebs (seriously?) in getting hit by a pitch - 13 times in just 58 games. He K'd in only 14% of his PA's during his college season, providing hope that he has the skills to improve on his professional 21 K/2 BB ratio.
Tyler Kehrer, lhsp - (1 start) 7 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, 6 K/0 BB
Sam Miller over at the OC Register summed up Kehrer's July 28th performance perfectly:
Something great is definitely happening with Kehrer, who was so wild as to be worthless for much of the season, walking a batter per inning through his first 45 innings, including a two-inning, nine-walk outing on June 3. But he has walked just five batters in his past 32 innings, striking out 25.
He had a tougher time of it today - 3 runs and 3 walks over 5 innings - but with so many of the system's notable lefties traded away, we'll celebrate the successes.
Stephen Locke, lhsp - (1 start) 1 W, 6 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 4 K/2 BB
After two straight bad outings, Stephen Locke bounced back with a solid start against the Clinton LumberKings. He pitched very well in June, making it through the seventh inning in three of his four starts, but the league caught up with the crafty lefty in July. He's an extreme groundball guy, getting 58% of his 2010 balls in play on the ground, but hitters have squared him up more frequently this month, leading to .297 batting average against. With just two members of the Kernels' dynamite original rotation still on the roster, a consistent Locke is going to be crucial to Cedar Rapids' playoff run.
Jon Karcich, SS - (22 AB's) .409/.435/.500 with 2 dbls, 4 K/1 BB
Karcich has appeared on most of these lists since June, and is presently working on a 15-game hit streak. He's hitting .294/.391/.437 for Cedar Rapids, a very good line for a 22 year-old shortstop in the Midwest League.