In this week’s edition of GotC’s High-A recap, we return to our regular routine of highlight some of the best performers in the Florida State, Carolina and California Leagues after focusing on recent promotions last week.
In the California League, every team held serve in terms of the standings. Visalia’s lead in the North Division is still 10 games, and Rancho Cucamonga is still atop the South Division. With the first half of the season set to end June 21, the Rawhide and the Quakers are set to grab playoff berths (playoff procedures for the California League are here).
Similarly, Wilmington and Myrtle Beach are in control of their divisions in the Carolina League. Wilmington leads the Northern Division by six games while the Pelicans lead the Southern Division by five games. Both teams would earn playoff berths if they were in first place after play on June 21.
Several teams have traded places in the Florida State League standings, but most of the shuffling occurred with teams down in the standings. The Charlotte Stone Crabs maintain a healthy 10 game lead in the South Division, while the Daytona Tortugas hold a four-game advantage over the Tampa Yankees in the North. Just like the other two High-A leagues, if those teams can hold on to first place until June 21, they would clinch playoff berths.
Let’s begin in the Florida State League…
Next: Florida State League
Florida State League
North
Daytona Tortugas (Reds)—33-23
Tampa Yankees (Yankees)—29-27
Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers)—27-28
Clearwater Threshers (Phillies)—27-29
Brevard County Manatees (Brewers)—24-31
Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays)—24-32
South
Charlotte Stone Crabs (Rays)—38-18
St. Lucie Mets (Mets)—28-28
Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins)—27-29
Bradenton Marauders (Pirates)—26-30
For Myers Miracle (Twins)—26-30
Palm Beach Cardinals (Cardinals)—26-30
Notable Performances:
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The Cincinnati Reds’ first round selection last season, shortstop
Alex Blandino, is justifying the high draft pick. After a 2-for-4 performance Saturday, he was hitting .312 with a .397 on base percentage. Blandino’s batting average on ball in play is almost identical to last season–.343 this season to .339 in 2014—and he has struck out only 28 times in 54 games. Blandino is hitting in the middle of the Daytona Tortugas’ order and has driven in 24 runs this season.
Palm Beach pitcher Rob Kaminsky, while pitching in a very offensively starved FSL—entering play Monday, 19 starting pitchers had an ERA under 3.00—isn’t near the top of any of the leaderboards, but he is still having an effective season. Friday, he scattered eight hits and only allowed one earned run in five innings against St. Lucie. Even though his WHIP is elevated (1.37), he hasn’t allowed a home run, and uses groundouts to get out of jams; Kaminsky is getting 2.15 groundouts for every out in the air through his 54 innings.
Austin Meadows, one of the game’s best outfield prospects, has had a rough 1o games. He’s hitting .175 over that span. This is in spite of his 2-for-4 performance Saturday. The 2013 first round pick only has 12 extra base hits on the season and is slugging a lowly .379, but his .372 OBP is encouraging sign after he missed time in 2014 due to injury.
Next: California League
California League
North
Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks)—37-19
Modesto Nuts (Rockies)—27-29
Stockton Ports (Athletics)—27-29
San Jose Giants (Giants)—24-32
Bakersfield Blaze (Mariners)—20-36
South
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers)—33-23
Lancaster JetHawks (Astros)—30-26
High Desert Mavericks (Rangers)—29-26
Inland Empire 66ers (Angels)—27-28
Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres)—25-31
Notable performances:
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Lancaster’s
Brett Phillipsended his week on a high note Sunday, going 3-for-5 with a home run and six RBIs after going 3-for-28 his previous six games. Phillips is now slashing .316/.382/.560 with 10 home runs. His at-bats-per-home-run has gone from 29 in 2014 to 22.5 in 2015, so he is enjoying hitting in the offensively-inclined CL. The 2012 draft pick is enjoying his second productive offensive season after two modest campaigns in 2012 and 2013.
Phillip’s teammate A.J. Reed pushed his average to an even .300 and is hitting .357 his past ten games. Sunday, he went 2-for-6 with two RBIs. Reed, the Astros’ second round pick in last year’s draft, is slugging .590 with 15 home runs through 210 at bats after slugging .522 with 12 home runs in 249 at bats last season. He leads the CL in home runs and is second in slugging to High Desert’s Alex Burg.
Zack Godley of the Visalia Rawhide continues to stifle offenses despite the unfriendly offensive environs of his league. In his last start Tuesday, Godley went 6 1/3 innings and struck out seven. His ERA stands at 2.17 entering play Monday—lowest in the league–and boasts a 4.06 K/BB ratio, which is an improvement on an already 3.21K/BB from 2014.
Next: Carolina League
Carolina League
Northern
Wilmington Blue Rocks (Royals)—33-23
Frederick Keys (Orioles)—27-29
Lynchburg Hillcats (Indians)—27-29
Potomac Nationals (Nationals)—25-31
Southern
Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)—33-22
Salem Red Sox (Red Sox)—28-27
Carolina Mudcats (Braves)—27-28
Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox)—22-33
Notable performances:
The Wilmington rotation boasts three of the best pitchers in the Carolina League. Alec Mills, Eric Skoglund and Cody Reed highlight the staff, who are a big reason why the Blue Rocks have the best team ERA (2.90), WHIP (1.15), strikeout total (442) and have allowed the fewest runs (177).
Up until Sunday’s start, Mills was on a roll. He had a 2.36 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over his previous eight starts. Sunday’s start wasn’t dominant, but he did maintain his momentum, going five innings and allowing three runs on five hits and two walks. Mills has been very efficient within the strike zone, only allowing 10 walks all season while striking out 64.
Skoglund, was on a roll of his own before his last start. Entering play Thursday, Skoglund had allowed only three runs his previous three starts and pitched at least six innings. Thursday, he got tagged for five runs and tied his lowest strikeout total of the season. In spite of the hiccup, Skoglund is sixth in the league in ERA.
Reed is the hottest of the bunch. Saturday, he went six shutout innings and struck out five while walking only one. The 2013 second round pick is second in the league in ERA (1.29) and fifth in WHIP (1.06) and third in strikeouts (56). A big reason for his dominant season has been his improvement in walk rate: he walked 3.86 batters per nine innings last season, while he has walked on 2.26 in 2015. His K-rate has also improved, improving to 9.05 from 6.21 in 2014.
All stats are from MiLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com